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The Prophets · Old Testament

Jeremiah 25

Jeremiah 25: twenty-three years unheeded, seventy years, and the cup of fury

General context

The word comes in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. Jeremiah tells the people that for twenty-three years, since the thirteenth year of Josiah, he has spoken rising early and they have not hearkened, nor heeded the prophets who told them to turn. So the Lord will bring the families of the north and Nebuchadrezzar his servant against this land and the nations around it; the voices of mirth, bridegroom and bride, the millstones and the candle will cease. These nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years; then the Lord will punish the king of Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans, and great kings will make servants of them too. The Lord then tells Jeremiah to take the wine cup of his fury and make all the nations drink it. Jeremiah takes the cup and makes them drink: Jerusalem and the kings of Judah, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the mingled people, Uz, the Philistine cities, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyrus, Zidon, the isles, Dedan, Tema, Buz, Arabia, Zimri, Elam, the Medes, all the kings of the north and all the kingdoms of the world, and after them the king of Sheshach. If they refuse, they will certainly drink, for if the Lord begins with the city called by his name the others will not go unpunished. The Lord will roar from on high like those who tread grapes and give the wicked to the sword; the slain will lie unburied from one end of the earth to the other. The shepherds are told to howl and wallow in ashes, for the Lord has spoiled their pasture and left his covert like a lion.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 25:1, Jeremiah 25:2, Jeremiah 25:3, Jeremiah 25:4, Jeremiah 25:5, Jeremiah 25:6, Jeremiah 25:7, Jeremiah 25:8, Jeremiah 25:9, Jeremiah 25:10, Jeremiah 25:11, Jeremiah 25:12, Jeremiah 25:13, Jeremiah 25:14, Jeremiah 25:15, Jeremiah 25:16, Jeremiah 25:17, Jeremiah 25:18, Jeremiah 25:19, Jeremiah 25:20, Jeremiah 25:21, Jeremiah 25:22, Jeremiah 25:23, Jeremiah 25:24, Jeremiah 25:25, Jeremiah 25:26, Jeremiah 25:27, Jeremiah 25:28, Jeremiah 25:29, Jeremiah 25:30, Jeremiah 25:31, Jeremiah 25:33, Jeremiah 25:34, Jeremiah 25:36, Jeremiah 25:38

Jeremiah 25 (KJV)

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 Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;

2The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,

3From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.

4And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.

5They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:

6And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.

7Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.

8Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,

9Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

10Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

11And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

12And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

13And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.

14For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.

15For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.

16And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.

17Then took I the cup at the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me:

18To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;

19Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;

20And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,

21Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,

22And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,

23Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,

24And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,

25And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,

26And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

27Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.

28And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

29For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.

30Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.

32Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

33And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

34Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.

35And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.

36A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture.

37And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

38He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The heading supplies two markers in one line: "the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon." Verse 3 adds that the word has come to Jeremiah "from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year," which agrees with the start given in 1:2. These are the text's own reckonings; it gives no other calendar. Nebuchadrezzar is called "my servant" by the Lord, and the seventy years are stated twice, as the term of service and as the point when Babylon is punished. Verse 13 refers to "all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations," a reference to a written collection the chapter does not describe further. The cup is presented as something Jeremiah takes "at the Lord’s hand" and makes the nations drink; the text does not say how this was carried out. The list runs from Jerusalem outward through named peoples and kings and ends with "the king of Sheshach," a name the text does not explain. Verse 18 says Jerusalem and Judah are a desolation "as it is this day," a phrase that marks the desolation as present when the words are written. The chapter does not name the shepherds of verses 34 through 36.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 25:1, Jeremiah 25:3, Jeremiah 25:9, Jeremiah 25:11, Jeremiah 25:12, Jeremiah 25:13, Jeremiah 25:15, Jeremiah 25:17, Jeremiah 25:18, Jeremiah 25:26, Jeremiah 25:29, Jeremiah 25:34

Literary context

The chapter gathers up the book so far and turns it outward. The first part is a summary of twenty-three years in the pattern of 7:13 and 25, rising early and speaking, rising early and sending, and not hearkening, with the prophets' message reduced to two lines, turn and do not go after other gods. The list of what will cease extends 7:34 and 16:9 by the sound of the millstones and the light of the candle. The seventy years form a hinge: the same number ends the nations' service and opens Babylon's punishment. The cup of fury is the chapter's governing image, and the list of drinkers is built from near to far, Jerusalem first and Sheshach last, so that judgment on the city called by the Lord's name becomes the argument that no one else escapes. Drinking, drunkenness, spewing and falling carry the sword's effect in bodily terms. The closing verses change the figure again: the Lord roars and treads grapes, then is a lion leaving his covert, and unnamed shepherds, the principal of the flock, wallow in ashes and fall like a pleasant vessel, an echo of the broken vessels of chapters 18, 19 and 22.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 25:3, Jeremiah 25:4, Jeremiah 25:5, Jeremiah 25:10, Jeremiah 25:11, Jeremiah 25:12, Jeremiah 25:15, Jeremiah 25:18, Jeremiah 25:26, Jeremiah 25:27, Jeremiah 25:29, Jeremiah 25:30, Jeremiah 25:34, Jeremiah 25:38

Key moments

  1. The fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 25:1). The word is dated to Jehoiakim's fourth year and Nebuchadrezzar's first.
  2. Twenty-three years unheeded (Jeremiah 25:3). Jeremiah reckons his years of speaking since the thirteenth year of Josiah.
  3. Nebuchadrezzar my servant (Jeremiah 25:9). The Lord will bring the families of the north and the king of Babylon against the land.
  4. Seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11). These nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
  5. Babylon punished in turn (Jeremiah 25:12). When the seventy years are accomplished the Lord will punish the king of Babylon.
  6. The wine cup of fury (Jeremiah 25:15). Jeremiah is told to make all the nations drink the cup.
  7. Ye shall certainly drink (Jeremiah 25:28). Nations that refuse the cup are told they will drink anyway.

For reflection

Nebuchadrezzar is called the Lord's servant and is also promised punishment when the seventy years end. What does the chapter suggest about an instrument of judgment that is itself held to account?

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