CHAPTER 25

1 The word which came by Jeremiah to all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah the king of Judah, (this was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon,)

2 Which Jeremiah the prophet spake to all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, —

3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon the king of Judah, to this day, (this is the twenty-third year,) hath Jehovah spoken to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early, but ye have not hearkened:

4 And Jehovah sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending, (but ye hearkened not, nor inclined your ear to hear,)

5 Saying, — Return ye, I pray, each from his evil way, And from the wickedness of your doings, And dwell in the land which Jehovah gave To you and to your fathers from age to age:

6 And walk ye not after alien gods, To serve them and to bow down before them; And provoke me not by the work of your hands, And I will not do you evil.

7 But ye hearkened not to me, saith Jehovah; For ye provoked me by the work of your hands, To do evil to you.

8 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Because ye have not hearkened to my words,

9 Behold, I will send for and take All the families of the north, saith Jehovah, And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; And I will bring them to this land And to its inhabitants, And to all these nations around; And I will destroy them, And make them an astonishment, And a hissing, and perpetual desolations;

10 And I will cause to cease among them The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, The voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, The sound of millstones, and the light of the candle.

11 And this whole land shall be a waste and a wonder; And serve shall these nations The king of Babylon seventy years.

12 And it shall be, when fulfilled shall be seventy years, That I shall visit on the king of Babylon, And on his people, saith Jehovah, Their iniquity, — and upon the land of Chaldea, And I will make it perpetual desolations:

13 And I will bring on that land all my words, Which I have spoken concerning it, All that is written in this book, Which Jeremiah has prophesied of the nations:

14 For they shall rule over strong nations, And over mighty kings; And I will render to these according to their doing, And according to the work of their hands.

15 For thus said Jehovah, the God of Israel, to me, Take the cup of the wine of this wrath from my hand, and give it to drink to all the nations to whom I shall send thee,

16 That they may drink and be incensed, and become distracted on account of the sword which I shall send among them.

17 And I took the cup from the hand of Jehovah, and gave it to drink to all the nations to whom Jehovah had sent me, —

18 To Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah, even to its kings and to its princes, to make them a waste, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a curse, as at this day, —

19 To Pharaoh the king of Egypt, to his servants, and to his princes, and to all his people,

20 And to the promiscuous multitude, and to all the kings of the land of Uz, and to all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and to Askelon, and to Gaza, and to Ekron, and to the remnant of Ashdod, —

21 To Edom, and to Moab, and to the children of Ammon,

22 And to all the kings of Tyre, and to all the kings of Sidon, and to all the kings of the island beyond the sea,

23 And to Dedan, and to Tema, and to Buz, and to all the extreme ones in a corner,

24 And to all the kings of Arabia, and to all the kings of the mingled race who dwell in the desert,

25 And to all the kings of Zimri, and to all the kings of Elam, and to all the kings of the Medes,

26 And to all the kings of the north, those who are near, as well as those who are afar off, every one shall be against his brother, — and to all kingdoms of the earth, which are upon the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

27 And thou shalt say to them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Drink ye and be drunken, and vomit and fall, and rise not on account of the sword which I send among you.

28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say to them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Drinking ye shall drink;

29 For behold, upon the city on which my name is called, I begin to bring evil, and shall ye be treated as innocent? ye shall not be treated as innocent; for I am calling for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah.

30 Thou shalt also prophesy to them all these words, and say to them, — Jehovah from on high shall roar, And from his holy habitation utter his voice; Roaring he shall roar on his dwelling, A shout like that of vintagers shall he respond Against all the inhabitants of the earth:

31 Reach shall the sound to the extremity of the earth, For a contention has Jehovah with the nations, A dispute has he with all flesh; The wicked will he give to the sword, saith Jehovah.

32 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, And a great tempest shall be raised From the extremities of the earth;

33 And the slain of Jehovah in that day shall be From one end to the other end of the earth: They shall not be lamented, nor gathered, nor buried; As dung on the face of the earth shall they be.

34 Howl, ye pastors, and cry, And roll [in the dust,] ye choice of the flock; For fulfilled are your days For the slaughter and your breakings; And ye shall fall like a precious vessel:

35 And perish shall flight from the pastors, And escape from the choice of the flock.

36 The voice of the cry of the pastors! And the howling of the choice of the flock! For destroyed has Jehovah their pastures;

37 Perished also are the peaceful tents, Through the indignation of the wrath of Jehovah.

38 He has left, as a lion, his tabernacle; For reduced is their land to a waste Through the wrath of the Oppressor, And through the indignation of his wrath.