The Nations to Submit to Nebuchadnezzar

1In the beginning of the reign of [a]Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying— 2this is what the LORD has said to me: “Make for yourself restraints and yokes and put them on your neck, 3and send [b]word to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the sons of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon [c]by the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4Order them to go to their masters, saying, ‘This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “This is what you shall say to your masters: 5‘I have made the earth, mankind, and the animals which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is [d]pleasing in My sight. 6And now I have handed all these lands over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have also given him the animals of the field to serve him. 7All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will [e]make him their servant.

8‘And it will be that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with plague,’ declares the LORD, ‘until I have eliminated [f]it by his hand. 9And as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your [g]dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers who talk to you, saying, “You will not serve the king of Babylon.” 10For they are prophesying a lie to you in order to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you away and you will perish. 11But the nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let remain on its land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and they will cultivate it and live in it.’”’”

12I spoke words like all these to Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live! 13Why should you die, you and your people, by the sword, famine, and plague, as the LORD has spoken to the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14So do not listen to the words of the prophets who talk to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying a lie to you; 15for I have not sent them,” declares the LORD, “but they are prophesying falsely in My name, so that I will drive you away and that you will perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

16Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, “Behold, the vessels of the LORD’S house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon”; for they are prophesying a lie to you. 17Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city become a place of ruins? 18But if they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, have them now plead with the LORD of armies that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD and the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem do not go to Babylon. 19For this is what the LORD of armies says concerning the pillars, concerning the [h]sea, concerning the kettle stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he led into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21Yes, this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, says concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: 22“They will be brought to Babylon and will be there until the day I visit them,” declares the LORD. “Then I will bring them [i]back and restore them to this place.”’”