Seventy Years of Captivity
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1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),
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which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
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"For twenty-three years, 2from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken 3persistently to you, 4but you have not listened.
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5You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD 6 persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets,
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saying, 7'Turn now, every one of you, 8from his evil way and evil deeds, and 9dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever.
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10Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, 11or provoke me to anger 12with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.'
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13Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, 14that you might provoke me to anger 15with the work of your hands to your own harm.
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"Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words,
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16behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, 17my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, 18and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation.
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Moreover, 19I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, 20the grinding of the millstones and 21the light of the lamp.
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22This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and 23these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 24seventy years.
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Then after 25seventy years are completed, 26I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, 27the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, 28making the land an everlasting waste.
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I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written 29in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations.
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30For many nations 31and great kings shall make slaves even of them, 32and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands."
The Cup of the Lord's Wrath
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Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: 33"Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.
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They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of 34the sword that I am sending among them."
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So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, 35and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it:
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36Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, 37to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day;
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38Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people,
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and 39all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of 40the land of Uz and all the kings of 41the land of the Philistines (42Ashkelon, 43Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of 44Ashdod);
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all the kings of 48Tyre, all the kings of 49Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across 50the sea;
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all the kings of 59the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of 60Babylona shall drink.
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"Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 61Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of 62the sword that I am sending among you.'
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"And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: 63You must drink!
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For behold, 64I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, 65for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.'
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"You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: 66"'The LORD will roar from on high, and from his holy habitation utter his voice; he will roar mightily against his fold, 67and shout, like those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
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The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, for 68the LORD has an indictment against the nations; 69he is entering into judgment with all flesh, and the wicked he will put to the sword, declares the LORD.'
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"Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, disaster is going forth from nation to nation, 70and a great tempest is stirring 71from the farthest parts of the earth!
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72"And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. 73They shall not be lamented, 74or gathered, or buried; 75they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.
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76"Wail, 77you shepherds, and cry out, 78and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock, for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come, and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
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No refuge will remain 79for the shepherds, nor escape for the lords of the flock.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)