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
The Seventy-Year Exile
1This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim # 2Kg 23:34–24:6; 2Ch 36:4-8; Jr 36:1 son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon). 2The prophet Jeremiah spoke concerning all the people of Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem as follows: 3“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon, # Jr 1:2 king of Judah, until this very day — 23 years — the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you time and time again, # Lit you; rising early and speaking # 2Ch 36:15; Jr 7:13,25; 11:7; 25:3; 26:5; 29:19; 32:33; 35:14,15; 44:4 but you have not obeyed. 4The Lord sent all His servants the prophets to you time and time again, # Lit prophets, rising early and sending but you have not obeyed or even paid attention. # Lit even inclined your ears # Jr 7:25-26 5He announced, ‘Turn, each of you, from your # Lit his evil way of life and from your evil deeds. # 2Kg 17:13; Jr 4:18; 18:11; 35:15; Zch 1:4; Ac 3:26 Live in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors long ago and forever. # Jr 35:15; 40:9; Ezk 36:28; 37:25 6Do not follow other gods to serve them and to worship them, # Dt 8:19; Jr 13:10 and do not provoke Me to anger by the work of your hands. # Dt 31:29; 1Kg 16:7; Jr 44:8 Then I will do you no harm.
7“ ‘But you would not obey Me’ — this is the Lord’s declaration — ‘in order that you might provoke Me to anger by the work of your hands and bring disaster on yourselves.’
8“Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, 9I am going to send for all the families of the north’ # Jr 1:13; 16:16; 43:10 — this is the Lord’s declaration — ‘and send for My servant # Is 45:1 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and make them a desolation, # Jr 4:7; 18:16; 19:8 a derision, and ruins forever. # Dt 28:37; 2Ch 29:8; 30:7; Jr 5:30; 19:8; 25:18; 29:18; 42:18; 44:12,22; 49:17; 50:13; Mc 6:16; Zph 2:15 10I will eliminate the sound of joy and gladness from them — the voice of the groom and the bride, # Jr 7:34; 16:9; 33:11 the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. # Is 23:15; 2Ch 36:21; Jr 29:10; Dn 9:2; Zch 1:12; 7:5 12When the 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation’ — this is the Lord’s declaration — ‘the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will make it a ruin forever. # Is 13:19 13I will bring on that land all My words I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book that Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.’ ” # Ps 28:4; Pr 24:12,29; Jr 50:29; Lm 3:64
The Cup of God’s Wrath
15This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and make all the nations I am sending you to, drink from it. # Jb 21:20; Ps 75:8; Is 51:17; 63:6; Jr 49:12; Rv 14:8,10; 18:3 16They will drink, stagger, # Or vomit and go out of their minds because of the sword I am sending among them.” # Jr 9:16; 24:10; 29:17; 49:37
17So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations drink from it, everyone the Lord sent me to. 18These included:
Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah, its kings and its officials, to make them a desolate ruin, an object of scorn and cursing — as it is today;
19Pharaoh king of Egypt, his officers, his leaders, all his people,
20and all the mixed peoples;
all the kings of the land of Uz;
all the kings of the land of the Philistines — Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
21Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;
22all the kings of Tyre,
all the kings of Sidon,
and the kings of the coastlands across the sea;
23Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all those who shave their temples; # Or who live in distant places # Lv 19:27; Jr 9:26; 49:32
24all the kings of Arabia,
and all the kings of the mixed peoples who have settled in the desert;
25all the kings of Zimri,
all the kings of Elam,
and all the kings of Media;
26all the kings of the north, both near and far from one another;
that is, all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth.
Finally, the king of Sheshach # Probably a name for Babylon will drink after them.
27“Then you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Drink, # Jr 25:16; Hab 2:16 get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you. 28If # Or When they refuse to take the cup from you and drink, you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: You must drink! 29For I am already bringing disaster # 2Sm 12:11; 1Kg 14:10; 21:21; 2Kg 22:16; 2Ch 34:24; Is 13:11; 31:2; Jr 4:6; 6:19; 11:23; 21:10; 23:12; 44:11; 45:5 on the city that bears My name, # Dn 9:18 so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth” — this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. # Jr 49:12-13
Judgment on the Whole World
30“As for you, you are to prophesy all these things to them, and say to them:
The Lord roars from heaven;
He raises His voice from His holy dwelling. # Dt 26:15; 2Ch 30:27; Jb 37:4; Ps 76:2; Hs 11:10; Am 1:2; 3:8; Jl 3:16
He roars loudly over His grazing land;
He calls out with a shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31The tumult reaches to the ends of the earth
because the Lord brings a case against # Jb 11:5; Jr 2:9; Hs 4:1; 12:3; Mc 6:2 the nations.
He enters into judgment with all flesh. # Is 66:16
As for the wicked, He hands them over to the sword —
this is the Lord’s declaration.
32“This is what the Lord of Hosts says:
Pay attention! Disaster spreads
from nation to nation.
A great storm is stirred up
from the ends of the earth.” # Jr 23:19; 30:23
33Those slain by the Lord # Is 66:16 on that day will be spread from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, # Jr 16:4 gathered, or buried. They will be like manure on the surface of the ground.
34Wail, you shepherds, and cry out.
Roll in the dust, # This custom demonstrated mourning. # Jb 2:8,12; Jr 6:26; Ezk 27:30 you leaders of the flock.
Because the days of your slaughter have come, # Jr 7:32; 19:6
you will fall and become shattered like a precious vase.
35Flight will be impossible for the shepherds,
and escape, for the leaders of the flock.
36Hear the sound of the shepherds’ cry,
the wail of the leaders of the flock,
for the Lord is destroying their pasture.
37Peaceful grazing land will become lifeless
because of the Lord’s burning anger. # Nm 32:14; 2Ch 28:11; Zph 2:2
38He has left His den like a lion,
for their land has become a desolation
because of the sword # Some Hb mss, LXX, Tg; other Hb mss read burning of the oppressor, # Jr 46:16
because of His burning anger.
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