The Father Warns of Seventy Years of Exile
25 1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah—that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 2 This is what Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, to this very day—these twenty-three years—the word of our Father has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. 4 And our Father sent to you all his servants the prophets, sending them again and again, but you have not listened or paid any attention.
5 They said, "Turn now, each of you from your evil way and from your evil deeds, and live on the land that our Father gave to you and your fathers since ancient times and forever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm.
7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares our Father, so that you provoked me to anger with the work of your hands, to your own harm.
8 Therefore this is what the Father of heaven's armies says: Because you have not heard my words, 9 I am sending for all the clans of the north, declares our Father, and for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and scorn, an everlasting ruin. 10 I will banish from them the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land will become a ruin and a desolation, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12 Then when seventy years are completed, I will hold the king of Babylon and that nation accountable for their guilt, declares our Father—the land of the Chaldeans—and I will make it an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all my words that I have spoken against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings will make slaves even of them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.
The Cup of the Father's Wrath
15 For this is what our Father of Israel said to me: Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand, and make all the nations to whom 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. 16 They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I am sending among them.
17 So I took the cup from our Father's hand and made all the nations to whom he sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials, to make them a desolation and an object of horror, of scorn and cursing, as they are this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, and all his people, 20 and all the mixed peoples; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; 21 Edom, Moab, and the people of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, 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. 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed peoples who live in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, near and far, one after another—and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And 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.
27 Then say to them, "This is what the Father of heaven's armies, the Father of Israel says: Drink, get drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you." 28 And if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then tell them, "This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: You must drink! 29 For look—I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my name, and should you go entirely unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Father of heaven's armies."
30 So prophesy all these words against them and say to them: "Our Father roars from on high; from his holy dwelling he lifts his voice. He roars mightily against his own flock, shouting like those who tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31 The 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."
32 This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: Look! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation, and a great tempest is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
33 On that day those slain by our Father will lie from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered or buried; they will be like manure lying on the ground.
34 Wail, 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. 35 There will be no refuge for the shepherds, no escape for the lords of the flock. 36 Listen—the cry of the shepherds, the wailing of the lords of the flock! For our Father is laying waste their pasture, 37 and the peaceful pastures are silenced because of the burning anger of our Father. 38 Like a lion he has left his den, for their land has become a waste because of the sword of the oppressor and because of his burning anger.