The Seventy Year Captivity

1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah (that is, the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon), 2which Jeremiah the prophet spoke unto all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: 3From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, the king of Judah, even unto this day, these three and twenty years, the word of Jehovah hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. 4And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear, 5when they said, Turn again now every one from his evil way, and from the wickedness of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah hath given unto you and to your fathers from of old even for ever. 6And go not after other gods, to serve them and to worship them; and provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. 7But ye have not hearkened unto me, saith Jehovah; that ye might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, to your own hurt.

8Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Because ye have not listened to my words, 9behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Jehovah, and [I will send] to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual wastes. 10And I will cause to perish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11And this whole land shall become a waste, an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

The Destruction of Babylon

12And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, [that] I will visit on the king of Babylon and on that nation, saith Jehovah, their iniquity, and on the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it perpetual desolations. 13And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. 14For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.

The Cup of God's Wrath

(Jeremiah 6:10-21; Jonah 1:4-10; Acts 27:13-26; Romans 1:18-32)

15For thus hath Jehovah the God of Israel said unto me: Take the cup of the wine of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it. 16And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.

17And I took the cup at Jehovah's hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom Jehovah had sent me: 18Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a waste, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; 19Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; 20and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gazah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; 21Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon; 22and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles that are beyond the sea; 23Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that have the corners [of their beard] cut off; 24and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert; 25and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes; 26and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

27And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, and be drunken, and vomit, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword that I will send among you. 28And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Ye shall certainly drink. 29For behold, I begin to bring evil on the city that is called by my name, and should ye be altogether unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah of hosts.

30And thou, prophesy unto them all these words, and say unto them, Jehovah will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he will mightily roar upon his dwelling-place, he will give a shout, as they that tread [the vintage], against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31The noise shall come to the end of the earth: for Jehovah hath a controversy with the nations, he entereth into judgment with all flesh; as for the wicked, he will give them up to the sword, saith Jehovah.

32Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great storm shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth.

33And the slain of Jehovah shall [be] at that day from [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the face of the ground.

The Cry of the Shepherds

34Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves [in the dust], noble ones of the flock: for the days of your slaughter are accomplished, and I will disperse you; and ye shall fall like a precious vessel.

35And refuge shall perish from the shepherds, and escape from the noble ones of the flock.

36There shall be a voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the noble ones of the flock: for Jehovah layeth waste their pasture;

37and the peaceable enclosures shall be desolated, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.

38He hath forsaken his covert as a young lion; for their land is a desolation because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.