Jeremiah 27

1 In the beginning of the reigne of Iehoiakim the sonne of Iosiah King of Iudah came this worde vnto Ieremiah from the Lord, saying,

Soon after Zedekiah became the King of Judah, Yahweh gave a message to me.

2 Thus saith the Lord to me, Make thee bonds, and yokes, and put them vpon thy necke,

This is what he said to me: “Make a (yoke/set of wooden bars to fasten around the neck of an ox), but fasten it around your own neck with leather straps.

3 And send them to the King of Edom, and to the King of Moab, and to the King of the Ammonites, and to the King of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hande of the messengers which come to Ierusale vnto Zedekiah ye king of Iudah,

[Then] send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon, by telling those messages to the ambassadors from those countries who have come to Jerusalem to [talk to] King Zedekiah.

4 And commande them to saye vnto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hostes the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say vnto your masters,

Tell them to give this message to their kings: This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israeli [people worship, ]:

5 I haue made the earth, the man, and the beast that are vpon the groud, by my great power, and by my outstreched arme, and haue giuen it vnto whom it pleased me.

‘With my very great power [MTY, DOU] I created the earth and the people and the animals that are on the earth. And I can give my power to anyone whom I want to.

6 But nowe I haue giuen all these landes into the hand of Nebuchad-nezzar the King of Babel my seruant, and the beastes of the fielde haue I also giuen him to serue him.

And now I am going to enable King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who does what I want him to do, to control your countries. I am going to enable him to rule everything, even the wild animals.

7 And all nations shall serue him, and his sonne, and his sonnes sonne vntill the very time of his lande come also: then many nations and great Kinges shall serue themselues of him.

[The people of] all the nations will work for him, and [later] for his son, and [later] for his grandson, until the time for them [to rule] is finished. Then [the armies of] many great kings from many nations will conquer Babylon.’

8 And the nation and kingdome which will not serue the same Nebuchad-nezzar king of Babel, and that will not put their necke vnder the yoke of the King of Babel, the same nation will I visite, saith the Lord, with the sworde, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, vntill I haue wholy giuen them into his hands.

But now I tell you that you must [do what the king of Babylon wants you to do] [MET], [like an ox that has] a yoke on its neck [must do what its master wants it to do]. I will punish any nation that refuses to do that. I will cause those people to experience war and famine and diseases, until [the armies of] Babylon have conquered that nation.

9 Therefore heare not your prophets nor your southsayers, nor your dreamers, nor your inchanters, nor your sorcerers, which say vnto you thus, Ye shall not serue the King of Babel.

So, do not pay attention to your [false] prophets and fortune-tellers and people who predict what will happen by working magic or by talking with spirits of dead people. Those people say that the king of Babylon will not conquer your country.

10 For they prophecie a lie vnto you to cause you to goe farre from your lande, and that I should cast you out, and you should perish.

Those people are [all] liars. [If you believe what they say, ] it will result in your being exiled from your land. I will cause you to be taken from your land, and you will die far away.

11 But the nation that put their neckes vnder the yoke of the King of Babel, and serue him, those wil I let remaine stil in their owne land, saith the Lord, and they shall occupie it, and dwel therein.

But the people of any country who do what the King of Babylon wants them to do will remain in their own country and be able to plant their crops [MTY] [as they always have done. That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.”

12 I spake also to Zedekiah king of Iudah according to all these wordes, saying, Put your neckes vnder the yoke of the King of Babel, and serue him and his people, that ye may liue.

[After I gave that message to those ambassadors, ] I gave the same message to King Zedekiah of Judah. [I said to him, ] “If you want to remain alive, do what the King of Babylon and his officials want you to do [MET].

13 Why will ye dye, thou, and thy people by the sworde, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken against the nation, that will not serue the King of Babel?

[It would be foolish for you not to do that, because the result would be that] you and your people would die by [your enemies’] swords or by famine or diseases, which Yahweh will cause any nation to experience that refuses to allow the King of Babylon to rule them.

14 Therefore heare not the words of the prophets, that speake vnto you, saying, Ye shall not serue the King of Babel: for they prophecie a lie vnto you.

Do not pay attention to those prophets who say to you, ‘The King of Babylon will not conquer your country.’ They are liars.

15 For I haue not sent them, saith the Lord, yet they prophecie a lie in my name, that I might cast you out, and that ye might perish, both you, and the prophets that prophecie vnto you.

[This is what] Yahweh says: ‘I have not appointed those prophets. They are saying that I [MTY] gave them messages, but they are lying. So, [if you believe them, ] I will expel you from this land. And you and all those prophets will die [in Babylon]!’”

16 Also I spake to the Priests, and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Heare not the wordes of your prophets that prophecie vnto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the house of the Lord shall nowe shortly be brought againe from Babel, for they prophecie a lie vnto you.

Then I spoke to the priests and the other people, and I said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Do not believe your prophets who tell you that all the gold items [that were taken] from my temple [by soldiers from Babylon] will soon be returned from Babylon, because what they are prophesying is a lie.

17 Heare them not, but serue the King of Babel, that ye may liue: wherefore shoulde this citie be desolate?

Do not pay attention to what they say. Surrender to the king of Babylon. If you do that, you will remain alive. [If you do not do that] [RHQ], this entire city will be destroyed.

18 But if they be Prophets, and if the word of the Lord be with them, let them intreate the Lord of hostes, that the vessels, which are left in the House of the Lord, and in the house of the King of Iudah, and at Ierusalem, go not to Babel.

If they are really prophets who speak messages from me, tell them to plead to me, the Commander of the armies of angels, that [the soldiers from Babylon] will not be allowed to take away to Babylon the valuable items that [still] remain in the temple and in the king’s palace and in [the other palaces in] Jerusalem.

19 For thus saith the Lord of hostes, concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remaine in this citie,

[I say this] because the [huge] pillars [that are in front of the temple] and the large water tank and the [ten water] carts and all the other items that are used [for offering sacrifices are still in this city].

20 Which Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babel tooke not, when he caryed away captiue Ieconiah the sonne of Iehoiakim King of Iudah from Ierusalem to Babel, with all the nobles of Iudah and Ierusalem.

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon left those things here when he exiled Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, to Babylon, along with all the [other] leaders of Jerusalem and [the leaders of other places in] Judah.

21 For thus saith the Lord of hostes the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remaine in the House of the Lord, and in the house of the King of Iudah, and at Ierusalem,

[I], the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israeli [people worship], say this about all those valuable things that are still outside the temple and in the palace of the king of Judah and in [other places in]:

22 They shall be brought to Babel, and there they shalbe vntil the day that I visite them, saith the Lord: then will I bring them vp, and restore them vnto this place.

They will [all] be carried away to Babylon. And they will stay there until I say that they should be brought back to Jerusalem. Then they will be bought back here. [That is what I, ] Yahweh, say.’”