| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD. | 1This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD early in the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah. |
| 2This is what the LORD said to me: “Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck. | 2This is what the LORD said to me: “Make a yoke, and fasten it on your neck with leather straps. |
| 3Send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. | 3Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through their ambassadors who have come to see King Zedekiah in Jerusalem. |
| 4Give them a message from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, to relay to their masters: | 4Give them this message for their masters: ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: |
| 5By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please. | 5With my great strength and powerful arm I made the earth and all its people and every animal. I can give these things of mine to anyone I choose. |
| 6So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him. | 6Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant. I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control. |
| 7All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him. | 7All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until his time is up. Then many nations and great kings will conquer and rule over Babylon. |
| 8As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation by sword and famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I have destroyed it by his hand. | 8So you must submit to Babylon’s king and serve him; put your neck under Babylon’s yoke! I will punish any nation that refuses to be his slave, says the LORD. I will send war, famine, and disease upon that nation until Babylon has conquered it. |
| 9But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ | 9“‘Do not listen to your false prophets, fortune-tellers, interpreters of dreams, mediums, and sorcerers who say, “The king of Babylon will not conquer you.” |
| 10For they prophesy to you a lie that will serve to remove you from your land; I will banish you and you will perish. | 10They are all liars, and their lies will lead to your being driven out of your land. I will drive you out and send you far away to die. |
| 11But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the LORD.” | 11But the people of any nation that submits to the king of Babylon will be allowed to stay in their own country to farm the land as usual. I, the LORD, have spoken!’” |
| 12And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live! | 12Then I repeated this same message to King Zedekiah of Judah. “If you want to live, submit to the yoke of the king of Babylon and his people. |
| 13Why should you and your people die by sword and famine and plague, as the LORD has decreed against any nation that does not serve the king of Babylon? | 13Why do you insist on dying—you and your people? Why should you choose war, famine, and disease, which the LORD will bring against every nation that refuses to submit to Babylon’s king? |
| 14Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say, ‘You must not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying to you a lie. | 14Do not listen to the false prophets who keep telling you, ‘The king of Babylon will not conquer you.’ They are liars. |
| 15For I have not sent them, declares the LORD, and yet they are prophesying falsely in My name; therefore I will banish you, and you will perish—you and the prophets who prophesy to you.” | 15This is what the LORD says: ‘I have not sent these prophets! They are telling you lies in my name, so I will drive you from this land. You will all die—you and all these prophets, too.’” |
| 16Then I said to the priests and to all this people, “This is what the LORD says: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Look, very soon now the articles from the house of the LORD will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying to you a lie. | 16Then I spoke to the priests and the people and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not listen to your prophets who claim that soon the gold articles taken from my Temple will be returned from Babylon. It is all a lie! |
| 17Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city become a ruin? | 17Do not listen to them. Surrender to the king of Babylon, and you will live. Why should this whole city be destroyed? |
| 18If they are indeed prophets and the word of the LORD is with them, let them now plead with the LORD of Hosts that the articles remaining in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, not be taken to Babylon. | 18If they really are prophets and speak the LORD’s messages, let them pray to the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. Let them pray that the articles remaining in the LORD’s Temple and in the king’s palace and in the palaces of Jerusalem will not be carried away to Babylon!’ |
| 19For this is what the LORD of Hosts says about the pillars, the sea, the bases, and the rest of the articles that remain in this city, | 19“For the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has spoken about the pillars in front of the Temple, the great bronze basin called the Sea, the water carts, and all the other ceremonial articles. |
| 20which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. | 20King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon left them here when he exiled Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon, along with all the other nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. |
| 21Yes, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about the articles that remain in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: | 21Yes, this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says about the precious things still in the Temple, in the palace of Judah’s king, and in Jerusalem: |
| 22‘They will be carried to Babylon and will remain there until the day I attend to them again,’ declares the LORD. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’ ” | 22‘They will all be carried away to Babylon and will stay there until I send for them,’ says the LORD. ‘Then I will bring them back to Jerusalem again.’” |
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