Jeremiah 25 - Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

The Seventy-Year Exile

25 This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim^(A) son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon). ² The prophet Jeremiah spoke concerning all the people of Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem as follows: ³ “From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon,^(B) king of Judah, until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you time and time again,^[a](C) but you have not obeyed. ⁴ The Lord sent all his servants the prophets to you time and time again,^[b] but you have not obeyed or even paid attention.^{[c](D) 5} He announced, ‘Turn, each of you, from your evil way of life and from your evil deeds.^(E) Live in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors long ago and forever.^{(F) 6} Do not follow other gods to serve them and to bow in worship to them,^(G) and do not anger me by the work of your hands.^(H) Then I will do you no harm.

⁷ “‘But you have not obeyed me’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘with the result that you have angered me by the work of your hands and brought disaster on yourselves.’

⁸ “Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies says: ‘Because you have not obeyed my words, ⁹ I am going to send for all the families of the north’^(I)—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘and send for my servant^(J) Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and make them an example of horror^(K) and scorn, and ruins forever.^{(L) 10} I will eliminate the sound of joy and gladness from them—the voice of the groom and the bride,^(M) the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. ¹¹ This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.^{(N) 12} When the seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, and I will make it a ruin forever.^{(O) 13} I will bring on that land all my words I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book that Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. ¹⁴ For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.’”^(P)

The Cup of God’s Wrath

¹⁵ This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand and make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink from it.^{(Q) 16} They will drink, stagger,^[d] and go out of their minds because of the sword I am sending among them.”^(R)

¹⁷ So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink from it.

¹⁸ Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah, its kings and its officials, to make them a desolate ruin, an example for scorn and cursing—as it is today;

¹⁹ Pharaoh king of Egypt, his officers, his leaders, all his people,

²⁰ and all the mixed peoples;

all the kings of the land of Uz;

all the kings of the land of the Philistines—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;

²¹ Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;

²² all the kings of Tyre,

all the kings of Sidon,

and the kings of the coasts and islands;

²³ Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all those who clip the hair on their temples;^[e](S)

²⁴ all the kings of Arabia,

and all the kings of the mixed peoples who have settled in the desert;

²⁵ all the kings of Zimri,

all the kings of Elam,

and all the kings of Media;

²⁶ all the kings of the north, both near and far from one another;

that is, all the kingdoms of the world throughout the earth.

Finally, the king of Sheshak^[f](T) will drink after them.

²⁷ “Then you are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Drink,^(U) get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you.’ ²⁸ If^[g] they refuse to accept the cup from your hand and drink, you are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: You must drink! ²⁹ For I am already bringing disaster^(V) on the city that bears my name,^(W) so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth. This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.’^(X)

Judgment on the Whole World

³⁰ “As for you, you are to prophesy all these things to them, and say to them:

The Lord roars from on high;
he makes his voice heard from his holy dwelling.^(Y)
He roars loudly over his grazing land;
he calls out with a shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
³¹ The tumult reaches to the ends of the earth
because the Lord brings a case against^(Z) the nations.
He enters into judgment with all humanity.^(AA)
As for the wicked, he hands them over to the sword—
this is the Lord’s declaration.

³² “This is what the Lord of Armies says:

Pay attention! Disaster spreads
from nation to nation.
A huge storm is stirred up
from the ends of the earth.”^(AB)

³³ Those slain by the Lord^(AC) on that day will be scattered from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned,^(AD) gathered, or buried. They will be like manure on the soil’s surface.

³⁴ Wail, you shepherds, and cry out.
Roll in the dust,^(AE) you leaders of the flock.
Because the days of your slaughter have come,^(AF)
you will fall and become shattered like a precious vase.
³⁵ Flight will be impossible for the shepherds,
and escape, for the leaders of the flock.
³⁶ Hear the sound of the shepherds’ cry,
the wail of the leaders of the flock,
for the Lord is destroying their pasture.
³⁷ Peaceful grazing land will become lifeless
because of the Lord’s burning anger.^(AG)
38 He has left his den like a lion,
for their land has become a desolation
because of the sword^[h] of the oppressor,^(AH)
because of his burning anger.

Footnotes

1. 25:3 Lit you; rising early and speaking
2. 25:4 Lit to you, rising early and sending
3. 25:4 Lit even inclined your ear to hear
4. 25:16 Or vomit
5. 25:23 Or who live in distant places
6. 25:26 = Babylon
7. 25:28 Or When
8. 25:38 Some Hb mss, LXX, Tg; other Hb mss read burning

Cross references

1. 25:1 : 2Kg 23:34–24:6; 2Ch 36:4–8; Jr 36:1
2. 25:3 : Jr 1:2
3. 25:3 : 2Ch 36:15; Jr 7:13,25; 11:7; 25:3; 26:5; 29:19; 32:33; 35:14,15; 44:4
4. 25:4 : Jr 7:25–26
5. 25:5 : 2Kg 17:13; Jr 4:18; 18:11; 35:15; Zch 1:4; Ac 3:26
6. 25:5 : Jr 35:15; 40:9; Ezk 36:28; 37:25
7. 25:6 : Dt 8:19; Jr 13:10
8. 25:6 : Dt 31:29; 1Kg 16:7; Jr 44:8
9. 25:9 : Jr 1:13; 16:16; 43:10
10. 25:9 : Is 45:1
11. 25:9 : Jr 4:7; 18:16; 19:8
12. 25:9 : Dt 28:37; 2Ch 29:8; 30:7; Jr 5:30; 19:8; 25:18; 29:18; 42:18; 44:12,22; 49:17; 50:13; Mc 6:16; Zph 2:15
13. 25:10 : Jr 7:34; 16:9; 33:11
14. 25:11 : 2Ch 36:21; Is 23:15; Jr 29:10; Dn 9:2; Zch 1:12; 7:5
15. 25:12 : Is 13:19
16. 25:14 : Ps 28:4; Pr 24:12,29; Jr 50:29; Lm 3:64
17. 25:15 : Jb 21:20; Ps 75:8; Is 51:17; 63:6; Jr 49:12; Rv 14:8,10; 18:3
18. 25:16 : Jr 9:16; 24:10; 29:17; 49:37
19. 25:23 : Lv 19:27; Jr 9:26; 49:32
20. 25:26 : Jr 51:41
21. 25:27 : Jr 25:16; Hab 2:16
22. 25:29 : 2Sm 12:11; 1Kg 14:10; 21:21; 2Kg 22:16; 2Ch 34:24; Is 13:11; 31:2; Jr 4:6; 6:19; 11:23; 21:10; 23:12; 44:11; 45:5
23. 25:29 : Dn 9:18
24. 25:28–29 : Jr 49:12–13
25. 25:30 : Dt 26:15; 2Ch 30:27; Jb 37:4; Ps 76:2; Hs 11:10; Jl 3:16; Am 1:2; 3:8
26. 25:31 : Jb 11:5; Jr 2:9; Hs 4:1; 12:3; Mc 6:2
27. 25:31 : Is 66:16
28. 25:32 : Jr 23:19; 30:23
29. 25:33 : Is 66:16
30. 25:33 : Jr 16:4
31. 25:34 : Jb 2:8,12; Jr 6:26; Ezk 27:30
32. 25:34 : Jr 7:32; 19:6
33. 25:37 : Nm 32:14; 2Ch 28:11; Zph 2:2
34. 25:38 : Jr 46:16