Jeremiah 27
27
Symbol of the Bonds and Yokes
1In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, #Jer. 27:3, 12, 20; 28:1king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2“Thus says the Lord to me: ‘Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, #Jer. 28:10, 12; Ezek. 4:1; 12:3; 24:3and put them on your neck, 3and send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4And command them to say to their masters, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel—thus you shall say to your masters: 5#Ps. 115:15; 146:6; Is. 45:12‘I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and #Deut. 9:29; Ps. 115:16; Jer. 32:17; Dan. 4:17, 25, 32have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. 6#Jer. 28:14And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, #Jer. 25:9; 43:10; Ezek. 29:18, 20My servant; and #Jer. 28:14; Dan. 2:38the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. 7#2 Chr. 36:20So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, #Jer. 25:12; 50:27; (Dan. 5:26); Zech. 2:8, 9until the time of his land comes; #Jer. 25:14and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. 8And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,’ says the Lord, ‘with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon.” 10For they prophesy a #Jer. 23:16, 32; 28:15lie to you, to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain in their own land,’ says the Lord, ‘and they shall till it and dwell in it.’ ” ’ ”
12I also spoke to #Jer. 28:1; 38:17Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live! 13#(Prov. 8:36); Jer. 27:8; 38:23; (Ezek. 18:31)Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14Therefore #Jer. 23:16do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy #Jer. 14:14; 23:21; 29:8, 9; Ezek. 13:22a lie to you; 15for I have #Jer. 23:21; 29:9not sent them,” says the Lord, “yet they prophesy a lie in My name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”
16Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, “Behold, #2 Kin. 24:13; 2 Chr. 36:7, 10; Jer. 28:3; Dan. 1:2the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon”; for they prophesy a lie to you. 17Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city be laid waste? 18But if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon.’
19“For thus says the Lord of hosts #1 Kin. 7:15; 2 Kin. 25:13–17; Jer. 52:17, 20, 21concerning the pillars, concerning the Sea, concerning the carts, and concerning the remainder of the vessels that remain in this city, 20which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away #2 Kin. 24:14, 15; 2 Chr. 36:10, 18; Jer. 24:1captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21yes, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the #Jer. 20:5vessels that remain in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem: 22‘They shall be #2 Kin. 25:13; 2 Chr. 36:18carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I #2 Chr. 36:21; Jer. 29:10; 32:5visit them,’ says the Lord. ‘Then #Ezra 1:7; 7:19I will bring them up and restore them to this place.’ ”
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Jeremiah 27: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 27
27
Slaves of Nebuchadnezzar
1-2 #
2 K 24.18-20; 2 Ch 36.11-13. Not long after Zedekiah became king of Judah,#27.1,2 Not long after Zedekiah became king of Judah: A few manuscripts and one ancient translation; most Hebrew manuscripts “Not long after Jehoiakim became king of Judah”; most manuscripts of another ancient translation do not have these words. Jehoiakim ruled 609–598 b.c., and Zedekiah ruled 598–586 b.c. the Lord told me:
Jeremiah, make a wooden yoke#27.1,2 yoke: A wooden collar that fits around the neck of an ox, so the ox can be made to pull a plow or a cart. with leather straps, and place it on your neck. 3Then send a message#27.3 a message: Hebrew “them.” to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. Some officials from these countries are in Jerusalem, meeting with Zedekiah. 4So have them tell their kings that I have said:
I am the All-Powerful Lord God of Israel, 5and with my power I created the earth, its people, and all animals. I decide who will rule the earth, 6-7#Ba 3.16,17. and I have chosen my servant King Nebuchadnezzar#27.6,7 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2. of Babylonia to rule all nations, including yours. I will even let him rule the wild animals. All nations will be slaves of Nebuchadnezzar, his son, and his grandson. Then many nations will join together, and their kings will make slaves of the Babylonians.
8This yoke stands for the power of King Nebuchadnezzar, and I will destroy any nation that refuses to obey him. Nebuchadnezzar will attack, and many will die in battle or from hunger and disease. 9You might have people in your kingdom who claim they can tell the future by magic or by talking with the dead or by dreams or messages from a god. But don't pay attention if any of them tell you not to obey Nebuchadnezzar. 10If you listen to such lies, I will have you dragged far from your country and killed. 11But if you and your nation are willing to obey Nebuchadnezzar, I will let you stay in your country, and your people will continue to live and work on their farms.
12After I had spoken to the officials from the nearby kingdoms, I went to King Zedekiah and told him the same thing. Then I said:
Zedekiah, if you and the people of Judah want to stay alive, you must obey Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. 13But if you refuse, then you and your people will die from war, hunger, and disease, just as the Lord has warned. 14Your prophets have told you that you don't need to obey Nebuchadnezzar, but don't listen to their lies. 15Those prophets claim to be speaking for the Lord, but he didn't send them. They are lying! If you do what they say, he will have both you and them dragged off to another country and killed. The Lord has spoken.
16When I finished talking to the king, I told the priests and everyone else that the Lord had said:
Don't listen to the prophets when they say that very soon the Babylonians will return the things they took from my temple. Those prophets are lying! 17If you choose to obey the king of Babylonia, you will live. But if you listen to those prophets, this whole city will be nothing but a pile of rubble.
18If I really had spoken to those prophets, they would know what I am going to do. Then they would be begging me not to let everything else be taken from the temple and the king's palace and the rest of Jerusalem. 19-21After all, when Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin#27.19-21 Jehoiachin: Hebrew “Jeconiah” (see the note at 24.1). to Babylonia as a prisoner, he didn't take everything of value from Jerusalem. He left the bronze pillars, the huge bronze bowl called the Sea, and the movable bronze stands in the temple, and he left a lot of other valuable things in the palace and in the rest of Jerusalem.
But now I, the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, say that all these things 22will be taken to Babylonia, where they will remain until I decide to bring them back to Jerusalem. I, the Lord, have spoken.
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© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.