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¹This message for all the people of Judah came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign over Judah. This was the year when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon began his reign.

²Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people in Judah and Jerusalem,

³“For the past twenty-three years — from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, until now — the LORD has been giving me his messages. I have faithfully passed them on to you, but you have not listened.

⁴“Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention.

⁵Each time the message was this: ‘Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the LORD gave to you and your ancestors forever.

⁶Do not provoke my anger by worshiping idols you made with your own hands. Then I will not harm you.’

⁷“But you would not listen to me,” says the LORD. “You made me furious by worshiping idols you made with your own hands, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer.

⁸And now the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Because you have not listened to me,

⁹I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever.

¹⁰I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out.

¹¹This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

¹²“Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins,” says the LORD. “I will make the country of the Babylonians a wasteland forever.

¹³I will bring upon them all the terrors I have promised in this book — all the penalties announced by Jeremiah against the nations.

¹⁴Many nations and great kings will enslave the Babylonians, just as they enslaved my people. I will punish them in proportion to the suffering they cause my people.”

¹⁵This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.

¹⁶When they drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against them.”

¹⁷So I took the cup of anger from the LORD and made all the nations drink from it — every nation to which the LORD sent me.

¹⁸I went to Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah, and their kings and officials drank from the cup. From that day until this, they have been a desolate ruin, an object of horror, contempt, and cursing.

¹⁹I gave the cup to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials, and all his people,

²⁰along with all the foreigners living in that land. I also gave it to all the kings of the land of Uz and the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod.

²¹Then I gave the cup to the nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon,

²²and the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings of the regions across the sea.

²³I gave it to Dedan, Tema, and Buz, and to the people who live in distant places.

²⁴I gave it to the kings of Arabia, the kings of the nomadic tribes of the desert,

²⁵and to the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media.

²⁶And I gave it to the kings of the northern countries, far and near, one after the other — all the kingdoms of the world. And finally, the king of Babylon himself drank from the cup of the LORD’s anger.

²⁷Then the LORD said to me, “Now tell them, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Drink from this cup of my anger. Get drunk and vomit; fall to rise no more, for I am sending terrible wars against you.’

²⁸And if they refuse to accept the cup, tell them, ‘The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: You have no choice but to drink from it.

²⁹I have begun to punish Jerusalem, the city that bears my name. Now should I let you go unpunished? No, you will not escape disaster. I will call for war against all the nations of the earth. I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!’

³⁰“Now prophesy all these things, and say to them, “‘The LORD will roar against his own land from his holy dwelling in heaven. He will shout like those who tread grapes; he will shout against everyone on earth.

³¹His cry of judgment will reach the ends of the earth, for the LORD will bring his case against all the nations. He will judge all the people of the earth, slaughtering the wicked with the sword. I, the LORD, have spoken!’”

³²This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: “Look! Disaster will fall upon nation after nation! A great whirlwind of fury is rising from the most distant corners of the earth!”

³³In that day those the LORD has slaughtered will fill the earth from one end to the other. No one will mourn for them or gather up their bodies to bury them. They will be scattered on the ground like manure.

³⁴Weep and moan, you evil shepherds! Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock! The time of your slaughter has arrived; you will fall and shatter like a fragile vase.

³⁵You will find no place to hide; there will be no way to escape.

³⁶Listen to the frantic cries of the shepherds. The leaders of the flock are wailing in despair, for the LORD is ruining their pastures.

³⁷Peaceful meadows will be turned into a wasteland by the LORD’s fierce anger.

³⁸He has left his den like a strong lion seeking its prey, and their land will be made desolate by the sword of the enemy and the LORD’s fierce anger.

¹This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah.

²“This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard in front of the Temple of the LORD, and make an announcement to the people who have come there to worship from all over Judah. Give them my entire message; include every word.

³Perhaps they will listen and turn from their evil ways. Then I will change my mind about the disaster I am ready to pour out on them because of their sins.

⁴“Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: If you will not listen to me and obey my word I have given you,

⁵and if you will not listen to my servants, the prophets — for I sent them again and again to warn you, but you would not listen to them —

⁶then I will destroy this Temple as I destroyed Shiloh, the place where the Tabernacle was located. And I will make Jerusalem an object of cursing in every nation on earth.’”

⁷The priests, the prophets, and all the people listened to Jeremiah as he spoke in front of the LORD’s Temple.

⁸But when Jeremiah had finished his message, saying everything the LORD had told him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people at the Temple mobbed him. “Kill him!” they shouted.

⁹“What right do you have to prophesy in the LORD’s name that this Temple will be destroyed like Shiloh? What do you mean, saying that Jerusalem will be destroyed and left with no inhabitants?” And all the people threatened him as he stood in front of the Temple.

¹⁰When the officials of Judah heard what was happening, they rushed over from the palace and sat down at the New Gate of the Temple to hold court.

¹¹The priests and prophets presented their accusations to the officials and the people. “This man should die!” they said. “You have heard with your own ears what a traitor he is, for he has prophesied against this city.”

¹²Then Jeremiah spoke to the officials and the people in his own defense. “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this Temple and this city,” he said. “The LORD gave me every word that I have spoken.

¹³But if you stop your sinning and begin to obey the LORD your God, he will change his mind about this disaster that he has announced against you.

¹⁴As for me, I am in your hands — do with me as you think best.

¹⁵But if you kill me, rest assured that you will be killing an innocent man! The responsibility for such a deed will lie on you, on this city, and on every person living in it. For it is absolutely true that the LORD sent me to speak every word you have heard.”

¹⁶Then the officials and the people said to the priests and prophets, “This man does not deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.”

¹⁷Then some of the wise old men stood and spoke to all the people assembled there.

¹⁸They said, “Remember when Micah of Moresheth prophesied during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah. He told the people of Judah, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins! A thicket will grow on the heights where the Temple now stands.’

¹⁹But did King Hezekiah and the people kill him for saying this? No, they turned from their sins and worshiped the LORD. They begged him for mercy. Then the LORD changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had pronounced against them. So we are about to do ourselves great harm.”

²⁰At this time Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim was also prophesying for the LORD. And he predicted the same terrible disaster against the city and nation as Jeremiah did.

²¹When King Jehoiakim and the army officers and officials heard what he was saying, the king sent someone to kill him. But Uriah heard about the plan and escaped in fear to Egypt.

²²Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Acbor to Egypt along with several other men to capture Uriah.

²³They took him prisoner and brought him back to King Jehoiakim. The king then killed Uriah with a sword and had him buried in an unmarked grave.

²⁴Nevertheless, Ahikam son of Shaphan stood up for Jeremiah and persuaded the court not to turn him over to the mob to be killed.

¹This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD early in the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah.

²This is what the LORD said to me: “Make a yoke, and fasten it on your neck with leather straps.

³Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through their ambassadors who have come to see King Zedekiah in Jerusalem.

⁴Give them this message for their masters: ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:

⁵With my great strength and powerful arm I made the earth and all its people and every animal. I can give these things of mine to anyone I choose.

⁶Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant. I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control.

⁷All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until his time is up. Then many nations and great kings will conquer and rule over Babylon.

⁸So you must submit to Babylon’s king and serve him; put your neck under Babylon’s yoke! I will punish any nation that refuses to be his slave, says the LORD. I will send war, famine, and disease upon that nation until Babylon has conquered it.

⁹“‘Do not listen to your false prophets, fortune-tellers, interpreters of dreams, mediums, and sorcerers who say, “The king of Babylon will not conquer you.”

¹⁰They are all liars, and their lies will lead to your being driven out of your land. I will drive you out and send you far away to die.

¹¹But the people of any nation that submits to the king of Babylon will be allowed to stay in their own country to farm the land as usual. I, the LORD, have spoken!’”

¹²Then I repeated this same message to King Zedekiah of Judah. “If you want to live, submit to the yoke of the king of Babylon and his people.

¹³Why do you insist on dying — you and your people? Why should you choose war, famine, and disease, which the LORD will bring against every nation that refuses to submit to Babylon’s king?

¹⁴Do not listen to the false prophets who keep telling you, ‘The king of Babylon will not conquer you.’ They are liars.

¹⁵This is what the LORD says: ‘I have not sent these prophets! They are telling you lies in my name, so I will drive you from this land. You will all die — you and all these prophets, too.’”

¹⁶Then I spoke to the priests and the people and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not listen to your prophets who claim that soon the gold articles taken from my Temple will be returned from Babylon. It is all a lie!

¹⁷Do not listen to them. Surrender to the king of Babylon, and you will live. Why should this whole city be destroyed?

¹⁸If they really are prophets and speak the LORD’s messages, let them pray to the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. Let them pray that the articles remaining in the LORD’s Temple and in the king’s palace and in the palaces of Jerusalem will not be carried away to Babylon!’

¹⁹“For the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has spoken about the pillars in front of the Temple, the great bronze basin called the Sea, the water carts, and all the other ceremonial articles.

²⁰King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon left them here when he exiled Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon, along with all the other nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.

²¹Yes, this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says about the precious things still in the Temple, in the palace of Judah’s king, and in Jerusalem:

²²‘They will all be carried away to Babylon and will stay there until I send for them,’ says the LORD. ‘Then I will bring them back to Jerusalem again.’”