The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 27 Jeremiah advises submission to the king of Babylon

 The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 27

Jeremiah advises submission to the king of Babylon

1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:

2 Thus says the Lord: Make some yokes and put them on your neck.

3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

4 And you shall give them a message to their masters, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Thus you shall say to your masters:

5 I made the earth, man, and the animals that are on the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and I give it to whomever I please.

6 And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant; and I have even given him the beasts of the field to serve him.

7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes, when many nations and great kings shall serve him.

8 And it shall come to pass, that if any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, then I will punish that nation with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, says the Lord, until I have consumed them by his hand.

9 And do not listen to your prophets, and to your diviners, and to your dreamers, and to your soothsayers, and to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon.”

10 For they prophesy lies to you, to drive you far from your land, and that I may cast you out of it, and you may perish.

11 But the nation that puts its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will let it remain in its own land, declares the Lord, and it shall cultivate it and dwell in it.

12 And I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and you shall live.

13 Why should you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as the Lord has said concerning the people who will not serve the king of Babylon?”

14 And do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon,” for they prophesy lies to you.

15 For I did not send them, declares the Lord, yet they prophesy falsely in my name, so that I may cast you out and you may perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.

16 I also spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the house of the Lord shall soon return from Babylon,’ for they prophesy lies to you.

17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and you shall live. Why should this city become a desolate place?

18 But if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, let them pray now to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.”

19 For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, and the sea, and the bases, and the remaining vessels that are left in the city.

20 Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take with him when he carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Jerusalem;

21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:

22 They shall be carried to Babylon, and shall remain there until the day that I visit them, says the Lord; then I will bring them up, and will bring them back to this place.