Jeremiah 25:1-38
25 The word that occurred to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Je·hoiʹa·kim+ the son of Jo·siʹah, the king of Judah, that is, the first year of Neb·u·chad·rezʹzar the king of Babylon;
2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke concerning all the people of Judah and concerning all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:
3 “From the thirteenth year of Jo·siʹah+ the son of Aʹmon, the king of Judah, and down to this day, these twenty-three years the word of Jehovah has occurred to me, and I kept speaking to YOU people, rising up early and speaking, but YOU did not listen.+
4 And Jehovah sent to YOU all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending [them], but YOU did not listen,+ neither did YOU incline YOUR ear to listen,+
5 they saying, ‘Turn back, please, every one from his bad way and from the badness of YOUR dealings,+ and continue dwelling upon the ground that Jehovah gave to YOU and to YOUR forefathers from long ago and to a long time to come.+
6 And do not walk after other gods* in order to serve them and to bow down to them, that YOU may not offend me with the work of YOUR hands, and that I may not cause calamity to YOU.’+
7 “‘But YOU did not listen to me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘to the intent that YOU might offend me with the work of YOUR hands, for calamity to yourselves.’+
8 “Therefore this is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘“For the reason that YOU did not obey my words,
9 here I am sending and I will take all the families of the north,”+ is the utterance of Jehovah, “even [sending] to Neb·u·chad·rezʹzar the king of Babylon, my servant,+ and I will bring them against this land+ and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about;+ and I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of astonishment and something to whistle+ at and places devastated to time indefinite.+
10 And I will destroy out of them the sound of exultation and the sound of rejoicing,+ the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride,+ the sound of the hand mill+ and the light of the lamp.+
11 And all this land must become a devastated place, an object of astonishment, and these nations will have to serve the king of Babylon seventy years.”’+
12 “‘And it must occur that when seventy years have been fulfilled+ I shall call to account against the king of Babylon and against that nation,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘their error, even against the land of the Chal·deʹans,+ and I will make it desolate wastes to time indefinite.+
13 And I will bring in upon that land all my words that I have spoken against it, even all that is written in this book that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.+
14 For even they themselves, many nations and great kings,+ have exploited them as servants;+ and I will repay them according to their activity and according to the work of their hands.’”+
15 For this is what Jehovah the God of Israel said to me: “Take this cup of the wine of rage out of my hand, and you must make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink it.*+
16 And they must drink and shake back and forth and act like crazed men because of the sword that I am sending among them.”+
17 And I proceeded to take the cup out of the hand of Jehovah and to make all the nations drink to whom Jehovah had sent me:+
18 namely, Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and her kings, her princes, to make them a devastated place, an object of astonishment,+ something to whistle at and a malediction, just as at this day;+
19 Pharʹaoh the king of Egypt and his servants and his princes and all his people;+
20 and all the mixed company, and all the kings of the land of Uz,+ and all the kings of the land of the Phi·lisʹtines+ and Ashʹke·lon+ and Gaʹza+ and Ekʹron+ and the remnant of Ashʹdod;+
21 Eʹdom+ and Moʹab+ and the sons of Amʹmon;+
22 and all the kings of Tyre+ and all the kings of Siʹdon+ and the kings of the island* that is in the region of the sea;
23 and Deʹdan+ and Teʹma+ and Buz and all those with hair clipped at the temples;+
24 and all the kings of the Arabs+ and all the kings of the mixed company who are residing in the wilderness;
25 and all the kings of Zimʹri and all the kings of Eʹlam+ and all the kings of the Medes;+
26 and all the kings of the north who are near and far away, one after the other, and all the [other] kingdoms of the earth that are on the surface of the ground; and the king of Sheʹshach*+ himself will drink after them.
27 “And you must say to them, ‘This is what Jehovah of armies, the God* of Israel, has said: “Drink and get drunk and puke and fall so that YOU cannot get up+ because of the sword that I am sending among YOU.”’+
28 And it must occur that in case they refuse to take the cup out of your hand to drink, you must also say to them, ‘This is what Jehovah of armies has said: “YOU will drink without fail.+
29 For, look! it is upon the city upon which my name is called that I am starting off in bringing calamity,+ and should YOU yourselves in any way go free of punishment?”’+
“‘YOU will not go free of punishment, for there is a sword that I am calling against all the inhabitants of the earth,’ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies.
30 “And as for you, you will prophesy to them all these words, and you must say to them, ‘From on high Jehovah himself will roar,+ and from his holy dwelling he will give forth his voice.+ Without fail he will roar upon* his abiding place. A shout like that of those treading [the winepress] he will sing out against all the inhabitants of the earth.’+
31 “‘A noise will certainly come clear to the farthest part* of the earth, for there is a controversy that Jehovah has with the nations.+ He must personally put himself in judgment with all flesh.+ As regards the wicked ones, he must give them to the sword,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah.
32 “This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘Look! A calamity is going forth from nation to nation,+ and a great tempest itself will be roused up from the remotest parts of the earth.+
33 And those slain by Jehovah will certainly come to be in that day from one end of the earth clear to the other end of the earth.*+ They will not be bewailed, neither will they be gathered up or be buried.+ As manure on the surface of the ground they will become.’+
34 “Howl, YOU shepherds, and cry out!+ And wallow about,+ YOU majestic ones of the flock,+ because YOUR days for slaughtering and for YOUR scatterings have been fulfilled,*+ and YOU must fall like a desirable vessel!+
35 And a place to flee to has perished from the shepherds, and a means of escape from the majestic ones of the flock.+
36 Listen! The outcry of the shepherds, and the howling of the majestic ones of the flock, for Jehovah is despoiling their pasturage.
37 And the peaceful abiding places have been rendered lifeless* because of the burning anger of Jehovah.+
38 He has left his covert just like a maned young lion,+ for their land has become an object of astonishment because of the maltreating sword* and because of his burning anger.”+
Footnotes
^ “Gods.” Heb., ʼelo·himʹ.
^ “It,” masc., referring to the “wine,” masc.
^ Or, “coastland.”
^ “Sheshach,” MVg; T, “Babel.” This appears to be a cryptographic name for Babel (Babylon) by the device called ʼath·bashʹ that disguises the true name by taking the last letter of the Heb. alphabet, Taw, for the first, ʼAʹleph, and the second to the last letter, Shin, for the second letter, Behth, and so on. Thus in “Babel” each Behth, “b,” would stand for Shin, Laʹmedh would stand for Kaph, and the name would become She·shakhʹ.
^ “The God of.” Heb., ʼElo·hehʹ.
^ Or, “against.”
^ Or, “from the farthest part of the earth to the farthermost part of the earth.” Heb., miq·tsehʹ ha·ʼaʹrets weʽadh-qetsehʹ ha·ʼaʹrets. Compare vs 31.
^ Or, “your days for being slaughtered and for your being scattered have come due.”
^ Or, “silent.”
^ “Sword,” TLXX and about 20 Heb. mss; M, “heatedness (burning).”
