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Prophecy of the Captivity

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the ^(C1)fourth year of ^(C2)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the ^(C3)first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),² which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the ^(C1)people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,³ "From the ^(C1)thirteenth year of ^(C2)Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, ^(F1)these ^(C3)twenty-three years the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you ^(F2)(C4)again and again, but you have not listened.⁴ "And the LORD has sent to you all His ^(C1)servants the prophets ^(F1)again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear,⁵ saying, '^(C1)Turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell on the land which the LORD has given to you and your forefathers ^(C2)forever and ever;⁶ and ^(C1)do not go after other gods to ^(F1)serve them and to ^(F2)worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm.'⁷ "Yet you have not listened to Me," declares the LORD, "in order that you might ^(C1)provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.

⁸ "Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Because you have not obeyed My words,⁹ behold, I will ^(C1)send and take all the families of the north,' declares the LORD, 'and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^(C2)My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will ^(F1)utterly destroy them and ^(C3)make them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation.¹⁰ 'Moreover, I will ^(F1)(C1)take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the ^(C2)sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.¹¹ '^(C1)This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon ^(C2)seventy years.

Babylon Will Be Judged

¹² 'Then it will be ^(C1)when seventy years are completed I will ^(C2)punish the king of Babylon and that nation,' declares the LORD, 'for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and ^(C3)I will make it an everlasting desolation.¹³ 'I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in ^(C1)this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against ^(C2)all the nations.¹⁴ '(^(F1)For ^(C1)many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will ^(C2)recompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)'"

¹⁵ For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, says to me, "Take this ^(C1)cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.¹⁶ "They will ^(C1)drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them."

¹⁷ Then I took the cup from the LORD'S hand and ^(C1)made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it:^18 (C1)Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing and a curse, as it is this day;^19 (C1)Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes and all his people;²⁰ and all the ^(F1)(C1)foreign people, all the kings of the ^(C2)land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the ^(C3)Philistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and the remnant of ^(C4)Ashdod);^21 (C1)Edom, ^(C2)Moab and the sons of ^(C3)Ammon;²² and all the kings of ^(C1)Tyre, all the kings of Sidon and the kings of ^(C2)the coastlands which are beyond the sea;²³ and ^(C1)Dedan, Tema, ^(C2)Buz and all who ^(C3)cut the corners of their hair;²⁴ and all the kings of ^(C1)Arabia and all the kings of the ^(F1)(C2)foreign people who dwell in the desert;²⁵ and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of ^(C1)Elam and all the kings of ^(C2)Media;²⁶ and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and ^(C1)all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of ^(F1)(C2)Sheshach shall drink after them.

²⁷ "You shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "^(C1)Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall and rise no more because of the ^(C2)sword which I will send among you."'²⁸ "And it will be, if they ^(C1)refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "^(C2)You shall surely drink!²⁹ "For behold, I am ^(C1)beginning to work calamity in this city which is ^(C2)called by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for ^(C3)I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth," declares the LORD of hosts.'

³⁰ "Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them,

'The ^(C1)LORD will ^(C2)roar from on high
And utter His voice from His holy habitation;
He will roar mightily against His ^(F1)fold.
He will shout like those who tread the grapes,
Against all the inhabitants of the earth.

³¹ 'A clamor has come to the end of the earth,
Because the LORD has ^(C1)a controversy with the nations.
He is entering into ^(C2)judgment with all flesh;
As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,' declares the LORD."

³² Thus says the LORD of hosts,
"Behold, evil is going forth
From ^(C1)nation to nation,
And a great ^(C2)storm is being stirred up
From the remotest parts of the earth.

³³ "Those ^(C1)slain by the LORD on that day will be from one end of the earth to the ^(F1)other. They will ^(C2)not be lamented, gathered or buried; they will be like ^(C3)dung on the face of the ground.

³⁴ "Wail, you shepherds, and cry;
And ^(C1)wallow in ashes, you masters of the flock;
For the days of your ^(C2)slaughter and your dispersions ^(F1)have come,
And you will fall like a choice vessel.

³⁵ "^(C1)Flight will perish from the shepherds,
And escape from the masters of the flock.

³⁶ "Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds,
And the wailing of the masters of the flock!
For the LORD is destroying their pasture,

³⁷ "And the peaceful ^(F1)(C1)folds are made silent
Because of the ^(C2)fierce anger of the LORD.

³⁸ "He has left His hiding place ^(C1)like the lion;
For their land has become a horror
Because of the fierceness of the ^(F1)oppressing sword
And because of His fierce anger."