Chapter 27

Jeremiah’s Message.^{[a] 1} At the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, the son of Josiah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² Thus said the Lord to me: Collect for yourself some straps and crossbars and put them on your neck as a yoke. ³ Then send word to the kings of Edom, of Moab, of the Ammonites, of Tyre, and of Sidon, through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to visit Zedekiah, the king of Judah.

⁴ Give them the following message for their masters: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you are to say to your masters: ⁵ It was I who, by my great power and my outstretched arm, made the earth as well as the people and the animals that inhabit the earth, and I can give it to whomever I wish.

⁶ Now, at the present time, I have given all these lands to my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and I have even made the wild animals subject to him. ⁷ All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his land will also come, and mighty nations and great kings will make him their slave. ⁸ But in the meantime, if any nation or kingdom will not serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon or submit its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, then I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, says the Lord, until I have ensured their destruction by his hand.

⁹ You, therefore, must not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, and your sorcerers when they say to you that you are not to serve the king of Babylon. ¹⁰ For they are prophesying a lie to you, as a result of which you will be removed far away from your land. I will drive you out, and you will perish. ¹¹ However, if a nation is prepared to submit its neck to the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave it in peace on its own land, says the Lord, to till it and live there.

¹² I addressed the identical message to King Zedekiah of Judah: Submit your necks to the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and you will live. ¹³ Why should you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as the Lord has promised to any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴ Do not listen to the words of those prophets who are urging you not to serve the king of Babylon, for they are prophesying lies to you. ¹⁵ I have not sent them, says the Lord, but they are prophesying falsely in my name. As a result, I will drive you out, and you will perish, as will all the prophets who are prophesying to you.

¹⁶ Then I spoke to the priests and all the prophets as follows: Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who say, “In a very short time, the vessels of the house of the Lord will be brought back from Babylon.” They are prophesying lies to you. ¹⁷ Refuse to listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and you will save your lives. Why should this city become a pile of ruins?

¹⁸ If they are truly prophets and the word of the Lord is really with them, then they should be pleading with the Lord of hosts that the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem will not be carried away to Babylon.

¹⁹ For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea,^[b] the stands, and the rest of the vessels that remain in this city, ²⁰ which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon did not carry away when he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon King Jeconiah of Judah, the son of Jehoiakim, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. ²¹ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, in regard to the vessels that still remain in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: ²² They will be carried off to Babylon, and there they will remain, until the day when I turn my attention to them, says the Lord. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.