Jeremiah 25
25
Seventy Years of Exile
1-2 #
2 K 24.1; 2 Ch 36.5-7; Dn 1.1,2. In the fourth year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah,#25.1,2 Jehoiakim … Judah: See the note at 1.3. which was the first year that Nebuchadnezzar#25.1,2 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2. was king of Babylonia, the Lord told me to speak to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. So I told them:
3For 23 years now, ever since the thirteenth year that Josiah#25.3 Josiah: Hebrew “Josiah son of Amon”; Josiah ruled 640–609 b.c. was king, I have been telling you what the Lord has told me. But you have not listened.
4The Lord has sent prophets to you time after time, but you refused to listen. 5They told you that the Lord had said:
Change your ways! If you stop doing evil, I will let you stay forever in this land that I gave your ancestors. 6I don't want to harm you. So don't make me angry by worshiping idols and other gods.
7But you refused to listen to my prophets. So I, the Lord, say that you have made me angry by worshiping idols, and you are the ones who were hurt by what you did. 8You refused to listen to me, 9and now I will let you be attacked by nations from the north, and especially by my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. You and other nearby nations will be destroyed and left in ruins forever. Everyone who sees what has happened will be shocked, but they will still make fun of you. 10#Jr 7.34; 16.9; Rev 18.22,23. I will put an end to your parties and wedding celebrations; no one will grind grain or be here to light the lamps at night. 11#2 Ch 36.21; Jr 29.10; Dn 9.2. This country will be as empty as a desert, because I will make all of you the slaves of the king of Babylonia for 70 years.
12When that time is up, I will punish the king of Babylonia and his people for everything they have done wrong, and I will turn that country into a wasteland forever. 13My servant Jeremiah has told you what I said I will do to Babylonia and to the other nations, and he wrote it all down in this book. I will do everything I threatened. 14I will pay back the Babylonians for every wrong they have done. Great kings from many other nations will conquer the Babylonians and force them to be slaves.
The Cup Full of God's Anger
15The Lord God of Israel showed me a vision in which he said, “Jeremiah, here is a cup filled with the wine of my anger. Take it and make every nation drink some. 16They will vomit and act crazy, because of the war this cup of anger will bring to them.”
17I took the cup from the Lord's hand, and I went to the kings of the nations and made each of them drink some. 18I started with Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and the king and his officials were removed from power in disgrace. Everyone still makes insulting jokes about them and uses their names as curse words. 19The second place I went was Egypt, where everyone had to drink from the cup, including the king and his officials, the other government workers, the rest of the Egyptians, 20and all the foreigners who lived in the country.
Next I went to the king of Uz, and then to the four kings of Philistia, who ruled from Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what was left of Ashdod.#25.20 what was left of Ashdod: It was defeated by the king of Egypt after being surrounded for 29 years. 21Then I went to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, 22and to the kings of Tyre, Sidon, and their colonies across the sea. 23-24After this, I went to the kings of Dedan, Tema, Buz, the tribes of the Arabian Desert,#25.23,24 the tribes of the Arabian Desert: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. 25Zimri, Elam, Media, 26and the countries in the north, both near and far.
I went to all the countries on earth, one after another, and finally to Babylonia.#25.26 Babylonia: The Hebrew text has “Sheshach,” a secret way of writing “Babylonia.”
27The Lord had said to tell each king, “The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, commands you to drink from this cup that is full of the wine of his anger. It will make you so drunk that you will vomit. And when the Lord sends war against the nations, you will be completely defeated.”
28The Lord told me that if any of them refused to drink from the cup, I must tell them that he had said, “I, the Lord All-Powerful, command you to drink. 29Starting with my own city of Jerusalem, everyone on earth will suffer from war. So there is no way I will let you escape unharmed.”
30The Lord told me to say:
From my sacred temple
I will roar like thunder,
while I trample my people
and everyone else
as though they were grapes.
31My voice will be heard
everywhere on earth,
accusing nations of their crimes
and sentencing the guilty
to death.
Disaster Is Coming
32The Lord All-Powerful says:
You can see disaster spreading
from far across the earth,
from nation to nation
like a horrible storm.
33When it strikes, I will kill so many people that their bodies will cover the ground like manure. No one will be left to bury them or to mourn.
The Leaders of Judah Will Be Punished
34The Lord's people are his flock,
and you leaders
were the shepherds.
But now it's your turn
to be butchered like sheep.
You'll shatter like fine pottery
dropped on the floor.#25.34 You'll shatter … floor: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
So roll on the ground,
crying and mourning.
35You have nowhere to run,
nowhere to hide.
* 36-37Listen to the cries
of the shepherds,
as the Lord's burning anger
turns#25.36,37 anger turns: Or “anger and enemy armies turn.” peaceful meadows
into barren deserts.
38Like a lion leaving its den,
the Lord has abandoned
his people
to the destruction of war.
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Jeremiah 25: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 25
25
A summary of Jeremiah’s message
1Jeremiah received the LORD’s word concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Judah’s King Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son. This was the first year of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar. 2The prophet Jeremiah addressed all the people of Judah and all those living in Jerusalem. 3From the thirteenth year of Judah’s King Josiah, Amon’s son, to this very day—twenty-three years—the LORD’s word has come to me. I have delivered it to you repeatedly, although you wouldn’t listen. 4In fact, the LORD has tirelessly sent you all his servants, the prophets, but you wouldn’t listen or pay attention. 5They said, “Each one of you, turn from your evil ways and deeds and live in the fertile land that the LORD gave you and your ancestors for all time. 6Don’t follow or worship other gods and don’t anger me by what you make with your hands. Then I won’t bring disaster upon you.” 7But you wouldn’t listen to me, making me angry by what you do and bringing disaster upon yourselves, declares the LORD.
8Therefore, this is what the LORD of heavenly forces says: Because you haven’t listened to my words, 9I am going to muster all the tribes of the north and my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, declares the LORD, and I will bring them against this country and its residents as well as against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and will make them an object of horror, shock, and ruins for all time. 10I will silence the sounds of joy and laughter and the voices of the bride and the bridegroom. Yes, I will silence the millstones and snuff out the lamplight. 11This whole country will be reduced to a wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. 12When the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation for their wrongdoing, declares the LORD. I will reduce the land of the Babylonians to a wasteland for all time. 13I will unleash upon that land everything I decreed, all that is written in this scroll, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14Yes, many great nations and powerful kings will enslave them, and I will pay them back in full for what they have done and made with their hands.
15This is what the LORD, God of Israel, said to me: Take this seething cup of wine from my hand and make all the nations gulp it down where I’m sending you. 16They will drink and stagger about half-crazed because of the sword that I am sending against them.
17So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand, and I made all the nations drink from it where the LORD had sent me: 18Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials. This was to make them a wasteland, an object of horror, shock, and cursing, as it is today; 19Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, his attendants and officials, and all his people, 20including the foreigners#25.20 Heb uncertain living there; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what’s left of Ashdod; 21Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites; 22all the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands across the sea; 23Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all those who cut the hair of their foreheads;#25.23 Heb uncertain 24all the kings of Arabia and the nomadic tribes,#25.24 Heb uncertain 25all the kings of Zimri,#25.25 Heb uncertain Elam, and Media; 26all the kings of the north, those nearby and those faraway, one after another, all the empires on the earth will drink from this cup.#25.26 Heb lacks will drink from this cup. And after them the king of Sheshach#25.26 Sheshak is a name for Babylon. will drink from it.
27Then say to them: The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Drink this seething cup of wine and get drunk. Vomit and collapse and don’t get up again because of the sword that I’m thrusting into you. 28If they refuse to take the cup in your hand and drink from it, tell them: This is what the LORD of heavenly forces says: You must drink! 29Look! I’m bringing disaster upon the city that bears my name; how then will you escape unpunished? You will not! I’m summoning the sword against everyone on earth, declares the LORD of heavenly forces.
30Now prophesy all these things and say to them:
The LORD roars on high;
from his holy place he thunders.
He roars fiercely against his flock,
like the shouting of those who tread on grapes,
against everyone on earth.
31The uproar is heard far and wide,
because the LORD is bringing a lawsuit against the nations.
He’s entering into judgment with all people,
sentencing the guilty to death,
declares the LORD.
32The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims:
Look! Disaster travels from nation to nation.
A terrible storm comes from the far ends of the earth.
33At that time, those struck down by the LORD will fill the earth. And no one will mourn for them or prepare their bodies for burial. They will become like refuse lying on the ground.
34Wail, you shepherds, cry out.
Roll in the dust, you masters of the flock!
The day of your slaughter has arrived.
You will fall and shatter like a fragile vase.
35The shepherds have no place to hide;
the masters of the flock can’t escape.
36Hear the cry of the shepherds
and the sobbing of the masters of the flock,
because the LORD is ravaging their pasture.
37There’s an eerie silence in the peaceful meadows,
because of the LORD’s fierce anger.
38The lion is on the prowl,
and the land is reduced to nothing,
because of the fierce sword,#25.38 LXX, Heb manuscripts; Heb uncertain
because of his fierce anger.
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