Seventy Years of Exile

25 ^1-2 (A) In the fourth year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah,^[a] which was the first year that Nebuchadnezzar^[b] was king of Babylonia, the Lord told me to speak to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. So I told them:

³ For 23 years now, ever since the thirteenth year that Josiah^[c] was king, I have been telling you what the Lord has told me. But you have not listened.

⁴ The Lord has sent prophets to you time after time, but you refused to listen. ⁵ They told you that the Lord had said:

Change your ways! If you stop doing evil, I will let you stay forever in this land that I gave your ancestors. ⁶ I don't want to harm you. So don't make me angry by worshiping idols and other gods.

⁷ But you refused to listen to my prophets. So I, the Lord, say that you have made me angry by worshiping idols, and you are the ones who were hurt by what you did. ⁸ You refused to listen to me, ⁹ and now I will let you be attacked by nations from the north, and especially by my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. You and other nearby nations will be destroyed and left in ruins forever. Everyone who sees what has happened will be shocked, but they will still make fun of you. ^10 (B) I will put an end to your parties and wedding celebrations; no one will grind grain or be here to light the lamps at night. ^11 (C) This country will be as empty as a desert, because I will make all of you the slaves of the king of Babylonia for 70 years.

¹² When that time is up, I will punish the king of Babylonia and his people for everything they have done wrong, and I will turn that country into a wasteland forever. ¹³ My servant Jeremiah has told you what I said I will do to Babylonia and to the other nations, and he wrote it all down in this book. I will do everything I threatened. ¹⁴ I will pay back the Babylonians for every wrong they have done. Great kings from many other nations will conquer the Babylonians and force them to be slaves.

The Cup Full of God's Anger

¹⁵ The Lord God of Israel showed me a vision in which he said, “Jeremiah, here is a cup filled with the wine of my anger. Take it and make every nation drink some. ¹⁶ They will vomit and act crazy, because of the war this cup of anger will bring to them.”

¹⁷ I took the cup from the Lord's hand, and I went to the kings of the nations and made each of them drink some. ¹⁸ I started with Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and the king and his officials were removed from power in disgrace. Everyone still makes insulting jokes about them and uses their names as curse words. ¹⁹ The second place I went was Egypt, where everyone had to drink from the cup, including the king and his officials, the other government workers, the rest of the Egyptians, ²⁰ and all the foreigners who lived in the country.

Next I went to the king of Uz, and then to the four kings of Philistia, who ruled from Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what was left of Ashdod.^{[d] 21} Then I went to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, ²² and to the kings of Tyre, Sidon, and their colonies across the sea. ^23-24 After this, I went to the kings of Dedan, Tema, Buz, the tribes of the Arabian Desert,^{[e] 25} Zimri, Elam, Media, ²⁶ and the countries in the north, both near and far.

I went to all the countries on earth, one after another, and finally to Babylonia.^[f]

²⁷ The Lord had said to tell each king, “The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, commands you to drink from this cup that is full of the wine of his anger. It will make you so drunk that you will vomit. And when the Lord sends war against the nations, you will be completely defeated.”

²⁸ The Lord told me that if any of them refused to drink from the cup, I must tell them that he had said, “I, the Lord All-Powerful, command you to drink. ²⁹ Starting with my own city of Jerusalem, everyone on earth will suffer from war. So there is no way I will let you escape unharmed.”

³⁰ The Lord told me to say:

Disaster Is Coming

³² The Lord All-Powerful says:

³³ When it strikes, I will kill so many people that their bodies will cover the ground like manure. No one will be left to bury them or to mourn.

The Leaders of Judah Will Be Punished

King Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah's First Scroll

36 ^(A) During the fourth year that Jehoiakim^[a] son of Josiah^[b] was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, ² since the time Josiah was king, I have been speaking to you about Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Now, get a scroll^[c] and write down everything I have told you, ³ then read it to the people of Judah. Maybe they will stop sinning when they hear what terrible things I plan for them. And if they turn back to me, I will forgive them.”

⁴ I sent for Baruch son of Neriah and asked him to help me. I repeated everything the Lord had told me, and Baruch wrote it all down on a scroll. ⁵ Then I said,

Baruch, the officials refuse to let me go into the Lord's temple, ⁶ so you must go instead. Wait for the next holy day when the people of Judah come to the temple to pray and to go without eating.^[d] Then take this scroll to the temple and read it aloud. ⁷ The Lord is furious, and if the people hear how he is going to punish them, maybe they will ask to be forgiven.

^8-10 In the ninth month^[e] of the fifth year that Jehoiakim was king, the leaders set a day when everyone who lived in Jerusalem or who was visiting there had to pray and go without eating. So Baruch took the scroll to the upper courtyard of the temple. He went over to the side of the courtyard and stood in a covered area near New Gate, where he read the scroll aloud.

This covered area belonged to Gemariah,^[f] one of the king's highest officials. ¹¹ Gemariah's son Micaiah was there and heard Baruch read what the Lord had said. ¹² When Baruch finished reading, Micaiah went down to the palace. His father Gemariah was in the officials' room, meeting with the rest of the king's officials, including Elishama, Delaiah, Elnathan, and Zedekiah.^{[g] 13} Micaiah told them what he had heard Baruch read to the people. ¹⁴ Then the officials sent Jehudi and Shelemiah^[h] to tell Baruch, “Bring us that scroll.”

When Baruch arrived with the scroll, ¹⁵ the officials said, “Please sit down and read it to us,” which he did. ¹⁶ After they heard what was written on the scroll, they were worried and said to each other, “The king needs to hear this!” Turning to Baruch, they asked, ¹⁷ “Did someone tell you what to write on this scroll?”

¹⁸ “Yes, Jeremiah did,” Baruch replied. “I wrote down just what he told me.”

¹⁹ The officials said, “You and Jeremiah must go into hiding, and don't tell anyone where you are going.”

^20-22 The officials put the scroll in Elishama's room and went to see the king, who was in one of the rooms where he lived and worked during the winter. It was the ninth month^[i] of the year, so there was a fire burning in the fireplace,^[j] and the king was sitting nearby. After the officials told the king about the scroll, he sent Jehudi to get it. Then Jehudi started reading the scroll to the king and his officials. ^23-25 But every time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king would tell him to cut them off with his penknife and throw them in the fire. Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, but he ignored them, and soon there was nothing left of it.

The king and his servants listened to what was written on the scroll, but they were not the least bit afraid, and they did not tear their clothes in sorrow.^[k]

²⁶ The king told his son Jerahmeel to take Seraiah and Shelemiah^[l] and to go arrest Baruch and me.^[m] But the Lord kept them from finding us.

Jeremiah's Second Scroll

²⁷ I had told Baruch what to write on that first scroll,^[n] but King Jehoiakim^[o] had burned it. So the Lord told me ²⁸ to get another scroll and write down everything that had been on the first one. ²⁹ Then he told me to say to King Jehoiakim:

Not only did you burn Jeremiah's scroll, you had the nerve to ask why he had written that the king of Babylonia would attack and ruin the land, killing all the people and even the animals. ³⁰ So I, the Lord, promise that you will be killed and your body thrown out on the ground. The sun will beat down on it during the day, and the frost will settle on it at night. And none of your descendants will ever be king of Judah. ³¹ You, your children, and your servants are evil, and I will punish everyone of you. I warned you and the people of Judah and Jerusalem that I would bring disaster, but none of you have listened. So now you are doomed!

³² After the Lord finished speaking to me, I got another scroll and gave it to Baruch. Then I told him what to write, so this second scroll would contain even more than was on the scroll Jehoiakim had burned.

The Lord Will Not Let Baruch Be Killed

45 ^(A) In the fourth year that Jehoiakim^[a] was king of Judah, Baruch wrote down everything I had told him.^{[b] 2} Then later, the Lord God of Israel told me to say to Baruch:

³ You are moaning and blaming me, the Lord, for your troubles and sorrow, and for being so tired that you can't even rest. ⁴ But all over the earth I am tearing down what I built and pulling up what I planted. ⁵ I am bringing disaster everywhere, so don't even think about making any big plans for yourself. However, I promise that wherever you go, I will at least protect you from death. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Daniel and His Friends

1 ^(A) In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah,^[a] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked Jerusalem.

^2 (A) The Lord let Nebuchadnezzar capture Jehoiakim and take away some of the things used in God's temple. And when the king returned to Babylonia,^[a] he put these things in the temple of his own god.