Jeremiah 25

1 The word that came to Jeremias concerning all the people of Juda, in the fourth year of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda, (the same is the first year of Nabuchodonosor 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 Which Jeremias the prophet spoke to all the people of Juda, and to all the inhabitants of 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 Josias the son of Ammon king of Juda until this day: this is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord hath come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising before day, and speaking, and you have not hearkened.

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 hath sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising early, and sending, and you have not hearkened, nor inclined your ears to hear.

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 When he said: Return ye, every one from his evil way, and from your wicked devices, and you shall dwell in the land which the Lord hath given to you, and your fathers for ever and 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 And go not after strange gods to serve them, and adore them: nor provoke me to wrath by the works of your hands, and I will not afflict you.

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 And you have not heard me, saith the Lord, that you might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, to your own hurt.

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

8 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Because you have not heard my words:

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

9 Behold I will send, and take all the kindreds of the north, saith the Lord, and Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon my servant: and I will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all the nations that are round about it: and I will destroy them, and make them an astonishment and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.

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 I will take away from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the mill, and the light of the lamp.

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 And all this land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment: and all these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 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 when the seventy years shall be expired, I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans: and I will make it perpetual desolations.

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 bring upon the land all my words, that I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book, all that Jeremias hath prophesied against all 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 they have served them, whereas they were many nations, and great kings: and I will repay them according to their deeds, and according to the works 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 thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Take the cup of wine of this fury at my hand: and thou shalt make all nations to drink thereof, unto which I shall send thee.

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 they shall drink, and be troubled, and be mad because of the sword, which I shall 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 And I took the cup at the hand of the Lord, and I presented it to all the nations to drink of it, to which 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 To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Juda, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof: to make them a desolation, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a curse, as it is at 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 Pharao the 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 in general: all the kings of the land of Ausitis, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ascalon, and Gaza, and Accaron, and the remnant of Azotus.

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 And 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 Sidon: and the kings of the land of the islands that are beyond the sea.

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

23 And Dedan, and Thema, and Buz, and all that have their hair cut round.

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 west, that dwell in the desert.

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 Zambri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Medes:

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

26 And all the kings of the north far and near, every one against his brother: and all the kingdoms of the earth, which are upon the face thereof: and the king of Sesac shall drink after them.

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 thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Drink ye, and be drunken, and vomit: and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword, which I shall 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 if they refuse to take the cup at thy hand to drink, thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Drinking you shall drink:

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 behold I begin to bring evil on the city wherein my name is called upon: and shall you be as innocent and escape free? you shall not escape free: for I will call for the sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.

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 And thou shalt prophesy unto them all these words, and thou shalt say to them: The Lord shall roar from on high, and shall utter his voice from his holy habitation: roaring he shall roar upon the place of his beauty: the shout as it were of them that tread grapes shall be given out against all the inhabitants 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 The noise is come even to the ends of the earth: for the Lord entereth into judgement with the nations: he entereth into judgement with all flesh; the wicked I have delivered up to the sword, saith 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 Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold evil shall go forth from nation to nation: and a great whirlwind shall go forth from the ends 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 the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end thereof: they shall not be lamented, and they shall not be gathered up, nor buried: they shall lie as dung upon the face of the earth.

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 Howl, ye shepherds, and cry: and sprinkle yourselves with ashes, ye leaders of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and your dispersion are accomplished, and you shall fall like precious vessels.

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 And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the leaders of the flock to save themselves.

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

36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the principal of the flock: because the Lord hath wasted their pastures.

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

37 And the fields of peace have been silent, because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

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

38 He has forsaken his covert as the lion, for the land is laid waste because of the wrath of the dove, and because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

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.