Jeremiah 25
1 After Jehoiakim had been ruling Judah for almost four years, Yahweh gave me this message for all the people of Judah. It was during the year that King Nebuchadnezzar started to rule in Babylon.
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.
2 I spoke this message to all the people in Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah:
So the prophet Jeremiah went and spoke to all the people of Judah and all of the people living in Jerusalem, telling them:
3 “Yahweh has been giving me messages for 23 years. He started giving me messages when Josiah, the son of Amon, had been ruling Judah for almost 13 years. And I have faithfully told you those messages, but you have not paid any attention to them.
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.
4 Many times Yahweh has sent to you the prophets who served him, but you have not listened to them or paid any attention to what they said.
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.
5 Each time their message was this: ‘Turn from all your evil behavior [MET], from all the evil things that you have continually been doing. If you do that, you will be able to stay in this land that Yahweh gave to you and to your ancestors, [to belong to you] forever.
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.
6 Do not cause Yahweh to become angry by serving and worshiping idols that you have made with your hands. If you do not cause him to be angry, he will not punish/harm you.’
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.
7 And Yahweh says, ‘But you would not pay attention to the messages that I [gave to those prophets]. You caused me to become extremely angry by [your worshiping idols] that you had made with your own hands. That resulted in my punishing you.
But you've hurt yourselves by not listening to me, declares the Lord, because you angered me by making idols.
8 So [now, I], the Commander of the armies of angels, say that because you have not paid attention to what I said,
So this is what the Lord Almighty says: Because you have not obeyed what I told you,
9 I will gather all [the armies of] the nations that will come from the northeast. I have appointed King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to lead them. I have appointed him to do my work for me. I will bring those [armies] to attack this land and nearby countries. I will completely destroy them, and cause them to be places that people are horrified about, and that people will (ridicule/act contemptuously toward), places that will be ruined forever.
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.
10 I will cause happy singing and laughing to cease in your land. There will no longer be brides and bridegrooms talking [joyfully]. There will not be the sound of people grinding [grain] with millstones. There will be no lamps lit [in your houses].
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.
11 All of this land will become a desert where no one will live. And [the people of] Israel and of the nearby countries will [will be exiled to Babylonia and] (work for/be slaves of) the kings of Babylon for seventy years.
This whole country will become an empty wasteland, and Judah and these other nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12 Then, after [they have been in Babylonia for] seventy years, I will punish the King of Babylonia and his people for the sins that they have committed. I will cause Babylonia to become a wasteland/desert forever.
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.
13 I will cause them to experience all the terrible things that Jeremiah has written about—all the punishments that he predicted will happen to all those nations.
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.
14 The leaders of many nations will cause the people of Babylonia to become their slaves, like the people of Babylonia caused my people to become slaves. I will punish them like they deserve for [having caused my people to suffer].’”
Many nations and powerful kings will make slaves of them, the Babylonians, and I will pay them back for the evil they've done.
15 Then Yahweh, the God [we] Israelis [worship], gave me [a vision. In the vision he was holding a cup of wine]. He said, “Take from me this cup that is full of [wine that represents] punishment [MTY]. I will cause all [the leaders of] the nations to which I will send you to drink [some of] the wine in this cup.
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.
16 When they drink [the wine], they will stagger and act like crazy people, because [they will realize that] I will (massacre many of their people/cause many of their people to be killed) [MTY] with swords.”
They will drink and stumble around and go mad because of the war brought by the armies I'm sending to attack them.
17 So, [in the vision, ] I took that cup [full of wine] from Yahweh, and I took it to all the nations to which he sent me, and caused [the leaders of those] nations to drink [some of that wine].
I took the cup the Lord handed to me and made all the nations he sent me to drink from it:
18 [I went to] Jerusalem and the [other] towns in Judah, and the king and [the other] officials drank [some of the wine] from that cup. And, starting from that day, they all [eventually] were removed from having authority, and became [people whom others] (ridiculed/acted contemptuously towards), who were despised, and cursed.
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);
19 [In the vision I went to] Egypt [and gave some of the wine] to the king and his officials and many of his people,
to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his officials, leaders, all his people
20 and to foreigners who were living there. [In the vision I also went to] Uz land and to Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and Ashdod [cities and gave some of the wine] to the kings [of those places].
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;
21 [Then in the vision I went to the] Edom, Moab, and Ammon [people-groups],
to Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;
22 and to Tyre and Sidon [cities] and to areas across the [Mediterranean] Sea, and [gave some of the wine] to the kings [of those places].
to all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; to the kings of the Mediterranean sea coast;
23 [In the vision I then went] to Dedan, Tema, and Buz [cities in Arabia] and to other distant places (OR, places where people cut their hair short), [and gave some of the wine to leaders in those areas].
to Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all those who trim their hair on the sides of their heads;
24 [In the vision I also went to other places in] Arabia and to the [kings of tribes] in the desert
to all the kings of Arabia; and to all the kings of the different tribes living in the desert;
25 and to the kings of the Zimri, Elam, and Media [people-groups],
to all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media;
26 and to kings in countries to the north that are near [to Israel] and to countries that are far [from Israel], one after the other— [I went to] all the kingdoms in the world [HYP]. And finally, [in my vision I went to] Babylon, and gave [some of] the wine to the king of Babylon—the wine [that symbolized that Yahweh would punish the people of Babylon because he was angry with them] [MTY].
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.
27 Then [in the vision Yahweh said to me], “Tell them that this is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom we Israelis [worship], says: ‘Drink [from this cup some of the wine that represents the punishment that I will give you]. Drink [a lot of it] and become drunk and vomit. You will fall down and not get up again, because I will cause you to be killed in wars [MTY] that I will send to you.
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.
28 If any of those to whom you give this wine [MTY] refuse to drink it, tell them that the Commander of the armies of angels says that they must drink it.
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!
29 I am starting to cause the people of my own city to experience disaster. [Do you think that] you should not be punished [RHQ]? No, you will surely be punished [LIT] because I am causing there to be wars in all the nations on the earth. [That will surely happen because] I, the Commander of the armies of angels, have said it.’
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.
30 Now tell them all those things that I have said, and also say this to them: ‘Yahweh will [shout to them] from his holy dwelling [in heaven] [MTY] and [it will sound like] the roar of a lion. He will shout like [SIM] people shout when they are treading on grapes [to make juice for wine]; he will shout to everyone on the earth.
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.
31 Even people in very remote places around the earth will hear him shouting, because he will say why he will judge and punish all the nations. He will cause the wicked people to be slaughtered with swords. [That will surely happen because] Yahweh has said it.’
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.
32 Then tell them that this is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: ‘Listen to this! There will be disasters in one nation after another. [I am preparing to punish them like] [MET] a great storm that starts in the most distant places on the earth.
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.
33 When that happens, [the corpses of] those whom I have [caused to be] slaughtered will fill the earth from the east to the west. And no one will mourn for them, and no one will gather their corpses to bury them. They will be [scattered] on the ground like manure.
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.
34 You [evil] leaders, weep and moan! You who should take care of my people, [fall down and] roll in the dust/dirt. It is time for you to be slaughtered; you will fall down and be shattered like a fragile vase [shatters when it falls to the ground].
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.
35 You will not find any place to hide, there will be no place to which you can escape.
The shepherds won't be able to run away; the leaders of the flock won't escape.
36 [People will] listen to your leaders crying when [I], Yahweh, am ruining your nation.
Listen to the cries of the shepherds, the weeping of the leaders of the flock, for the Lord is destroying their pasturelands.
37 Your peaceful meadows will become a wasteland/desert because I will be extremely angry.
The peaceful sheepfolds have been ruined because of the Lord's fierce anger.
38 I will leave [my dwelling like] [SIM] a lion leaves its den [to attack other animals], and I will cause your land to become desolate when I, because I am very angry [with you], cause [your enemies to slaughter you with their] swords.’”
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.
