1 I n the beginning of the rule of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord.

¶ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 T he Lord said to me, “Make ropes and a cross-bar for carrying a load, and put them on your neck.

Thus hath the LORD said unto me: Make thee bonds and yokes and put them upon thy neck;

3 T hen send word to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the sons of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon. Send them with the men who bring news to Jerusalem to King Zedekiah of Judah.

and thou shalt send them to the king of Edom and to the king of Moab and to the king of the Ammonites and to the king of Tyre and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the ambassadors which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;

4 T ell them to go to their leaders, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, and this is what you should say to your leaders:

and thou shalt command them to say unto their masters, Thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel said; Thus shall ye say unto your masters:

5 “ I have made the earth, and the men and the animals that are on it by My great power and by My long arm. And I will give it to the one who is right in My eyes.

I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom was upright in my eyes.

6 N ow I have given all these lands to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant. And I have given him the wild animals of the field to serve him.

And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my slave; and even the beasts of the field I have given him that they might serve him.

7 A ll the nations will serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time for his land comes. Then many nations and great kings will make him their servant.

And all the Gentiles shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, until the time of his own land shall come also; and many nations and great kings shall serve him.

8 B ut if any nation will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and will not put its neck under the load of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, hunger, and disease,” says the Lord, “until I have destroyed it by his hand.

And it shall come to pass, that the people and the kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that people I will visit, saith the LORD, with the sword and with the famine and with the pestilence, until I have finished placing all of them under his hand.

9 S o do not listen to your men who tell of their special dreams, your men who tell what is going to happen in the future, or your wonder workers who use their secret ways. They say to you, ‘You must not serve the king of Babylon.’

Therefore do not hearken unto your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your sorcerers, nor to your enchanters, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:

10 B ut they are lying to you, and will cause you to be taken far from your land. I will drive you out, and you will die.

For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.

11 B ut the nation that brings its neck under the cross-bar of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will let stay on its own land,” says the Lord. “And its people will take care of the fields and live there.”’”

But the people that submit their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, said the LORD; and they shall till it and dwell therein.

12 I spoke to King Zedekiah of Judah in the same way, saying, “Bring your necks under the cross-bar of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and live!

¶ I spoke also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Submit your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people and live.

13 W hy will you and your people die by the sword, hunger, and disease, as the Lord has said would happen to that nation which will not serve the king of Babylon?

Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD has spoken unto the people that will not serve the king of Babylon?

14 D o not listen to the men who tell of their dreams and say to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ For they are telling you a lie.

Therefore do not hearken unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.

15 I have not sent them,” says the Lord. “They speak false words in My name, so that I may drive you out, and that you may die, both you and the men who tell these things to you.”

For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.

16 T hen I said to the religious leaders and to all these people, “The Lord says: Do not listen to the men who speak in God’s name saying, ‘See, the objects of the Lord’s house will soon be returned from Babylon,’ for they are telling you a lie.

Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus hath the LORD said: Hearken not unto the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.

17 D o not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city be destroyed?

Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon and live: why should this city be laid waste?

18 B ut if they are true men of God, and if the Word of the Lord is with them, let them now pray to the Lord of All. Let them ask that the objects which are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.

But if they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them pray now unto the LORD of the hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD and in the house of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem, not go to Babylon.

19 F or this is what the Lord of All says about the pillars, the brass pool, the stands, and the rest of the objects that are left in this city.

For thus hath the LORD of the hosts said concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,

20 N ebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take these things from Jerusalem to Babylon when he took Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.

which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;

21 S o this is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says about the objects that are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem. He says,

yea, thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said concerning the vessels that remained in the house of the LORD and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem;

22 ‘ They will be carried to Babylon, and they will be there until the day I visit them,’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back to this place.’”

they shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I visit them, said the LORD; and afterwards I will bring them up and restore them to this place.