Jeremiah 25

1The word that came to Yirmeyahu concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah—it was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon—

2which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:

3From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years, the word of Yahweh has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened.

4And Yahweh sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you did not listen, nor did you incline your ear to hear.

5saying, ‘Please turn back, each man from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell in the land that Yahweh gave to you and to your fathers from of old and forever.’

6And do not go after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, and do not provoke me to anger by the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm.

7Yet you did not listen to me, declares Yahweh, to provoke me to anger by the work of your hands, to your own harm.

8Therefore, thus says Yahweh of hosts: Because you have not listened to my words,

9Look, I am sending for and taking all the clans of the north, declares Yahweh, and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction and make them a horror, a hissing, and everlasting ruins.

10And I will destroy from among them the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.

11And all this land will become a ruin and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

12And when seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation—oracle of Yahweh—for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.

13And I will bring upon that land all my words that I have spoken against it—all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations.

14For many nations and great kings will make even them serve, and I will repay them according to their work and according to the work of their hands.

15For thus said Yahweh, the God of Israel, to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink it.”

16They will drink, and stagger, and act like madmen because of the sword that I am sending among them.

17So I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and made all the nations to whom Yahweh had sent me drink.

18Jerusalem, the cities of Judah, her kings, and her officials—to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day.

19Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, and all his people;

20and all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;

21Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon;

22and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland that is across the sea;

23and Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all who clip the corners of their hair,

24and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed peoples who dwell in the wilderness;

25and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media;

26and all the kings of the north, both near and far, each one with his brother, and all the kingdoms of the earth that are on the face of the ground. And the king of Sheshach will drink after them.

27You shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink and become drunk, and vomit, and fall, and do not rise, because of the sword that I am sending among you.’

28And if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts: You shall surely drink.’

29For behold, in the city over which my name is called, I am beginning to bring harm, and shall you indeed go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am calling for a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares Yahweh of hosts.

30And you, you shall prophesy all these words against them, and you shall say to them: The LORD will roar from on high, and from his holy dwelling he will give his voice; he will surely roar against his pasture. He will answer with a shout like those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31An uproar has come to the end of the earth, for Yahweh has a case against the nations; he is entering into judgment with all flesh. He has given the wicked to the sword, declares Yahweh.

32Thus says Yahweh of hosts: Behold, disaster is going out from nation to nation, and a great storm is being stirred up from the farthest parts of the earth.

33And the slain of Yahweh on that day will be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They will not be mourned, or gathered, or buried; they will become dung on the surface of the ground.

34Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you lords of the flock, for the days of your slaughter are fulfilled, and your dispersions have come, and you will fall like a precious vessel.

35Escape has perished from the shepherds, and deliverance from the lords of the flock.

36The sound of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the leaders of the flock, for Yahweh is devastating their pasture.

37And the peaceful pastures are laid waste because of the burning anger of Yahweh.

38Like a young lion, he has left his den, for their land has become a desolation because of the burning anger of the oppressor, and because of his burning anger.