Jeremiah 25

CHAPTER 25

Seventy Years of Captivity

¹The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the ^afourth year of ^bJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the ^cfirst year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),

²which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the ^apeople of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,

³“From the ^athirteenth year of ^bJosiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, ¹these ^ctwenty-three years the word of Yahweh has come to me, and I have spoken to you, ^2drising up early and speaking, but you have not listened.

⁴“And Yahweh has sent to you all His ^aslaves the prophets, rising up early and sending, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear,

⁵saying, ‘^aTurn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the ground which Yahweh has given to you and your fathers ^bforever and ever;

⁶and ^ado not walk after other gods to ¹serve them and to ²worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will bring no evil against you.’

⁷“Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares Yahweh, “in order that you might ^aprovoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own evil demise.

⁸“Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Because you have not listened to My words,

⁹behold, I will ^asend and take all the families of the north,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^bMy servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will ¹devote them to destruction and ^cmake them an object of horror and of hissing and an everlasting waste place.

¹⁰‘Moreover, I will ^1amake the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the ^bsound of the millstones and the light of the lamp, to perish from them.

¹¹‘^aThis whole land will be a waste place and an object of horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon ^bseventy years.

Punishment Against Babylon

¹²‘Then it will be ^awhen seventy years are fulfilled, that I will ^bpunish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares Yahweh, ‘for their iniquity, even the land of the Chaldeans; and ^cI will make it an everlasting desolation.

¹³‘I will bring upon that land all My words which I have spoken against it, all that is written in ^athis book which Jeremiah has prophesied against ^ball the nations.

¹⁴‘—¹For ^amany nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will ^brepay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands—’”

¹⁵For thus Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this ^acup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.

¹⁶“They will ^adrink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”

¹⁷Then I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and ^amade all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me drink it:

^18aJerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a waste place, an object of horror, an object of hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;

^19aPharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people,

²⁰and all the ^1aforeign people, all the kings of the ^bland of Uz, all the kings of the land of the ^cPhilistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of ^dAshdod),

^21aEdom, ^bMoab, and the sons of ^cAmmon,

²²and all the kings of ^aTyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of ^bthe coastlands which are beyond the sea,

²³and ^aDedan, Tema, ^bBuz, and all who ^ccut ¹the corners of their hair,

²⁴and all the kings of ^aArabia and all the kings of the ^1bforeign people who dwell in the desert,

²⁵and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of ^aElam, and all the kings of ^bMedia,

²⁶and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and ^aall the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of ^1bSheshach shall drink after them.

²⁷“You shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “^aDrink, be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more because of the ^bsword which I will send among you.” ’

²⁸“And it will be, if they ^arefuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts: “^bYou shall surely drink!

²⁹“For behold, I am ^abeginning to bring evil against this city which is ^bcalled by My name. But shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment, for ^cI am calling for a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares Yahweh of hosts.’

³⁰“Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them,

‘^aYahweh will ^broar from on high

And give forth His voice from His holy habitation;

He will roar mightily against His ¹pasture.

He will bellow a shout like those who tread the grapes,

Against all the inhabitants of the earth.

³¹‘A rumbling has come to the end of the earth

Because Yahweh has ^aa contention against the nations.

He is entering into ^bjudgment with all flesh;

As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ declares Yahweh.”

³²Thus says Yahweh of hosts,

“Behold, evil is going forth

From ^anation to nation,

And a great ^bstorm is being stirred up

From the remotest parts of the earth.

³³“Those ^aslain by Yahweh on that day will be from one end of the earth to the ¹other. They will ^bnot be lamented, gathered, or buried; they will be like ^cdung on the face of the ground.

³⁴“Wail, you shepherds, and cry out;

And ^aroll yourselves in ashes, you masters of the flock;

For the days of your ^bslaughter and your scatterings are being fulfilled,

And you will fall like a desirable vessel.

³⁵“^aRefuge will perish from the shepherds

And escape from the mighty ones of the flock.

³⁶“Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds,

And the wailing of the mighty ones of the flock!

For Yahweh is destroying their pasture,

³⁷And the peaceful ^apastures are made silent

Because of the ^bburning anger of Yahweh.

³⁸“He has forsaken His hiding place ^alike the lion;

For their land has become an object of horror

Because of the burning desire of ¹the oppressor

And because of His burning anger.”