1 In the beginning of the reign of 1Many mss read JehoiakimA2 Kin 24:18-20; 2 Chr 36:11-13Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Loʀᴅ, saying— 2 thus says the Loʀᴅ to me—“Make for yourself AJer 30:8bonds and BJer 28:10, 13yokes and put them on your neck, 3 and send 1Lit themword to the king of AJer 25:21, 22Edom, to the king of AJer 25:21, 22Moab, to the king of the sons of AJer 25:21, 22Ammon, to the king of AJer 25:21, 22Tyre and to the king of AJer 25:21, 22Sidon 2Lit by the hand ofby the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4  “Command them to go to their masters, saying, ‘Thus says the Loʀᴅ of hosts, the God of Israel, thus you shall say to your masters, 5 “APs 96:5; 146:5, 6; Is 42:5; 45:12; Jer 10:12; 51:15I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth BDeut 9:29; Jer 32:17; Dan 4:17by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will CPs 115:15, 16; Acts 17:26give it to the one who is 1Or uprightpleasing in My sight. 6  “Now I AJer 21:7; 22:25; Ezek 29:18-20have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, BIs 44:28; Jer 25:9; 43:10My servant, and I have given him also the CJer 28:14; Dan 2:38wild animals of the field to serve him. 7  “A2 Chr 36:20; Jer 44:30; 46:13All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson BDan 5:26; Zech 2:8, 9until the time of his own land comes; then CIs 14:4-6; Jer 25:12many nations and great kings will 1Or enslave himmake him their servant.

8 “It will be, that the nation or the kingdom which AJer 38:17-19; 42:15, 16; Ezek 17:19-21will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the BJer 24:10; 27:13; 29:17, 18; Ezek 14:21sword, with famine and with pestilence,” declares the Loʀᴅ, “until I have destroyed 1Lit themit by his hand. 9  “But as for you, AEx 22:18; Deut 18:10; Prov 19:27; Is 8:19; Mal 3:5; Eph 5:6do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your 1Lit dreamsdreamers, your soothsayers or your sorcerers who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10  “For they prophesy a AJer 23:25lie to you in order to BJer 8:19; 32:31remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out and you will perish. 11  “But the nation which will AJer 27:2, 8, 12bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will BJer 21:9; 38:2; 40:9-12; 42:10, 11let remain on its land,” declares the Loʀᴅ, “and they will till it and dwell in it.” ’ ”

12 I spoke words like all these to AJer 27:3; 28:1; 38:17Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live! 13  “Why will you AProv 8:36; Jer 27:8; 38:23; Ezek 18:31die, you and your people, by the sword, famine and pestilence, as the Loʀᴅ has spoken to that nation which will not serve the king of Babylon? 14  “So AJer 27:9; 2 Cor 11:13-15do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a BJer 14:14; 23:21; 27:10; 29:8, 9; Ezek 13:22lie to you; 15 for AJer 23:21; 29:9I have not sent them,” declares the Loʀᴅ, “but they BJer 23:25prophesy falsely in My name, in order that I may C2 Chr 25:16; Jer 27:10drive you out and that you may perish, DJer 6:13-15; 14:15, 16you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

16 Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Loʀᴅ: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the A2 Kin 24:13; 2 Chr 36:7, 10; Jer 28:3; Dan 1:2vessels of the Loʀᴅ’s house will now shortly be brought again from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a BJer 27:10lie to you. 17  “Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city AJer 7:34become a ruin? 18  “But A1 Kin 18:24if they are prophets, and if the word of the Loʀᴅ is with them, let them now B1 Sam 7:8; 12:19, 23; Jer 18:20entreat the Loʀᴅ of hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of the Loʀᴅ, in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. 19  “For thus says the Loʀᴅ of hosts concerning the A1 Kin 7:15; 2 Kin 25:13, 17; Jer 52:17-23pillars, concerning the sea, concerning the stands and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he A2 Kin 24:12, 14-16; 2 Chr 36:10, 18; Jer 22:28; 24:1carried into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. 21  “Yes, thus says the Loʀᴅ of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Loʀᴅ and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem, 22 ‘They will be AJer 34:2, 3carried to Babylon and they will be there until the BJer 25:11, 12; 27:7; 29:10; 32:5day I visit them,’ declares the Loʀᴅ. ‘Then I will CEzra 1:7-11; 5:13-15; 7:19bring them 1Lit upback and restore them to this place.’ ”