1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king
of Judah, came this word to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 2 Thus says
Yahweh to me: Make you bonds and bars, and put them on your neck; 3 and
send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of
the children of Ammon, and 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 and give them a charge to their masters, saying, Thus says Yahweh of
Hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall you 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; and I give it to whom it seems
right to me. 6 Now have I given all these lands into the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the animals of the field
also have I given him to serve him. 7 All the nations shall serve him, and
his son, and his son’s son, until the time of his own land come: and then
many nations and great kings shall make him their bondservant. 8 It shall
happen, that 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, that nation will I punish, says Yahweh, with the
sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed
them by his hand. 9 But as for you, don’t you listen to your
prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers,
nor 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, and that I should drive you out, and you should perish.
11 But the nation that shall bring their neck under the yoke of the king
of Babylon, and serve him, that nation will I let remain in their own
land, says Yahweh; and they shall till it, and dwell therein. 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 Yahweh 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
Yahweh, 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, Thus says
Yahweh: Don’t listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you,
saying, Behold, the vessels of Yahweh’s house shall 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 be prophets, and if the word of Yahweh be with
them, let them now make intercession to Yahweh of Hosts, that the vessels
which are left in the house of Yahweh, and in the house of the king of Judah,
and at Jerusalem, don’t go to Babylon. 19 For thus says Yahweh of Hosts
concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and
concerning the residue 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, thus says Yahweh of Hosts,
the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of
Yahweh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem: 22 They
shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be, until the day that I
visit them, says Yahweh; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this
place.
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