Jeremiah 27
27
Jeremiah Uses Fetters and Yokes to Illustrate His Message of Submission
1In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying#Literally “to say”— 2thus said Yahweh to me—“Make for yourself fetters and yokes and put them on your neck, 3and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites,#Literally “sons of Ammon” and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon in the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem, to Zedekiah, the king of Judah. 4And you must command them for their masters, saying,#Literally “to say” ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, this you shall say to your masters: 5“I have made the earth with humankind and animals#Hebrew “animal” that are on the face of the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and I give it to whomever is right in my eyes. 6And now I myself have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and also the animals#Hebrew “animal” of the field I have given to him to serve him. 7And all the nations will serve him, and his son, and his grandson,#Literally “the son of his son” until the coming of the time of his own#Literally “also his” land. Then many nations and great kings will let him work.
8“But it will be that the nation or kingdom that will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, and with the famine, and with the plague,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “until I have destroyed it with my hand. 9And you, you must not listen to your prophets, and to your diviners, and to your dreamers, and to your interpreters of signs, and to your sorcerers who are saying,#Literally “to say” ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10For they are prophesying to you a lie, so that you will be removed from your land, and I will drive you away, and you will perish. 11But the nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and will serve him, yet will I leave it on its land,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “and they will till it, and they will live in it.” ’ ”
12And I spoke words like these to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, saying,#Literally “to say” “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. 13Why should you die—you and your people—by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague, as Yahweh has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14And you must not listen to the words of the prophets who are speaking to you, saying,#Literally “to say” ‘You must not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying a lie to you. 15For I have not sent them,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “but they are prophesying in my name falsely,#Literally “to the lie” so that I will drive them away. And you will perish—you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”
The Vessels of the Temple
16Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying,#Literally “to say” “Thus says Yahweh, ‘You must not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying,#Literally “to say” “Look, the vessels of the house of Yahweh are about to be quickly brought back from Babylon”, for they are prophesying a lie to you. 17And you must not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a site of ruins? 18But if they are prophets, and if there is with them the word of Yahweh, let them please plead with Yahweh of hosts, that the vessels that are left over in the temple#Literally “house” of Yahweh, and the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, must not go to Babylon.’
19For thus says Yahweh of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, did not take when he deported Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with#Literally “and” all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. 21For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Yahweh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 22‘They will be brought to Babylon, and there they will stay until the day of my attending to them,’ declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh. ‘Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.’ ”
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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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