Jeremiah 27:12–22

¹²I spoke words like all these to ^aZedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live!

¹³“Why will you ^adie, you and your people, by the sword, famine, and pestilence, as Yahweh has spoken to that nation which will not serve the king of Babylon?

¹⁴“So ^ado not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a ^blie to you;

¹⁵for ^aI have not sent them,” declares Yahweh, “but they ^bprophesy a lie in My name, in order that I may ^cbanish you and that you may perish, ^dyou and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

¹⁶Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says Yahweh: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the ^avessels of the house of Yahweh will now shortly be returned from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a ^blie to you.

¹⁷“Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city ^abecome a waste place?

¹⁸“But ^aif they are prophets, and if the word of Yahweh is with them, let them now ^bintercede with Yahweh of hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of Yahweh, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon.

¹⁹“For thus says Yahweh of hosts concerning the ^apillars, concerning the sea, concerning the stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city,

²⁰which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he ^acarried away into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.

²¹“Indeed, 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 ^abrought to Babylon, and they will be there until the ^bday I ¹visit them,’ declares Yahweh. ‘Then I will ^cbring them up and return them to this place.’”