Jeremiah 25
25
Seventy Years of Captivity
1This message for all the people of Judah came to Jeremiah from the Lord during the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign over Judah.#25:1a The fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign and the accession year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign was 605 b.c. This was the year when King Nebuchadnezzar#25:1b Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar; also in 25:9. of Babylon began his reign.
2Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people in Judah and Jerusalem, 3“For the past twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon,#25:3 The thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign was 627 b.c. king of Judah, until now—the Lord has been giving me his messages. I have faithfully passed them on to you, but you have not listened.
4“Again and again the Lord has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention. 5Each time the message was this: ‘Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors forever. 6Do not provoke my anger by worshiping idols you made with your own hands. Then I will not harm you.’
7“But you would not listen to me,” says the Lord. “You made me furious by worshiping idols you made with your own hands, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer. 8And now the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Because you have not listened to me, 9I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy#25:9 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering. you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever. 10I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out. 11This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12“Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins,” says the Lord. “I will make the country of the Babylonians#25:12 Or Chaldeans. a wasteland forever. 13I will bring upon them all the terrors I have promised in this book—all the penalties announced by Jeremiah against the nations. 14Many nations and great kings will enslave the Babylonians, just as they enslaved my people. I will punish them in proportion to the suffering they cause my people.”
The Cup of the Lord’s Anger
15This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it. 16When they drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against them.”
17So I took the cup of anger from the Lord and made all the nations drink from it—every nation to which the Lord sent me. 18I went to Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah, and their kings and officials drank from the cup. From that day until this, they have been a desolate ruin, an object of horror, contempt, and cursing. 19I gave the cup to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials, and all his people, 20along with all the foreigners living in that land. I also gave it to all the kings of the land of Uz and the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod. 21Then I gave the cup to the nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon, 22and the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings of the regions across the sea. 23I gave it to Dedan, Tema, and Buz, and to the people who live in distant places.#25:23 Or who clip the corners of their hair. 24I gave it to the kings of Arabia, the kings of the nomadic tribes of the desert, 25and to the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media. 26And I gave it to the kings of the northern countries, far and near, one after the other—all the kingdoms of the world. And finally, the king of Babylon#25:26 Hebrew of Sheshach, a code name for Babylon. himself drank from the cup of the Lord’s anger.
27Then the Lord said to me, “Now tell them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Drink from this cup of my anger. Get drunk and vomit; fall to rise no more, for I am sending terrible wars against you.’ 28And if they refuse to accept the cup, tell them, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: You have no choice but to drink from it. 29I have begun to punish Jerusalem, the city that bears my name. Now should I let you go unpunished? No, you will not escape disaster. I will call for war against all the nations of the earth. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!’
30“Now prophesy all these things, and say to them,
“‘The Lord will roar against his own land
from his holy dwelling in heaven.
He will shout like those who tread grapes;
he will shout against everyone on earth.
31His cry of judgment will reach the ends of the earth,
for the Lord will bring his case against all the nations.
He will judge all the people of the earth,
slaughtering the wicked with the sword.
I, the Lord, have spoken!’”
32This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“Look! Disaster will fall upon nation after nation!
A great whirlwind of fury is rising
from the most distant corners of the earth!”
33In that day those the Lord has slaughtered will fill the earth from one end to the other. No one will mourn for them or gather up their bodies to bury them. They will be scattered on the ground like manure.
34Weep and moan, you evil shepherds!
Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock!
The time of your slaughter has arrived;
you will fall and shatter like a fragile vase.
35You will find no place to hide;
there will be no way to escape.
36Listen to the frantic cries of the shepherds.
The leaders of the flock are wailing in despair,
for the Lord is ruining their pastures.
37Peaceful meadows will be turned into a wasteland
by the Lord’s fierce anger.
38He has left his den like a strong lion seeking its prey,
and their land will be made desolate
by the sword#25:38 As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads by the anger. of the enemy
and the Lord’s fierce anger.
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Jeremiah 25: NLT
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Jeremiah 25
25
Jeremiah 25
1¶ 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, which is the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
2this spoke Jeremiah the prophet unto all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
3From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, which are twenty-three years, the word of the Lord has come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and giving notice; but ye have not hearkened.
4And the Lord has sent unto you all his slaves the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear,
5when they said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord has given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
6and do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
7Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord, that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
8¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord of the hosts: Because ye have not heard my words,
9behold, I will send and take all the families of the north wind, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my slave, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about and will utterly destroy them and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
10And I will cause them to lose the voice of mirth 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.
11And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment; and these Gentiles shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12And it shall come to pass when seventy years are accomplished, that I will visit upon the king of Babylon and upon that people their own evil, said the Lord and upon the land of the Chaldeans and will make it perpetual desolations.
13And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have spoken against it, with all that is written in this book, prophesied by Jeremiah against all the Gentiles.
14For many Gentiles and great kings shall serve themselves of them also; and I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.
15¶ For thus hath the Lord God of Israel said unto me: Take the wine cup of this fury from my hand and cause all the Gentiles, to whom I send thee, to drink of it.
16And they shall drink and be moved and become mad, before the sword that I will send among them.
17Then took I the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the Gentiles to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me,
18unto Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah and to its kings and to its princes, that I might place them into desolation, into astonishment, and into hissing, and into a curse, as this day,
19unto Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his slaves and to his princes and to all his people,
20and to all the mingled people and to all the kings of the land of Uz and to all the kings of the land of the Philistines and to Ashkelon and to Gaza and to Ekron and to the remnant of Ashdod,
21to Edom and to Moab and to the sons of Ammon,
22and to all the kings of Tyre and to all the kings of Zidon and to all the kings of the isles which are of that side of the sea,
23and to Dedan, and to Tema and to Buz and to all that are in the utmost corners,
24and to all the kings of Arabia and to all the kings of the mingled peoples, the Arabia that dwells in the desert,
25and to all the kings of Zimri and to all the kings of Elam and to all the kings of the Medes,
26and to all the kings of the north wind, those of far and those of near, one with another and to all the kingdoms of the earth, which are upon the face of the earth and the king of Sheshach {Babylon} shall drink after them.
27Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus hath the Lord of the hosts, the God of Israel said; Drink and be drunken, and vomit and fall, and ye shall not rise in the presence of the sword which I send among you.
28And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from thine hand to drink, then thou shalt say unto them, Thus hath the Lord of the hosts said: Ye must certainly drink.
29For, Behold, I begin to bring evil upon the city which is called by my name, and should ye only be absolved? Ye shall not be absolved, for I bring the sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, said the Lord of the hosts.
30¶ Therefore, thou shalt prophesy against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall roar from on high and from the habitation of his holiness he shall utter his voice; in fury he shall roar upon his habitation; he shall sing the song of those that tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31The noise came even to the ends of the earth; for it is judgment of the Lord with the Gentiles; he is the Judge of all flesh; he will give those that are wicked to the sword, said the Lord.
32Thus saith the Lord of the hosts, Behold, the evil goes forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
33And the slain of the Lord shall be in that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be as dung upon the ground.
34Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the dust, ye principals of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like an enticing vessel.
35And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor for the principals of the flock to escape.
36 The voice of the cry of the shepherds and a howling of the principals of the flock shall be heard! For the Lord has spoiled their pasture.
37And the quiet pastures shall be cut off by the fierce anger of the Lord.
38He has forsaken his habitation, as the young lion; for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor and because of his fierce anger.
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International