Jeremiah 25 - Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

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 Nebuchadnezzar king 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—23 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^[d] 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. ⁶ Do not follow other gods to serve them and to worship them,^(F) and do not provoke Me to anger by the work of your hands.^(G) Then I will do you no harm.

⁷ “‘But you would not obey Me’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘in order that you might provoke Me to anger by the work of your hands and bring disaster on yourselves.’

⁸ “Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, ⁹ I am going to send for all the families of the north’^(H)—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘and send for My servant^(I) 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 a desolation,^(J) a derision, and ruins forever. ¹⁰ I will eliminate the sound of joy and gladness from them—the voice of the groom and the bride,^(K) 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 70 years.^{(L) 12} When the 70 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 guilt, and I will make it a ruin forever.^{(M) 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^(N) and the work of their hands.’”

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 I am sending you to, drink from it.^{(O) 16} They will drink, stagger,^[e] and go out of their minds because of the sword I am sending among them.”

¹⁷ So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations drink from it, everyone the Lord sent me to. ¹⁸ These included:

Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah, its kings and its officials, to make them a desolate ruin, an object of 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 coastlands across the sea;
²³ Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all those who shave their temples;^[f](P)
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 which are on the face of the earth.
Finally, the king of Sheshach^[g] will drink after them.

²⁷ “Then you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Drink,^(Q) get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you. ²⁸ If^[h] they refuse to take the cup from you and drink, you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: You must drink! ²⁹ For I am already bringing disaster on the city that bears My name,^(R) 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 Hosts.^(S)

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 heaven;
He raises His voice from His holy dwelling.^(T)
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^(U) the nations.
He enters into judgment with all flesh.
As for the wicked, He hands them over to the sword—
this is the Lord’s declaration.

³² “This is what the Lord of Hosts says:

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

³³ Those slain by the Lord^(W) on that day will be spread from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned,^(X) gathered, or buried. They will be like manure on the surface of the ground.

³⁴ Wail, you shepherds, and cry out.
Roll in the dust,^[i](Y) you leaders of the flock.
Because the days of your slaughter have come,
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.^(Z)
38 He has left His den like a lion,
for their land has become a desolation
because of the sword^[j] of the oppressor,^(AA)
because of His burning anger.

Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 25:3 Lit you; rising early and speaking
2. Jeremiah 25:4 Lit prophets, rising early and sending
3. Jeremiah 25:4 Lit even inclined your ears
4. Jeremiah 25:5 Lit his
5. Jeremiah 25:16 Or vomit
6. Jeremiah 25:23 Or who live in distant places
7. Jeremiah 25:26 Probably a name for Babylon
8. Jeremiah 25:28 Or When
9. Jeremiah 25:34 This custom demonstrated mourning.
10. Jeremiah 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
2. 25:3 : Jr 1:2
3. 25:3 : Jr 11:7; 26:5
4. 25:4 : Jr 7:25-26
5. 25:5 : Jr 18:11; 35:15
6. 25:6 : Dt 8:19; Jr 13:10
7. 25:6 : Dt 31:29; 1Kg 16:7; Jr 44:8
8. 25:9 : Jr 1:13
9. 25:9 : Is 45:1
10. 25:9 : Jr 4:7; 18:16; 19:8
11. 25:10 : Jr 7:34; 16:9; 33:11
12. 25:11 : 2Ch 36:21; Jr 29:10; Dn 9:2
13. 25:12 : Is 13:19
14. 25:14 : Jr 50:29
15. 25:15 : Ps 75:8; Is 51:17; Jr 49:12
16. 25:23 : Lv 19:27; Jr 9:26; 49:32
17. 25:27 : Jr 25:16; Hab 2:16
18. 25:29 : Dn 9:18
19. 25:28-29 : Jr 49:12-13
20. 25:30 : Dt 26:15; 2Ch 30:27; Ps 76:2; Am 1:2; Jl 3:16
21. 25:31 : Hs 4:1; 12:3; Mc 6:2
22. 25:32 : Jr 23:19; 30:23
23. 25:33 : Is 66:16
24. 25:33 : Jr 16:4
25. 25:34 : Jb 2:8, 12; Jr 6:26; Ezk 27:30
26. 25:37 : Nm 32:14; 2Ch 28:11; Zph 2:2
27. 25:38 : Jr 46:16