Jeremiah 27

VIN^{(i) 1} At the beginning of the reign of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ² This is what the Lord has said to me: Make for yourself bands and yokes and put them on your neck; ³ "Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon, with messengers who have come to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem. ⁴ "Give them an order for their masters: This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Say this to your masters, ⁵ By my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth, mankind, and the animals that are on the face of the earth, and I give it to whomever I see fit. ⁶ "Now I have handed all these countries over to my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made wild animals serve him. ⁷ And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land comes. And then many nations and great kings shall enslave him. ⁸ If a nation and kingdom does not serve him King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and does not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I'll judge that nation with the sword, with famine, and with plague," declares the LORD, "until I've completely destroyed it by his hand. ⁹ "Do not listen to prophets, mediums, and interpreters of dreams, fortunetellers, or sorcerers who tell you, 'You will never serve the king of Babylon.' ¹⁰ "They prophesy lies to you. They will cause you to be taken far from your lands. I will scatter you, and you will die. ¹¹ But as for that nation which puts its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and becomes his servant, I will let that nation keep on in its land, farming it and living in it, says the Lord. ¹² I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah using words like these: "Bring your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and you will live! ¹³ "Why should you and your people die in wars, famines, and plagues? the LORD has threatened the nations that do not serve the king of Babylon. ¹⁴ Don't listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, 'You won't serve the king of Babylon. Indeed, they're prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁵ For I have not sent them," declares the LORD, "but they are prophesying in my name falsely, so that I will drive them away. And you will perish—you and the prophets who are prophesying to you." ¹⁶ I also spoke this message to the priests and all the people. This is what the LORD said to me: "Do not listen to the prophets who tell you that the utensils of the LORD's Temple will be brought back from Babylon soon. They prophesy lies to you." ¹⁷ Don't listen to them! Serve the king of Babylon and you'll live. Why should this city become a ruin? ¹⁸ But if they are prophets, and if the Word of the LORD is with them, let them now pray to the LORD Almighty, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon. ¹⁹ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says about the pillars, the bronze sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that remain in this city ²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he exiled Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem; ²¹ For thus says the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, 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 carried to Babylon and they will be there until the day I visit them," declares the LORD. "Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place."’"