New American Standard Bible

New Living Translation

Prophecy of the Captivity

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),

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Seventy Years of Captivity

This message for all the people of Judah came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign over Judah.a This was the year when King Nebuchadnezzarb of Babylon began his reign.

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which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,

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Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people in Judah and Jerusalem,

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“From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.

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“For the past twenty-three years — from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon,c king of Judah, until now — the LORD has been giving me his messages. I have faithfully passed them on to you, but you have not listened.

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“And the LORD has sent to you all His servants the prophets again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear,

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“Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention.

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saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell on the land which the LORD has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever;

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Each time the message was this: ‘Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the LORD gave to you and your ancestors forever.

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and do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm.’

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Do not provoke my anger by worshiping idols you made with your own hands. Then I will not harm you.’

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“Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares the LORD, “in order that you might provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.

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“But you would not listen to me,” says the LORD. “You made me furious by worshiping idols you made with your own hands, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer.

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“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Because you have not obeyed My words,

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And now the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Because you have not listened to me,

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behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation.

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I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroyd you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever.

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‘Moreover, I will take from 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.

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I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out.

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‘This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

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This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

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Babylon Will Be Judged

‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the LORD, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.

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“Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins,” says the LORD. “I will make the country of the Babylonianse a wasteland forever.

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‘I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.

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I will bring upon them all the terrors I have promised in this book — all the penalties announced by Jeremiah against the nations.

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‘(For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)’”

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Many nations and great kings will enslave the Babylonians, just as they enslaved my people. I will punish them in proportion to the suffering they cause my people.”

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For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.

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The Cup of the LORD’s Anger

This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.

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“They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”

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When they drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against them.”

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Then I took the cup from the LORD’S hand and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it:

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So I took the cup of anger from the LORD and made all the nations drink from it — every nation to which the LORD sent me.

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Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing and a curse, as it is this day;

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I went to Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah, and their kings and officials drank from the cup. From that day until this, they have been a desolate ruin, an object of horror, contempt, and cursing.

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Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes and all his people;

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I gave the cup to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials, and all his people,

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and all the foreign people, all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and the remnant of Ashdod);

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along with all the foreigners living in that land. I also gave it to all the kings of the land of Uz and the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod.

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Edom, Moab and the sons of Ammon;

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Then I gave the cup to the nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon,

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and all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon and the kings of the coastlands which are beyond the sea;

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and the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings of the regions across the sea.

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and Dedan, Tema, Buz and all who cut the corners of their hair;

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I gave it to Dedan, Tema, and Buz, and to the people who live in distant places.f

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and all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who dwell in the desert;

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I gave it to the kings of Arabia, the kings of the nomadic tribes of the desert,

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and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam and all the kings of Media;

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and to the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media.

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and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

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And I gave it to the kings of the northern countries, far and near, one after the other — all the kingdoms of the world. And finally, the king of Babylong himself drank from the cup of the LORD’s anger.

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“You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you.”’

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Then the LORD said to me, “Now tell them, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Drink from this cup of my anger. Get drunk and vomit; fall to rise no more, for I am sending terrible wars against you.’

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“And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “You shall surely drink!

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And if they refuse to accept the cup, tell them, ‘The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: You have no choice but to drink from it.

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“For behold, I am beginning to work calamity in this city which is called by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares the LORD of hosts.’

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I have begun to punish Jerusalem, the city that bears my name. Now should I let you go unpunished? No, you will not escape disaster. I will call for war against all the nations of the earth. I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!’

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“Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them,
‘The LORD will roar from on high
And utter His voice from His holy habitation;
He will roar mightily against His fold.
He will shout like those who tread the grapes,
Against all the inhabitants of the earth.

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“Now prophesy all these things, and say to them,
“‘The LORD will roar against his own land
from his holy dwelling in heaven.
He will shout like those who tread grapes;
he will shout against everyone on earth.

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‘A clamor has come to the end of the earth,
Because the LORD has a controversy with the nations.
He is entering into judgment with all flesh;
As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ declares the LORD.”

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His cry of judgment will reach the ends of the earth,
for the LORD will bring his case against all the nations.
He will judge all the people of the earth,
slaughtering the wicked with the sword.
I, the LORD, have spoken!’”

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Thus says the LORD of hosts,
“Behold, evil is going forth
From nation to nation,
And a great storm is being stirred up
From the remotest parts of the earth.

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This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says:
“Look! Disaster will fall upon nation after nation!
A great whirlwind of fury is rising
from the most distant corners of the earth!”

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“Those slain by the LORD on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be lamented, gathered or buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground.

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In that day those the LORD has slaughtered will fill the earth from one end to the other. No one will mourn for them or gather up their bodies to bury them. They will be scattered on the ground like manure.

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“Wail, you shepherds, and cry;
And wallow in ashes, you masters of the flock;
For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions have come,
And you will fall like a choice vessel.

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Weep and moan, you evil shepherds!
Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock!
The time of your slaughter has arrived;
you will fall and shatter like a fragile vase.

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“Flight will perish from the shepherds,
And escape from the masters of the flock.

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You will find no place to hide;
there will be no way to escape.

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“Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds,
And the wailing of the masters of the flock!
For the LORD is destroying their pasture,

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Listen to the frantic cries of the shepherds.
The leaders of the flock are wailing in despair,
for the LORD is ruining their pastures.

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“And the peaceful folds are made silent
Because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

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Peaceful meadows will be turned into a wasteland
by the LORD’s fierce anger.

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“He has left His hiding place like the lion;
For their land has become a horror
Because of the fierceness of the oppressing sword
And because of His fierce anger.”

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He has left his den like a strong lion seeking its prey,
and their land will be made desolate
by the swordh of the enemy
and the LORD’s fierce anger.

Parallel

New American Standard Bible

New Living Translation

Jeremiah 25

Jeremiah 25