Jeremiah 26

The Novatians bring up a question from the words of the apostle Peter. Because he said, "if perhaps," they think that he did not imply that forgiveness would be granted on repentance. But let them consider concerning to whom the words were spoken—of Simon, who did not believe through faith but was contemplating trickery. So, too, the Lord, to him who said, "Lord, I will follow you wherever you go," replied, "Foxes have holes." For he knew that the man was not being fully sincere. If, then, the Lord refused to him who was not baptized permission to follow him, because he saw that he was not sincere, do you wonder that the apostle did not absolve him who after baptism was guilty of deceit and whom he declared to be still in the bond of iniquity? But let this be my answer to them. As to myself, I say that Peter did not doubt, and I do not think that so great a question can be so easily disposed of by the questionable interpretation of a single word. For if they think that Peter doubted, did God doubt, who said to the prophet Jeremiah, "Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and you shall give an answer to all Judah, to those who have come to worship in the Lord's house, even all the words that I have appointed for you to answer to them. Do not omit a word, perhaps they will listen and be converted." Let them say, then, that God also did not know what would happen. But ignorance is not implied in that word, but the common custom of Holy Scripture is observed to be taken in its simplest sense. Inasmuch as the Lord says also to Ezekiel, "Son of man, I will send you to the house of Israel, to those who have angered me, both themselves and their ancestors, this very day, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, if perhaps they will hear and be afraid." Did God not know that they could or could not be converted? So, then, that expression is not always a proof of doubt.

But he who is about to speak the word of the Lord ought to stand with Moses and to hear with the psalmist: you who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. And he is commanded to speak to all the cities of Judah, although the Seventy did not translate 'cities', lest perhaps it should seem unfitting to speak, in the court of the house of the Lord, to cities which were not present; but when he speaks to the peoples and to the citizens, he speaks to the cities themselves. And he fittingly stands in the court and vestibule of the temple of the Lord, so that, on the occasion of prayer to the Lord and of worshiping him, they may be compelled to hear the words of the prophet. 'Do not', he says, 'withhold a word; although it be sad, although the rage of those who hear be stirred up against you, nevertheless say what has been commanded you, fearing not the persecutions of those who are to be stirred up against you, but the command of the Lord who orders it!'

But if one says that God revoked that severe sentence in consideration of their penitence, according to what he says by Ezekiel, "If I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die' and he becomes penitent for his sin and does judgment and justice … he shall surely live; he shall not die," we are similarly taught that we should not be obstinate in our resolve, but that we should with gentle pity soften down the threats that necessity called forth. That we may not conclude that the Lord granted this specially to the Ninevites, he continually affirms by Jeremiah that he will do the same in general toward all and promises that without delay he will change his sentence in accordance with what we deserve, saying, "I will suddenly speak against a nation and against a kingdom to root out and to pull down and to destroy it. If that nation repents of the evil which I have spoken against it, I also will repent of the evil which I thought to do to them. And I will suddenly speak of a nation and a kingdom, to build up and to plant it. If it shall do evil in My sight, that it obey not my voice: I will repent of the good that I thought to do to it." To Ezekiel also: "Leave out not a word, if so they will hearken and be converted every one from his evil way that I may repent of the evil that I thought to do to them for the wickedness of their doings." And by these passages it is declared that we ought not obstinately to stick to our decisions but to modify them with reason and judgment, and that better courses should always be adopted and preferred and that we should turn without any delay to that course that is considered the more profitable. For this above all that invaluable sentence teaches us, because though each person's end is known beforehand to God before his birth, yet somehow God so orders all things by a plan and method for all, and with regard to human disposition, that he decides on everything not by the mere exercise of his power or according to the indescribable knowledge that his foreknowledge possesses but according to the people's present actions, and he rejects or draws to himself each one, and daily he either grants or withholds his grace.

He did not use the word perhaps out of ignorance, aware as he was of their disobedience. Instead, he expressed such uncertainty to avoid their taking note of the divine sentence and despairing of salvation. It resembles also what was said by Ezekiel, "If then they hear, if then they see." In other words, it was not a result of ignorance. It was, rather, to prevent their saying, He foretold our disobedience, and he is trustworthy, so how is it possible for us to be changed? Thus, in the present words he emphasizes that it is possible to undergo a change in behavior, if they are willing.

And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God; if perhaps even they will hear, and if perhaps they will be quiet. Something similar is written in Jeremiah too: If perhaps they will hear and repent, and in the Gospel: Perhaps they will respect my son. Now God speaks these words with the disposition of one who is in doubt, so that they may show the free choice of man, lest the foreknowledge of future things make immutable, whether for evil or for good, what God knew would come to be: for it is not because he knows what is to come that we must necessarily do what he foreknew; rather, what we are going to do by our own will, he, as God, knows will come to be.

Perhaps, he says, they will hear and turn. The ambiguous word 'perhaps' cannot befit the majesty of the Lord, but he speaks according to our feeling, so that free will may be preserved for man, lest by his foreknowledge man be compelled, as if by necessity, either to do something or not to do it; for it is not because God knows that something is going to be that it is therefore going to be, but because it is going to be, God knows it, as one who foreknows things to come. And yet it must be known, according to this same Jeremiah, that if the Lord has foretold evils and the people has repented, he himself too will repent over the things which he threatened to do; and if he has promised prosperity and the people has acted negligently, God changes his sentence and brings evils instead of good things. Something of this kind is also that saying in the Gospel: I will send my son; perhaps they will reverence him; which is surely said in the person of almighty God. Finally, in the present passage too he says: 'if perhaps they will hear and turn, each one from his evil way, so that, when they have turned, I too may repent of my sentence and not do what I am thinking to do to them. But I am thinking to do it because of the wickedness of their pursuits; and if these have been changed, my sentence too will be changed.' Let us read the history of Jonah and Nineveh.

And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: If you will not hear me, to walk in my law which I gave you, to hear the words of my servants, the prophets, whom I sent to you, rising up by night and sending, and you did not hear, I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth. It is therefore placed in our power either to do something or not to do it, only in such a way that whatever good work we will, seek and accomplish, we refer to the grace of God, who, according to the Apostle, has given us both to will and to accomplish. But if it suffices to walk once in the law which was given to us through Moses, as the foolish heresy supposes, how is it that he added: to hear the words of my servants, the prophets? who surely were sent after the law, and not once but frequently, nor idly and as from one at ease, but always and as from one who is anxious.

'I sent', he says, 'to you my servants daily and rising up by night; and if you will not hear them, I will make this house' — that is, the temple of God — 'like Shiloh', where the tabernacle was. And when the temple has been destroyed, consequently the city too will be a curse to all the nations of the earth. And just as, when the temple had been built on the threshing floor of Ornan and on Mount 'Moria', that is, 'of vision', on which Abraham is related to have offered his son Isaac, the worship of Shiloh ceased and no sacrifices were afterwards celebrated there, so, when the Church had been built and spiritual victims had been offered in it, the ceremonies of the law ceased, and the city of the Jews was made a curse to all the nations of the earth, from which the Lord has freed us, as the Apostle says: Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having been made a curse for us.

And the priests and the prophets — or false prophets — and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets — or false prophets — and all the people seized him, saying: Let him die the death, because he has prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying: This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be made desolate, so that there is no inhabitant. The priests and the prophets, whom the Seventy more plainly translated as 'false prophets', are angry with Jeremiah because he preaches true things, and because, with the temple overthrown and the city deserted, their religion would perish, and the profits coming from religion; therefore they seize him and, with the people consenting with them, destine him for death, because he had said in the name of the Lord: This house shall be like Shiloh, and the city shall be made desolate, so that there is no inhabitant. If, then, at any time, because of the commandments of the Lord and the truth of the faith, either priests or false prophets or a deceived people are angry with us, let us not greatly care, but let us carry out the sentence of God, pondering in our mind by no means present evils, but future goods.

And all the people was gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. And the princes of Judah heard these words, and they went up from the king's house to the house of the Lord and sat in the entrance of the new gate of the Lord. Jeremiah was prophesying the words of the Lord in the temple and had said: I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city a curse to all the nations of the earth, and at once, a riot having been stirred up by the priests and prophets and people, the whole crowd is gathered against the prophet into the temple, where the prophet was and was being held by the hands of the priests and prophets and crowd.

When the princes of the city, who were staying in the royal house, had heard this, they crossed over, or went up from the king's house to the house of the Lord. And it is to be noted that to go to the house of the Lord is always an ascent. And they sat in the entrance of the new gate of the Lord. For it was the duty of the princes to sit in the gate of the house of the Lord and there to learn the truth of the business and of the riot. But the gate is called 'new' because those who sat in it and presided over the judgment resisted the slanders of the priests and false prophets.

And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and to all the people, saying: There is a judgment of death for this man, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears. While the princes of the city, who had run from the king's palace to the temple so that the riot of the people might be calmed, were sitting in the gate of the temple and in the new gate, and an assembly of the people had been gathered, the priests and false prophets accuse him; and the prophet would have perished, as far as it lay with the priests and prophets, if the accusers themselves had had the power of judgment. From this we understand that those who seemed devoted to religion were crueler toward the prophet, through envy of his holiness, than those who presided over public needs.

And Jeremiah said to all the princes and to all the people, saying: The Lord sent me to prophesy to this house — or upon this house — and to this city — or upon this city — all the words which you have heard. Now therefore make good your ways and your pursuits, and hear the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will repent of the evil which he has spoken against you — or and the Lord will rest from the evils which he has spoken against you —. As for me, behold, I am in your hands; do to me as is good and right in your eyes — or as is expedient for you — ! Nevertheless, know and understand that, if you kill me, you will bring innocent blood against your very selves and against this city and its inhabitants; for in truth the Lord sent me to you, to speak in your ears all these words. When, with the people present, the princes of the city were sitting in the gate, and the priests and prophets were accusing Jeremiah the prophet and pressing a capital charge, Jeremiah speaks to the princes and to all the people, whom the faction of the priests and false prophets had stirred up, prudently and at the same time humbly and steadfastly. Prudently, in that he said he had been sent by the Lord to speak against the temple and the city, and gave the counsel that, if they were willing to hear his counsel and to repent, the Lord too would change his sentence. Humbly, in what he says: behold, I am in your hands; do to me as is good and right in your eyes! And steadfastly: in truth the Lord sent me to you, to speak in your ears all these words. And in other words he says: 'If you are angry because I have spoken against the temple and the city of the Lord, and the safety of the city and of the temple is your concern, why do you add sins to sins and make both the city and its inhabitants guilty of my blood?' If, then, at any time we too have need of humility because of the straits of necessity, let us so take it up that we do not desert truth and steadfastness; for it is one thing proudly to insult the one who judges, which is a sign of folly, another so to avoid the impending danger that you subtract nothing from the truth.

And the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets: There is no judgment of death for this man, because he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God. The people, which had earlier been tripped up by the priests and false prophets, joins the princes of the city and speaks for Jeremiah, saying that he is by no means guilty of death, but has prophesied in the name of the Lord and from his mouth; for the untaught crowd, once it has received a reason, quickly changes its opinion. But the resentment of the accusers, especially of the priests and false prophets, cannot be changed; and therefore, while they accuse and persevere in the accusation, the people is changed, because he had given them hope of the Lord's pardon, if they made their ways good and heard the voice of the Lord their God, so that the Lord too would bend his sentence.

And there rose up men of the elders of the land and said to the whole assembly of the people, speaking: Micah of Moresheth was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become a heap of stones, and the mountain of the house the heights of the forests. Did Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all Judah condemn him to death? Did they not fear the Lord and entreat the face of the Lord, and the Lord repented of the evil which he had spoken against them? So we are doing a great evil against our own souls. The princes of the city and the people understand the truth of the judgment; but the elders, whose proper task it was to know old things, unfold the history and prophecy of Micah of Moresheth, who prophesied under King Hezekiah, compare it with the prophecy of Jeremiah, for which a capital charge is being pressed against him, and show that Micah had said graver things and yet had suffered nothing from the righteous king Hezekiah, but that they, converted to repentance, had turned the sentence of the Lord in a good direction. For Micah said: Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become a heap of stones, and the mountain of the house the heights of the forests; and Jeremiah: I will make, he says, this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth. And they give counsel, thinking that what Micah had foretold would by no means come to pass, because for a long time it had not been done on account of the repentance of the people, and that this too, which Jeremiah spoke, would by no means come to be, if, according to his counsel, they made good their ways and their pursuits and heard the voice of the Lord their God, so that the Lord would not bring the evil with which he had threatened them. And at the same time they break the rage of the accusers and mingle themselves with them, saying: So we are doing a great evil against our own souls, not that they ought to do it, but because, if they did it, they would by no means harm the accused, but their own souls, which they could have freed by a change of their sentence.

There was also a man prophesying in the name of the Lord, Uriah, son of Shemaiah of Kiriath-jearim, and he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah. And King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and his princes heard these words, and the king sought to kill him; and Uriah heard and was afraid and fled and entered Egypt. And what follows: and King Jehoiakim sent men into Egypt, Elnathan, son of Achbor, and men with him into Egypt, is not found in the Seventy. Then is joined: and they brought Uriah out of Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim; and he struck him with the sword and cast his corpse into the graves of the ignoble common people. Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, was with Jeremiah, so that he should not be delivered into the hand of the people and they kill him. It is asked why, when Uriah, son of Shemaiah, from the town of Kiriath-jearim, had prophesied the same things as Jeremiah, and, struck with fear, fled to Egypt and, dragged back from there, was killed, Jeremiah was able to escape, who certainly had not fled, but, boldly persevering in his former statement, was freed both by the judgment of the crowd and of the princes and by the counsel of the elders against the accusers, the priests and false prophets. To this one must briefly answer that the judgment of God can by no means be known, when, in the same cause and for the same statement, one is punished and another is freed; unless perhaps we can answer this, that Uriah was slaughtered to the condemnation of both the accusers and the people, while Jeremiah was preserved by the judgment of God, so that he might preach to the remnant of the unhappy people and draw them back to repentance. This indeed we also read in the Acts of the Apostles: that the apostle James at once suffered the sentence of Herod and was crowned with martyrdom, but Peter and the other apostles were preserved for the teaching of the Lord. And the prophetic steadfastness is to be noticed, in that not even when dragged back from Egypt did Uriah change his statement, but, seeing death threatened against him, nonetheless spoke what the Lord had commanded. And that he feared and fled and entered Egypt is a sign not of unbelief but of prudence, lest we offer ourselves to dangers in vain. Otherwise we read that the Lord and Savior too slipped out of the hands of his persecutors, and that he commanded the apostles: when they persecute you in this city, flee to another!

It is also asked how Jehoiakim, king of Judah, a king of small dominion, weakened, and about to perish at any moment, had the power of sending into Egypt and of bringing Uriah out from there. This is easily solved if we consider that he had been appointed prince by Neco, king of Egypt, and that this prophecy was made in the beginning of his reign.

Jeremiah needed the help of Ahikam. How much more do we need that of God.

But although Jeremiah was freed by the help of the Lord, yet it is reckoned as a reward to him also through whom the Lord freed his prophet, namely to Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as we shall read later, when Jeremiah is freed from the danger of death out of the cistern of mud by the counsel and protection of Ebed-melech the eunuch.