Jeremiah 25
1 This is the message that came to Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It concerned all the people of Judah.
The word which came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon;
2 So the prophet Jeremiah went and spoke to all the people of Judah and all of the people living in Jerusalem, telling them:
which Jeremiah the prophet spake to all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: —
3 From the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah until now, twenty-three years in total, messages from the Lord have come to me, and I have told you what he said time and again, but you have not listened.
From the thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, for three and twenty years, the word of Jehovah hath come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
4 Even though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you time and again, you don't bother to listen or pay any attention.
Also Jehovah hath sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
5 The consistent message has been: Give up your evil ways and the evil things you're doing so you can live in the country that the Lord has given to you and your forefathers forever.
“Turn ye now,” said they, “every one from your evil way, and from your evil doings, and ye shall dwell in the land which Jehovah gave to you and to your fathers for ever and ever.
6 Don't follow other gods and worship them, and don't anger me by making idols. Then I won't do anything to hurt you.
And go not after strange gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.”
7 But you've hurt yourselves by not listening to me, declares the Lord, because you angered me by making idols.
But ye have not hearkened to me, saith Jehovah, that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
8 So this is what the Lord Almighty says: Because you have not obeyed what I told you,
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Because ye have not hearkened to my words,
9 watch as I summon all the people of the north, declares the Lord. I'm going to send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to attack this country and the people who live here, and all the surrounding nations. I will set them apart for destruction. I'm going to totally destroy you, and people will be horrified at what's happened to you and will mock you.
behold, I will send and take all the nations of the North, saith Jehovah, and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and a perpetual desolation.
10 I will also put a stop to the cheerful sounds of celebration and the happy voices of the bride and bridegroom. No noise will come from millstones being used; no lamps will be lit.
Yea, I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the mill-stones, and the light of the lamp.
11 This whole country will become an empty wasteland, and Judah and these other nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 However, when these seventy years are over, I'm going to punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the country of Babylonia, for their sin, declares the Lord. I will completely destroy them.
But when seventy years shall have passed, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation for their iniquity, saith Jehovah, and the land of the Chaldaeans, and I will make it a perpetual desolation.
13 I will bring down on that country everything I threatened to do, everything that's written in this book which Jeremiah prophesied against all the different nations.
And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.
14 Many nations and powerful kings will make slaves of them, the Babylonians, and I will pay them back for the evil they've done.
For they, even they, shall be brought into subjection to many nations and great kings. I will render to them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.
15 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, told me: Take this cup I'm handing to you. It contains the wine of my anger. You are to make all the nations I send you to drink from it.
For thus hath Jehovah, the God of Israel, said to me: Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand; and let all the nations to which I shall send thee drink of it.
16 They will drink and stumble around and go mad because of the war brought by the armies I'm sending to attack them.
Let them drink, and stagger, and become mad because of the sword which I am about to send among them.
17 I took the cup the Lord handed to me and made all the nations he sent me to drink from it:
So I took the cup from the hand of Jehovah, and gave it to all the nations to drink, to which Jehovah sent me;
18 To Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, destroying them so that people were horrified at what happened to them and mocked them and cursed them (and they are still like this today);
to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah, and to the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a curse; [[as it is this day.]]
19 to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his officials, leaders, all his people
To Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to his servants, and to his princes, and to all his people,
20 and all the foreigners living there; to all the kings of the country of Uz; to all the kings of the Philistines: Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what's left of Ashdod;
and all the allied people; and to all the kings of the land of Uz, and to all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and to Askelon, and to Gaza, and to Ekron, and to the remnant of Ashdod;
21 to Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;
to Edom, and to Moab, and to the children of Ammon;
22 to all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; to the kings of the Mediterranean sea coast;
and to all the kings of Tyre, and to all the kings of Sidon, and to the kings of the lands which are beyond the sea;
23 to Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all those who trim their hair on the sides of their heads;
to Dedan, and to Tema, and to Buz, and to all that shave the cheek;
24 to all the kings of Arabia; and to all the kings of the different tribes living in the desert;
and to all the kings of Arabia, and to all the kings of the allied people who dwell in the desert;
25 to all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media;
and to all the kings of Zimri, and to all the kings of Elam, and to all the kings of Media;
26 to all the kings of the north; in fact to all the kingdoms on earth whether close or far away, one after another. After all of them, the king of Babylon will drink it too.
and to all the kings of the North, those that are near, and those that are afar off with respect to each other, and to all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
27 Tell them this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Drink, make yourselves drunk, and vomit. Because of the war you'll be killed, falling down never to get up again.
And say to them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink ye and be drunken, and vomit, and fall to rise no more because of the sword which I am about to send among you.
28 If they should refuse to take the cup and drink from it, tell them that this is what the Lord Almighty says: You can't avoid drinking it—you have to!
And if they refuse to take the cup from thy hand to drink, then say to them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Ye shall surely drink!
29 Can't you see that I'm about to bring disaster down on my own city, so do you really think you wouldn't be punished as well? You won't go unpunished, for I am bringing war to everyone on earth, declares the Lord Almighty.
For behold, upon the city which is called by my name I begin to bring evil; and shall ye go wholly unpunished? Ye shall not go unpunished; for I am about to call the sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah of hosts.
30 Give this whole message as a prophecy against them. Tell them: The Lord will thunder from high above. He will thunder loudly from the holy place where he lives. He will give a great roar against the sheepfolds. He will give a loud shout like people treading the grapes, frightening everyone who lives on earth.
Therefore, prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: —Jehovah shall roar from on high, From his holy habitation shall he utter his voice; He shall roar aloud against his dwelling-place; A shout like that of vintagers shall he raise Against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 The sound will reach everywhere on the earth because the Lord is accusing the nations. He is judging everyone, executing the wicked, declares the Lord.
An outcry shall reach to the ends of the earth; For Jehovah hath a controversy with the nations; He entereth into judgment with all flesh; The wicked will he give up to the sword, saith Jehovah.
32 This is what the Lord Almighty says: Watch out! Disaster is falling on one nation after another; an immense storm is building up in the far distance.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, And a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the extremities of the earth.
33 Those killed by the Lord at that time will cover the earth from one end to the other. No one will mourn them, or collect them, or bury them. They will be like piles of manure lying on the ground.
At that day shall the slain of Jehovah lie From one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; They shall not be lamented, nor gathered, nor buried; They shall be dung upon the ground.
34 Cry out and weep, you shepherds! Roll around on the ground mourning, you leaders of the flock. The time for you to be killed has come; you will fall, smashed like the finest pottery.
Howl, O ye shepherds, and cry! Roll yourselves in the dust, ye leaders of the flock, For your time to be slaughtered has come! And I will scatter you, and ye shall fall like a goodly vessel.
35 The shepherds won't be able to run away; the leaders of the flock won't escape.
The shepherds shall have no way to flee, Nor the leaders of the flock to escape.
36 Listen to the cries of the shepherds, the weeping of the leaders of the flock, for the Lord is destroying their pasturelands.
[[Hark!]] the voice of the cry of the shepherds, And the wailing of the leaders of the flock, Because Jehovah layeth waste their pasture!
37 The peaceful sheepfolds have been ruined because of the Lord's fierce anger.
Yea, the peaceful pastures are destroyed Because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.
38 The Lord has left his den like a lion, because their country has been devastated by the invading armies, and because of the Lord's fierce anger.
He hath left, like a lion, his covert; For their land is become desolate, Because of the wrath of the destroying sword, And because of the fierceness of his anger.
