Jeremiah 25

1 The word which came to Jeremiah about all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah; this was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar, king of 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 This word Jeremiah gave out to all the people of Judah and to those living in Jerusalem, saying,

So the prophet Jeremiah went and spoke to all the people of Judah and all of the people living in Jerusalem, telling them:

3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, even till this day, for twenty-three years, the word of the Lord has been coming to me, and I have given it to you, getting up early and talking to you; but you have not given ear.

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 And the Lord has sent to you all his servants the prophets, getting up early and sending them; but you have not given attention and your ear has not been open to give hearing;

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 Saying, Come back now, everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your doings, and keep your place in the land which the Lord has given to you and to your fathers, from times long past even for ever:

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 go after other gods to be their servants and to give them worship, and do not make me angry with the work of your hands, causing evil to yourselves.

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 But you have not given ear to me, says the Lord; so that you have made me angry with the work of your hands, causing evil to yourselves.

But you've hurt yourselves by not listening to me, declares the Lord, because you angered me by making idols.

8 So this is what the Lord of armies has said: Because you have not given ear to my words,

So this is what the Lord Almighty says: Because you have not obeyed what I told you,

9 See, I will send and take all the families of the north, says the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, my servant, and make them come against this land, and against its people, and against all these nations on every side; and I will give them up to complete destruction, and make them a cause of fear and surprise and a waste place for ever.

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 And more than this, I will take from them the sound of laughing voices, the voice of joy, the voice of the newly-married man, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the stones crushing the grain, and the shining of lights.

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 this land will be a waste and a cause of wonder; and these nations will be the servants of the king 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 And it will come about, after seventy years are ended, that I will send punishment on the king of Babylon, and on that nation, says the Lord, for their evil-doing, and on the land of the Chaldaeans; and I will make it a waste for ever.

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 And I will make that land undergo everything I have said against it, even everything recorded in this book, which Jeremiah the prophet has said against all the 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 For a number of nations and great kings will make servants of them, even of them: and I will give them the reward of their acts, even the reward of the work of their hands.

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 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has said to me: Take the cup of the wine of this wrath from my hand, and make all the nations to whom I send you take of it.

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 And after drinking it, they will go rolling from side to side, and be off their heads, because of the sword which I will send among them.

They will drink and stumble around and go mad because of the war brought by the armies I'm sending to attack them.

17 Then I took the cup from the Lord's hand, and gave a drink from it to all the nations to whom the Lord sent me;

I took the cup the Lord handed to me and made all the nations he sent me to drink from it:

18 Jerusalem and the towns of Judah and their kings and their princes, to make them a waste place, a cause of fear and surprise and a curse, as it is this day;

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 Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his servants and his princes and all his people;

to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his officials, leaders, all his people

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

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 Edom and Moab and the children of Ammon,

to Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;

22 And all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the lands across the sea;

to all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; to the kings of the Mediterranean sea coast;

23 Dedan and Tema and Buz, and all who have the ends of their hair cut;

to Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all those who trim their hair on the sides of their heads;

24 And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed people living in the waste land;

to all the kings of Arabia; and to all the kings of the different tribes living in the desert;

25 And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes;

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

26 And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

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 And you are to say to them, This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Take of this cup and be overcome, and let it come out again from your lips, and from your fall you will never be lifted up again, because of the sword which I will send among 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 And it will be, if they will not take of the cup in your hand, then you are to say to them, This is what the Lord of armies has said: You will certainly take of 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 For see, I am starting to send evil on the town which is named by my name, and are you to be without any punishment? You will not be without punishment: for I will send a sword on all people living on the earth, says the Lord of armies.

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 So, as a prophet, give out these words among them, and say to them, The voice of the Lord will be sounding like a lion from on high; he will send out his voice from his holy place, like the loud voice of a lion, against his flock; he will give a cry, like those who are crushing the grapes, against all the people of 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 A noise will come, even to the end of the earth; for the Lord has a cause against the nations, he will give his decision against all flesh; as for the evil-doers, he will give them to the sword, says the Lord.

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 This is what the Lord of armies has said: See, evil is going out from nation to nation, and a great storm will come up from the inmost parts of 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 And at that day, the bodies of those whom the Lord has put to death will be seen from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: there will be no weeping for them, their bodies will not be taken up or put to rest in the earth; they will be like waste on the face of the land.

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 Give cries of grief, you keepers of sheep; give cries for help, rolling yourselves in the dust, you chiefs of the flock: for the days of your destruction have fully come, and I will send you in all directions, and your fall will be like that of the males of the flock.

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 There will be no way of flight for the keepers of sheep, no road for the chiefs of the flock to get away safely.

The shepherds won't be able to run away; the leaders of the flock won't escape.

36 A sound of the cry of the keepers of sheep, and the bitter crying of the chiefs of the flock! for the Lord has made waste their green fields.

Listen to the cries of the shepherds, the weeping of the leaders of the flock, for the Lord is destroying their pasturelands.

37 And there is no sound in the fields of peace, because of the burning wrath of the Lord.

The peaceful sheepfolds have been ruined because of the Lord's fierce anger.

38 The lion has come out of his secret place, for the land has become a waste because of the cruel sword, and because of the heat of his wrath.

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.