Seventy Years of Desolation
1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah,in the fourth year ofJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (whichwasthe first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),
2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:
3 “From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, thisisthe twenty-third year in which the word of theLordhas come to me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking,but you have not listened.
4 And theLordhas sent to you all His servants the prophets,rising early and sendingthem,but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear.
5 They said,‘Repent now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings, and dwell in the land that theLordhas given to you and your fathers forever and ever.
6 Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.’
7 Yet you have not listened to Me,” says theLord, “that you mightprovoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
8 “Therefore thus says theLordof hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words,
9 behold, I will send and takeall the families of the north,’ says theLord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon,My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, andmake them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
10 Moreover I will take from them thevoice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride,the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.
11 And this whole land shall be a desolationandan astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventyyears.
12 ‘Then it will come to pass,when seventy years are completed,thatI will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says theLord;‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation.
13 So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations.
14 (For many nationsand great kings shallbe served by them also;and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.)’ ”
Judgment on the Nations
15 For thus says theLordGod of Israel to me: “Take thiswine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.
16 Andthey will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”
17 Then I took the cup from theLord’s hand, and made all the nations drink, to whom theLordhad sent me:
18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its princes, to make thema desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, anda curse, asitisthis day;
19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people;
20 all the mixed multitude, all the kings ofthe land of Uz, all the kings of the land of thePhilistines (namely, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, andthe remnant of Ashdod);
21 Edom, Moab, and the people of Ammon;
22 all the kings ofTyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands whichareacross thesea;
23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and allwhoarein the farthest corners;
24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of themixed multitude who dwell in the desert;
25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings ofElam, and all the kings of theMedes;
26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world whichareon the face of the earth. Also the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
27 “Therefore you shall say to them, ‘Thus says theLordof hosts, the God of Israel:“Drink,be drunk, and vomit! Fall and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.” ’
28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says theLordof hosts: “You shall certainly drink!
29 For behold,I begin to bring calamity on the citywhich is called by My name, and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished, forI will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,” says theLordof hosts.’
30 “Therefore prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:
# ‘TheLordwillroar from on high,
# And utter His voice fromHis holy habitation;
# He will roar mightily againstHis fold.
# He will givea shout, as those who treadthegrapes,
Against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 A noise will come to the ends of the earth—
# For theLordhasa controversy with the nations;
# He will plead His case with all flesh.
He will give thosewhoarewicked to the sword,’ says theLord.”
32 Thus says theLordof hosts:
“Behold, disaster shall go forth
From nation to nation,
# Anda great whirlwind shall be raised up
From the farthest parts of the earth.
33 And at that day the slain of theLordshall be fromoneend of the earth even to theotherend of the earth. They shall not belamented,or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground.
34 “Wail,shepherds, and cry!
Roll aboutintheashes,
You leaders of the flock!
For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions are fulfilled;
You shall fall like a precious vessel.
35 And the shepherds will have no way to flee,
Nor the leaders of the flock to escape.
36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds,
And a wailing of the leaders to the flockwillbeheard.
For theLordhas plundered their pasture,
37 And the peaceful dwellings are cut down
Because of the fierce anger of theLord.
38 He has left His lair like the lion;
For their land is desolate
Because of the fierceness of the Oppressor,
And because of His fierce anger.”