Jeremiah
Chapter 27
1 At the start of Jehoiakim’s rule, Josiah’s son and king of Judah, God gave this message to Jeremiah:
2 God told me, “Make ties and yokes, and put them on your neck.”
3 Send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, through the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah, king of Judah.
4 Tell your masters this message from God, the God of Israel: This is what you should say to your masters;
5 I have created the earth, people, and animals on the ground with my great power and strong arm, and I have given it to those who I thought should have it.
6 I have now given all these lands to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant; I have also given him the animals of the field to serve him.
7 All countries will serve him, his son, and his grandson until the time for his own country comes; then many countries and powerful kings will take advantage of him.
8 Any nation or kingdom that doesn’t serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon or refuses to submit to him, God will punish with war, hunger, and disease until they are destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
9 So don’t listen to your prophets, fortune tellers, dream interpreters, magicians, or spell casters who tell you that you won’t have to serve the king of Babylon.
10 They are lying to you when they say I will force you from your land and you will die.
11 But the countries that accept the rule of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them stay in their land, says God; they will farm it and live there.
12 I also spoke to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, with all these words, saying, “Put your necks under the control of the king of Babylon, serve him and his people, and you will live.”
13 Why do you and your people want to die by the sword, hunger, and disease, just as God has said would happen to the nation that refuses to serve the king of Babylon?
14 Do not listen to the prophets who tell you, “You do not have to serve the king of Babylon.” They are lying to you.
15 God says, “I did not send them, but they tell lies in my name. They do this so you will be forced away and destroyed, along with the prophets who are misleading you.”
16 I also told the priests and the people this message from God: “Don’t listen to your prophets who say, ‘Soon the items from God’s house will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are lying to you.
17 Don’t listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city be destroyed?
18 But if they are prophets, and if God’s word is with them, let them now pray to God so that the things left in God’s house, the king of Judah’s house, and in Jerusalem do not go to Babylon.
19 God says this about the pillars, the large water basin, the stands, and the rest of the items left in this city.
20 When Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take them, while he took Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the important people of Judah and Jerusalem as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21 Yes, this is what God says about the items left in God’s house, and in the palace of Judah’s king and Jerusalem.
22 They will be taken to Babylon and will stay there until I decide to bring them back, says God; then I will take them out and return them to this place.