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Jeremiah 25

New International Reader’s Version



1 A message from the LORD about all the people of Judah came to Jeremiah. It came in the fourth year that Jehoiakim was the king of Judah. It was the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon. Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah. 2 Jeremiah, the LORD’s prophet, spoke to all the people of Judah and Jerusalem. He said, 3 ‘For 23 years the LORD’s messages have been coming to me. They began to come in the 13th year that Josiah was king of Judah. He was the son of Amon. The LORD’s messages still come to me today. I’ve spoken to you people again and again. But you haven’t listened to me. 4 ‘The LORD has sent all his servants the prophets to you. They’ve come to you again and again. But you haven’t listened. You haven’t paid any attention to them. 5 They said, “Each of you must turn from your evil ways and practices. Then you can stay in the land for ever. It’s the land the LORD gave you and your people of long ago. 6 Don’t follow other gods. Don’t serve them or worship them. Don’t make the LORD angry with the gods your own hands have made. Then he won’t harm you.” 7 ‘ “But you did not listen to me,” announces the LORD. “You have made me very angry with the gods your hands have made. And you have brought harm on yourselves.” 8 ‘The LORD who rules over all says, “You have not listened to my words. 9 So I will send for all the nations in the north. And I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon,” announces the LORD. “I will bring all of them against this land and against you who live here. They will march out against all the nations that are around this land. I will set apart Judah and the nations around it in a special way to be destroyed. People will be shocked because of them. And they will make fun of them. Those nations will be destroyed for ever. 10 I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness. I will put an end to the voices of brides and grooms. The sound of grinding millstones will not be heard anymore. And lamps will not be lit anymore. 11 This whole country will become dry and empty. And these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. 12 ‘ “But I will punish that king and his nation because they are guilty. I will do this when the 70 years are over,” announces the LORD. “I will make that land a desert for ever. 13 I have spoken against that land. And I will make all these things happen to it. Everything will happen that is written in this book. And I will make everything Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations come true. 14 The people of Babylon will become slaves of many other nations and great kings. I will pay them back for what they have done.” ’ 



15 The LORD is the God of Israel. He said to me, ‘Take this cup from my hand. It is filled with the wine of my great anger. Make all the nations to which I send you drink it. 16 When they drink it, they will not even be able to walk straight. It will drive them out of their minds. I am going to send war against them.’ 17 So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand. I made all the nations to which he sent me drink from it. 18 He sent me to Judah’s kings and officials. He told me to go to Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. He wanted me to tell them they would be destroyed. Then people would be shocked because of them. They would make fun of them. They would use their name in a curse. And that’s how things still are today. 19 Here is a list of the other kings and nations he sent me to. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt his attendants, his officials, all his people 20 all the people from other lands who lived there all the kings of Uz the Philistine kings of Ashkelon, Gaza and Ekron the Philistines still living in Ashdod 21 Edom, Moab, Ammon 22 all the kings of Tyre and Sidon the kings of the islands and other lands along the Mediterranean Sea 23 Dedan, Teman, Buz all the other places far away in the east 24 all the kings of Arabia all the other kings of people who live in the desert 25 all the kings of Zimri, Elam and Media 26 all the kings in the north, near and far So he sent me to all the kingdoms on the face of the earth, one after the other. They will all drink from the cup of the LORD’s anger. After they drink, the king of Babylon will drink from it too. 27 The LORD says, ‘Tell them, “The LORD who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Drink from this cup. Get drunk and throw up. Fall down and do not get up again. I am going to send war against you.’ ” 28 But they might refuse to take the cup from your hand. They might not want to drink from it. Then tell them, “The LORD who rules over all says, ‘You must drink from it! 29 I am beginning to bring trouble on the city where I have put my Name. You might think you will not be punished. But you will certainly be punished. I am sending war against everyone who lives on earth,’ announces the LORD who rules over all.” 30 ‘Jeremiah, prophesy against them. Tell them, ‘ “The LORD will roar from heaven like a lion. His voice will sound like thunder from his holy temple there. He will roar loudly against his land. He will shout like those who tread grapes in winepresses. He will shout against everyone who lives on earth. 31 The noise of battle will be heard from one end of the earth to the other. That’s because the LORD will bring charges against the nations. He will judge every human being. He will kill sinful people with his sword,” ’ announces the LORD. 32 The LORD who rules over all says, ‘Look! Horrible trouble is spreading from one nation to another. A mighty storm is rising. It is coming from a place that is very far away.’ 33 At that time those the LORD kills will be lying around everywhere. They will be found from one end of the earth to the other. No one will mourn for them. Their dead bodies will not be gathered up or buried. Instead, they will be like human waste lying there on the ground. 34 Weep and cry, you shepherds. Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. Your time to be killed has come. You will fall like the best of the rams. 35 The shepherds won’t have any place to run to. The leaders of the flock won’t be able to escape. 36 Listen to the cries of the shepherds. Hear the weeping of the leaders of the flock. The LORD is destroying their grasslands. 37 Their peaceful meadows will be completely destroyed because of the LORD’s great anger. 38 Like a lion he will leave his den. The land of those leaders will become a desert. That’s because the sword of the LORD brings great harm. His anger will burn against them. 

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Jeremiah 25

English Standard Version



1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), (2Ki 24:1; Jer 1:3; Jer 36:1) 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. (2Ch 36:15; Jer 1:2; Jer 7:13; Jer 11:7; Jer 26:5; Jer 29:19; Jer 32:33; Jer 35:14) 4 You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, (Jer 25:3) 5 saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. (Jer 7:7; Jer 18:11; Jer 23:22) 6 Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ (Jer 7:6; Jer 32:30) 7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. (Jer 25:6) 8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. (Isa 44:28; Isa 45:1; Jer 1:15; Jer 18:16; Jer 27:6; Jer 43:10; Eze 29:18) 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. (Ec 12:4; Jer 7:34; Re 18:22; Re 18:23) 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. (2Ch 36:21; Ezr 1:1; Isa 23:15; Jer 25:9; Jer 27:3; Jer 28:14; Da 9:2) 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste. (Isa 13:19; Jer 25:11; Jer 51:24; Jer 51:26; Jer 51:62) 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” (Jer 27:7; Jer 50:9; Jer 50:29; Jer 50:41; Jer 51:6; Jer 51:24; Jer 51:27) 



15 Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. (Job 21:20; Ps 60:3; Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17; Jer 49:12; Jer 51:7; La 4:21; Re 14:10) 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” (Jer 47:6) 17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: (Isa 51:22) 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; (Jer 18:16; Zec 12:2) 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, (Jer 46:25) 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); (Ex 12:38; Job 1:1; Isa 20:1; Jer 47:1; Jer 47:4; Jer 50:37; La 4:21; Eze 30:5) 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; (Jer 9:26; Jer 49:1; Jer 49:7) 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; (Isa 23:1; Jer 47:4; Jer 49:23) 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; (Job 6:19; Job 32:2; Job 32:6; Isa 21:13; Jer 9:26; Jer 49:8) 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; (2Ch 9:14; Jer 25:20) 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; (2Ki 17:6; Isa 11:11; Jer 49:34) 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon[1] shall drink. (Jer 50:9; Jer 51:41) 27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.’ (Jer 25:16; Eze 38:21; Hab 2:16) 28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: You must drink! (Jer 49:12) 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.’ (Pr 11:31; Isa 10:12; Jer 25:27; Am 3:2; Ob 1:16; 1Pe 4:17) 30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: “‘The Lord will roar from on high, and from his holy habitation utter his voice; he will roar mightily against his fold, and shout, like those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. (Jud 9:27; Isa 16:9; Joe 3:16; Am 1:2) 31 The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against the nations; he is entering into judgment with all flesh, and the wicked he will put to the sword, declares the Lord.’ (Isa 66:16; Ho 4:1; Joe 3:2) 32 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, disaster is going forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth! (Jer 6:22; Jer 23:19; Jer 30:23) 33 “And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground. (Isa 66:16; Jer 8:2; Jer 16:4) 34 “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out, and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock, for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come, and you shall fall like a choice vessel. (Jer 4:8; Jer 6:26; Jer 23:1) 35 No refuge will remain for the shepherds, nor escape for the lords of the flock. (Jer 23:1) 36 A voice—the cry of the shepherds, and the wail of the lords of the flock! For the Lord is laying waste their pasture, (Jer 4:8; Jer 25:35) 37 and the peaceful folds are devastated because of the fierce anger of the Lord. (Isa 32:18; Jer 12:13) 38 Like a lion he has left his lair, for their land has become a waste because of the sword of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.” (Job 38:40; Jer 25:37; Jer 46:16; Jer 50:16) 

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