27Early in the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah received this Message from GOD:H7225H4467H3079H1121H2977H4428H3063H1697H3414H3068H5592"Make a harness and a yoke and then harness yourself up.H559H3068H6213H4147H4133H5414H66773Send a message to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. Send it through their ambassadors who have come to Jerusalem to see Zedekiah king of Judah.H7971H4428H123H4428H4124H4428H1121H5983H4428H6865H4428H6721H3027H4397H935H3389H6667H4428H30634Give them this charge to take back to their masters: 'This is a Message from GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel. Tell your masters:H6680H559H113H559H3068H6635H430H3478H559H1135"'I'm the one who made the earth, man and woman, and all the animals in the world. I did it on my own without asking anyone's help and I hand it out to whomever I will.H6213H776H120H929H6440H776H1419H3581H5186H2220H5414H5869H34746Here and now I give all these lands over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have made even the wild animals subject to him.H5414H776H3027H5019H4428H894H5650H2416H7704H5414H56477All nations will be under him, then his son, and then his grandson. Then his country's time will be up and the tables will be turned: Babylon will be the underdog servant.H1471H5647H1121H1121H1121H6256H776H935H7227H1471H1419H4428H56478But until then, any nation or kingdom that won't submit to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon must take the yoke of the king of Babylon and harness up. I'll punish that nation with war and starvation and disease until I've got them where I want them.H1471H4467H5647H5019H4428H894H5414H6677H5923H4428H894H1471H6485H5002H3068H2719H7458H1698H8552H30279"'So don't for a minute listen to all your prophets and spiritualists and fortunetellers, who claim to know the future and who tell you not to give in to the king of Babylon.H8085H5030H7080H2472H6049H3786H559H559H5647H4428H89410They're handing you a line of lies, barefaced lies, that will end up putting you in exile far from home. I myself will drive you out of your lands, and that'll be the end of you.H5012H8267H7368H127H5080H611But the nation that accepts the yoke of the king of Babylon and does what he says, I'll let that nation stay right where it is, minding its own business.'"H1471H935H6677H5923H4428H894H5647H3240H127H5002H3068H5647H342712Then I gave this same message to Zedekiah king of Judah: "Harness yourself up to the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people. Live a long life!H1696H6667H4428H3063H1697H559H935H6677H5923H4428H894H5647H5971H242113Why choose to get killed or starve to death or get sick and die, which is what GOD has threatened to any nation that won't throw its lot in with Babylon?H4191H5971H2719H7458H1698H3068H1696H1471H5647H4428H89414Don't listen to the prophets who are telling you not to submit to the king of Babylon. They're telling you lies, preaching lies.H8085H1697H5030H559H559H5647H4428H894H5012H826715GOD's Word on this is, 'I didn't send those prophets, but they keep preaching lies, claiming I sent them. If you listen to them, I'll end up driving you out of here and that will be the end of you, both you and the lying prophets.'"H7971H5002H3068H5012H8267H8034H5080H6H5030H501216And finally I spoke to the priests and the people at large: "This is GOD's Message: Don't listen to the preaching of the prophets who keep telling you, 'Trust us: The furnishings, plundered from GOD's Temple, are going to be returned from Babylon any day now.' That's a lie.H1696H3548H5971H559H559H3068H8085H1697H5030H5012H559H3627H3068H1004H4120H7725H894H5012H826717Don't listen to them. Submit to the king of Babylon and live a long life. Why do something that will destroy this city and leave it a heap of rubble?H8085H5647H4428H894H2421H5892H272318If they are real prophets and have a Message from GOD, let them come to GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies in prayer so that the furnishings that are still left in GOD's Temple, the king's palace, and Jerusalem aren't also lost to Babylon.H5030H1697H3068H3426H6293H3068H6635H3627H3498H1004H3068H1004H4428H3063H3389H935H89419That's because GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies has already spoken about the Temple furnishings that remain—the pillars, the great bronze basin, the stands, and all the other bowls and chalicesH559H3068H6635H5982H3220H4350H3499H3627H3498H589220that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn't take when he took Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim off to Babylonian exile along with all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.H5019H4428H894H3947H1540H3204H1121H3079H4428H3063H3389H894H2715H3063H338921He said that the furnishings left behind in the Temple of GOD and in the royal palace and in JerusalemH559H3068H6635H430H3478H3627H3498H1004H3068H1004H4428H3063H338922will be taken off to Babylon and stay there until, in GOD's words, 'I take the matter up again and bring them back where they belong.'"H935H894H3117H6485H5002H3068H5927H7725H4725
Dublin, OH
