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Jeremiah 23-25
The Message
Jeremiah 23-25
The Message
An Authentic David-Branch
23 1-4 “Doom to the shepherd-leaders who butcher and scatter my sheep!” God’s Decree. “So here is what I, God, Israel’s God, say to the shepherd-leaders who misled my people: ‘You’ve scattered my sheep. You’ve driven them off. You haven’t kept your eye on them. Well, let me tell you, I’m keeping my eye on you, keeping track of your criminal behavior. I’ll take over and gather what’s left of my sheep, gather them in from all the lands where I’ve driven them. I’ll bring them back where they belong, and they’ll recover and flourish. I’ll set shepherd-leaders over them who will take good care of them. They won’t live in fear or panic anymore. All the lost sheep rounded up!’ God’s Decree.
5-6 “Time’s coming”—God’s Decree—
“when I’ll establish a truly righteous David-Branch,
A ruler who knows how to rule justly.
He’ll make sure of justice and keep people united.
In his time Judah will be secure again
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name they’ll give him:
‘God-Who-Puts-Everything-Right.’
7-8 “So watch for this. The time’s coming”—God’s Decree—“when no one will say, ‘As sure as God lives, the God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt,’ but, ‘As sure as God lives, the God who brought the descendants of Israel back from the north country and from the other countries where he’d driven them, so that they can live on their own good earth.’”
The “Everything Will Turn Out Fine” Sermon
9 My head is reeling,
my limbs are limp,
I’m staggering like a drunk,
seeing double from too much wine—
And all because of God,
because of his holy words.
10-12 Now for what God says regarding the lying prophets:
“Can you believe it? A country teeming with adulterers!
faithless, promiscuous idolater-adulterers!
They’re a curse on the land.
The land’s a wasteland.
Their unfaithfulness
is turning the country into a cesspool,
Prophets and priests devoted to desecration.
They have nothing to do with me as their God.
My very own Temple, mind you—
mud-spattered with their crimes.” God’s Decree.
“But they won’t get by with it.
They’ll find themselves on a slippery slope,
Careening into the darkness,
somersaulting into the pitch-black dark.
I’ll make them pay for their crimes.
It will be the Year of Doom.” God’s Decree.
* * *
13-14 “Over in Samaria I saw prophets
acting like silly fools—shocking!
They preached using that no-god Baal for a text,
messing with the minds of my people.
And the Jerusalem prophets are even worse—horrible!—
sex-driven, living a lie,
Subsidizing a culture of wickedness,
and never giving it a second thought.
They’re as bad as those wretches in old Sodom,
the degenerates of old Gomorrah.”
15 So here’s the Message to the prophets from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“I’ll cook them a supper of maggoty meat
with after-dinner drinks of strychnine.
The Jerusalem prophets are behind all this.
They’re the cause of the godlessness polluting this country.”
* * *
16-17 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“Don’t listen to the sermons of the prophets.
It’s all hot air. Lies, lies, and more lies.
They make it all up.
Not a word they speak comes from me.
They preach their ‘Everything Will Turn Out Fine’ sermon
to congregations with no taste for God,
Their ‘Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You’ sermon
to people who are set in their own ways.
18-20 “Have any of these prophets bothered to meet with me, the true God?
bothered to take in what I have to say?
listened to and then lived out my Word?
Look out! God’s hurricane will be let loose—
my hurricane blast,
Spinning the heads of the wicked like tops!
God’s raging anger won’t let up
Until I’ve made a clean sweep,
completing the job I began.
When the job’s done,
you’ll see that it’s been well done.
Quit the “God Told Me This” Kind of Talk
21-22 “I never sent these prophets,
but they ran anyway.
I never spoke to them,
but they preached away.
If they’d have bothered to sit down and meet with me,
they’d have preached my Message to my people.
They’d have gotten them back on the right track,
gotten them out of their evil ruts.
* * *
23-24 “Am I not a God near at hand”—God’s Decree—
“and not a God far off?
Can anyone hide out in a corner
where I can’t see him?”
God’s Decree.
“Am I not present everywhere,
whether seen or unseen?”
God’s Decree.
* * *
25-27 “I know what they’re saying, all these prophets who preach lies using me as their text, saying ‘I had this dream! I had this dream!’ How long do I have to put up with this? Do these prophets give two cents about me as they preach their lies and spew out their grandiose delusions? They swap dreams with one another, feed on each other’s delusive dreams, trying to distract my people from me just as their ancestors were distracted by the no-god Baal.
28-29 “You prophets who do nothing but dream—
go ahead and tell your silly dreams.
But you prophets who have a message from me—
tell it truly and faithfully.
What does straw have in common with wheat?
Nothing else is like God’s Decree.
Isn’t my Message like fire?” God’s Decree.
“Isn’t it like a sledgehammer busting a rock?
30-31 “I’ve had it with the ‘prophets’ who get all their sermons secondhand from each other. Yes, I’ve had it with them. They make up stuff and then pretend it’s a real sermon.
32 “Oh yes, I’ve had it with the prophets who preach the lies they dream up, spreading them all over the country, ruining the lives of my people with their cheap and reckless lies.
“I never sent these prophets, never authorized a single one of them. They do nothing for this people—nothing!” God’s Decree.
33 “And anyone, including prophets and priests, who asks, ‘What’s God got to say about all this, what’s troubling him?’ tell him, ‘You, you’re the trouble, and I’m getting rid of you.’” God’s Decree.
34 “And if anyone, including prophets and priests, goes around saying glibly ‘God’s Message! God’s Message!’ I’ll punish him and his family.
35-36 “Instead of claiming to know what God says, ask questions of one another, such as ‘How do we understand God in this?’ But don’t go around pretending to know it all, saying ‘God told me this . . . God told me that. . . . ’ I don’t want to hear it anymore. Only the person I authorize speaks for me. Otherwise, my Message gets twisted, the Message of the living God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
37-38 “You can ask the prophets, ‘How did God answer you? What did he tell you?’ But don’t pretend that you know all the answers yourselves and talk like you know it all. I’m telling you: Quit the ‘God told me this . . . God told me that . . . ’ kind of talk.
39-40 “Are you paying attention? You’d better, because I’m about to take you in hand and throw you to the ground, you and this entire city that I gave to your ancestors. I’ve had it with the lot of you. You’re never going to live this down. You’re going down in history as a disgrace.”
Two Baskets of Figs
24 1-2 God showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the Temple of God. This was after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem into exile in Babylon, along with the leaders of Judah, the craftsmen, and the skilled laborers. In one basket the figs were of the finest quality, ripe and ready to eat. In the other basket the figs were rotten, so rotten they couldn’t be eaten.
3 God said to me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
“Figs,” I said. “Excellent figs of the finest quality, and also rotten figs, so rotten they can’t be eaten.”
4-6 Then God told me, “This is the Message from the God of Israel: The exiles from here that I’ve sent off to the land of the Babylonians are like the good figs, and I’ll make sure they get good treatment. I’ll keep my eye on them so that their lives are good, and I’ll bring them back to this land. I’ll build them up, not tear them down; I’ll plant them, not uproot them.
7 “And I’ll give them a heart to know me, God. They’ll be my people and I’ll be their God, for they’ll have returned to me with all their hearts.
8-10 “But like the rotten figs, so rotten they can’t be eaten, is Zedekiah king of Judah. Rotten figs—that’s how I’ll treat him and his leaders, along with the survivors here and those down in Egypt. I’ll make them something that the whole world will look on as disgusting—repugnant outcasts, their names used as curse words wherever in the world I drive them. And I’ll make sure they die like flies—from war, starvation, disease, whatever—until the land I once gave to them and their ancestors is completely rid of them.”
Don’t Follow the God-Fads of the Day
25 This is the Message given to Jeremiah for all the people of Judah. It came in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah. It was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
2 Jeremiah the prophet delivered the Message to all the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem:
3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah right up to the present day—twenty-three years it’s been!—God’s Word has come to me, and from early each morning to late every night I’ve passed it on to you. And you haven’t listened to a word of it!
4-6 Not only that but God also sent a steady stream of prophets to you who were just as persistent as me, and you never listened. They told you, “Turn back—right now, each one of you!—from your evil way of life and bad behavior, and live in the land God gave you and your ancestors, the land he intended to give you forever. Don’t follow the god-fads of the day, taking up and worshiping these no-gods. Don’t make me angry with your god-businesses, making and selling gods—a dangerous business!
7 “You refused to listen to any of this, and now I am really angry. These god-making businesses of yours are your doom.”
8-11 The verdict of God-of-the-Angel-Armies on all this: “Because you have refused to listen to what I’ve said, I’m stepping in. I’m sending for the armies out of the north headed by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant in this, and I’m setting them on this land and people and even the surrounding countries. I’m devoting the whole works to total destruction—a horror to top all the horrors in history. And I’ll banish every sound of joy—singing, laughter, marriage festivities, genial workmen, candlelit suppers. The whole landscape will be one vast wasteland. These countries will be in subjection to the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12-14 “Once the seventy years is up, I’ll punish the king of Babylon and the whole nation of Babylon for their sin. Then they’ll be the wasteland. Everything that I said I’d do to that country, I’ll do—everything that’s written in this book, everything Jeremiah preached against all the godless nations. Many nations and great kings will make slaves of the Babylonians, paying them back for everything they’ve done to others. They won’t get by with anything.” God’s Decree.
God Puts the Human Race on Trial
15-16 This is a Message that the God of Israel gave me: “Take this cup filled with the wine of my wrath that I’m handing to you. Make all the nations where I send you drink it down. They’ll drink it and get drunk, staggering in delirium because of the killing that I’m going to unleash among them.”
17-26 I took the cup from God’s hand and made them drink it, all the nations to which he sent me:
Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, along with their kings and leaders, turning them into a vast wasteland, a horror to look at, a cussword—which, in fact, they now are;
Pharaoh king of Egypt with his attendants and leaders, plus all his people and the melting pot of foreigners collected there;
All the kings of Uz;
All the kings of the Philistines from Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what’s left of Ashdod;
Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;
All the kings of Tyre, Sidon, and the coastlands across the sea;
Dedan, Tema, Buz, and the nomads on the fringe of the desert;
All the kings of Arabia and the various Bedouin sheiks and chieftains wandering about in the desert;
All the kings of Zimri, Elam, and the Medes;
All the kings from the north countries near and far, one by one;
All the kingdoms on planet Earth . . .
And the king of Sheshak (that is, Babylon) will be the last to drink.
27 “Tell them, ‘These are orders from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: Drink and get drunk and vomit. Fall on your faces and don’t get up again. You’re slated for a massacre.’
28 “If any of them refuse to take the cup from you and drink it, say to them, ‘God-of-the-Angel-Armies has ordered you to drink. So drink!
29 “‘Prepare for the worst! I’m starting off the catastrophe in the city that I claim as my own, so don’t think you are going to get out of it. No, you’re not getting out of anything. It’s the sword and nothing but the sword against everyone everywhere!’” The God-of-the-Angel-Armies’ Decree.
30-31 “Preach it all, Jeremiah. Preach the entire Message to them. Say:
“‘God roars like a lion from high heaven;
thunder rolls out from his holy dwelling—
Ear-splitting bellows against his people,
shouting hurrahs like workers in harvest.
The noise reverberates all over the earth;
everyone everywhere hears it.
God makes his case against the godless nations.
He’s about to put the human race on trial.
For the wicked the verdict is clear-cut:
death by the sword.’” God’s Decree.
* * *
32 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“Prepare for the worst! Doomsday!
Disaster is spreading from nation to nation.
A huge storm is about to rage
all across planet Earth.”
* * *
33 Laid end to end, those killed in God’s judgment that day will stretch from one end of the earth to the other. No tears will be shed and no burials conducted. The bodies will be left where they fall, like so much horse dung fertilizing the fields.
* * *
34-38 Wail, shepherds! Cry out for help!
Grovel in the dirt, you masters of flocks!
Time’s up—you’re slated for the slaughterhouse,
like a choice ram with its throat cut.
There’s no way out for the rulers,
no escape for those shepherds.
Hear that? Rulers crying for help,
shepherds of the flock wailing!
God is about to ravage their fine pastures.
The peaceful sheepfolds will be silent with death,
silenced by God’s deadly anger.
God will come out into the open
like a lion leaping from its cover,
And the country will be torn to pieces,
ripped and ravaged by his anger.
Jeremiah 23-25
New International Version
Jeremiah 23-25
New International Version
The Righteous Branch
23 “Woe to the shepherds(A) who are destroying and scattering(B) the sheep of my pasture!”(C) declares the Lord. 2 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds(D) who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock(E) and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil(F) you have done,” declares the Lord. 3 “I myself will gather the remnant(G) of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture,(H) where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds(I) over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid(J) or terrified, nor will any be missing,(K)” declares the Lord.
5 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will raise up for David[a] a righteous Branch,(L)
a King(M) who will reign(N) wisely
and do what is just and right(O) in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.(P)
This is the name(Q) by which he will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.(R)
7 “So then, the days are coming,”(S) declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’(T) 8 but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”(U)
Lying Prophets
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart(V) is broken within me;
all my bones tremble.(W)
I am like a drunken man,
like a strong man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
and his holy words.(X)
10 The land is full of adulterers;(Y)
because of the curse[b](Z) the land lies parched
and the pastures(AA) in the wilderness are withered.(AB)
The prophets follow an evil course
and use their power unjustly.
11 “Both prophet and priest are godless;(AC)
even in my temple(AD) I find their wickedness,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore their path will become slippery;(AE)
they will be banished to darkness
and there they will fall.
I will bring disaster on them
in the year they are punished,(AF)”
declares the Lord.
13 “Among the prophets of Samaria
I saw this repulsive thing:
They prophesied by Baal(AG)
and led my people Israel astray.(AH)
14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen something horrible:(AI)
They commit adultery and live a lie.(AJ)
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,(AK)
so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.(AL)
They are all like Sodom(AM) to me;
the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”(AN)
15 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says concerning the prophets:
“I will make them eat bitter food
and drink poisoned water,(AO)
because from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness(AP) has spread throughout the land.”
16 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Do not listen(AQ) to what the prophets are prophesying to you;
they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions(AR) from their own minds,
not from the mouth(AS) of the Lord.
17 They keep saying(AT) to those who despise me,
‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’(AU)
And to all who follow the stubbornness(AV) of their hearts
they say, ‘No harm(AW) will come to you.’
18 But which of them has stood in the council(AX) of the Lord
to see or to hear his word?
Who has listened and heard his word?
19 See, the storm(AY) of the Lord
will burst out in wrath,
a whirlwind(AZ) swirling down
on the heads of the wicked.
20 The anger(BA) of the Lord will not turn back(BB)
until he fully accomplishes
the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
you will understand it clearly.
21 I did not send(BC) these prophets,
yet they have run with their message;
I did not speak to them,
yet they have prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,(BD)
they would have proclaimed(BE) my words to my people
and would have turned(BF) them from their evil ways
and from their evil deeds.(BG)
23 “Am I only a God nearby,(BH)”
declares the Lord,
“and not a God far away?
24 Who can hide(BI) in secret places
so that I cannot see them?”
declares the Lord.
“Do not I fill heaven and earth?”(BJ)
declares the Lord.
25 “I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies(BK) in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream!(BL) I had a dream!’ 26 How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions(BM) of their own minds?(BN) 27 They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget(BO) my name, just as their ancestors forgot(BP) my name through Baal worship.(BQ) 28 Let the prophet who has a dream(BR) recount the dream, but let the one who has my word(BS) speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. 29 “Is not my word like fire,”(BT) declares the Lord, “and like a hammer(BU) that breaks a rock in pieces?
30 “Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against(BV) the prophets(BW) who steal from one another words supposedly from me. 31 Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’(BX) 32 Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,(BY)” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead my people astray(BZ) with their reckless lies,(CA) yet I did not send(CB) or appoint them. They do not benefit(CC) these people in the least,” declares the Lord.
False Prophecy
33 “When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, ‘What is the message(CD) from the Lord?’ say to them, ‘What message? I will forsake(CE) you, declares the Lord.’ 34 If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, ‘This is a message(CF) from the Lord,’ I will punish(CG) them and their household. 35 This is what each of you keeps saying to your friends and other Israelites: ‘What is the Lord’s answer?’(CH) or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36 But you must not mention ‘a message from the Lord’ again, because each one’s word becomes their own message. So you distort(CI) the words of the living God,(CJ) the Lord Almighty, our God. 37 This is what you keep saying to a prophet: ‘What is the Lord’s answer to you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38 Although you claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ this is what the Lord says: You used the words, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord.’ 39 Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast(CK) you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your ancestors. 40 I will bring on you everlasting disgrace(CL)—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”
Two Baskets of Figs
24 After Jehoiachin[c](CM) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs(CN) placed in front of the temple of the Lord. 2 One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early;(CO) the other basket had very bad(CP) figs, so bad they could not be eaten.
3 Then the Lord asked me, “What do you see,(CQ) Jeremiah?”
“Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent(CR) away from this place to the land of the Babylonians.[d] 6 My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back(CS) to this land. I will build(CT) them up and not tear them down; I will plant(CU) them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a heart to know(CV) me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people,(CW) and I will be their God, for they will return(CX) to me with all their heart.(CY)
8 “‘But like the bad(CZ) figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the Lord, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah(DA) king of Judah, his officials(DB) and the survivors(DC) from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.(DD) 9 I will make them abhorrent(DE) and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword,(DF) a curse[e](DG) and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish(DH) them. 10 I will send the sword,(DI) famine(DJ) and plague(DK) against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.(DL)’”
Seventy Years of Captivity
25 The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim(DM) son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar(DN) king of Babylon. 2 So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah(DO) and to all those living in Jerusalem: 3 For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah(DP) son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again,(DQ) but you have not listened.(DR)
4 And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets(DS) to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention.(DT) 5 They said, “Turn(DU) now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land(DV) the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. 6 Do not follow other gods(DW) to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”
7 “But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused(DX) my anger with what your hands have made,(DY) and you have brought harm(DZ) to yourselves.”
8 Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon(EA) all the peoples of the north(EB) and my servant(EC) Nebuchadnezzar(ED) king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy[f](EE) them and make them an object of horror and scorn,(EF) and an everlasting ruin.(EG) 10 I will banish from them the sounds(EH) of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom,(EI) the sound of millstones(EJ) and the light of the lamp.(EK) 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland,(EL) and these nations will serve(EM) the king of Babylon seventy years.(EN)
12 “But when the seventy years(EO) are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon(EP) and his nation, the land of the Babylonians,[g] for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate(EQ) forever. 13 I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written(ER) in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14 They themselves will be enslaved(ES) by many nations(ET) and great kings; I will repay(EU) them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
The Cup of God’s Wrath
15 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup(EV) filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send(EW) you drink it. 16 When they drink(EX) it, they will stagger(EY) and go mad(EZ) because of the sword(FA) I will send among them.”
17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom he sent(FB) me drink it: 18 Jerusalem(FC) and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a ruin(FD) and an object of horror and scorn,(FE) a curse[h](FF)—as they are today;(FG) 19 Pharaoh king(FH) of Egypt,(FI) his attendants, his officials and all his people, 20 and all the foreign people there; all the kings of Uz;(FJ) all the kings of the Philistines(FK) (those of Ashkelon,(FL) Gaza,(FM) Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod); 21 Edom,(FN) Moab(FO) and Ammon;(FP) 22 all the kings of Tyre(FQ) and Sidon;(FR) the kings of the coastlands(FS) across the sea; 23 Dedan,(FT) Tema,(FU) Buz(FV) and all who are in distant places[i];(FW) 24 all the kings of Arabia(FX) and all the kings of the foreign people(FY) who live in the wilderness; 25 all the kings of Zimri,(FZ) Elam(GA) and Media;(GB) 26 and all the kings of the north,(GC) near and far, one after the other—all the kingdoms(GD) on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshak[j](GE) will drink it too.
27 “Then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk(GF) and vomit, and fall to rise no more because of the sword(GG) I will send among you.’ 28 But if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink(GH), tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: You must drink it! 29 See, I am beginning to bring disaster(GI) on the city that bears my Name,(GJ) and will you indeed go unpunished?(GK) You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword(GL) on all(GM) who live on the earth,(GN) declares the Lord Almighty.’
30 “Now prophesy all these words against them and say to them:
“‘The Lord will roar(GO) from on high;
he will thunder(GP) from his holy dwelling(GQ)
and roar mightily against his land.
He will shout like those who tread(GR) the grapes,
shout against all who live on the earth.
31 The tumult(GS) will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the Lord will bring charges(GT) against the nations;
he will bring judgment(GU) on all(GV) mankind
and put the wicked to the sword,(GW)’”
declares the Lord.
32 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Look! Disaster(GX) is spreading
from nation to nation;(GY)
a mighty storm(GZ) is rising
from the ends of the earth.”(HA)
33 At that time those slain(HB) by the Lord will be everywhere—from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered(HC) up or buried,(HD) but will be like dung lying on the ground.
34 Weep and wail, you shepherds;(HE)
roll(HF) in the dust, you leaders of the flock.
For your time to be slaughtered(HG) has come;
you will fall like the best of the rams.[k](HH)
35 The shepherds will have nowhere to flee,
the leaders of the flock no place to escape.(HI)
36 Hear the cry(HJ) of the shepherds,(HK)
the wailing of the leaders of the flock,
for the Lord is destroying their pasture.
37 The peaceful meadows will be laid waste
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
38 Like a lion(HL) he will leave his lair,
and their land will become desolate(HM)
because of the sword[l] of the oppressor(HN)
and because of the Lord’s fierce anger.(HO)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 23:5 Or up from David’s line
- Jeremiah 23:10 Or because of these things
- Jeremiah 24:1 Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant of Jehoiachin
- Jeremiah 24:5 Or Chaldeans
- Jeremiah 24:9 That is, their names will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that they are cursed.
- Jeremiah 25:9 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
- Jeremiah 25:12 Or Chaldeans
- Jeremiah 25:18 That is, their names to be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, to be seen by others as cursed
- Jeremiah 25:23 Or who clip the hair by their foreheads
- Jeremiah 25:26 Sheshak is a cryptogram for Babylon.
- Jeremiah 25:34 Septuagint; Hebrew fall and be shattered like fine pottery
- Jeremiah 25:38 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (see also 46:16 and 50:16); most Hebrew manuscripts anger
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.