CHAPTER 27
At the beginning
of the reign
of Zedekiah
son
of Josiah
king
of Judah,
this
word
came
to
Jeremiah
from the LORD:
“This is what
the LORD
said
to me:
Make
for yourself
a yoke
out of leather straps
and put it
on
your neck.
Send
word to
the kings
of Edom,
Moab,
Ammon,
Tyre,
and
Sidon
through
the envoys
who have come
to Jerusalem
to
Zedekiah
king
of Judah.
Give them a message
for their
masters
declaring that
this is what
the LORD
of Hosts,
the God
of Israel,
says
that
you are to tell
them:
By My great
power
and outstretched
arm,
I
made
the earth
and the men
and
beasts
on
the face
of it,
and I give it
to whom
I please.
So now
I
have placed
all
these
lands
under the authority
of My servant
Nebuchadnezzar,
king
of Babylon.
I have even
made
the beasts
of the field
subject
to him.
All
nations
will serve him
and
his son
and grandson,
until
the time
of his own land
comes;
then many
nations
and great
kings
will enslave him.
As for the nation
or kingdom
that
does not
serve
Nebuchadnezzar
king
of Babylon
and does not
place
its neck
under his yoke,
I will punish
that
nation
by sword
and famine
and plague,
declares
the LORD,
until
I have destroyed
it
by his hand.
But as for you,
do not
listen
to
your prophets,
your diviners,
your interpreters of dreams,
your mediums,
or your sorcerers
who
tell
you,
‘You shall not
serve
the king
of Babylon.’
For
they
prophesy
to you
a lie
that will serve
to remove you
from
your land;
I will banish you
and you will perish.
But the nation
that
will put
its neck
under the yoke
of the king
of Babylon
and serve him,
I will leave
it in
its own land,
to cultivate it
and reside
in it,
declares
the LORD.”
And to
Zedekiah
king
of Judah
I spoke
the same
message:
“Put
your necks
under the yoke
of the king
of Babylon;
serve
him and his people,
and live!
Why
should you
and your people
die
by the sword,
famine,
and plague,
as
the LORD
has decreed
against
any nation
that
does not
serve
the king
of Babylon?
Do not
listen
to
the words
of the prophets
who tell
you,
‘You must not
serve
the king
of Babylon,’
for
they
are prophesying
to you
a lie.
‘For
I have not
sent them,’
declares
the LORD,
‘and yet they
are prophesying
falsely
in My name;
therefore
I will banish you
and you will perish—
you
and the prophets
who prophesy
to you.’”
Then I said
to
the priests
and all
this
people,
“This is what
the LORD
says:
Do not
listen
to
the words
of your prophets
who prophesy
to you,
saying,
‘Look,
very soon
now
the articles
of the LORD's
temple
will be brought back
from Babylon."
They
are prophesying
to you
a lie.
If
they
are indeed prophets
and
the word
of the LORD
is
with them,
let them now
plead with
the LORD
of Hosts
that the articles
remaining
in the house
of the LORD,
in the palace
of the king
of Judah,
and in Jerusalem,
not
be taken
to Babylon.
For
this is what
the LORD
of Hosts
says
about
the pillars,
the sea,
the bases,
and the rest
of the articles
that still remain
in this
city,
which
Nebuchadnezzar
king
of Babylon
did not
take
when he carried
Jeconiah
son
of Jehoiakim
king
of Judah
into exile from Jerusalem
to Babylon,
along with
all
the nobles
of Judah
and Jerusalem.
Yes,
this is what
the LORD
of Hosts,
the God
of Israel,
says
about
the articles
that remain
in the house
of the LORD,
in the palace
of the king
of Judah,
and in Jerusalem:
‘They will be carried
to Babylon
and will remain
there
until
the day
I attend to them again,’
declares
the LORD.
‘Then I will bring them back
and restore them
to
this
place.’”