Jeremiah 25:29-38

29 For I am already bringing disaster on the city that bears My name,[a] so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth"-[this is] the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.[b]

Judgment on the Whole World

30 "As for you, you are to prophesy all these things to them, and say to them: The Lord roars from on high; He raises His voice from His holy dwelling.[c] He roars loudly over His grazing land; He calls out with a shout, like those who tread [grapes], against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 The tumult reaches to the ends of the earth because the Lord brings a case against[d] the nations. He enters into judgment with all flesh. As for the wicked, He hands them over to the sword- [This is] the Lord's declaration.
32 "This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Pay attention! Disaster goes forth from nation to nation. A great storm is stirred up from the ends of the earth."[e]
33 Those slain by the Lord on that day will be [spread] from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried. They will be like manure on the surface of the ground.
34 Wail, you shepherds, and cry out. Roll [in the dust],[f][g]you leaders of the flock. Because the days of your slaughter have come, you will fall and become shattered like a precious vase.
35 Flight will be impossible for the shepherds, and escape, for the leaders of the flock.
36 [Hear] the sound of the shepherds' cry, the wail of the leaders of the flock, for the Lord is destroying their pasture.
37 Peaceful grazing land will become lifeless because of the Lord's burning anger.[h]
38 He has left His den like a lion, for their land has become a desolation because of the sword[i] of the oppressor, because of His burning anger.

Jeremiah 25:29-38 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 25

This chapter contains a prophecy of the destruction of Judea by the king of Babylon; and also of Babylon itself, after the Jews' captivity of seventy years; and likewise of all the nations round about. The date of this prophecy is in Jer 25:1; when the prophet puts the Jews in mind of the prophecies that had been delivered unto them by himself and others, for some years past, without effect, Jer 25:2-7; wherefore they are threatened with the king of Babylon, that he should come against them, and strip them of all their desirable things; make their land desolate, and them captives for seventy years, Jer 25:8-11; at the expiration of which he in his turn shall be punished, and the land of Chaldea laid waste, and become subject to other nations and kings, Jer 25:12-14; and by a cup of wine given to all the nations round about, is signified the utter ruin of them, and who are particularly mentioned by name, Jer 25:15-26; which is confirmed by beginning with the city of Jerusalem, and the destruction of that, Jer 25:27-29; wherefore the prophet is bid to prophesy against them, and to declare the Lord's controversy with them, and that there should be a slaughter of them from one end of the earth to the other, Jer 25:30-33; upon which the shepherds, kings, and rulers of them, are called to lamentation and howling, Jer 25:34-38.

Footnotes 9

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