Jeremiah 27

1 Soon after Zedekiah became the King of Judah, Yahweh gave a message to me.

At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD.

2 This is what he said to me: “Make a (yoke/set of wooden bars to fasten around the neck of an ox), but fasten it around your own neck with leather straps.

This is what the LORD said to me: “Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck.

3 [Then] send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon, by telling those messages to the ambassadors from those countries who have come to Jerusalem to [talk to] King Zedekiah.

Send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

4 Tell them to give this message to their kings: This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israeli [people worship, ]:

Give them a message from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, to relay to their masters:

5 ‘With my very great power [MTY, DOU] I created the earth and the people and the animals that are on the earth. And I can give my power to anyone whom I want to.

By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.

6 And now I am going to enable King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who does what I want him to do, to control your countries. I am going to enable him to rule everything, even the wild animals.

So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him.

7 [The people of] all the nations will work for him, and [later] for his son, and [later] for his grandson, until the time for them [to rule] is finished. Then [the armies of] many great kings from many nations will conquer Babylon.’

All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.

8 But now I tell you that you must [do what the king of Babylon wants you to do] [MET], [like an ox that has] a yoke on its neck [must do what its master wants it to do]. I will punish any nation that refuses to do that. I will cause those people to experience war and famine and diseases, until [the armies of] Babylon have conquered that nation.

As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation by sword and famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I have destroyed it by his hand.

9 So, do not pay attention to your [false] prophets and fortune-tellers and people who predict what will happen by working magic or by talking with spirits of dead people. Those people say that the king of Babylon will not conquer your country.

But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’

10 Those people are [all] liars. [If you believe what they say, ] it will result in your being exiled from your land. I will cause you to be taken from your land, and you will die far away.

For they prophesy to you a lie that will serve to remove you from your land; I will banish you and you will perish.

11 But the people of any country who do what the King of Babylon wants them to do will remain in their own country and be able to plant their crops [MTY] [as they always have done. That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.”

But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the LORD.”

12 [After I gave that message to those ambassadors, ] I gave the same message to King Zedekiah of Judah. [I said to him, ] “If you want to remain alive, do what the King of Babylon and his officials want you to do [MET].

And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!

13 [It would be foolish for you not to do that, because the result would be that] you and your people would die by [your enemies’] swords or by famine or diseases, which Yahweh will cause any nation to experience that refuses to allow the King of Babylon to rule them.

Why should you and your people die by sword and famine and plague, as the LORD has decreed against any nation that does not serve the king of Babylon?

14 Do not pay attention to those prophets who say to you, ‘The King of Babylon will not conquer your country.’ They are liars.

Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say, ‘You must not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying to you a lie.

15 [This is what] Yahweh says: ‘I have not appointed those prophets. They are saying that I [MTY] gave them messages, but they are lying. So, [if you believe them, ] I will expel you from this land. And you and all those prophets will die [in Babylon]!’”

For I have not sent them, declares the LORD, and yet they are prophesying falsely in My name; therefore I will banish you, and you will perish—you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

16 Then I spoke to the priests and the other people, and I said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Do not believe your prophets who tell you that all the gold items [that were taken] from my temple [by soldiers from Babylon] will soon be returned from Babylon, because what they are prophesying is a lie.

Then I said to the priests and to all this people, “This is what the LORD says: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Look, very soon now the articles from the house of the LORD will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying to you a lie.

17 Do not pay attention to what they say. Surrender to the king of Babylon. If you do that, you will remain alive. [If you do not do that] [RHQ], this entire city will be destroyed.

Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city become a ruin?

18 If they are really prophets who speak messages from me, tell them to plead to me, the Commander of the armies of angels, that [the soldiers from Babylon] will not be allowed to take away to Babylon the valuable items that [still] remain in the temple and in the king’s palace and in [the other palaces in] Jerusalem.

If they are indeed prophets and the word of the LORD is with them, let them now plead with the LORD of Hosts that the articles remaining in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, not be taken to Babylon.

19 [I say this] because the [huge] pillars [that are in front of the temple] and the large water tank and the [ten water] carts and all the other items that are used [for offering sacrifices are still in this city].

For this is what the LORD of Hosts says about the pillars, the sea, the bases, and the rest of the articles that remain in this city,

20 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon left those things here when he exiled Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, to Babylon, along with all the [other] leaders of Jerusalem and [the leaders of other places in] Judah.

which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.

21 [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israeli [people worship], say this about all those valuable things that are still outside the temple and in the palace of the king of Judah and in [other places in]:

Yes, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about the articles that remain in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:

22 They will [all] be carried away to Babylon. And they will stay there until I say that they should be brought back to Jerusalem. Then they will be bought back here. [That is what I, ] Yahweh, say.’”

‘They will be carried to Babylon and will remain there until the day I attend to them again,’ declares the LORD. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’”