Jeremiah 27

1 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh.

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

2 This is what Yahweh said to me, “Make fetters and a yoke for yourself. Place them on your neck.

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.

3 Then send them out to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the people of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon. Send them by the hand of those kings' ambassadors who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

[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.

4 Give commands to them for their masters and say, 'Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: This is what you must say to your masters,

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, ]:

5 “I myself made the earth by my great strength and my raised arm. I also made the people and animals on the earth, and I give it to anyone who is right in my eyes.

‘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.

6 So now, I myself am giving all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant. Also, I am giving the living things in the fields to him to serve him.

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.

7 For all the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until the time for his land comes. Then many nations and great kings will subdue him.

[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.’

8 So the nation and the kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and that does not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon—I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with the plague—this is Yahweh's declaration—until I have destroyed it by his hand.

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.

9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your seers, your soothsayers, and sorcerers, who have been speaking to you and saying, 'Do not serve the king of Babylon.'

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.

10 For they are prophesying deceit to you in order to send you far away from your lands, for I will drive you away, and you will die.

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.

11 But the nation that places its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will allow it to rest in its land—this is Yahweh's declaration—and they will cultivate it and make their homes in it.”'”

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.”

12 So I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah and gave him this message, “Place your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and you will live.

[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].

13 Why will you die—you and your people—by the sword, famine, and plague, just as I have declared about the nation that refuses to serve the king of Babylon?

[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.

14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you and say, 'Do not serve the king of Babylon,' for they are prophesying lies to you.

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

15 'For I have not sent them out—this is Yahweh's declaration—for they are prophesying deceit in my name so that I will drive you out and you will perish, both you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.'”

[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]!’”

16 I proclaimed this to the priests and all the people and said, “Yahweh says this: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you and say, 'Look! The objects belonging to Yahweh's house are being returned from Babylon now!' They are prophesying lies to you.

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.

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

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.

18 If they are prophets, and if the word of Yahweh has truly come to them, let them beg Yahweh of hosts not to send to Babylon the objects that remain in his house, the house of the king of Judah, and Jerusalem.

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.

19 Yahweh of hosts says this about the pillars, the large basin known as “The Sea” and its base, and the rest of the objects that remain in this city—

[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].

20 the objects that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.

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.

21 Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this about the objects that remain in the house of Yahweh, the house of the king of Judah, and Jerusalem,

[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]:

22 'They will be brought to Babylon, and they will remain there until the day I have set to come for them—this is Yahweh's declaration—then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.'”

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.’”