1 Seventy Years of Captivity The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),
2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
3 “From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, 25:3Lit this these twenty-three years the word of Yahweh has come to me, and I have spoken to you, 25:3Lit I rise early rising up early and speaking, but you have not listened.
4 And Yahweh has sent to you all His slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear,
5 saying, ‘Turn 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 forever and ever;
6 and do not walk after other gods to 25:6Or worship serve them and to 25:6Or bow down to worship 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 provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own evildemise.
8 “Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Because you have not listened to My words,
9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ declares Yahweh, ‘andI will sendto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will 25:9Or put them under the ban devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and of hissing and an everlasting waste place.
10 Moreover, I will 25:10Lit cause to perish make the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp, to perish from them.
11 This whole land will be a waste place and an object of horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.Punishment Against Babylon
12 ‘Then it will be when seventy years are fulfilled,thatI will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares Yahweh, ‘for their iniquity, even the land of the Chaldeans; and I 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 this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.
14 — 25:14Or For they have served many nations and great kings For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands—’ ”
15 For thus Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.
16 They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”
17 Then I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and made all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me drink it:
18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kingsandits princes, to make them a waste place, an object of horror, an object of hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;
19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people,
20 and all the 25:20Or mixed multitude foreign people, all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod),
21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon,
22 and all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands which are beyond the sea,
23 and Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut 25:23Or fringes of the desert the cornersof their hair,
24 and all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the 25:24Or mixed multitude foreign people who dwell in the desert,
25 and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media,
26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of 25:26 Cryptic name for Babylon Sheshach shall drink after them.
27 “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you.” ’
28 And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts: “You shall surely drink!
29 For behold, I am beginning to bring evil againstthiscity which is called by My name. But shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment, for I 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,‘Yahweh will roar from on highAnd give forth His voice from His holy habitation;He will roar mightily against His 25:30Or habitation pasture.He will bellow a shout like those who treadthe grapes,Against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 ‘A rumbling has come to the end of the earthBecause Yahweh has a contention against the nations.He is entering into judgment with all flesh;As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ declares Yahweh.”
32 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,“Behold, evil is going forthFrom nation to nation,And a great storm is being stirred upFrom the remotest parts of the earth.
33 “Those slain by Yahweh on that day will be from one end of the earth to the 25:33Lit other end of the earth other. They will not be lamented, gathered, or buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground.
34 “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out;And roll yourselvesin ashes, you masters of the flock;For the days of your slaughter and your scatterings are being fulfilled,And you will fall like a desirable vessel.
35 “Refuge will perish from the shepherdsAnd escape from the mighty ones of the flock.
36 “Hearthe sound of the cry of the shepherds,And the wailing of the mighty ones of the flock!For Yahweh is destroying their pasture,
37 And the peaceful pastures are made silentBecause of the burning anger of Yahweh.
38 “He has forsaken His hiding place like the lion;For their land has become an object of horrorBecause of the burningdesireof 25:38Lit the one who mistreats the oppressorAnd because of His burning anger.”