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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Jeremiah 27: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 27
27
The Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar
1In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah#27:1 Or Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. 2Thus the Lord said to me: #[1 Kgs. 22:11; Ezek. 7:23] “Make yourself straps and #ch. 28:10, 12, 13; See Lev. 26:13yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. 3Send word#27:3 Hebrew Send them to the king of #ch. 25:21, 22Edom, the king of #ch. 25:21, 22Moab, the king of the sons of #ch. 25:21, 22Ammon, the king of #ch. 25:21, 22Tyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: 5“It is I who #See ch. 21:5 by my great power and my outstretched arm #Ps. 115:15; Isa. 45:12 have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, #Ps. 115:16; Dan. 4:17, 25, 32and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. 6#[Ezek. 30:21, 25] Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, #See ch. 25:9 my servant, #ch. 28:14; Dan. 2:38and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. 7#[Dan. 2:37, 38] All the nations shall serve him and #ch. 52:31 his son and #Dan. 5:1, 30 his grandson, #See ch. 25:12 until the time of his own land comes. #See ch. 25:14Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.
8“‘“But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, #ver. 11, 12; [ch. 30:8] and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation #See ch. 14:12with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the Lord, until I have consumed it by his hand. 9So #[ch. 14:14] do not listen to your #[ch. 29:8] prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your #[Deut. 18:10; Isa. 2:6]fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10#See ch. 5:31For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11#[ver. 2, 8]But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord.”’”
12To #ch. 28:1; [ver. 1] Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke in like manner: #[See ver. 11 above] “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and #ver. 17; [ch. 38:17]serve him and his people and live. 13#Ezek. 18:31 Why will you and your people die #See ch. 14:12 by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, #ver. 8as the Lord has spoken concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14#[ch. 14:14] Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ #[See ver. 10 above]for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 15I have not sent them, declares the Lord, but #[See ver. 10 above]they are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”
16Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: #[See ver. 14 above] Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, #ch. 28:3; 2 Kgs. 24:13; 2 Chr. 36:7, 10, 18 ‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,’ #[See ver. 10 above]for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 17#[See ver. 14 above] Do not listen to them; #[See ver. 11 above] serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city #See ch. 7:34become a desolation? 18If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, then #[Isa. 59:16] let them intercede with the Lord of hosts, #Dan. 1:2that the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. 19#[2 Kgs. 25:13]For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, #2 Kgs. 24:14, 15; Matt. 1:11, 12; See ch. 24:1when he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, #[See ver. 19 above]concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 22#ch. 52:17, 20, 21; 2 Kgs. 25:13; 2 Chr. 36:18 They shall be carried to Babylon #ch. 32:5 and remain there #ch. 29:10; 2 Chr. 36:22; Ezra 1:1 until the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. #Ezra 1:7, 8; 5:14; 7:19Then I will bring them back #ch. 52:17, 20, 21; 2 Kgs. 25:13; 2 Chr. 36:18 and restore them to this place.”
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