• Please see License for Copyright notice and Licensing information.
• [ Previous | Next ]

1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

2 Thus saith the Lord to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,

3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;

4 And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;

5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.

6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.

7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.

8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

9 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:

10 For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.

11 But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.

12 I spake also 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.

13 Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

14 Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.

15 For I have not sent them, saith the Lord, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.

16 Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.

17 Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?

18 But if they be prophets, and if the word of the Lord be with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.

19 For thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city.

20 Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;

21 Yea, thus saith 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 of Jerusalem;

22 They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the Lord; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.

<html><b>In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim</b> Three years prior to Nebuchadnezzar’s ascent to the throne, he prophesied about him that he would reign.</html>

<html><b>thongs</b> They are the thongs of the yoke that are called kongoijli (cojongles).</html>

<html><b>And you shall send them to the king of Edom</b> In the days of Zedekiah in the fourth year of his reign, when Nebuchadnezzar made him ruler over five kings. <b>the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the children of Ammon, etc.</b> These five kings Nebuchadnezzar placed under the authority of Zedekiah. Fifteen years they (the bars and thongs) were on his neck, from the first year of Jehoiakim until the fourth year of Zedekiah, when Hananiah son of Azzur broke them off him.</html>

<html><b>My servant</b> Who will perform My will to requite My enemies.</html>

<html><b>and his son</b> Evil-Merodach. <b>and his son’s son</b> Belshazzar. <b>until the time of his own land come</b> When Darius the Mede and Cyrus come and slay Belshazzar.</html>

<html><b>And to Zedekiah the king of Judah have I spoken, etc.</b> All this Jeremiah said to the ambassadors of the kings.</html>

<html><b>“Behold the vessels of the house of the Lord”</b> That were exiled with Jeconiah.</html>

<html><b>the bases</b> Jonathan renders: בְּסִיסַיָּא Cf. “the washbasin and its stand” (Exodus 35:16).</html>

<html><b>when he exiled</b> Heb. בַּגְּלוֹתוֹ like בְּהַגְלוֹתוֹ. <b>the nobles of</b> חֹרֵי, like שָֹרֵי the princes of.</html>

<html><b>until the day I remember them</b> In the days of Cyrus, as is explained in the Book of Ezra (1:7 11).</html>