Jeremiah 27

1 In the beginning of the reign of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda, this word came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying:

This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah.

2 Thus saith the Lord to me: Make thee bands, and chains: and thou shalt put them on thy neck.

This is what the Lord told me: Make for yourself a harness and a yoke and strap it on your neck

3 And thou shalt send them to the of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon: by the hand of the messengers that are come to Jerusalem to Sedecias the king of Juda.

Send a message to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through the ambassadors who have come to Jerusalem to see Zedekiah king of Judah.

4 And thou shalt command them to speak to their masters: Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to your masters:

Give them this order from the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, to convey to their masters:

5 I made the earth, and the men, and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power, and by my stretched out arm: and I have given it to whom it seemed good in my eyes.

It was by my strength and creative power that I made the earth and the human beings and animals that live there, and I give it to those who are right in my sight.

6 And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon my servant: moreover also the beasts of the field I have given him to serve him.

Now I have placed my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in charge of all these countries. I have even given him control over the wild animals.

7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son: till the time come for his land and himself: and many nations and great kings shall serve him.

All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time that his own land comes under the control of other nations and powerful kings.

8 But the nation and kingdom that will not serve Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and whosoever will not bend his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon: I will visit upon that nation with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, saith the Lord: till I consume them by his hand.

Any nation or kingdom that doesn't serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and doesn't submit to him I will punish that nation by war and famine and plague, declares the Lord, until I let Nebuchadnezzar destroy it completely.

9 Therefore hearken not to your prophets, and diviners, and dreamers, and soothsayers, and sorcerers, that say to you: You shall not serve the king Babylon.

Don't you listen to your prophets, your fortune-tellers, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your magicians when they tell you, “You won't serve the king of Babylon.”

10 For they prophesy lies to you: to remove you far from your country, and east you out, and to make you perish.

They're prophesying a lie to you that will lead to your removal from your country. I will expel you and you will die.

11 But the nation that shall bend down their neck under the yoke of the king Babylon, and shall serve him: Will let them remain in their own land, saith the Lord: and they shall till it, and dwell in it.

But a nation that submits to the king of Babylon and serves him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and live in it, declares the Lord.

12 And I spoke to Sedecias the king of Juda according to all these words, saying: Bend down your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, and his people, and you shall live.

I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah: Submit to the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!

13 Why will you die, thou and thy people by the sword, and by famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

Why should you and your people die by war and famine and plague, as the Lord has said he would bring against any nation that does not serve the king of Babylon?

14 Hearken not to the words of the prophets that say to you: You shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they tell you a lie.

Don't listen to messages from prophets who say, “You won't serve the king of Babylon,” for they are prophesying a lie to you.

15 For I have not sent them, saith the Lord: and they prophesy in my name falsely: to drive you out, and that you may perish, both you, and the prophets that prophesy to you.

I didn't send them, declares the Lord, and yet they are giving false prophecies in my name. So I will expel you and you will die—you and the prophets who prophesy to you.

16 I spoke also to the priests, and to this people, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Hearken not to the words of your prophets, that prophesy to you, saying: Behold the vessels of the Lord shall now in a short time be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.

Then I told the priests and all the people, This is what the Lord says: Don't listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, “Look! The objects from the Lord's Temple will shortly be returned from Babylon.” They are prophesying a lie to you.

17 Therefore hearken not to them, but serve the king of Babylon, that you may live. Why should this city be given up to desolation?

Don't listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city be destroyed?

18 But if they be prophets, and the word of the Lord be in them: let them interpose themselves before the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which were left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Juda, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.

If they are truly prophets and really have the word of the Lord with them, they should be pleading now with the Lord Almighty that what's left in the Lord's Temple, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, isn't taken to Babylon.

19 For thus saith the Lord of hosts to the pillars, and to the sea, and to the bases, and to the rest of the vessels that remain in this city:

This what the Lord Almighty says about the pillars, the bronze sea, the bases, and the rest of the objects that are left in Jerusalem:

20 Which Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away Jechonias the son of Joakim the king of Juda, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the great men of Juda and Jerusalem.

everything Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn't take when he took Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, together with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.

21 For thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, to the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Juda and Jerusalem:

Again, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about the objects left in the Lord's Temple, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:

22 They shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day of their visitation, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to be brought, and to be restored in this place.

They will be taken away to Babylon and will stay there until the time I see to them again, declares the Lord. Only then will I bring them back so they will be in Jerusalem again.