The Seventy Year Captivity

1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah; the same was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; 2the which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: 3From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even unto this day, these three and twenty years, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. 4And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear; 5saying, Return ye now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers, from of old and even for evermore: 6and go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. 7Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt.

8Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, 9behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and I will send unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. 10Moreover I will take from them the voice 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 candle. 11And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

The Destruction of Babylon

12And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate for ever. 13And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. 14For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them, even of them: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.

The Cup of God's Wrath

(Jeremiah 6:10-21; Jonah 1:4-10; Acts 27:13-26; Romans 1:18-32)

15For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto me: Take the cup of the wine of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. 16And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.

17Then took I the cup at the LORD'S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me: 18to wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day; 19Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; 20and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; 21Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon; 22and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea; 23Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that have the corners of their hair polled; 24and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the wilderness; 25and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes; 26and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

27And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. 28And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Ye shall surely drink. 29For, lo, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.

30Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar against his fold; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31A noise shall come even to the end of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; as for the wicked, he will give them to the sword, saith the LORD.

32Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth.

33And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the face of the ground.

The Cry of the Shepherds

34Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter are fully come, and I will break you in pieces, and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.

35And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.

36A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the howling of the principal of the flock! for the LORD layeth waste their pasture.

37And the peaceable folds are brought to silence because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

38He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppressing sword, and because of his fierce anger.