Jeremiah 27:12–22

¹²To ^xZedekiah king of Judah I spoke in like manner: ^w“Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and ^yserve him and his people and live. ^13zWhy will you and your people die ^aby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, ^bas the Lord has spoken concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? ^14cDo not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ ^vfor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. ¹⁵I have not sent them, declares the Lord, but ^vthey are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”

¹⁶Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ^cDo not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ^d‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,’ ^vfor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. ^17cDo not listen to them; ^wserve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city ^ebecome a desolation? ¹⁸If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, then ^flet them intercede with the Lord of hosts, ^gthat the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. ^19hFor thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, ²⁰which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, ⁱwhen he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— ²¹thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ^hconcerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: ^22jThey shall be carried to Babylon ^kand remain there ^luntil the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. ^mThen I will bring them back ^jand restore them to this place.”