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Jeremiah 1:8
And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
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Joshua 1:9
This is my command— be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
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Jeremiah 20:11
But the Lord stands beside me like a great warrior. Before him my persecutors will stumble. They cannot defeat me. They will fail and be thoroughly humiliated. Their dishonor will never be forgotten.
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Psalms 129:2
From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me, but they have never defeated me.
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Jeremiah 29:25-32
“ This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: You wrote a letter on your own authority to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, and you sent copies to the other priests and people in Jerusalem. You wrote to Zephaniah,“ The Lord has appointed you to replace Jehoiada as the priest in charge of the house of the Lord. You are responsible to put into stocks and neck irons any crazy man who claims to be a prophet.So why have you done nothing to stop Jeremiah from Anathoth, who pretends to be a prophet among you?Jeremiah sent a letter here to Babylon, predicting that our captivity will be a long one. He said,‘ Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce.’”But when Zephaniah the priest received Shemaiah’s letter, he took it to Jeremiah and read it to him.Then the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah:“ Send an open letter to all the exiles in Babylon. Tell them,‘ This is what the Lord says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Since he has prophesied to you when I did not send him and has tricked you into believing his lies,I will punish him and his family. None of his descendants will see the good things I will do for my people, for he has incited you to rebel against me. I, the Lord, have spoken!’”
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Jeremiah 15:10-21
Then I said,“ What sorrow is mine, my mother. Oh, that I had died at birth! I am hated everywhere I go. I am neither a lender who threatens to foreclose nor a borrower who refuses to pay— yet they all curse me.”The Lord replied,“ I will take care of you, Jeremiah. Your enemies will ask you to plead on their behalf in times of trouble and distress.Can a man break a bar of iron from the north, or a bar of bronze?At no cost to them, I will hand over your wealth and treasures as plunder to your enemies, for sin runs rampant in your land.I will tell your enemies to take you as captives to a foreign land. For my anger blazes like a fire that will burn forever.”Then I said,“ Lord, you know what’s happening to me. Please step in and help me. Punish my persecutors! Please give me time; don’t let me die young. It’s for your sake that I am suffering.When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.I never joined the people in their merry feasts. I sat alone because your hand was on me. I was filled with indignation at their sins.Why then does my suffering continue? Why is my wound so incurable? Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook, like a spring that has gone dry.”This is how the Lord responds:“ If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me. If you speak good words rather than worthless ones, you will be my spokesman. You must influence them; do not let them influence you!They will fight against you like an attacking army, but I will make you as secure as a fortified wall of bronze. They will not conquer you, for I am with you to protect and rescue you. I, the Lord, have spoken!Yes, I will certainly keep you safe from these wicked men. I will rescue you from their cruel hands.”
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Jeremiah 11:19
I was like a lamb being led to the slaughter. I had no idea that they were planning to kill me!“ Let’s destroy this man and all his words,” they said.“ Let’s cut him down, so his name will be forgotten forever.”
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Jeremiah 20:1-6
Now Pashhur son of Immer, the priest in charge of the Temple of the Lord, heard what Jeremiah was prophesying.So he arrested Jeremiah the prophet and had him whipped and put in stocks at the Benjamin Gate of the Lord’s Temple.The next day, when Pashhur finally released him, Jeremiah said,“ Pashhur, the Lord has changed your name. From now on you are to be called‘ The Man Who Lives in Terror.’For this is what the Lord says:‘ I will send terror upon you and all your friends, and you will watch as they are slaughtered by the swords of the enemy. I will hand the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will take them captive to Babylon or run them through with the sword.And I will let your enemies plunder Jerusalem. All the famed treasures of the city— the precious jewels and gold and silver of your kings— will be carried off to Babylon.As for you, Pashhur, you and all your household will go as captives to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you prophesied that everything would be all right.’”
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Jeremiah 26:11-24
The priests and prophets presented their accusations to the officials and the people.“ This man should die!” they said.“ You have heard with your own ears what a traitor he is, for he has prophesied against this city.”Then Jeremiah spoke to the officials and the people in his own defense.“ The Lord sent me to prophesy against this Temple and this city,” he said.“ The Lord gave me every word that I have spoken.But if you stop your sinning and begin to obey the Lord your God, he will change his mind about this disaster that he has announced against you.As for me, I am in your hands— do with me as you think best.But if you kill me, rest assured that you will be killing an innocent man! The responsibility for such a deed will lie on you, on this city, and on every person living in it. For it is absolutely true that the Lord sent me to speak every word you have heard.”Then the officials and the people said to the priests and prophets,“ This man does not deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”Then some of the wise old men stood and spoke to all the people assembled there.They said,“ Remember when Micah of Moresheth prophesied during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah. He told the people of Judah,‘ This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins! A thicket will grow on the heights where the Temple now stands.’But did King Hezekiah and the people kill him for saying this? No, they turned from their sins and worshiped the Lord. They begged him for mercy. Then the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had pronounced against them. So we are about to do ourselves great harm.”At this time Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath jearim was also prophesying for the Lord. And he predicted the same terrible disaster against the city and nation as Jeremiah did.When King Jehoiakim and the army officers and officials heard what he was saying, the king sent someone to kill him. But Uriah heard about the plan and escaped in fear to Egypt.Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Acbor to Egypt along with several other men to capture Uriah.They took him prisoner and brought him back to King Jehoiakim. The king then killed Uriah with a sword and had him buried in an unmarked grave.Nevertheless, Ahikam son of Shaphan stood up for Jeremiah and persuaded the court not to turn him over to the mob to be killed.
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Jeremiah 38:6-13
So the officials took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes into an empty cistern in the prison yard. It belonged to Malkijah, a member of the royal family. There was no water in the cistern, but there was a thick layer of mud at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it.But Ebed melech the Ethiopian, an important court official, heard that Jeremiah was in the cistern. At that time the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate,so Ebed melech rushed from the palace to speak with him.“ My lord the king,” he said,“ these men have done a very evil thing in putting Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern. He will soon die of hunger, for almost all the bread in the city is gone.”So the king told Ebed melech,“ Take thirty of my men with you, and pull Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.”So Ebed melech took the men with him and went to a room in the palace beneath the treasury, where he found some old rags and discarded clothing. He carried these to the cistern and lowered them to Jeremiah on a rope.Ebed melech called down to Jeremiah,“ Put these rags under your armpits to protect you from the ropes.” Then when Jeremiah was ready,they pulled him out. So Jeremiah was returned to the courtyard of the guard— the palace prison— where he remained.
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Jeremiah 37:11-21
When the Babylonian army left Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s approaching army,Jeremiah started to leave the city on his way to the territory of Benjamin, to claim his share of the property among his relatives there.But as he was walking through the Benjamin Gate, a sentry arrested him and said,“ You are defecting to the Babylonians!” The sentry making the arrest was Irijah son of Shelemiah, grandson of Hananiah.“ That’s not true!” Jeremiah protested.“ I had no intention of doing any such thing.” But Irijah wouldn’t listen, and he took Jeremiah before the officials.They were furious with Jeremiah and had him flogged and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary. Jonathan’s house had been converted into a prison.Jeremiah was put into a dungeon cell, where he remained for many days.Later King Zedekiah secretly requested that Jeremiah come to the palace, where the king asked him,“ Do you have any messages from the Lord?”“ Yes, I do!” said Jeremiah.“ You will be defeated by the king of Babylon.”Then Jeremiah asked the king,“ What crime have I committed? What have I done against you, your attendants, or the people that I should be imprisoned like this?Where are your prophets now who told you the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land?Listen, my lord the king, I beg you. Don’t send me back to the dungeon in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for I will die there.”So King Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah not be returned to the dungeon. Instead, he was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace. The king also commanded that Jeremiah be given a loaf of fresh bread every day as long as there was any left in the city. So Jeremiah was put in the palace prison.
