Jeremiah 25
25
The Enemy from the North
1 #
2 Kgs 24.1; 2 Chr 36.5–7; Dan 1.1–2 In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, I received a message from the LORD concerning all the people of Judah. (This was the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylonia.) 2I said to all the people of Judah and of Jerusalem, 3“For 23 years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah until this very day, the LORD has spoken to me, and I have never failed to tell you what he said. But you have paid no attention. 4You would not listen or pay attention, even though the LORD has continued to send you his servants the prophets. 5They told you to turn from your wicked way of life and from the evil things you are doing, so that you could go on living in the land that the LORD gave you and your ancestors as a permanent possession. 6They told you not to worship and serve other gods and not to make the LORD angry by worshipping the idols you had made. If you had obeyed the LORD, then he would not have punished you. 7But the LORD himself says that you refused to listen to him. Instead, you made him angry with your idols and have brought his punishment on yourselves.
8“So then, because you would not listen to him, the LORD Almighty says, 9‘I am going to send for all the peoples from the north and for my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. I am going to bring them to fight against Judah and its inhabitants and against all the neighbouring nations. I am going to destroy this nation and its neighbours and leave them in ruins for ever, a terrible and shocking sight. I, the LORD, have spoken. 10#Jer 7.34; 16.9; Rev 18.22–23I will silence their shouts of joy and gladness and the happy sounds of wedding feasts. They will have no oil for their lamps, and there will be no more corn. 11#2 Chr 36.21; Jer 29.10; Dan 9.2This whole land will be left in ruins and will be a shocking sight, and the neighbouring nations will serve the king of Babylonia for seventy years. 12After that I will punish Babylonia and its king for their sin. I will destroy that country and leave it in ruins for ever. 13I will punish Babylonia with all the disasters that I threatened to bring on the nations when I spoke through Jeremiah — all the disasters recorded in this book. 14I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done, and many nations and great kings will make slaves of them.’ ”
God's Judgement on the Nations
15The LORD, the God of Israel, said to me, “Here is a wine cup filled with my anger. Take it to all the nations to whom I send you, and make them drink from it. 16When they drink from it, they will stagger and go out of their minds because of the war I am sending against them.”
17So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, gave it to all the nations to whom the LORD had sent me, and made them drink from it. 18Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah, together with its kings and leaders, were made to drink from it, so that they would become a desert, a terrible and shocking sight, and so that people would use their name as a curse — as they still do.
19-26Here is the list of all the others who had to drink from the cup:
the king of Egypt, his officials and leaders;
all the Egyptians and all the foreigners in Egypt;
all the kings of the land of Uz;
all the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod;
all the people of Edom, Moab, and Ammon;
all the kings of Tyre and Sidon;
all the kings of the Mediterranean lands;
the cities of Dedan, Tema, and Buz;
all the people who cut their hair short;
all the kings of Arabia;
all the kings of the desert tribes;
all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media;
all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another.
Every nation on the face of the earth had to drink from it. Last of all, the king of Babylonia will drink from it.
27Then the LORD said to me, “Tell the people that I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, am commanding them to drink until they are drunk and vomit, until they fall down and cannot get up, because of the war that I am sending against them. 28And if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink from it, then tell them that the LORD Almighty has said that they will still have to drink from it. 29I will begin my work of destruction in my own city. Do they think they will go unpunished? No, they will be punished, for I am going to send war on all the people on earth. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken.
30“You, Jeremiah, must proclaim everything I have said. You must tell these people,
‘The LORD will roar from heaven
and thunder from the heights of heaven.
He will roar against his people;
he will shout like a man treading grapes.
Everyone on earth will hear him,
31and the sound will echo to the ends of the earth.
The LORD has a case against the nations.
He will bring all people to trial
and put the wicked to death.
The LORD has spoken.’ ”
32The LORD Almighty says that disaster is coming on one nation after another, and a great storm is gathering at the far ends of the earth. 33On that day the bodies of those whom the LORD has killed will lie scattered from one end of the earth to the other. No one will mourn for them, and they will not be taken away and buried. They will lie on the ground like piles of manure.
34Cry, you leaders, you shepherds of my people, cry out loud! Mourn and roll in the dust. The time has come for you to be slaughtered,#25.34 Hebrew has an additional word, the meaning of which is unclear. and you will be butchered like rams.#25.34 One ancient translation rams; Hebrew vessels. 35There will be no way for you to escape. 36-37You moan and cry out in distress because the LORD in his anger has destroyed your nation and left your peaceful country in ruins. 38The LORD has abandoned his people#25.38 The LORD… people; or The LORD's people run away. like a lion that leaves its cave. The horrors of war and the LORD's fierce anger have turned the country into a desert.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 25: GNBUK
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 25
25
A Summary of Jeremiah’s Preaching
1This is the message that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah. It came in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah. This was the first year Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. 2This is the message Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
3The Lord has spoken his word to me again and again for these past 23 years. I have been a prophet since the thirteenth year of Josiah. Josiah was the son of Amon king of Judah. I have spoken messages from the Lord to you from that time until today. But you have not listened.
4The Lord has sent his servants the prophets to you over and over again. But you have not listened to them. You have not paid any attention to them. 5They have said, “Stop your evil ways. Stop doing what is wrong. Do this so you can stay in the land. This is the land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors long ago. He gave it to you to live in forever. 6Don’t follow other gods to serve them or to worship them. You must not worship idols that are the work of someone’s hands. That makes the Lord angry, and he will punish you.”
7“But you did not listen to me,” says the Lord. “You worshiped idols that were the work of someone’s hands. That made me angry. So I punished you.”
8So this is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “You have not listened to my messages. 9So I will soon send for all the peoples of the north,” says the Lord. “I will soon send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I will bring them all against Judah and all the nations around you, too. I will completely destroy all those countries. I will leave them in ruins forever. People will be shocked when they see how badly they will be destroyed. 10I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and happiness. There will be no more happy sounds of brides and bridegrooms. I will take away the sound of people grinding meal. And I will take away the light of the lamp. 11That whole area will be an empty desert. And these nations will be slaves of the king of Babylon for 70 years.
12“But when the 70 years have passed, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation,” says the Lord. “I will punish the Babylonians for their evil. I will make that land a desert forever. 13I have said many terrible things will happen to Babylonia. All of them will happen. Jeremiah prophesied about those foreign nations. And the warnings are written in this book. 14The Babylonians will have to serve many nations and many great kings. I will give them the punishment they deserve. They will be punished for all the things they do.”
Judgment on the Nations
15The Lord, the God of Israel, said this to me: “My anger is like the wine in a cup. Take it from my hand. I am sending you to all the nations. Make them drink all of my anger from this cup. 16They will drink my anger like wine. Then they will not be able to walk straight. They will act like madmen. They will do this because of the war that I am going to send among them.”
17So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand. I went to those nations. And I made them drink from the cup. 18I poured this wine for the people of Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. I made the kings and officers of Judah drink from the cup. I did it so that they would become a ruin. People would be shocked when they saw how badly they were destroyed. People would insult them and speak evil of them. And it happened. Judah is like that now. 19I also made these people drink from that cup of my anger: the king of Egypt, his servants, his officers and all his people; 20all the Arabs, and all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines (the kings of the cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and the people left at Ashdod); 21the people of Edom, Moab and Ammon; 22all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; all the kings of the faraway countries; 23the people of Dedan and Tema and Buz; all who cut their hair short; 24all the kings of Arabia; and the kings of the people who live in the desert; 25all the kings of Zimri, Elam and Media; 26and all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other. I made all the kingdoms on earth drink from the cup of the Lord’s anger. But the king of Babylon will drink from this cup after all the others.
27“Then say this to them: ‘This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: Drink this cup of my anger. Get drunk from it and vomit. Fall down and don’t get up. Don’t get up because I am sending a war to kill you!’
28“They will refuse to take the cup from your hand. They will refuse to drink it. Then say this to them: ‘The Lord of heaven’s armies says this: You must drink from this cup. 29I am already bringing disaster on Jerusalem. And it is the city that is called by my name. And do you think you will not be punished? You will be punished! I am sending war on all the people of the earth, says the Lord of heaven’s armies.’
30“You will prophesy against them with these words. Say to them:
‘The Lord roars from heaven.
He shouts from his Holy Temple.
He roars against his land.
He will shout like people who walk on grapes to make wine.
He will shout against all who live on the earth.
31The noise will spread all over the earth.
This is because the Lord is punishing all the nations.
He judges and tells what is wrong with all people.
And he is killing the evil people with a sword,’” says the Lord.
32This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says:
“Disasters will soon spread
from nation to nation.
They will come like a powerful storm
to all the faraway places on earth.”
33At that time the dead bodies will reach from one end of the earth to the other. No one will cry for them. No one will gather up their bodies and bury them. They will be left lying on the ground like dung.
34Cry, you leaders! Cry out loud!
Roll around in the dust, leaders of the people!
It is now time for you to be killed.
You will fall and be scattered everywhere, like pieces of a broken jar.
35There will be no place for the leaders to hide.
These leaders will not escape.
36I hear the leaders shouting.
I hear the leaders of the people crying loudly.
This is because the Lord is destroying their land.
37Those peaceful pastures will be like an empty desert.
This happened because the Lord is very angry.
38The Lord, like a lion, has left his den.
Their land has been destroyed.
It is because of his destroying anger.
It is because of his fierce anger.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.