Jeremiah 25

Seventy Years of Captivity

1 *ch. 1:3;36:1;[2 Kgs. 24:1]The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 "For twenty-three years, *ch. 1:2from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken *ch. 7:13;11:7,8;26:5;29:19;32:33;35:14;2 Chr. 36:15persistently to you, *See ch. 7:13but you have not listened. 4 *[See ver. 3above] You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord*[See ver. 3above]persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, *See ch. 18:11‘Turn now, every one of you, *ch. 23:22from his evil way and evil deeds, and *ch. 7:7dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 *See ch. 7:6Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, *[ch. 32:30]or provoke me to anger *[ch. 32:30]with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7 *[See ver. 6above]Yet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, *[See ver. 6above]that you might provoke me to anger *[See ver. 6above]with the work of your hands to your own harm.

8 "Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 *ch. 1:15behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, *ch. 27:6;43:10;[Isa. 44:28;45:1]; See Ezek. 29:18-20my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, *See ch. 18:16and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, *See ch. 7:34I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, *Eccles. 12:4;Rev. 18:22the grinding of the millstones and *Rev. 18:23the light of the lamp. 11 *[See ver. 9above] This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and *[ch. 28:14]; See ch. 27:3-6these nations shall serve the king of Babylon *2 Chr. 36:21,22;Ezra 1:1;Dan. 9:2;[Isa. 23:15]seventy years. 12 Then after *[See ver. 11above] seventy years are completed, *ch. 51:24,26,62;Isa. 13:19I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, *ch. 51:24,26,62;Isa. 13:19the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, *ch. 51:24,26,62;Isa. 13:19making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written *See ch. 46–51in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 *ch. 27:7;50:9,41;51:27,28For many nations *ch. 27:7;50:9,41;51:27,28and great kings shall make slaves even of them, *ch. 50:29;51:6,24and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands."

The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

15 Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: *ch. 49:12;51:7;Job 21:20;Ps. 60:3;75:8;Isa. 51:17;Lam. 4:21;Rev. 14:10"Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of *[ch. 47:6]the sword that I am sending among them."

17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, *[Isa. 51:22,23]and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: 18 *[Zech. 12:2] Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, *See ch. 18:16to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 *ch. 46:25Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and *ch. 50:37;[Ex. 12:38;Ezek. 30:5] all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of *Job 1:1;Lam. 4:21the land of Uz and all the kings of *ch. 47:1,4,5the land of the Philistines (*ch. 47:1,4,5Ashkelon, *ch. 47:1,4,5Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of *[Isa. 20:1]Ashdod); 21 *ch. 9:26;See ch. 49:7-22Edom, *See ch. 48Moab, and the sons of *See ch. 49:1-6Ammon; 22 all the kings of *ch. 47:4;Isa. 23:1,2Tyre, all the kings of *ch. 47:4;Isa. 23:1,2Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across *[ch. 49:23]the sea; 23 *ch. 49:8;Isa. 21:13Dedan, *Job 6:19Tema, *[Job 32:2,6] Buz, and all who cut *See ch. 9:26the corners of their hair; 24 all the *2 Chr. 9:14kings of Arabia and all the kings of *[See ver. 20above]the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of *Isa. 11:11;See ch. 49:34-39Elam, and all the kings of *[2 Kgs. 17:6]Media; 26 all the kings of *ch. 50:9the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of *ch. 51:41Babylon*25:26 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon shall drink.

27 "Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: *Hab. 2:16Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of *Ezek. 38:21;[ver. 16]the sword that I am sending among you.’

28 "And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: *ch. 49:12You must drink! 29 For behold, *Prov. 11:31;Isa. 10:12;Amos 3:2;Obad. 16;[1 Pet. 4:17] I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, *[See ver. 27above]for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.’

30 "You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:

*Joel 3:16;Amos 1:2"‘The Lord will roar from on high,

and from his holy habitation utter his voice;

he will roar mightily against his fold,

*[Judg. 9:27;Isa. 16:9]and shout, like those who tread grapes,

against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31 The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,

for *Hos. 4:1the Lord has an indictment against the nations;

*Isa. 66:16;[Joel 3:2]he is entering into judgment with all flesh,

and the wicked he will put to the sword,

declares the Lord.’

32 "Thus says the Lord of hosts:

Behold, disaster is going forth

from nation to nation,

*ch. 23:19;30:23and a great tempest is stirring

*ch. 6:22from the farthest parts of the earth!

33 *Isa. 66:16"And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. *See ch. 16:4They shall not be lamented, *See ch. 8:2or gathered, or buried; *See ch. 8:2they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.

34 *ch. 4:8"Wail, *See ch. 23:1you shepherds, and cry out,

*ch. 6:26and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,

for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,

and you shall fall like a choice vessel.

35 No refuge will remain *See ch. 23:1for the shepherds,

nor escape for the lords of the flock.

36 A voice—the cry *[See ver. 35above] of the shepherds,

*ch. 4:8and the wail of the lords of the flock!

For the Lord is laying waste their pasture,

37 *[Isa. 32:18] and the peaceful folds are devastated

*See ch. 12:13because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

38 Like a lion *[Job 38:40] he has left his lair,

for their land has become a waste

because of *ch. 46:16;50:16the sword of the oppressor,

*[See ver. 37above]and because of his fierce anger."