John Calvin on Jeremiah 29:32

But we may deduce from this passage a useful doctrine, — that nothing is more pestiferous in a Church than for men to be led away by a false confidence or trust. For it is the foundation of all true religion to depend on the mouth or word of God; and it is also the foundation of our salvation. As, then, the salvation of men as well as true religion is founded on faith and the obedience of faith; so also when we are drawn away to some false trust, the whole of true religion falls to the ground, and at the same time every hope of salvation vanishes. This ought to be carefully observed, so that we may learn to embrace that doctrine which teaches us to trust in no other than in the only true God, and reject all those inventions which may lead us away from him, even in the least degree, so that we may not look around us nor be carried here and there.

For this reason, as I have said, the Prophet declares that Shemaiah would die childless, and be precluded from enjoying the favor which God had resolved and even promised to bestow on his people. And all this, as I have reminded you, was said for the sake of the people; for this prophecy did no good to Shemaiah nor to his posterity; but his punishment ought to have benefited the miserable exiles so as to lead them to repentance, however late it may have been. This is the import of the passage.

A TRANSLATION OF

CALVIN’S VERSION OF

JEREMIAH

CHAPTERS 20—29

CHAPTER 20

1 And Pashur the son of Immer the priest, (and he was a governor in the Temple of Jehovah,) heard Jeremiah prophesying these words:

2 And Pashur smote Jeremiah the Prophet, and put him in the prison which was in the higher gate of Benjamin, opposite the house of Jehovah.

3 And it happened the day after, that Pashur brought out Jeremiah from prison; and Jeremiah said to him, — Not Pashur has Jehovah called thy name, But terror on every side:

4 For thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, I will make thee a terror To thyself and to all thy friends; And fall shall they by the sword of thine enemies, While thine eyes are looking on; And all Judah will I deliver Into the hand of the king of Babylon; And he shall carry them into Babylon, And shall smite them with the sword:

5 And I will give up all the strength of this city, And all its labor and its every precious thing; And all the treasures of the kings of Judah Will I give up into the hands of their enemies; And they shall spoil them and take them away, And they shall lead them into Babylon.

6 And thou, Pashur, and all the inhabitants of thy house, Go shall ye into captivity; Thou shalt come to Babylon, and there die, And there shalt thou be buried and thy friends, To whom thou hast falsely prophesied.

7 Thou hast deceived me, Jehovah, and I was deceived; Thou hast constrained me and didst prevail; I am become a scorn all the day, All make a mock of me;

8 For from the time I have spoken, I cried aloud against violence, And devastation have I proclaimed: Because the word of Jehovah became to me A reproach and derision all the day,

9 Therefore I said, I will not mention him, Nor speak any more in his name: But it became in my heart as a burning fire, Closed up in my bones; And I was wearied with forbearing, And I did not prevail.

10 For I heard the slander of many, Terror on every side, “Report ye, and we will report to him:” All my friends watch for my haltings — “He may go astray, then we shall prevail against him, And take our revenge on him.”

11 But Jehovah is with me as a terrible giant; Therefore my persecutors shall fall and not prevail; They shall be greatly ashamed, for they shall not succeed; It will be a perpetual reproach Which shall not be forgotten.

12 But thou, Jehovah of hosts, Art he who provest the righteous, Who seest the reins and the heart; I shall see thy vengeance on them, For to thee have I opened my cause.

13 Sing ye to Jehovah, praise ye Jehovah, For he has rescued the soul of the distressed From the hand of the wicked.

14 Cursed be the day on which I was born; The day on which my mother bare me, Let it not be blessed:

15 Cursed be the man who told my father, Saying, “Born to thee is a male child,” Who with joy made him joyful;

16 And let that man be as the cities, Which Jehovah destroyed and repented not; And let him hear a cry in the morning, And a tumult at noontide.

17 Why hast thou not slain me from the womb? That my mother might be my grave, Or her womb a perpetual conception?

18 Why from the womb did I come forth, That I might see trouble and sorrow; That my days might be consumed in reproach!

CHAPTER 21

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, when king Zedekiah sent to him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,

2 Inquire now for us of Jehovah, for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon makes war with us, if Jehovah will deal with us according to his wondrous works, that he may ascend from us.

3 And Jeremiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah, —

4 Thus saith Jehovah, God of Israel, — Behold, I prohibit all the warlike instruments Which are in your hands, with which ye fight Against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, Who besiege you without the walls; And I will gather them into the midst of this city:

5 And fight will I myself against you With an extended hand and with a strong arm, Yea, in wrath and fury and great indignation;

6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, Both man and beast; By a great pestilence shall they die.

7 And afterwards Jehovah said, — I will deliver Zedekiah the king of Judah. His servants also and the people, Even those who shall remain in the city, From the pestilence, and the sword, and the famine, Into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, And into the hand of their enemies, And into the hand of those who seek their life; And he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; And he will not spare them, Nor forgive, nor shew mercy.

8 To this people also shalt thou say, — Thus saith Jehovah, — Behold, I set before you The way of life and the way of death:

9 He who abides in this city shall die By the sword, or by famine, or by pestilence; But he who goeth out and dwells With the Chaldeans who besiege you, Shall live, and his life shall be for a prey:

10 For I have set my face against this city, For evil and not for good, saith Jehovah; Into the hand of the king of Babylon shall it be given, And he shall burn it with fire.

11 And as to the house of the king of Judah, Hear ye the word of Jehovah;

12 O house of David, thus saith Jehovah, — In the morning execute ye judgment, And free the spoiled from the hand of the oppressor, Lest go forth as fire my indignation, And burn, and there be none to extinguish it, — Because of the wickedness of their doings.

13 Behold, I am against thee, inhabitant of the valley — The rock in the plain, saith Jehovah, Who say, “Who shall descend to us? And who shall enter our habitations?”

14 I will even visit upon you The fruit of your doings, saith Jehovah; And I will kindle a fire in its forest, And it shall consume all around it.

CHAPTER 22

1 Thus saith Jehovah, Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

2 And say, — Hear the word of Jehovah, king of Judah, Who sittest on the throne of David, Thou, and thy servants, and thy people, Who enter in through these gates:

3 Thus saith Jehovah, Do judgment and justice, And rescue the spoiled from the hand of the oppressor; The stranger, the orphan, and the widow, Defraud not; exercise no violence, Nor shed innocent blood in this place.

4 For if obeying ye obey this word, Then shall enter through the gates of this house Kings, sitting for David on his throne, Riding in chariots and on horses, — He himself, and his servants, and his people:

5 But if ye will not obey these words, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, That a waste shall this house become.

6 For thus saith Jehovah of the house of the king of Judah, Gilead to me art thou, the head of Lebanon; Surely I will make thee a desert, As cities which are not inhabited:

7 And I will prepare against thee destroyers, Every man and his instruments, And they shall cut down thy choice cedars, And cast them into the fire.

8 And pass shall many nations through this city, And say shall each to his friend, “Why hath Jehovah done thus to this great city?”

9 And they shall say, “Because they have forsaken The covenant of Jehovah their God, And bowed down before alien gods, and served them.”

10 Weep ye not for the dead, nor bewail him; Weeping, weep for him who migrates, For return shall he no more, That he may see the land of his nativity:

11 For thus saith Jehovah concerning Shallum The son of Josiah the king of Judah, Who reigns instead of Josiah his father, — When he shall have gone forth from this place He shall not return here any more:

12 For in the land where they shall lead him away There shall he die, And this land shall he see no more.

13 Woe to him who builds not with justice his house, And not with judgment his chambers; Who makes his neighbor to serve him for nothing, And pays him not for his work;

14 Who says, “I will build for myself A large house and wide chambers;” And he perforates for himself windows, And covered it is with cedar, And painted with vermilion.

15 Shalt thou reign because thou inclosest thyself in cedar? Thy father, did he not eat and drink? When he did judgment and justice, It was then well with him:

16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy, It was then well with him; Was not this to know me? saith Jehovah:

17 For thy eye and thy heart are not Except on thy covetousness, And on shedding innocent blood, And on rapacity and oppression, to do them.

18 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah the king of Judea, They shall not bewail him, — “Ah, my brother! Ah, sister!” They shall not bewail him, — “Ah, Lord! Ah, his glory!”

19 With the burial of an ass shall he be buried, Drawn out and cast forth Beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

20 Ascend into Lebanon and cry, And on Bashan lift up thy voice, And cry all around, For destroyed are all thy lovers.

21 I spake to thee in thy tranquillity, Thou saidst, “I will not hear:” It has been thy manner from thy youth That thou didst not hear my voice.

22 Thy pastors shall the wind consume, And thy lovers, into exile shall they go: Surely ashamed shalt thou then be, And blush for all thy wickedness.

23 Thou hast set thy seat on Lebanon, Thou hast made thy nest among the cedars: How gracious wilt thou be When come on thee shall sorrows, The pain as of one in travail!

24 Live do I, saith Jehovah; Were Coniah the son of Jehoiakim the king of Judah A sealing ring on my right hand, I would thence pluck thee off:

25 And I will deliver thee Into the hand of those who seek thy life, And into the hand of those whose face thou dreadest, Even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar The king of Babylon, And into the hand of the Chaldeans:

26 And I will cast thee and thy mother who bare thee Into a foreign land where ye were not born, And there shall ye die;

27 And into the land they set their mind to return, Thither they shall not return.

28 Is this man Coniah a despised and broken statue? Is he a vessel in which there is no delight? Why are they east forth, he and his seed, And thrown to a land which they have not known?

29 Land! land! land! hear the word of Jehovah, —

30 Thus saith Jehovah, Write ye this man childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days; Nay, none of his seed shall prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling any more in Judah.

CHAPTER 23

1 Woe to the pastors who destroy and scatter The flock of my pastures! saith Jehovah;

2 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Concerning the pastors who feed my people, — Ye have scattered my flock and driven them away, And ye have not visited them; Behold, I will visit upon you The wickedness of your doings, saith Jehovah:

3 But I will gather the remnant of my sheep From all the lands to which I shall drive them, And cause them to return to their own folds, And they shall become fruitful and multiply;

4 And I will raise up over them pastors Who shall feed them; And they shall no more fear nor dread, Nor shall they fail, saith Jehovah.

5 Behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah, That I will raise up to David a righteous branch, And reign shall a king, And prudently shall he act; He will do judgment and justice in the land.

6 In his days saved shall be Judah, And Israel shall dwell in confidence: And this is the name by which they shall call him, Jehovah Our Righteousness

7 Therefore, behold, the days will come, saith Jehovah, In which it shall no more be said, “Live does Jehovah,” Who brought the children of Israel from the land of Egypt;

8 But rather, “Live does Jehovah,” who has brought up And led the seed of the house of Israel From the land of the north, and all the lands To which I had driven them; And they shall dwell in their own land.

9 On account of the prophets, Broken is my heart within me, Disjointed are all my bones; I am become like a drunken man Who has been overcome by wine, On account of Jehovah, And on account of the words of his holiness;

10 For with adulterers the land is filled: For on account of perjury mourned has the land, Dried up have the pastures of the desert; And their course has been evil, And their strength not right.

11 For both prophet and priest have acted wickedly; Even in my house have I found Their wickedness, saith Jehovah.

12 Therefore their way shall be to them slippery; In darkness shall they stumble and fall therein; For I shall bring on them evil, The year of their visitation, saith Jehovah.

13 In the prophets of Samaria have I seen fatuity, They prophesied by Baal, And made my people Israel to go astray:

14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem Have I seen depravity; By adultery and walking in falsehood They even strengthen the hands of the wicked, That they may not turn, each from his wickedness: They shall be all to me as Sodom, And its inhabitants as Gomorrah.

15 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts Concerning these prophets, — I will feed them with a deadly poison, And give them waters of gall to drink; For from the prophets of Jerusalem Has gone forth impiety through all the laud.

16 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Hear ye not the words of the prophets Who prophesy to you; They make you to be vain; A vision of their own heart do they speak, And not from the mouth of Jehovah;

17 Who say to those who despise me, Spoken has Jehovah, “Peace shall be to you;” And to all who walk in the wickedness of their own hearts They say, “Come upon you shall not evil;

18 For who hath been in the counsel of Jehovah, And seen and heard his word? Who hath listened to his word and heard it?”

19 Behold the whirlwind of Jehovah! With fury it goeth forth; Even the impending whirlwind; On the head of the ungodly shall it fall:

20 Turn back shall not the anger of Jehovah Till he has done and confirmed The thoughts of his own heart: In the extremity of days Ye shall fully understand this.

21 I sent not the prophets, yet they have run; I spoke not to them, yet they have prophesied.

22 But if they had stood in my counsel, Surely they would have made my people hear my words, And turned them from their evil way, And from the wickedness of their doings?

23 Am I a God at hand, saith Jehovah, And not a God afar off?

24 Can a man hide himself in coverts That I could not see him? saith Jehovah; Do not I fill the heavens and the earth? saith Jehovah.

25 I have heard what the prophets say Who prophesy falsely in my name, Saying, “I have dreamed, I have dreamed.”

26 How long will it be in the heart of the prophets To prophesy falsehood, Yea, of the prophets of the deceit of their own heart!

27 Who think to make my people forget My name by their own dreams, Which they relate, each to his friend, As forgotten my name have their fathers through Baal.

28 The prophet who hath a dream, He will relate a dream; And he with whom is my word, He will speak my word of truth: What is the chaff to the wheat? saith Jehovah.

29 Is not my word like fire? saith Jehovah, And like the hammer that breaks the stone?

30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, Who steal my words, each from his friend:

31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, Who elevate their own tongue, And say, “It <