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;
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 word Jeremiah the prophet spake concerning all the people of Judah, and against 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 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.
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 Yahweh sent unto you all, his servants the prophets, betimes sending, though ye hearkened not, neither inclined ye your ear 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 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;
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 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;
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 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.
But you've hurt yourselves by not listening to me, declares the Lord, because you angered me by making idols.
8 Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, —Because ye have not heard my words,
So this is what the Lord Almighty says: Because you have not obeyed what I told you,
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.
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 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:
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 So shall all this land become a desolation, an astonishment, And 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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, 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:
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 Yea they shall drink and reel to and fro and act as madmen, because of the sword which I am sending between 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 So I took the cup out of the hand of Yahweh, —and caused all the nations unto whom Yahweh had sent me to drink:
I took the cup the Lord handed to me and made all the nations he sent me to drink from it:
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;
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 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;
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 sons 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 Coastland, that is beyond 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 the clipt-beards;
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 Bedawin, who 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 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, 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.
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 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.
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 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;
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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!
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 Then shall place of refuge vanish from the shepherds, And escape from the illustrious of the flock.
The shepherds won't be able to run away; the leaders of the flock won't escape.
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.
Listen to the cries of the shepherds, the weeping of the leaders of the flock, for the Lord is destroying their pasturelands.
37 Then shall be silenced the prosperous pastures, —Because of the fierceness of the anger of Yahweh.
The peaceful sheepfolds have been ruined because of the Lord's fierce anger.
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.
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.
