Your Fathers Where Are They but Jeremiah's Words Endure

Rabbi Acha opened: "Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?" (Zechariah 1:5). Rabbi Acha said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: My children, your fathers who sinned before Me, where are they? They said before Him: Master of the worlds, and the prophets, do they live forever? He said to them: Even though they died, their prophecy does not endure [in the same way]. Moses died, yet his prophecy does not endure [as a living word]; but Jeremiah, who is alive, and his words endure. Therefore Scripture needs to say, "The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah" (Jeremiah ibid.).