Seventy Years of Captivity
aThe 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), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, afrom the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken bpersistently to you, cbut you have not listened. 4 aYou have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord bpersistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, a‘Turn now, every one of you, bfrom his evil way and evil deeds, and cdwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 aDo not go after other gods to serve and worship them, bor provoke me to anger bwith the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7 aYet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, athat you might provoke me to anger awith the work of your hands to your own harm.
8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 abehold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, bmy servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, cand make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, aI will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, bthe grinding of the millstones and cthe light of the lamp. 11 aThis whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and bthese nations shall serve the king of Babylon cseventy years. 12 Then after aseventy years are completed, bI will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, bthe land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, bmaking the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written ain this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 aFor many nations aand great kings shall make slaves even of them, band I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath
15 Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: a“Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of athe sword that I am sending among them.”
17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, aand made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: 18 aJerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, bto make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 aPharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and aall the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of bthe land of Uz and all the kings of cthe land of the Philistines (cAshkelon, cGaza, Ekron, and the remnant of dAshdod); 21 aEdom, bMoab, and the sons of cAmmon; 22 all the kings of aTyre, all the kings of aSidon, and the kings of the coastland across bthe sea; 23 aDedan, bTema, cBuz, and all who cut dthe corners of their hair; 24 all the akings of Arabia and all the kings of bthe mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of aElam, and all the kings of bMedia; 26 all the kings of athe north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of bBabylon shall drink.
27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: aDrink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of bthe sword that I am sending among you.’
28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: aYou must drink! 29 For behold, aI begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, bfor I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.’
30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:
a“‘The Lord will roar from on high,
and from his holy habitation utter his voice;
he will roar mightily against his fold,
band shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
for athe Lord has an indictment against the nations;
bhe is entering into judgment with all flesh,
and the wicked he will put to the sword,
declares the Lord.’
32 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Behold, disaster is going forth
from nation to nation,
aand a great tempest is stirring
bfrom the farthest parts of the earth!
33 a“And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. bThey shall not be lamented, cor gathered, or buried; cthey shall be dung on the surface of the ground.
34 a“Wail, byou shepherds, and cry out,
cand roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,
for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,
and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
35 No refuge will remain afor the shepherds,
nor escape for the lords of the flock.
36 A voice—the cry aof the shepherds,
band the wail of the lords of the flock!
For the Lord is laying waste their pasture,
37 aand the peaceful folds are devastated
bbecause of the fierce anger of the Lord.
38 Like a lion ahe has left his lair,
for their land has become a waste
because of bthe sword of the oppressor,
cand because of his fierce anger.”