YIRMEYAHU 27

1 In the beginning of the reign of Yahoyaqim son of Yoshiyahu, the sovereign of Yahuḏah, this word came to Yirmeyahu from 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, saying,

2 “This is what 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 said to me, ‘Make for yourselves bands and yokes. Then you shall put them on your neck,

3 and shall send them to the sovereign of Eḏom, and the sovereign of Mo’aḇ, and the sovereign of the Ammonites, and the sovereign of Tsor, and the sovereign of Tsiḏon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Yerushalayim to Tsiḏqiyahu, the sovereign of Yahuḏah.

4 ‘And you shall command them to say to their masters, “Thus said 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Say this to your masters,’

5 ‘I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the face of the earth, by My great power and by My outstretched arm. And I shall give it to whom it seemed right in My eyes.

6 ‘And now, I have given all these lands into the hand of Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar the sovereign of Baḇel, My servant. And the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him.

7 ‘And all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, until the time of his land comes. And then many nations and great sovereigns shall make him serve them.

8 ‘And it shall be, the nation and reign that do not serve Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar the sovereign of Baḇel, and the one that does not put its neck under the yoke of the sovereign of Baḇel, that nation I shall punish,’ declares 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, ‘with the sword, and the scarcity of food, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

9 ‘So do not listen to your neḇi’im, or to your diviners, or to your dreamers, or to your observers of clouds, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “Do not serve the sovereign of Baḇel.”

10 ‘For they prophesy falsehood to you, to remove you far from your land. And I shall drive you out, and you shall perish.

11 ‘But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the sovereign of Baḇel and serve him, I shall leave in their own land,’ declares 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, ‘and they shall till it and dwell in it.’ ”

12 And I spoke to Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign of Yahuḏah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the sovereign of Baḇel, and serve him and his people, and live!

13 “Why should you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the scarcity of food, and by the pestilence, as 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 has spoken against the nation that does not serve the sovereign of Baḇel?

14 “Do not listen to the words of the neḇi’im who speak to you, saying, ‘Do not serve the sovereign of Baḇel,’ for they prophesy falsehood to you,

15 for I have not sent them,” declares 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, “yet they prophesy falsehood in My Name, in order that I drive you out. Then you shall perish, you and the neḇi’im who naḇa to you.”

16 Then I spoke to the kohenim and to all this people, saying, “Thus said 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, ‘Do not listen to the words of your neḇi’im who prophesy to you, saying, “See, the vessels of the House of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 are brought back from Baḇel soon now,” for they prophesy falsehood to you.

17 ‘Do not listen to them. Serve the sovereign of Baḇel, and live! Why should this city become a ruin?

18 ‘But if they are neḇi’im, and if the word of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 is with them, let them now make intercession to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the House of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and in the house of the sovereign of Yahuḏah, and at Yerushalayim, shall not go to Baḇel.’

19 “For thus said 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 of hosts concerning the columns, and concerning the sea, and concerning the stands, and concerning the remainder of the vessels which are left in this city,

20 which Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar the sovereign of Baḇel did not take, when he exiled Yeḵonyahu the son of Yahoyaqim, the sovereign of Yahuḏah, from Yerushalayim to Baḇel, and all the nobles of Yahuḏah and Yerushalayim –

21 thus said 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, concerning the vessels that remain in the House of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and in the house of the sovereign of Yahuḏah and of Yerushalayim:

22 ‘They shall be brought to Baḇel, and be there until the day that I visit them,’ declares 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄. ‘Then I shall bring them back and restore them to this place.’ ”