The Lord’s Reply

⁵ The Lord replied,

⁴⁰ Be careful! Don’t let the prophets’ words apply to you. For they said,

²⁵ “A time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will punish all those who are circumcised in body but not in spirit— ²⁶ the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, the people who live in the desert in remote places,^[a] and yes, even the people of Judah. And like all these pagan nations, the people of Israel also have uncircumcised hearts.”

²² “Son of man, you’ve heard that proverb they quote in Israel: ‘Time passes, and prophecies come to nothing.’ ²³ Tell the people, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will put an end to this proverb, and you will soon stop quoting it.’ Now give them this new proverb to replace the old one: ‘The time has come for every prophecy to be fulfilled!’

²⁴ “There will be no more false visions and flattering predictions in Israel. ²⁵ For I am the Lord! If I say it, it will happen. There will be no more delays, you rebels of Israel. I will fulfill my threat of destruction in your own lifetime. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

²⁶ Then this message came to me from the Lord: ²⁷ “Son of man, the people of Israel are saying, ‘He’s talking about the distant future. His visions won’t come true for a long, long time.’ ²⁸ Therefore, tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: No more delay! I will now do everything I have threatened. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!’”

¹⁴ Many nations and great kings will enslave the Babylonians, just as they enslaved my people. I will punish them in proportion to the suffering they cause my people.”

The Cup of the Lord’s Anger

¹⁵ This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it. ¹⁶ When they drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against them.”

¹⁷ So I took the cup of anger from the Lord and made all the nations drink from it—every nation to which the Lord sent me. ¹⁸ I went to Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah, and their kings and officials drank from the cup. From that day until this, they have been a desolate ruin, an object of horror, contempt, and cursing. ¹⁹ I gave the cup to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials, and all his people, ²⁰ along with all the foreigners living in that land. I also gave it to all the kings of the land of Uz and the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod. ²¹ Then I gave the cup to the nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon, ²² and the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings of the regions across the sea. ²³ I gave it to Dedan, Tema, and Buz, and to the people who live in distant places.^{[a] 24} I gave it to the kings of Arabia, the kings of the nomadic tribes of the desert, ²⁵ and to the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media. ²⁶ And I gave it to the kings of the northern countries, far and near, one after the other—all the kingdoms of the world. And finally, the king of Babylon^[b] himself drank from the cup of the Lord’s anger.

²⁷ Then the Lord said to me, “Now tell them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Drink from this cup of my anger. Get drunk and vomit; fall to rise no more, for I am sending terrible wars against you.’ ²⁸ And if they refuse to accept the cup, tell them, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: You have no choice but to drink from it. ²⁹ I have begun to punish Jerusalem, the city that bears my name. Now should I let you go unpunished? No, you will not escape disaster. I will call for war against all the nations of the earth. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!’

A Plot against Jeremiah

¹⁸ Then the people said, “Come on, let’s plot a way to stop Jeremiah. We have plenty of priests and wise men and prophets. We don’t need him to teach the word and give us advice and prophecies. Let’s spread rumors about him and ignore what he says.”