Jeremiah 27

1At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,

2Thus said Yahweh to me: “Make for yourself bonds and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck.”

3And send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who are coming to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

4And command them to say to their masters, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: Thus you shall say to your masters,’

5I myself made the earth, mankind, and the animals that are on the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and I give it to whomever is right in my eyes.

6And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant; and I have also given him the beasts of the field to serve him.

7All the nations will serve him, and his son, and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will make even him serve them.

8And it shall be that the nation or the kingdom that will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares Yahweh, until I have finished them by his hand.

9But you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’

10For they are prophesying lies to you, in order to remove you from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish.

11But the nation that brings its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will let remain on its own land, declares Yahweh, and it will till it and dwell in it.

12And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.”

13Why will you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, just as the LORD has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

14And do not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying a lie to you.

15For I did not send them, declares Yahweh, and they are prophesying falsely in my name, so that I may drive you out, and you will perish—you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.

16And to the priests and to all this people I spoke, saying, “Thus says Yahweh: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the house of Yahweh are being brought back from Babylon now, quickly,’ for they are prophesying falsely to you.”

17Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a ruin?

18But if they are prophets, and if the word of Yahweh is with them, let them now plead with Yahweh of hosts that the vessels remaining in the house of Yahweh, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon.

19For thus says Yahweh of Armies concerning the pillars, the Sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that remain in this city:

20which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he exiled Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.

21For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of Yahweh, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:

22They will be brought to Babylon, and there they will remain until the day I attend to them, declares Yahweh. Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.