Ἱερεμίας 25
1 ὁ λόγος ὁ γενόμενος πρὸς Ιερεμιαν ἐπὶ πάντα τὸν λαὸν Ιουδα ἐν τῷ ἔτει τῷ τετάρτῳ τοῦ Ιωακιμ υἱοῦ Ιωσια βασιλέως Ιουδα
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 ὃν ἐλάλησεν πρὸς πάντα τὸν λαὸν Ιουδα καὶ πρὸς τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Ιερουσαλημ λέγων
So the prophet Jeremiah went and spoke to all the people of Judah and all of the people living in Jerusalem, telling them:
3 ἐν τρισκαιδεκάτῳ ἔτει Ιωσια υἱοῦ Αμως βασιλέως Ιουδα καὶ ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης εἴκοσι καὶ τρία ἔτη καὶ ἐλάλησα πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὀρθρίζων καὶ λέγων
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 καὶ ἀπέστελλον πρὸς ὑμᾶς τοὺς δούλους μου τοὺς προφήτας ὄρθρου ἀποστέλλων καὶ οὐκ εἰσηκούσατε καὶ οὐ προσέσχετε τοῖς ὠσὶν ὑμῶν
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 λέγων ἀποστράφητε ἕκαστος ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ αὐτοῦ τῆς πονηρᾶς καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πονηρῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ὑμῶν καὶ κατοικήσετε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἧς ἔδωκα ὑμῖν καὶ τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν ἀπ’ αἰῶνος καὶ ἕως αἰῶνος
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 μὴ πορεύεσθε ὀπίσω θεῶν ἀλλοτρίων τοῦ δουλεύειν αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῦ προσκυνεῖν αὐτοῖς ὅπως μὴ παροργίζητέ με ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν τοῦ κακῶσαι ὑμᾶς
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 καὶ οὐκ ἠκούσατέ μου
But you've hurt yourselves by not listening to me, declares the Lord, because you angered me by making idols.
8 διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἐπιστεύσατε τοῖς λόγοις μου
So this is what the Lord Almighty says: Because you have not obeyed what I told you,
9 ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω καὶ λήμψομαι τὴν πατριὰν ἀπὸ βορρᾶ καὶ ἄξω αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ταύτην καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας αὐτὴν καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τὰ κύκλῳ αὐτῆς καὶ ἐξερημώσω αὐτοὺς καὶ δώσω αὐτοὺς εἰς ἀφανισμὸν καὶ εἰς συριγμὸν καὶ εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν αἰώνιον
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 καὶ ἀπολῶ ἀπ’ αὐτῶν φωνὴν χαρᾶς καὶ φωνὴν εὐφροσύνης φωνὴν νυμφίου καὶ φωνὴν νύμφης ὀσμὴν μύρου καὶ φῶς λύχνου
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 καὶ ἔσται πᾶσα ἡ γῆ εἰς ἀφανισμόν καὶ δουλεύσουσιν ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη
This whole country will become an empty wasteland, and Judah and these other nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12 καὶ ἐν τῷ πληρωθῆναι τὰ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη ἐκδικήσω τὸ ἔθνος ἐκεῖνο φησὶν κύριος καὶ θήσομαι αὐτοὺς εἰς ἀφανισμὸν αἰώνιον
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 καὶ ἐπάξω ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἐκείνην πάντας τοὺς λόγους μου οὓς ἐλάλησα κατ’ αὐτῆς πάντα τὰ γεγραμμένα ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ
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 ἃ ἐπροφήτευσεν Ιερεμιας ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὰ Αιλαμ
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 τάδε λέγει κύριος συντριβήτω τὸ τόξον Αιλαμ ἀρχὴ δυναστείας αὐτῶν
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 καὶ ἐπάξω ἐπὶ Αιλαμ τέσσαρας ἀνέμους ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἄκρων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ διασπερῶ αὐτοὺς ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἀνέμοις τούτοις καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ἔθνος ὃ οὐχ ἥξει ἐκεῖ οἱ ἐξωσμένοι Αιλαμ
They will drink and stumble around and go mad because of the war brought by the armies I'm sending to attack them.
17 καὶ πτοήσω αὐτοὺς ἐναντίον τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτῶν τῶν ζητούντων τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπάξω ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς κακὰ κατὰ τὴν ὀργὴν τοῦ θυμοῦ μου καὶ ἐπαποστελῶ ὀπίσω αὐτῶν τὴν μάχαιράν μου ἕως τοῦ ἐξαναλῶσαι αὐτούς
I took the cup the Lord handed to me and made all the nations he sent me to drink from it:
18 καὶ θήσω τὸν θρόνον μου ἐν Αιλαμ καὶ ἐξαποστελῶ ἐκεῖθεν βασιλέα καὶ μεγιστᾶνας
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 καὶ ἔσται ἐπ’ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀποστρέψω τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν Αιλαμ λέγει κύριος
to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his officials, leaders, all his people
20 ἐν ἀρχῇ βασιλεύοντος Σεδεκιου τοῦ βασιλέως ἐγένετο ὁ λόγος οὗτος περὶ Αιλαμ
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;
to Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;
to all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; to the kings of the Mediterranean sea coast;
to Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all those who trim their hair on the sides of their heads;
to all the kings of Arabia; and to all the kings of the different tribes living in the desert;
to all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media;
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The shepherds won't be able to run away; the leaders of the flock won't escape.
Listen to the cries of the shepherds, the weeping of the leaders of the flock, for the Lord is destroying their pasturelands.
The peaceful sheepfolds have been ruined because of the Lord's fierce 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.
