Editing Book of Jeremiah (section)

=== Jeremiah ===
According to its opening verses the book records the prophetic utterances of the priest [[Jeremiah]] son of Hilkiah, "to whom the word of [[YHWH]] came in the days of king Josiah" and after. Jeremiah lived during a turbulent period, the final years of the kingdom of Judah, from the death of king [[Josiah]] (609 BCE) and the loss of independence that followed, through the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the exile of much its population (587/586).{{sfn|Sweeney|2010|p=86}} The book depicts a remarkably introspective prophet, impetuous and often angered by the role into which he has been thrust, alternating efforts to warn the people with pleas to God for mercy, until he is ordered to "pray no more for this people." He does a number of prophetic symbolic acts, walking about in the streets with a yoke about his neck and engaging in other efforts to attract attention. He is taunted and retaliates, is thrown in jail as the result, and at one point is thrown into a pit to die.