Jeremiah 25–26

THE SEVENTY-YEAR EXILE

25This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim^o son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon). ²The prophet Jeremiah spoke concerning all the people of Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem as follows: ³“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon,^p king of Judah, until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you time and time again,^Aq but you have not obeyed. ⁴The Lord sent all his servants the prophets to you time and time again,^B but you have not obeyed or even paid attention.^{Cr 5}He announced, ‘Turn, each of you, from your evil way of life and from your evil deeds.^s Live in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors long ago and forever.^{t 6}Do not follow other gods to serve them and to bow in worship to them,^u and do not anger me by the work of your hands.^v Then I will do you no harm.

⁷“ ‘But you have not obeyed me’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘with the result that you have angered me by the work of your hands and brought disaster on yourselves.’

⁸“Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies says: ‘Because you have not obeyed my words, ⁹I am going to send for all the families of the north’^w—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘and send for my servant^x Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and make them an example of horror^y and scorn, and ruins forever.^{z 10}I will eliminate the sound of joy and gladness from them—the voice of the groom and the bride,^aa the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. ¹¹This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.^{ab 12}When the seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, and I will make it a ruin forever.^{a 13}I will bring on that land all my words I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book that Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. ¹⁴For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.’ ”^b

THE CUP OF GOD’S WRATH

¹⁵This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand and make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink from it.^{c 16}They will drink, stagger,^A and go out of their minds because of the sword I am sending among them.”^d

¹⁷So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink from it.

¹⁸Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah, its kings and its officials, to make them a desolate ruin, an example for scorn and cursing—as it is today;

¹⁹Pharaoh king of Egypt, his officers, his leaders, all his people,

²⁰and all the mixed peoples;

all the kings of the land of Uz;

all the kings of the land of the Philistines—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;

²¹Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;

²²all the kings of Tyre,

all the kings of Sidon,

and the kings of the coasts and islands;

²³Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all those who clip the hair on their temples;^Be

²⁴all the kings of Arabia,

and all the kings of the mixed peoples who have settled in the desert;

²⁵all the kings of Zimri,

all the kings of Elam,

and all the kings of Media;

²⁶all the kings of the north, both near and far from one another;

that is, all the kingdoms of the world throughout the earth.

Finally, the king of Sheshak^Cf will drink after them.

²⁷“Then you are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Drink,^g get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you.’ ²⁸If^D they refuse to accept the cup from your hand and drink, you are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: You must drink! ²⁹For I am already bringing disaster^h on the city that bears my name,ⁱ so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth. This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.’^j

JUDGMENT ON THE WHOLE WORLD

³⁰“As for you, you are to prophesy all these things to them, and say to them:

The Lord roars from on high;

he makes his voice heard from his holy dwelling.^k

He roars loudly over his grazing land;

he calls out with a shout, like those who tread grapes,

against all the inhabitants of the earth.

³¹The tumult reaches to the ends of the earth

because the Lord brings a case against^l the nations.

He enters into judgment with all humanity.^m

As for the wicked, he hands them over to the sword—

this is the Lord’s declaration.

³²“This is what the Lord of Armies says:

Pay attention! Disaster spreads

from nation to nation.

A huge storm is stirred up

from the ends of the earth.”ⁿ

³³Those slain by the Lord^o on that day will be scattered from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned,^p gathered, or buried. They will be like manure on the soil’s surface.

³⁴Wail, you shepherds, and cry out.

Roll in the dust,^q you leaders of the flock.

Because the days of your slaughter have come,^r

you will fall and become shattered like a precious vase.

³⁵Flight will be impossible for the shepherds,

and escape, for the leaders of the flock.

³⁶Hear the sound of the shepherds’ cry,

the wail of the leaders of the flock,

for the Lord is destroying their pasture.

³⁷Peaceful grazing land will become lifeless

because of the Lord’s burning anger.^a

³⁸He has left his den like a lion,

for their land has become a desolation

because of the sword^A of the oppressor,^b

because of his burning anger.

JEREMIAH’S SPEECH IN THE TEMPLE

26At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim^c son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: ²“This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all Judah’s cities that are coming to worship there. Do not hold back a word.^{d 3}Perhaps they will listen and turn—each from his evil way of life—so that I might relent^e concerning the disaster that I plan to do to them because of the evil of their deeds. ⁴You are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to me by living according to my instruction that I set before you^{f 5}and by listening to the words of my servants the prophets^g—whom I have been sending to you time and time again,^Bh though you did not listen—⁶I will make this temple like Shiloh.ⁱ I will make this city an example for cursing for all the nations of the earth.’ ”

JEREMIAH SEIZED

⁷The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the temple of the Lord. ⁸When he finished the address the Lord had commanded him to deliver to all the people, immediately the priests, the prophets, and all the people took hold of him, yelling, “You must surely die! ⁹How dare you prophesy in the name of the Lord, ‘This temple will become like Shiloh and this city will become an uninhabited ruin’!” Then all the people crowded around Jeremiah at the Lord’s temple.

¹⁰When the officials of Judah heard about these things, they went from the king’s palace to the Lord’s temple and sat at the entrance of the New Gate of the Lord’s temple.^{Aj 11}Then the priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man deserves the death sentence because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”^k

JEREMIAH’S DEFENSE

¹²Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people, “The Lord sent me to prophesy all the words that you have heard against this temple and city. ¹³So now, correct your ways and deeds,^l and obey the Lord your God so that he might relent concerning the disaster he had pronounced against you. ¹⁴As for me, here I am in your hands; do to me what you think is good and right. ¹⁵But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood^m on yourselves, on this city, and on its residents, for it is certain the Lord has sent me to speak all these things directly to you.”

JEREMIAH RELEASED

¹⁶Then the officials and all the people told the priests and prophets, “This man doesn’t deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God!”

¹⁷Some of the elders of the land stood upⁿ and said to all the assembled people, ¹⁸“Micah the Moreshite^o prophesied in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah^p and said to all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says:

Zion will be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem will become ruins,

and the temple’s mountain will be a high thicket.’^q

¹⁹Did King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah put him to death? Did not the king fear the Lord and plead for the Lord’s favor,^Br and did not the Lord relent concerning the disaster he had pronounced against them?^s We are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves!”

THE PROPHET URIAH

²⁰Another man was also prophesying in the name of the Lord—Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim.^t He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like all those of Jeremiah. ²¹King Jehoiakim, all his warriors, and all the officials heard his words, and the king tried to put him to death. When Uriah heard, he fled in fear and went to Egypt. ²²But King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan son of Achbor^a and certain other men with him went to Egypt. ²³They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who executed him with the sword and threw his corpse into the burial place of the common people.^A

²⁴But Ahikam^b son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.