The Lord sends Jeremiah to the court of the Temple to share His message with all of the cities of Judah.
He warns Jeremiah not to change a word.
The Lord states that He still hopes they'll repent so He won't have to bring the calamity He has planned. He actually says if they listen and turn back, He will repent of His plan. The Hebrew word is naham. This isn't the "turn from your sin" type of repent. According to Blue Letter Bible it's to have compassion and sorrow. To comfort oneself.
He forever wants us to be okay. He wants us to do the right thing. I always think of King Ahab and what a truly terrible person he was; but even he got God to offer him a measure of grace and mercy when he humbled himself before the Lord. That's God's default. He truly loves us and even under the current situation in Judah, His heart is for their return.
That should shatter us. More than all the threats and fear, that kind of love should sink all the way to our core and heal us. Which is what sanctification is.
Starting in verse 4, the Lord gives Jeremiah the message. Listen to Me and My servants, the prophets. Do the right things. Otherwise, this house (Temple) will be cursed.
Of course, instead of any of that, their response was to seize Jeremiah and sentence him to die. Outraged, they railed against the message, they especially didn't appreciate the cursed part. Which makes sense, knowing the human heart. But I heard an appropriate saying recently, a hit dog howls. They wouldn't be having such an outsized responses if they didn't know in their hearts that they deserved a curse but resented that someone was saying it aloud.
Jeremiah's message even got the princes to come down to the Temple. Again, who cares what a crazy person rambles on about. Would a governor of a state come down to a random street preacher? No, the princes also reacted like a dog hit. They howled.
All of the leaders publicly pronounce a death sentence on Jeremiah for cursing the city.
Jeremiah responds by reminding them all (religious and civil leaders and the people) that the message came from the Lord. He goes on to promise if they mend their ways, the Lord will change His mind.
Two thoughts about this. It's beautiful and stunning that Jeremiah's response to the death threat was to keep preaching. And it's incomprehensible that he's still focused on the message that God will change his mind. He is giving them a way out without backing down himself. It's such a remarkable response. It may seem like an obvious Hollywood hero speech, but I think most of us would either hurl insults or meekly beg for their mercy. But no. Straight and steady Jeremiah.
But as for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your sight. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.” Jeremiah 26:14-15, NASB95
Amazing response.
It's such a good response that the people and the officials called off the priests and prophets, who were still ready to kill Jeremiah. The people and princes knew that Jeremiah was speaking for the Lord when those who should have know the Lord's voice the best--priests and prophets--couldn't hear that it was from the Lord. It's imperative that you use discernment in which religious leaders you put trust. If they are out of God's will, they'll be the last to recognize it. Hard hearts make it impossible to admit when you're doing your job poorly.
Some elders suddenly understood the assignment and tried to bring some reason to the situation. They brought up when a prophet brought similar news to Hezekiah. Did Hezekiah kills the messengers or did he humble himself and seek the Lord? The latter of course. So the Lord changed His mind.
But the elders recognized that this was not the route this train was on. "But we are committing a great evil against ourselves."
Then we learn of another prophet, Uriah, bringing the same message as Jeremiah, of a curse to the city. King Jehoiakim heard about it and called for Uriah's death. Uriah heard this and fled to Egypt. Jehoiakim had him hunted down in Egypt and brought him back, slayed him, and threw him in the commoners' grave.
But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was not given into the hands of the people to put him to death. Jeremiah 26:24 (Ahikam was an official left over from King Josiah's time, so he apparently had enough juice to keep Jeremiah safe.)
It's good to remember that sometimes the Lord closes the lion's mouth for Daniel and sometimes His people are martyred. I don't know why, but I know that His ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not mine. We trust and obey, not necessarily that we'll get our way; but that in our faithfulness we please the Lord.