Jeremiah Tells the Nations to Submit to Babylon

1At the beginning of the reign of Josiah’s son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2this is what the LORD says to me: “Make restraints and yokes for yourself and put them on your neck. 3Then send messengersa to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon through the envoysb who come to Jerusalem to king Zedekiah of Judah. 4Give them this order for their masters: ‘This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says, and this is what you are to say 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.c 6Now I’ve given all these lands to my servant, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I’ve even given him the wild animals to serve him. 7All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until his country’s time also comes, and then many nations and great kings will use him as a slave. 8If 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. 9You aren’t to listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers,d your soothsayers, and your sorcerers who say to you, ‘Don’t serve the king of Babylon.’ 10They’re prophesying a lie to you in order to remove you far away from your land. I’ll drive you out and you will perish. 11But I’ll let the nation that brings its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him remain in its own land,” declares the LORD, “and they’ll work it and remain in it.”’”

Zedekiah Told to Submit to Babylon

12I 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! 13Why should you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by plague as the LORD has decreed about the nation that does not serve the king of Babylon? 14Don’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. 15For I didn’t send them,” declares the LORD, “and they’re falsely prophesying in my name, so I will drive both you and the prophets who prophesy to you out of the land.”

The People and Priests Told to Submit to Babylon

16Then I spoke to the priests and all this people: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you: “The vessels from the Temple are about to be returned from Babylon very soon now.” Indeed, they’re prophesying a lie to you. 17Don’t listen to them! Serve the king of Babylon and you’ll live. Why should this city become a ruin? 18If they’re prophets, and if they have a message from the LORD, let them plead with the LORD of the Heavenly Armies so that the utensils that remain in the LORD’s Temple, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem might not be taken to Babylon. 19For 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 20that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn’t take when he took Jehoiakim’s son Jeconiah, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem from Jerusalem into exile to Babylon— 21For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says about the vessels that remain in the LORD’s Temple, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, 22“They’ll go into Babylon and there they’ll remain until the time I take note of them,” declares the LORD. “Then I’ll bring them up and return them to this place.”’”