1This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon).
3"From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, until this very day--twenty-three years--the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you time and time again, but you have not obeyed.
5He announced, 'Turn, each of you, from your evil way of life and from your evil deeds. Live in the land the LORD gave to you and your ancestors long ago and forever.
7"'But you have not obeyed me'--this is the LORD's declaration--'with the result that you have angered me by the work of your hands and brought disaster on yourselves.'
9I am going to send for all the families of the north'--this is the LORD's declaration--'and send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and make them an example of horror and scorn, and ruins forever.
10I will eliminate the sound of joy and gladness from them--the voice of the groom and the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.
12When the seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation'--this is the LORD's declaration--'the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, and I will make it a ruin forever.
15This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: "Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand and make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink from it.
18Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah, its kings and its officials, to make them a desolate ruin, an example for scorn and cursing--as it is today;
20and all the mixed peoples; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines--Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
26all the kings of the north, both near and far from one another; that is, all the kingdoms of the world throughout the earth. Finally, the king of Sheshach will drink after them.
27"Then you are to say to them, 'This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you.'
29For I am already bringing disaster on the city that bears my name, so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth. This is the declaration of the LORD of Armies.'
30"As for you, you are to prophesy all these things to them, and say to them: The LORD roars from on high; he makes his voice heard from his holy dwelling. He roars loudly over his grazing land; he calls out with a shout, like those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31The tumult reaches to the ends of the earth because the LORD brings a case against the nations. He enters into judgment with all people. As for the wicked, he hands them over to the sword--this is the LORD's declaration.
32"This is what the LORD of Armies says: Pay attention! Disaster spreads from nation to nation. A huge storm is stirred up from the ends of the earth."
33Those slain by the LORD on that day will be scattered from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried. They will be like manure on the soil's surface.
34Wail, you shepherds, and cry out. Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. Because the days of your slaughter have come, you will fall and become shattered like a precious vase.
