27
1 In
the beginning of
the reign of
Jehoiakim the son
of Josiah, king
of Judah, this
word came to
Jeremiah from the
LORD, saying,
2 the
LORD says to
me: “Make bonds
and bars, and
put them on
your neck.
3 Then
send them to
the king of Edom,
to the king
of Moab, to
the king of
the children of
Ammon, to the
king of Tyre,
and to the
king of Sidon,
by the hand
of the messengers
who come to
Jerusalem to
Zedekiah king of
Judah.
4 Give
them a command
to their masters, saying, ‘The
LORD of Armies,
the God of
Israel says, “You
shall tell your masters:
5 ‘I
have made
the earth, the men,
and the animals
that are on
the surface of
the earth by my
great power and
by my outstretched
arm. I give
it to whom
it seems right
to me.
6 Now
I have given
all these lands
into the hand
of Nebuchadnezzar
the king
of Babylon, my
servant. I have
also given the
animals of the
field to him
to serve him.
7 All
the nations will
serve him, his
son, and his
son’s son, until
the time of
his own land comes.
Then many nations
and great kings
will make him
their bondservant.
8 “ ‘ “ ‘It
will happen that
I will punish
the nation and
the kingdom which
will not serve
the same
Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon, and
that will not
put their neck
under the yoke
of the king
of Babylon,’ says
the LORD, ‘with
the sword, with
famine, and with
pestilence, until
I have consumed
them by his
hand.
9 But
as for you, don’t
listen to your
prophets, to your
diviners, to your
dreams, to your
soothsayers, or to
your sorcerers,
who speak to you,
saying, “You shall
not serve the
king of Babylon;”
10 for
they prophesy a
lie to you,
to remove you
far from your land,
so that I would
drive you out,
and you would perish.
11 But
the nation
that brings their
neck under the
yoke of the
king of Babylon
and serves him,
that nation I
will let remain in
their own land,’ says
the LORD; ‘and
they will till
it and dwell
in it.’ ” ’ ”
12 I
spoke to Zedekiah
king of
Judah according to
all these words,
saying, “Bring your
necks under the
yoke of the
king of Babylon,
and serve him
and his people,
and live.
13 Why
will you die,
you and your
people, by the
sword, by the
famine, and by
the pestilence, as
the LORD has
spoken concerning
the nation that
will not serve
the king
of Babylon?
14 Don’t
listen to the
words of the
prophets who speak
to you, saying, ‘You
shall not serve
the king
of Babylon;’ for
they prophesy a
lie to you.
15 For
I have not
sent them,” says
the LORD, “but
they prophesy
falsely in my
name; that I
may drive you
out, and that
you may perish,
you, and the
prophets who
prophesy to you.”
16 Also
I spoke to
the priests and
to all this
people, saying,
the LORD says,
“Don’t listen to
the words of
your prophets who
prophesy to you,
saying, ‘Behold,
the vessels of
the LORD’s house
will now shortly
be brought again
from Babylon;’ for
they prophesy a
lie to you.
17 Don’t
listen to them.
Serve the king
of Babylon, and
live. Why should
this city become
a desolation?
18 But
if they are
prophets, and if
the LORD’s word
is with them,
let them now
make intercession
to the LORD
of Armies, that
the vessels which
are left in
the LORD’s house,
in the house
of the king
of Judah, and
at Jerusalem, don’t
go to Babylon.
19 For
the LORD of
Armies says
concerning the
pillars, concerning
the sea,
concerning the
bases, and
concerning the
rest of the
vessels that are
left in this
city,
20 which
Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon didn’t take
when he carried
away captive
Jeconiah the son
of Jehoiakim, king
of Judah, from
Jerusalem to Babylon,
and all the
nobles of Judah
and Jerusalem—
21 yes,
the LORD of
Armies, the God
of Israel, says
concerning the
vessels that are
left in the
LORD’s house, and
in the house
of the king
of Judah, and
at Jerusalem:
22 ‘They
will be carried
to Babylon, and
there they will
be, until the
day that I
visit them,’ says
the LORD; ‘then
I will bring
them up, and
restore them to
this place.’ ”