Jeremiah 25:1–9

Seventy Years of Captivity

25The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim^e son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar^f king of Babylon. ²So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah^g and to all those living in Jerusalem: ³For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah^h son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again,ⁱ but you have not listened.^j

⁴And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets^k to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention.^{l 5}They said, “Turn^m now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the landⁿ the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. ⁶Do not follow other gods^o to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”

⁷“But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused^p my anger with what your hands have made,^q and you have brought harm^r to yourselves.”

⁸Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, ⁹I will summon^s all the peoples of the north^t and my servant^u Nebuchadnezzar^v king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy^aw them and make them an object of horror and scorn,^x and an everlasting ruin.^y