ULT JER Chapter 27

◄ JER 27 ► ║ ═ ©

27 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, [fn] 2 “Thus says Yahweh to me, ‘Make for yourself bonds and yoke bars, and put them on your neck. 3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the sons of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who are coming to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 And command them to their masters, saying, “Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Thus you shall say to your masters, 5 ‘I myself made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the face of the earth, by my great strength and by my outstretched arm, and I have given it to whoever is right in my eyes. 6 And now I myself have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant. And also the living creatures of the field I have given to him to serve him. 7 And all the nations will serve him and his son and the son of his son, until the time of his own land comes, even it. And many nations and great kings will make him serve them.

8 And it shall be that the nation and the kingdom that will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put its neck in the yoke of the king of Babylon, with the sword and with the famine and with the plague I will visit upon that nation”—the declaration of Yahweh—“until I have finished them by his hand.

9 And as for you, do not listen to your prophets, and to your diviners, and to your dreamers, and to your soothsayers, and to your sorcerers, they who are speaking to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 For they are prophesying falsehood to you, so as to remove you far away from on your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 But the nation that brings its neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will let it rest on its land”—the declaration of Yahweh—“and it will cultivate it and dwell in it.’ ” ’ ”

12 And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks into the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live. 13 Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague, as Yahweh has spoken concerning the nation that does not serve the king of Babylon? 14 And do not listen to the words of the prophets who are speaking to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying falsehood to you. 15 For I have not sent them”—the declaration of Yahweh—“and they are prophesying in my name for falsehood, so that I will drive you out, and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”

16 And to the priests and to all this people I spoke, saying, “Thus says Yahweh: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the house of Yahweh are being brought back from Babylon now, quickly,’ for they are prophesying falsehood to you. 17 Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and live. Why should this city become a ruin?

18 And if they are prophets, and if the word of Yahweh is with them, let them please intercede with Yahweh of Armies, that the vessels remaining in the house of Yahweh and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not go to Babylon.”

19 For thus says Yahweh of Armies concerning the pillars, and concerning the Sea, and concerning the stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels remaining in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he exiled Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—21 for thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels remaining in the house of Yahweh and the house of the king of Judah and Jerusalem: 22 “They will be brought to Babylon, and there they will be until the day of my visiting them”—the declaration of Yahweh—“and I will bring them up and restore them to this place.”

Although the Hebrew text reads “Jehoiakim,” the context of this chapter indicates that this prophecy occurred during the reign of Zedekiah.