< Jeremiah 25 >
1 The word which came upon Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, —the same, was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
2 which word Jeremiah the prophet spake concerning all the people of Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying: —
3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah even until this day, the which is the twenty-third year, hath the word of Yahweh come unto me; and I have spoken unto you, betimes, speaking, yet have ye not hearkened.
4 And Yahweh sent unto you all, his servants the prophets, betimes sending, though ye hearkened not, neither inclined ye your ear to hear:
5 saying, —Return I pray you every one from his wicked way and from the wickedness of your doings, So shall ye remain on the soil which Yahweh hath given to you and to your fathers, —even from age to age;
6 But do not go away after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, —So shall ye not provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will not bring calamity upon you;
7 Howbeit ye hearkened not unto me, Declareth Yahweh, —that ye might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands unto your own hurt.
8 Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, —Because ye have not heard my words,
9 Behold me! sending and fetching all the families of the North, Declareth Yahweh and Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon my servant, And I will bring them in against this land and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations, round about, —And I will devote them to destruction, and make them an astonishment and a hissing, and age-abiding desolations.
10 And I will banish from among them—The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, The voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, —The sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp:
11 So shall all this land become a desolation, an astonishment, And these nations shall serve the king of Babylon, seventy years.
12 And it shall some to pass—When the seventy years are fulfilled, I will visit upon the king of Babylon and upon that nation, Declareth Yahweh their iniquity, and upon the land of the Chaldeans, —and I will turn it into age-abiding desolations.
13 So will I bring upon that land, All my words which I have spoken against it, —Even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.
14 For many nations and great kings have used, even them, as slaves, So will I recompense to them—According to their deed and According to the work of their own hands.
15 For, thus, said Yahweh, God of Israel unto me, Take this cup of indignation wine out of my hand, —and cause all the nations unto whom I am sending thee, to drink it:
16 Yea they shall drink and reel to and fro and act as madmen, because of the sword which I am sending between them.
17 So I took the cup out of the hand of Yahweh, —and caused all the nations unto whom Yahweh had sent me to drink:
18 [to wit said he] —Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and her kings her princes, —making them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a contempt, as at this day;
19 Pharaoh king of Egypt and his servants and his princes, and all his people;
20 And all the Bedawin, and all the kings of the land of Uz, —and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, even Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
21 Edom and Moab, and the sons of Ammon;
22 And all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon, —and the kings of the Coastland, that is beyond the sea;
23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all the clipt-beards;
24 And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the Bedawin, who dwell in the desert;
25 And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes;
26 And all the kings of the North, the near and the far every man with his brother, and all the kingdoms of the earth which are on the face of the ground; And the king of Sheshach, shall drink, after them.
27 Therefore shalt thou say unto them—Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, —Drink ye and be drunken, and vomit, and fall and rise not, —because of the sword which I am sending between you.
28 And it shall be when they shall refuse to take the cup at thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them—Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Ye shall certainly drink;
29 For lo! with the city on which my Name hath been called, am I making a beginning of sending calamity, And shall, ye, be held, guiltless? Ye shall not be held guiltless: For a sword, am I proclaiming against all the inhabitants of the earth, Declareth Yahweh of hosts.
30 Thou, therefore, shalt prophesy against them all these words, —and shalt say unto them—Yahweh, from on high, will roar Yea from his holy habitation, will utter his voice, He will, roar mightily over his home, With a shout as of them who tread the winepress, will he answer unto all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 There hath come in a tumult as far as the end of the earth, For a controversy, hath Yahweh with the nations, Himself, hath entered into judgment with all flesh, —As for the lawless, he hath delivered them to the sword Declareth Yahweh.
32 Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Lo calamity! going forth from nation to nation, —And a great tempest, shall bestirred up, out of the remote parts of the earth.
33 Then shall the slain of Yahweh in that day, be from one end of the earth, even unto the other end of the earth, —They shall not be lamented, nor gathered together nor buried, As dung, on the face of the ground, shall they serve.
34 Howl ye shepherds and make outcry, And roll in the dust ye illustrious of the flock, Because your days for being slaughtered, are fulfilled, —Therefore will I break you in pieces, and ye shall fall like a precious vessel!
35 Then shall place of refuge vanish from the shepherds, And escape from the illustrious of the flock.
36 The voice of the outcry of the shepherds! Yea the howling of the illustrious of the flock!—Because Yahweh is laying waste the grounds where they fed.
37 Then shall be silenced the prosperous pastures, —Because of the fierceness of the anger of Yahweh.
38 He hath left as a lion his covert, For their land hath become a horror, Because of the fierceness of oppression and Because of the fierceness of his anger.