The Father Warns of Seventy Years of Exile
Twenty-three years of speaking, and no one listened. Now our Father names Nebuchadnezzar his servant and sets seventy years on the exile — then judgment on Babylon too. Jeremiah carries a cup of wrath to nation after nation, and none may refuse to drink.
25 1The word to Jeremiah about all Judah's people, in Jehoiakim son of Josiah's fourth year, king of Judah—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon's first year. 2Jeremiah the prophet spoke this to all the people of Judah and all who live in Jerusalem: 3From Josiah son of Amon king of Judah's thirteenth year to today, these twenty-three years, our Father's word came to me; I spoke repeatedly, but you did not listen. 4And our Father sent you all his servants the prophets repeatedly, but you haven't listened or paid attention.
5They said, "Turn now, each from your evil way and evil deeds, and live on the land our Father gave you and your fathers, from ancient times and forever. 6Don't chase other gods to serve and bow to them, or anger me with your hands' work, and I won't harm you."
7But you didn't listen to me, declares our Father, so you provoked me to anger with your hands' work, to your own harm.
8Therefore this is what the Father of heaven's armies says: Because you have not heard my words, 9I am calling all the northern clans, declares our Father, with Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant. I will bring them against this land, its people, and every nation around it, wiping them out, making them a horror, a hissing, ruins forever. 10I will end among them the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, sound of bridegroom and sound of bride, sound of millstones and light of the lamp. 11This whole land will be a ruin and a waste, and these nations will serve Babylon's king for seventy years."
12When seventy years end, I will punish the king of Babylon, that nation, and the Chaldeans' land for their guilt—declares our Father—making it an everlasting waste. 13I will bring on that land everything I spoke against it, all written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14Many nations and great kings will enslave them too; I will repay them for their deeds, the work of their hands.
The Cup of the Father's Wrath
15This is what our Father of Israel said to me: Take this cup of wrathful wine from my hand and make all the nations I send you drink it. a a v15 The cup of wrath the nations must drink is the cup Jesus took in our place—"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me" (Luke 22:42)—so that those who trust him never have to. 16They will drink, stagger, and go mad because of the sword I am sending among them.
17I took the cup from our Father's hand and made all nations he sent me to drink it. 18Jerusalem, Judah's cities, its kings and officials—made a ruin, a horror, a mockery, a curse, as they are today. 19Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, and all his people, 20and all the mixed peoples; every king of Uz; every king of Philistia—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, Ashdod's remnant; 21Edom, Moab, and the people of Ammon; 22all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who clip the hair at their temples; b b v23 Clipping the hair at the temples was a custom that identified certain Arabian desert tribes. 24all the kings of Arabia and of the mixed peoples living in the desert; 25all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26all the northern kings, near and far, one after another, and all earth's kingdoms on the ground's face—after them the king of Sheshach will drink. c c v26 Sheshach is a hidden code-name for Babylon, formed by reversing its letters — a way of naming Babylon's coming judgment without saying it outright.
27Say to them: This is what the Father of heaven's armies, the Father of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more, because of the sword I'm sending among you. 28If they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, tell them, "the Father of heaven's armies says: You must drink! 29Look, I am starting to bring disaster on the city bearing my name. Will you go completely unpunished? You will not go unpunished. For I am summoning a sword against everyone on earth, declares the Father of heaven's armies."
30"Prophesy all these words against them and tell them: "Our Father roars from on high, gives his voice from his holy home; he roars loudly against his flock, shouting like grape-treaders, against all who live on earth." 31The roar reaches the ends of the earth, for our Father brings a charge against the nations; he enters into judgment with all flesh, and the wicked he gives over to the sword, declares our Father."
32This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: Look, disaster spreads from nation to nation—a great storm rises from the ends of the earth.
33On that day our Father's slain will lie from one end of the earth to the other—unmourned, ungathered, unburied, like manure on the ground.
34Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you lords of the flock! For the days of your slaughter have come; you will fall and be shattered like a precious vessel. 35There will be no refuge for the shepherds, no escape for the lords of the flock. 36Listen—the cry of the shepherds, the wailing of the lords of the flock! For our Father is laying waste their pasture, 37and the peaceful pastures are silenced because of the burning anger of our Father. 38Like a lion he has left his den, for their land has become a waste because of the sword of the oppressor and because of our Father's burning anger.
