Jeremiah 25

A Summary of Jeremiah’s Preaching

1 This is the message that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah. It came in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah and the first year Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon.

2 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and Jerusalem:

3 The Lord has spoken his word to me again and again for these past twenty-three years. I have been a prophet since the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah. I have spoken messages from the Lord to you from that time until today, but you have not listened.
4 The Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you over and over again, but you have not listened or paid any attention to them.5 Those prophets have said, “Stop your evil ways. Stop doing what is wrong so you can stay in the land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors to live in forever.

6 Don’t follow other gods to serve them or to worship them. Don’t make me, the Lord, angry by worshiping idols that are the work of your own hands, or I will punish you.”

7 “But you people of Judah did not listen to me,” says the Lord. “You made me angry by worshiping idols that were the work of your own hands, so I punished you.”
8 So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Since you have not listened to my messages,9 I will send for all the peoples of the north,” says the Lord, “along with my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I will bring them all against Judah, those who live there, and all the nations around you, too. I will completely destroy all those countries and leave them in ruins forever. People will be shocked when they see how badly I have destroyed those countries.10 I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and happiness, the sounds of brides and bridegrooms, and the sound of people grinding meal. And I will take away the light of the lamp.

11 That whole area will be an empty desert, and these nations will be slaves of the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12 “But when the seventy years have passed, I will punish the king of Babylon and his entire nation for their evil,” says the Lord. “I will make that land a desert forever.13 I will make happen all the terrible things I said about Babylonia—everything Jeremiah prophesied about all those foreign nations, the warnings written in this book.

14 Even the Babylonians will have to serve many nations and many great kings. I will give them the punishment they deserve for all their own hands have done.”

Judgment on the Nations

15 The Lord, the God of Israel, said this to me: “My anger is like the wine in a cup. Take it from my hand and make all the nations, to whom I am sending you, drink all of my anger from this cup.

16 They will drink my anger and stumble about and act like madmen because of the war I am going to send among them.”
17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and went to those nations and made them drink from it.18 I served this wine to the people of Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and the kings and officers of Judah, so they would become a ruin. Then people would be shocked and would insult them and speak evil of them. And so it has been to this day.19 I also made these people drink of the Lord’s anger: the king of Egypt, his servants, his officers, all his people,20 and all the foreigners there; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines (the kings of the cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod);21 the people of Edom, Moab, and Ammon;22 all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; all the kings of the coastal countries to the west;23 the people of Dedan and Tema and Buz; all who cut their hair short;24 all the kings of Arabia; and the kings of the people who live in the desert;25 all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media;

26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other. I made all the kingdoms on earth drink from the cup of the Lord’s anger, but the king of Babylon will drink from this cup after all the others.

27 “Then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: Drink this cup of my anger. Get drunk from it and vomit. Fall down and don’t get up because of the war I am sending among you!’
28 “If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink, say to them, ‘The Lord All-Powerful says this: You must drink from this cup.

29 Look! I am already bringing disaster on Jerusalem, the city that is called by my name. Do you think you will not be punished? You will be punished! I am sending war on all the people of the earth, says the Lord All-Powerful.’

30 “You, Jeremiah, will prophesy against them with all these words. Say to them:
‘The Lord will roar from heaven and will shout from his Holy Temple. He will roar loudly against his land.
He will shout like people who walk on grapes to make wine; he will shout against all who live on the earth.

31 The noise will spread all over the earth, because the Lord will accuse all the nations.
He will judge and tell what is wrong with all people, and he will kill the evil people with a sword,’ ” says the Lord.

32 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:
“Disasters will soon spread from nation to nation.
They will come like a powerful storm from the faraway places on earth.”

33 At that time those killed by the Lord will reach from one end of the earth to the other. No one will cry for them or gather up their bodies and bury them. They will be left lying on the ground like dung.

34 Cry, you leaders! Cry out loud! Roll around in the dust, leaders of the people!
It is now time for you to be killed. You will fall and be scattered, like pieces of a broken jar.

35 There will be no place for the leaders to hide; they will not escape.

36 I hear the sound of the leaders shouting. I hear the leaders of the people crying loudly, because the Lord is destroying their land.

37 Those peaceful pastures will be like an empty desert, because the Lord is very angry.

38 Like a lion, he has left his den. Their land has been destroyed
because of the terrible war he brought, because of his fierce anger.

Jeremiah 25

1 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 (the same was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon,)2 which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even unto this day, these three and twenty years, the word of Jehovah hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.4 And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, (but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear,)5 saying, Return ye now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah hath given unto you and to your fathers, from of old and even for evermore;6 and go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith Jehovah; that ye may provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt.8 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Because ye have not heard my words,9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Jehovah, and I will send unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth 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.11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith Jehovah, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate for ever.13 And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.14 For many nations and great kings shall make bondmen of them, even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.15 For thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto me: take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.16 And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.17 Then took I the cup at Jehovah’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom Jehovah had sent me:18 to wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;20 and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of the Uz, and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon;22 and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea;23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that have the corners of their hair cut off;24 and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the wilderness;25 and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes;26 and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.27 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink ye, and be drunken, and spew, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Ye shall surely drink.29 For, lo, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah of hosts.30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, Jehovah will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he will mightily roar against his fold; he will give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.31 A noise shall come even to the end of the earth; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the nations; he will enter into judgment with all flesh: as for the wicked, he will give them to the sword, saith Jehovah.32 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth.33 And the slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the face of the ground.34 Wail, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow in ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are fully come, and ye shall fall like a goodly vessel.35 And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the principal of the flock! for Jehovah layeth waste their pasture.37 And the peaceable folds are brought to silence because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.38 He hath left his covert, as the lion; for their land is become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppressing sword, and because of his fierce anger.