Jérémie 25

Twenty-three years of warnings

¹This message came to Jeremiah about all the people of Judah in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, in what was also the first year of the reign of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.^{a 2}Jeremiah the prophet spoke it to all the people of Judah and to everyone living in Jerusalem. He said: ³“For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, up to this very day, the word of the LORD has come to me. Again and again I have spoken to you, but you have not listened. ⁴And the LORD has sent you all his servants the prophets again and again, but you have not listened or even paid attention. ⁵They said, ‘Turn back, every one of you, from your evil ways and your evil deeds, and you will live in the land that the LORD gave to you and your ancestors to keep for all time. ⁶Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them. Do not make me angry with the idols your hands have made, and I will not harm you.’ ⁷But you have not listened to me, declares the LORD. You have made me angry with the idols your hands have made, and brought harm on yourselves.

⁸So the LORD of Armies says this: Because you have not listened to my words, ⁹I am going to send for all the peoples of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, my servant. I will bring them against this land and its people and against all the nations around it. I will devote them to destruction and make them a horror, an object of scorn, and ruins forever.^{b 10}I will take away from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bridegroom and bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. ¹¹This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and for seventy years these nations will serve the king of Babylon.^{c 12}But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation for their guilt, declares the LORD. I will punish the land of the Chaldeans and make it a desolation forever. ¹³I will bring on that land everything I have said against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations.^{d 14}For many nations and great kings will make them serve in their turn, and I will repay them for what they have done, for the work of their hands.”

The cup of wine

¹⁵For the LORD, the God of Israel, said this to me: “Take this cup filled with the wine of my wrath from my hand, and make all the nations I am sending you to drink it. ¹⁶When they drink, they will stagger and lose their minds because of the sword I am sending among them.” ¹⁷So I took the cup from the hand of the LORD and made all the nations drink it to whom the LORD had sent me: ¹⁸Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and its officials, to make them a ruin, a horror, an object of scorn and a curse, as they are today;^{e 19}Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials and all his people, ²⁰all the foreign peoples there; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines, of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and what is left of Ashdod; ²¹Edom, Moab and the Ammonites, ²²all the kings of Tyre and all the kings of Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea; ²³Dedan, Tema and Buz, and all who clip the hair at their temples; ²⁴all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed peoples who live in the desert;^{f 25}all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam and all the kings of Media;^{g 26}and all the kings of the north, near and far, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Sheshach will drink.^{h 27}“Then say to them, ‘The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Drink and get drunk and vomit; fall down and do not get up again, because of the sword I am sending among you.’ ²⁸If they will not take the cup from your hand and drink, say to them, ‘The LORD of Armies says this: You must drink it! ²⁹For see, I am starting to bring disaster on the city that bears my name. Do you really think you will go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling for a sword against everyone who lives on the earth, declares the LORD of Armies.’ ³⁰As for you, prophesy all these words against them. Tell them: \q ‘The LORD roars from on high; \q from his holy dwelling he raises his voice. \q He roars and roars against his own pasture; \q he shouts like those who tread the grapes, \q a shout against all who live on the earth. ³¹The uproar reaches to the end of the earth, \q for the LORD has a case against the nations. \q He is bringing all humankind to judgment, \q and he hands the wicked over to the sword, declares the LORD.

Disaster spreads to the nations

³²The LORD of Armies says this: \q Look! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation, \q and a great storm is rising \q from the far ends of the earth. ³³On that day those slain by the LORD will lie \q from one end of the earth to the other. \q No one will mourn them or gather them or bury them; \q they will be like dung lying on the ground. ³⁴Wail, you shepherds! Cry out! \q Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock! \q The time has come for you to be slaughtered and scattered, \q and you will fall and break like a precious jar.^{ij 35}The shepherds will have nowhere to flee, \q the leaders of the flock no way to escape. ³⁶Listen to the shepherds crying out, \q the leaders of the flock wailing, \q for the LORD is laying waste their pasture. ³⁷The peaceful meadows lie in ruins \q because of the fierce anger of the LORD. ³⁸Like a lion he has left his den, \q and their land has become a desolate waste \q because of the fury of the oppressor \q and because of his fierce anger.’”^kl