Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was also the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

This message came to Jeremiah repeatedly during the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, even up to this day, the twenty-third year. The Lord had been speaking to him, rising early and speaking, but no one listened or inclined their ear to hear.

The prophets whom the Lord had sent again and again were ignored. But I will call you back from your evil ways and wicked actions. If you turn away from these things, you can continue to live in the land that the Lord has given to you and your ancestors forever.

Do not follow other gods or serve them, lest you provoke me to anger with your idols. I promise not to harm you if you do this. Yet you have refused to listen to my words.

So says the Lord of hosts: because you have ignored my messages, I will send Nebuchadrezzar, my servant, king of Babylon, along with all the families from the north, to utterly destroy them. They will become a perpetual astonishment and desolation, an example of God's judgment.

The joyful sounds of weddings, happy chatter of newlyweds, the sound of grinding millstones, and the light of candles will be silenced in this land. This whole region will become a desolate wasteland, serving the king of Babylon for seventy years.

When those seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation for their wrongdoing, says the Lord. The land of the Chaldeans will remain desolate forever.

I will bring upon them all my words that I have spoken against this land, as written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all nations. They will drink from the cup of God's judgment.

Many nations and great kings will be forced to serve themselves at their expense, and I will repay them according to their deeds and the works of their own hands. The Lord God of Israel says to me: "Take the cup of fury from my hand and make all nations drink whom I have sent you."

The cup was filled with fury and wrath; they will become intoxicated and mad because of the sword that I will send among them. I took this cup from the Lord's hand and made all nations drink it, as He had instructed.

Destined to be a desolate wasteland, an object of scorn and astonishment, Jerusalem and its cities, along with their kings and princes, are now laid low today. This is also true for Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, princes, and people; the mixed peoples and all the kingdoms of the land of Uz.

All the Philistines' kings – Ashkelon, Azzah, Ekron, and the remaining inhabitants of Ashdod – will be among those killed by the Lord. The Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites will also face judgment on that day.

The Tyrians, Sidonians, and all the kingdoms beyond the sea will be led away into exile. Dedan, Tema, Buz, and everyone in distant corners will be laid waste. All the Arabian kings and those from the mixed tribes living in the desert will fall too.

All Zimri's kings, Elam's kings, and Medes' kings will also face disaster. So will all the northern kingdoms – close and far – along with all earthly realms. They will drink after the king of Sheshach.

Drink and become intoxicated; vomit, stumble, and never rise again because of the sword that I will send among you, declares the Lord of hosts, God of Israel.

If they refuse to drink from your hand, then tell them: "Thus says the Lord of hosts: They will certainly drink. I will bring disaster upon the city bearing my name; you will not escape punishment, and a sword will be against all living on earth, declares the Lord of Hosts."

The Lord thunders from above and speaks his voice from his holy dwelling place, roaring mightily against all humanity.

A great tumult will resound across the earth because I have a case against nations. I will plead with humanity, handing over wicked people to the sword, says the Lord.

Evil will spread from nation to nation, and a powerful whirlwind will arise from distant regions of the earth.

The slain of the Lord are scattered across the land without burial or remembrance, nothing more than dung on the ground. The shepherds should howl; their leaders, wallow in ashes, because your time for slaughter is over and you will fall like a fragile vessel.

There will be no escape for the shepherds or the leaders of the flock. A voice cries out from the fields of their pastures – the sound of howling leaders and the bleating of their sheep.

Peaceful towns are desolate due to the fierce anger of the Lord, who has abandoned His hiding place like a lion because this land is desolate due to oppression and intense anger.