Give them a message for their masters and say, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Tell this to your masters: With my great power and outstretched arm(A) I made(B) the earth and its people and the animals(C) that are on it, and I give(D) it to anyone I please. Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my servant(E) Nebuchadnezzar(F) king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him.(G) All nations will serve(H) him and his son and his grandson until the time(I) for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate(J) him.

“‘“If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish(K) that nation with the sword,(L) famine(M) and plague,(N) declares the Lord, until I destroy it by his hand. So do not listen to your prophets,(O) your diviners,(P) your interpreters of dreams,(Q) your mediums(R) or your sorcerers(S) who tell you, ‘You will not serve(T) the king of Babylon.’ 10 They prophesy lies(U) to you that will only serve to remove(V) you far from your lands; I will banish you and you will perish. 11 But if any nation will bow its neck under the yoke(W) of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let that nation remain in its own land to till it and to live(X) there, declares the Lord.”’”

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And you must command them for their masters, saying,[a] ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, this you shall say to your masters: “I have made the earth with humankind and animals[b] that are on the face of the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and I give it to whomever is right in my eyes. And now I myself have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and also the animals[c] of the field I have given to him to serve him. And all the nations will serve him, and his son, and his grandson,[d] until the coming of the time of his own[e] land. Then many nations and great kings will let him work.

“But it will be that the nation or kingdom that will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, and with the famine, and with the plague,” declares[f] Yahweh, “until I have destroyed it with my hand. And you, you must not listen to your prophets, and to your diviners, and to your dreamers, and to your interpreters of signs, and to your sorcerers who are saying,[g] ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 For they are prophesying to you a lie, so that you will be removed from your land, and I will drive you away, and you will perish. 11 But the nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and will serve him, yet will I leave it on its land,” declares[h] Yahweh, “and they will till it, and they will live in it.”’”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 27:4 Literally “to say”
  2. Jeremiah 27:5 Hebrew “animal”
  3. Jeremiah 27:6 Hebrew “animal”
  4. Jeremiah 27:7 Literally “the son of his son”
  5. Jeremiah 27:7 Literally “also his”
  6. Jeremiah 27:8 Literally “a declaration of”
  7. Jeremiah 27:9 Literally “to say”
  8. Jeremiah 27:11 Literally “a declaration of”