Jeremiah 27

The Yoke of Babylon

27At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:H7225H4467H3079H1121H2977H4428H3063H1697H3414H3068H5592"This is what the LORD said to me: Make fetters and yoke bars for yourself and put them on your neck.H559H3068H6213H4147H4133H5414H66773Send [word] to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon through messengers who are coming to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem.H7971H4428H123H4428H4124H4428H1121H5983H4428H6865H4428H6721H3027H4397H935H3389H6667H4428H30634Command them [to go] to their masters, saying: This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: This is what you must say to your masters:H6680H559H113H559H3068H6635H430H3478H559H1135By My great strength and outstretched arm, I made the earth, and the people, and animals on the face of the earth. I give it to anyone I please.H6213H776H120H929H6440H776H1419H3581H5186H2220H5414H5869H34746So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. I have even given him the wild animals to serve him.H5414H776H3027H5019H4428H894H5650H2416H7704H5414H56477All nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until the time for his own land comes, and then many nations and great kings will enslave him.H1471H5647H1121H1121H1121H6256H776H935H7227H1471H1419H4428H56478"As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish by sword, famine, and plague"— [this is] the LORD's declaration— "until through him I have destroyed it.H1471H4467H5647H5019H4428H894H5414H6677H5923H4428H894H1471H6485H5002H3068H2719H7458H1698H8552H30279But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers who say to you: Don't serve the king of Babylon!H8085H5030H7080H2472H6049H3786H559H559H5647H4428H89410for they prophesy a lie to you so that you will be removed from your land. I will banish you, and you will perish.H5012H8267H7368H127H5080H611But as for the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave it in its own land, and that nation will till it and reside in it." [This is] the LORD's declaration.H1471H935H6677H5923H4428H894H5647H3240H127H5002H3068H5647H3427

Warning to Zedekiah

12I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah in the same way: "Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, serve him and his people, and live!H1696H6667H4428H3063H1697H559H935H6677H5923H4428H894H5647H5971H242113Why should you and your people die by the sword, famine, or plague as the LORD has threatened against any nation that does not serve the king of Babylon?H4191H5971H2719H7458H1698H3068H1696H1471H5647H4428H89414Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are telling you, 'You must not serve the king of Babylon,' for they are prophesying a lie to you.H8085H1697H5030H559H559H5647H4428H894H5012H826715'I have not sent them'— [this is] the LORD's declaration— 'and they are prophesying falsely in My name; therefore, I will banish you, and you will perish— you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.'"H7971H5002H3068H5012H8267H8034H5080H6H5030H501216Then I spoke to the priests and all these people, saying, "This is what the LORD says, 'Do not listen to the words of your prophets. They are prophesying to you, claiming: Look, very soon now the articles of the LORD's temple will be brought back from Babylon. They are prophesying a lie to you.H1696H3548H5971H559H559H3068H8085H1697H5030H5012H559H3627H3068H1004H4120H7725H894H5012H826717Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city become a ruin?H8085H5647H4428H894H2421H5892H272318If they are indeed prophets and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them intercede with the LORD of Hosts not to let the articles that remain in the LORD's temple, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem go to Babylon.'H5030H1697H3068H3426H6293H3068H6635H3627H3498H1004H3068H1004H4428H3063H3389H935H89419For this is what the LORD of Hosts says about the pillars, the sea, the water carts, and the rest of the articles that still remain in this city,H559H3068H6635H5982H3220H4350H3499H3627H3498H589220those Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he deported Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.H5019H4428H894H3947H1540H3204H1121H3079H4428H3063H3389H894H2715H3063H338921Yes, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about the articles that remain in the temple of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:H559H3068H6635H430H3478H3627H3498H1004H3068H1004H4428H3063H338922'They will be brought to Babylon and will remain there until I attend to them again.' [This is] the LORD's declaration. 'Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.'"H935H894H3117H6485H5002H3068H5927H7725H4725