Jeremiah 27

Jeremiah Makes Yoke Bars

1In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD. 2Thus the LORD said to me: “Make for yourself straps and yoke bars and put them on your neck. 3Then send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the children of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the messengers who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4Command them to say to their masters: Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Thus you shall say to your masters: 5I made the earth, humanity, and the animals that are on the face of the earth by my great power and my outstretched arm, and I give it to whomever is right in my eyes. 6And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant. Even the animals of the field I have given him to serve him. 7All nations shall serve him, his son, and his son’s son, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings will make him serve.

Serve the King of Babylon and Live

8“The nation and kingdom that will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will attend to that nation with sword, famine, and plague,” says the LORD, “until I have finished them by his hand. 9So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10For they prophesy falsehood to you, so that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out and you will perish. 11But the nation that brings its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will leave upon its land,” says the LORD, “and it will work it and dwell in it.”

Jeremiah Speaks to Zedekiah

12I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. 13Why should you and your people die by sword, famine, and plague, as the LORD has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14Do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying falsehood to you. 15For I have not sent them,” says the LORD, “yet they prophesy falsely in my name, so that I may drive you out and you perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

The Temple Vessels Will Remain in Babylon

16I spoke also 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, ‘Look, the vessels of the house of the LORD will soon be brought back from Babylon,’ for they are prophesying falsehood to you. 17Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a ruin? 18But if they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them intercede with the LORD of Hosts so that the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem do not go to Babylon. 19For thus says the LORD of Hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that remain in this city, 20which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21yes, thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: 22They will be carried to Babylon, and there they will remain until the day I attend to them,” says the LORD. “Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.”