1 The word that came to Ieremiah, concerning all the people of Iudah in the fourth yeere of Iehoiakim the sonne of Iosiah King of Iudah that was in the first yeere of Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babel: 2 The which Ieremiah the Prophet spake vnto all the people of Iudah, and to all the inhabitants of Ierusalem, saying, 3 From the thirteenth yeere of Iosiah the sonne of Amon King of Iudah, euen vnto this day (that is the three and twentieth yeere) the word of the Lord hath come vnto mee, and I haue spoken vnto you rising earely and speaking, but ye woulde not heare. 4 And the Lord hath sent vnto you all his seruantes the Prophets, rising early and sending them, but yee would not heare, nor encline your eares to obey. 5 They sayde, Turne againe now euery one from his euill way, and from the wickednes of your inuentions, and ye shall dwell in the lande that the Lord hath giuen vnto you, and to your fathers for euer and euer. 6 And go not after other gods to serue them and to worshippe them, and prouoke me not to anger with the workes of your hands, and I will not punish you. 7 Neuerthelesse ye would not heare me, saith the Lord, but haue prouoked mee to anger with the workes of your hands to your owne hurt. 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hostes, Because ye haue not heard my wordes, 9 Beholde, I will send and take to mee all the families of the North, saith the Lord, and Nebuchad-nezzar the King of Babel my seruant, and will bring them against this lande, and against the inhabitantes thereof, and against all these nations rounde about, and will destroy them, and make them an astonishment and an hissing, and a continuall desolation. 10 Moreouer I will take from them the voyce of mirth and the voyce of gladnesse, the voyce of the bridegrome and the voyce of the bride, the noise of the milstones, and the light of the candle. 11 And this whole land shalbe desolate, and an astonishment, and these nations shall serue the King of Babel seuentie yeeres. 12 And when the seuentie yeres are accomplished, I will visite the King of Babel and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquities, euen the land of the Caldeans, and will make it a perpetuall desolation, 13 And I will bring vpon that lande all my wordes which I haue pronounced against it, euen all that is written in this booke, which Ieremiah hath prophecied against all nations. 14 For many nations, and great Kings shall euen serue themselues of them: thus will I recompense them according to their deedes, and according to the workes of their owne handes. 15 For thus hath the Lord God of Israel spoken vnto me, Take the cuppe of wine of this mine indignation at mine hand, and cause all the nations, to whome I sende thee, to drinke it. 16 And they shall drinke, and be moued and be mad, because of the sworde that I will sende among them. 17 Then tooke I the cup at the Lordes hand, and made all people to drinke, vnto whome the Lord had sent me: 18 Euen Ierusalem, and the cities of Iudah, and the Kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them desolate, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse, as appeareth this day: 19 Pharaoh also, King of Egypt, and his seruants, and his princes, and all his people: 20 And all sortes of people, and all the Kings of the lande of Vz: and all the Kings of the lande of the Philistims, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod: 21 Edom, and Moab, and the Ammonites, 22 And all the Kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the Kings of the Yles, that are beyonde the Sea, 23 And Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that dwell in the vttermost corners, 24 And all the Kings of Arabia, and all the Kings of Arabia, that dwell in the desert, 25 And all the Kings of Zimri, and all the Kings of Elam, and all the Kings of the Medes, 26 And all the Kings of the North, farre and neere one to another, and all the kingdomes of the worlde, which are vpon the earth, and the king of Sheshach shall drinke after them. 27 Therefore say thou vnto them, Thus saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Drinke and bee drunken, and spewe and fall, and rise no more, because of the sworde, which I will sende among you. 28 But if they refuse to take the cuppe at thine hande to drinke, then tell them, Thus saith the Lord of hostes, Ye shall certainely drinke. 29 For loe, I beginne to plague the citie, where my Name is called vpon, and shoulde you goe free? Ye shall not goe quite: for I will call for a sword vpon al the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hostes. 30 Therefore prophecie thou against them al these words, and say vnto them, The Lord shall roare from aboue, and thrust out his voyce from his holy habitation: he shall roare vpon his habitation, and crie aloude, as they that presse the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31 The sounde shall come to the endes of the earth: for the Lord hath a controuersie with the nations, and will enter into iudgement with all flesh, and he will giue them that are wicked, to the sworde, saith the Lord. 32 Thus saith the Lord of hostes, Behold, a plague shall goe foorth from nation to nation, and a great whirlewinde shalbe raised vp from the coastes of the earth, 33 And the slaine of the Lord shall be at that day, from one ende of the earth, euen vnto the other ende of the earth: they shall not bee mourned, neither gathered nor buried, but shalbe as the dongue vpon the grounde. 34 Howle, ye shepherdes, and crie, and wallowe your selues in the ashes, ye principall of the flocke: for your dayes of slaughter are accomplished, and of your dispersion, and ye shall fall like precious vessels. 35 And the flight shall faile from the shepherdes, and the escaping from the principall of the flocke. 36 A voyce of the crye of the shepherdes, and an howling of the principall of the flocke shalbe heard: for the Lord hath destroyed their pasture. 37 And the best pastures are destroyed because of the wrath and indignation of the Lord. 38 He hath forsaken his couert, as the lyon: for their land is waste, because of the wrath of the oppressor, and because of ye wrath of his indignatio.
The Enemy from the North
1 In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, I received a message from the Lord concerning all the people of Judah. (This was the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylonia.) 2 I said to all the people of Judah and of Jerusalem, 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah until this very day, the Lord has spoken to me, and I have never failed to tell you what he said. But you have paid no attention. 4 You would not listen or pay attention, even though the Lord has continued to send you his servants the prophets. 5 They told you to turn from your wicked way of life and from the evil things you are doing, so that you could go on living in the land that the Lord gave you and your ancestors as a permanent possession. 6 They told you not to worship and serve other gods and not to make the Lord angry by worshiping the idols you had made. If you had obeyed the Lord, then he would not have punished you. 7 But the Lord himself says that you refused to listen to him. Instead, you made him angry with your idols and have brought his punishment on yourselves.
8 “So then, because you would not listen to him, the Lord Almighty says, 9 ‘I am going to send for all the peoples from the north and for my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. I am going to bring them to fight against Judah and its inhabitants and against all the neighboring nations. I am going to destroy this nation and its neighbors and leave them in ruins forever, a terrible and shocking sight. I, the Lord, have spoken. 10 I will silence their shouts of joy and gladness and the happy sounds of wedding feasts. They will have no oil for their lamps, and there will be no more grain. 11 This whole land will be left in ruins and will be a shocking sight, and the neighboring nations will serve the king of Babylonia for seventy years. 12 After that I will punish Babylonia and its king for their sin. I will destroy that country and leave it in ruins forever. 13 I will punish Babylonia with all the disasters that I threatened to bring on the nations when I spoke through Jeremiah—all the disasters recorded in this book. 14 I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done, and many nations and great kings will make slaves of them.’”
God's Judgment on the Nations
15 The Lord, the God of Israel, said to me, “Here is a wine cup filled with my anger. Take it to all the nations to whom I send you, and make them drink from it. 16 When they drink from it, they will stagger and go out of their minds because of the war I am sending against them.”
17 So I took the cup from the Lord's hand, gave it to all the nations to whom the Lord had sent me, and made them drink from it. 18 Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah, together with its kings and leaders, were made to drink from it, so that they would become a desert, a terrible and shocking sight, and so that people would use their name as a curse—as they still do.
19-26 Here is the list of all the others who had to drink from the cup:
the king of Egypt, his officials and leaders;
all the Egyptians and all the foreigners in Egypt;
all the kings of the land of Uz;
all the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod;
all the people of Edom, Moab, and Ammon;
all the kings of Tyre and Sidon;
all the kings of the Mediterranean lands;
the cities of Dedan, Tema, and Buz;
all the people who cut their hair short;
all the kings of Arabia;
all the kings of the desert tribes;
all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media;
all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another.
Every nation on the face of the earth had to drink from it. Last of all, the king of Babylonia will drink from it.
27 Then the Lord said to me, “Tell the people that I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, am commanding them to drink until they are drunk and vomit, until they fall down and cannot get up, because of the war that I am sending against them. 28 And if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink from it, then tell them that the Lord Almighty has said that they will still have to drink from it. 29 I will begin my work of destruction in my own city. Do they think they will go unpunished? No, they will be punished, for I am going to send war on all the people on earth. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken.
30 “You, Jeremiah, must proclaim everything I have said. You must tell these people,
‘The Lord will roar from heaven
and thunder from the heights of heaven.
He will roar against his people;
he will shout like a man treading grapes.
Everyone on earth will hear him,
31 and the sound will echo to the ends of the earth.
The Lord has a case against the nations.
He will bring all people to trial
and put the wicked to death.
The Lord has spoken.’”
32 The Lord Almighty says that disaster is coming on one nation after another, and a great storm is gathering at the far ends of the earth. 33 On that day the bodies of those whom the Lord has killed will lie scattered from one end of the earth to the other. No one will mourn for them, and they will not be taken away and buried. They will lie on the ground like piles of manure.
34 Cry, you leaders, you shepherds of my people, cry out loud! Mourn and roll in the dust. The time has come for you to be slaughtered, and you will be butchered like rams. 35 There will be no way for you to escape. 36-37 You moan and cry out in distress because the Lord in his anger has destroyed your nation and left your peaceful country in ruins. 38 The Lord has abandoned his people like a lion that leaves its cave. The horrors of war and the Lord's fierce anger have turned the country into a desert.