1
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah , came this word to Jeremiah from the LORD , saying,
2
Thus saith the LORD to me; Make for thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck ,
3
And send them to the king of Edom , and to the king of Moab , and to the king of the Ammonites , and to the king of Tyre , and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah ;
4
And command them to say to their masters , Thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel ; Thus shall ye say to your masters ;
5
I have made the earth , the man and the beast that are upon the ground , by my great power and by my out-stretched arm , and have given it to whom it seemed meet to me.
6
And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon , my servant ; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
7
And all nations shall serve him, and his son , and his son's son , until the very time of his land shall come : and then many nations and great kings shall bring him into subjection.
8
And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar , king of Babylon , and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon , that nation will I punish, saith the LORD , with the sword , and with the famine , and with the pestilence , until I have consumed them by his hand .
9
Therefore hearken ye not to your prophets , nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon :
10
For they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
11
But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon , and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD ; and they shall till it, and dwell in it.
12
I spoke also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words , saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon , and serve him and his people, and live.
13
Why will ye die , thou and thy people , by the sword , by the famine , and by the pestilence , as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon ?
14
Therefore hearken not to the words of the prophets that speak to you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon ; for they prophesy a lie to you.
15
For I have not sent them, saith the LORD , yet they prophesy a lie in my name ; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy to you.
16
Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD ; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD 'S house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon : for they prophesy a lie to you.
17
Hearken not to them; serve the king of Babylon , and live: why should this city be laid waste?
18
But if they are prophets , and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts , that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD , and in the house of the king of Judah , and at Jerusalem , go not to Babylon .
19
For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars , and concerning the sea , and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city ,
20
Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon , and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem ;
21
Yes, thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel , concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD , and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem ;
22
They shall be carried to Babylon , and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD ; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place .