Jeremiah 25

1 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.

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoyakim the son of Josiah the king of Judah, which is the first year of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon;

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

Which Jeremiah the prophet spoke concerning all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,

3 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.

From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon the king of Judah, even until this day, that is now three and twenty years, the word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.

4 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.

And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, making [them] rise early and sending [them]; but ye have not hearkened, and have not inclined your ear to hear.

5 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.

They said, O do turn away every one from his evil way, and from the wrongfulness of your doings; and ye shall remain in the land that the Lord hath given unto you and to your fathers, for from eternity to eternity;

6 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.

And go not after other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not injure you.

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

Yet have ye not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord: in order that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your own hands to your own injury.

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

Therefore thus hath said the Lord of hosts, Because ye have not hearkened to my words:

9 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.

Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them over this land, and over its inhabitants, and over all these nations round about, and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a derision, and perpetual ruins.

10 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.

And I will banish from them the voice of gladness, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the mill, and the light of the lamp.

11 This whole country will become an empty wasteland, and Judah and these other nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

And this whole land shall become a ruin and an [object of] astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

12 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.

And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will visit on the king of Babylon, and on that nation, saith the Lord, their iniquity, and on the land of the Chaldeans, and will change it into perpetual desolations.

13 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.

And I will bring over that land all my words which I have spoken concerning it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied concerning all the nations.

14 Many nations and powerful kings will make slaves of them, the Babylonians, and I will pay them back for the evil they've done.

For when many nations and great kings shall have made them also serve: I will then recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their own hands.

15 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.

For thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel unto me, Take the cup of the wine of this fury out of my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it.

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

And they shall drink, and reel about, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.

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

And I took the cup out of the hand of the Lord, and caused to drink all the nations, unto whom the Lord had sent me:

18 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);

Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its princes, to make them a ruin, an astonishment, a derision, and a curse; as it is this day;

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

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

20 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;

And all the confederated nations, and all the kings of the land of 'Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gazzah, and 'Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;

21 to Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;

Edom, and Moab, and the children of 'Ammon;

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

And all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea;

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

Dedan, and Thema, and Buz, and all those that have their hair cut round;

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

And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the confederated nations that dwell in the wilderness;

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

And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of 'Elam, and all the kings of Media;

26 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.

And all the kings of the north, that are far and that are near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

27 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.

And thou shalt say unto them, Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Drink ye, and become drunken, and vomit, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword, which I am sending among you.

28 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!

And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup of thy hand to drink, that thou shalt say unto them, Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, Ye must certainly drink;

29 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.

For lo, on the city which is called by my name, I begin to inflict evil, and ye will remain utterly unpunished? Ye shall not remain unpunished; for a sword am I calling up over all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.

30 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.

But thou, do thou prophesy concerning them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord will cry aloud from on high, and from his holy habitation will he send forth his voice; he will cry out very loudly over his habitation; the vintner's call, as they that tread out the grapes, will he lift up against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31 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.

A tumultuous noise cometh even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he holdeth judgment over all flesh: the wicked, —these he giveth up to the sword, saith the Lord.

32 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.

Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil goeth forth from nation to nation, and a great storm-wind waketh up from the farthest ends of the earth.

33 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.

And the slain of the Lord shall be on that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, nor gathered up, nor buried; they shall be as dung upon the surface of the ground.

34 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.

Wail, ye shepherds, and cry; and roll yourselves about [in the dust], ye leaders of the flocks; for full are your days for you to be slaughtered, and I will scatter you; and you shall fall like a costly vessel.

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

And lost shall be the place of refuge for the shepherds, and the escape for the leaders of the flocks to escape.

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

There is the voice of the cry of anguish of the shepherds, and the wailing of the leaders of the flocks; for the Lord hath devastated their pasture.

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

And in silent desolation lie the pasture-lands of peace, because of the fierceness of the anger of the Lord.

38 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.

He hath forsaken his covert, like the young lion; for their land is become desolate, because of the fierceness of the wasting [sword], and because of the fierceness of his anger.