Jeremiah 27:12–22

¹²And I spoke words like these to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, saying,^k “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. ¹³Why should you die—you and your people—by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague, as Yahweh has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴And you must not listen to the words of the prophets who are speaking to you, saying,^l ‘You must not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁵For I have not sent them,” declares^m Yahweh, “but they are prophesying in my name falsely,ⁿ so that I will drive them away. And you will perish—you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”

The Vessels of the Temple

¹⁶Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying,^o “Thus says Yahweh, ‘You must not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying,^p “Look, the vessels of the house of Yahweh are about to be quickly brought back from Babylon”, for they are prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁷And you must not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a site of ruins? ¹⁸But if they are prophets, and if there is with them the word of Yahweh, let them please plead with Yahweh of hosts, that the vessels that are left over in the temple^q of Yahweh, and the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, must not go to Babylon.’

¹⁹For thus says Yahweh of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, ²⁰which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, did not take when he deported Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with^r all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. ²¹For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Yahweh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: ²²‘They will be brought to Babylon, and there they will stay until the day of my attending to them,’ declares^s Yahweh. ‘Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.’ ”