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Book introduction

The book of Jeremiah

Jeremiah prophesied in Judah’s last 40 years and lived through Jerusalem’s fall. He warns, weeps, is jailed, and keeps speaking. In the middle of it he promises a new covenant written on the heart.

Major prophets · 52 chapters

Read Jeremiah 1

Who wrote Jeremiah?

Jeremiah dictated many of his messages to his scribe Baruch, and the book records this. It went through editing; the Greek version is shorter and arranged differently from the Hebrew.

When was it written?

Jeremiah’s ministry ran about 627–580 BC.

See Jeremiah on the Bible timeline

Main themes

A call to return
Jeremiah pleads with Judah to turn back before it is too late.
The weeping prophet
He shares God’s grief and his own.
The new covenant
Chapter 31 promises God’s law written on hearts and sins forgiven.

Outline of Jeremiah

  1. Chapter 1Jeremiah’s call
  2. Chapters 2–25Warnings to Judah
  3. Chapters 26–29Conflict with false prophets and a letter to the exiles
  4. Chapters 30–33The book of comfort
  5. Chapters 34–45The siege, the fall, and after
  6. Chapters 46–51Words to the nations
  7. Chapter 52Jerusalem falls

Key verses

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came out of the womb I set you apart; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 1:5

Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, whose trust is Yahweh.

Jeremiah 17:7

For I myself know the plans I have in mind for you, declares Yahweh—plans for peace and not for disaster, to give you a future and something to hope for.

Jeremiah 29:11

For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares Yahweh: I will put my law inside them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Jeremiah 31:33

Quoted from the Lumin Translation.

Where to start

Read chapter 1, then the letter to the exiles in 29 and the new covenant in 31.

Read Jeremiah 1

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