Jeremiah 25:1-38

This is the message that came to Jeremiah about the people of Judah. He received this prophecy in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah and the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign in Babylon. Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, saying: “For the last twenty-three years, ever since the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was king, I have been warning you and continually prophesying to you the words of YAHWEH, but you have not listened. Additionally, YAHWEH has sent all his servants the prophets to you over and over again, but still you have neither listened nor humbled your hearts to pay attention to them. They told you, ‘If you turn, each person, from your evil ways and from your evil doings, YAHWEH will let you remain in the land that he gave you and your ancestors for all time. Do not run after other gods to serve and worship them.’ “ ‘Do not provoke me to anger by worshiping idols your own hands have made, and I will do you no harm,’ declares YAHWEH. ‘But you have not listened to me and have provoked my anger by worshiping idols your own hands have made, to your own harm.’ ” “Therefore, because you have not listened to my words, YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, says: ‘Behold, I will summon my servant Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, along with all the northern armies, and bring them to fight against this land, its people, and all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction and make them a desolation. I will turn them into ruins forever. Everyone will be utterly astonished by the sight of what I have done to them. Moreover, I will banish the voices of celebration and laughter from them and the sweet voices of the groom and his bride. I will silence the noise of grinding grain in the morning, and in the evening, lamps will no longer burn in their homes. The entire region will become a ruin, empty as a desert, and these nations will be carried off to Babylon to serve her king for seventy years. “ ‘Then, after seventy years, I will punish the king of Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans for their sin,’ declares YAHWEH. ‘I will make their land desolate forever. I will bring against that land all my words of warning that I have spoken against it, everything written in this scroll, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. Indeed, I will pay back the Babylonians for every wrong they have done. Great kings from many other nations will conquer the mighty Babylonians and will even make slaves of them.’ ” YAHWEH, Israel’s God, spoke these words to me: “Jeremiah, take this cup from my hand; it is the cup of the wine of my wrath. Make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it. They will stagger as drunkards and lose their minds because of the massacres I am sending among them.” So I took the cup from YAHWEH’s hand and made all the nations to whom YAHWEH sent me drink from it. I started with Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. Their kings and leaders were removed from power in disgrace and made an object of horror, derision, and a curse, as they are today. Then I went to Egypt to her king, Pharaoh, his officials, his leaders, and all the Egyptians, and all foreigners who lived there, and they, too, drank from the cup. Next, I went to all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the territory of the Philistines, of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what was still left of Ashdod. Then, I went to the kings of Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites; the kings of Tyre, the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the Mediterranean lands. Afterward, I went to the cities of Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all the desert tribes of Arabia, all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed people groups who live in the desert, all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media, all the kings of the north, near and far, one after another, to all the kingdoms of the earth. As for the king of Babylon, he will drink from the cup last of all. “You will say to each one, ‘YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, the God of Israel, says to you: Drink from this cup that is full of the wine of my wrath. Vomit, fall over, and rise no more. And when I send war against the nations, you will be completely defeated.’ “If they refuse to drink from the cup from your hand, you will say to them, ‘YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, says this: You have no choice—drink! For take note, starting with the city called by my own name, Jerusalem, everyone on earth will suffer from war. So there is no way I will let you escape unpunished, declares YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies.’ “Jeremiah, you must prophesy all these words to them: “ ‘YAHWEH roars from heaven’s heights; his voice thunders from his holy dwelling place. He roars mightily against his people, and his shout will be like those who tread grapes— a shout that echoes to the ends of the earth. The noise will resound over all the earth. For YAHWEH declares: I am indicting the nations, bringing all humanity to trial, and sentencing the wicked to death.’ ” YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, decrees: “Behold, disaster is spreading from nation to nation. My anger, like a perfect storm, is rising from the far ends of the earth.” Those whom YAHWEH slaughters that day will be from all over the earth, and no one will mourn for them. No one will gather their bodies or bury them; they will lie as dung on the ground. Howl, you shepherds, wail in sorrow, and roll on the ground, you leaders of the flock, for your day has come to be slaughtered like sheep. You will fall and be scattered, like pieces of broken pottery. Shepherds, you have nowhere to hide, nowhere to run, you leaders of the flock. Listen as the shepherds cry out in distress! Listen as the leaders of the flock wail in sorrow! For YAHWEH has laid their pasture waste, and their peaceful meadows are reduced to silence because of YAHWEH’s furious anger. The lion has left his lair, and their land is left a wasteland because of the sword of the oppressor and because of his fierce anger.