Jeremiah 25

Seventy Years of Servitude

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, that [was] the first year of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon,

2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, {saying},

3 "From [the] thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Amon, the king of Judah, even up to this day, these twenty-three years the word of Yahweh has come to me, and {I have spoken to you over and over again}, but you have not listened.

4 And [though] Yahweh has sent all his servants the prophets to you {over and over again} you have not listened, and you have not inclined your ear to hear,

5 {saying}, 'Turn back please, each one from his evil way, and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the land that Yahweh has given to you and to your ancestors from a long time back and until forever,

6 and you must not go after other gods to serve them, and to bow in worship to them, and you must not provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, then I will not do something bad to you.'

7 'Yet you have not listened to me,' {declares} Yahweh, 'so that you have provoked me to anger with the work of your hands for your own harm.'

8 {Therefore} thus says Yahweh of hosts, 'Because you have not obeyed my words,

9 look, I [am] going to send and take all [the] clans of [the] north,' {declares} Yahweh, 'and [I will send] to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations all around, and I will destroy them, and I will make them a horror, and [an object of] hissing, and {everlasting ruins}.

10 And I will exterminate from them the sound of jubilation, and the sound of joy, [the] voice of [the] bridegroom, and [the] voice of [the] bride, [the] sound of [the] millstones, and [the] light of [the] lamp.

11 And all this land will become a site of ruins, a desolation, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

The Cup of Wrath

12 {And then} when [the] seventy years [are] fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,' {declares} Yahweh, 'for their iniquity, and [the] land of [the] Chaldeans, and I will make it {an everlasting waste}.

13 And I will bring upon that land all my words that I have spoken against it, everything that is written in this scroll which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations.

14 For many nations and great kings will let them work, even them, and I will repay them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.'"

15 For thus said Yahweh, the God of Israel, to me, "Take this cup of the wine [of] wrath from my hand, and you must give it [to] all the nations to whom I [am] sending you to drink.

16 And they will drink, and they will stagger, and they will act like madmen because of the {presence} of the sword that I [am] sending among them."

17 So I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and I gave [it] [to] all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me to drink:

18 Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and its kings, [and] its officials, to make them a site of ruins, a horror, an [object of] hissing, and a curse, as [it is] this day;

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

20 and all the other people; and all the kings of the land of Uz; and all the kings of the land of [the] Philistines--Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;

21 Edom, and Moab, and the {Ammonites};

22 and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland that [is] across the sea;

23 and Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all those who are trimmed to [the] side;

24 and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the other people who dwell in the desert;

25 and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media;

26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, each one to his brother, and all the kingdoms of the world that [are] on the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach, he will drink after them.

27 "And you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Drink and become drunk, and vomit, and fall, and you must not rise because of the {presence} of the sword that I [am] sending among you." '

28 And it will happen, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "You must certainly drink!

29 For look, on the city that is called {by} my name I [am] beginning to inflict harm, and you indeed, will you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I [am] summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth," {declares} Yahweh of hosts.'

30 And you yourself shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them: 'Yahweh will roar from [on] high, and from {his holy dwelling place} he will give his voice. He will roar mightily against his settlement, a jubilant shout like those who tread [grapes], he will answer against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31 [The] rage of battle will resound to the end of the earth, for [there is] a lawsuit of Yahweh against the nations. He [is] entering into judgment with all wicked flesh, he will give them to the sword,' {declares} Yahweh."

32 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "Look, disaster [is] going out from nation to nation, and a great tempest is stirred up from the farthest parts of [the] earth.

33 And the slain [ones] of Yahweh will be on that day from [one] end of the earth to the [other] end of the earth, and they will not be mourned, and they will not be gathered, and they will not be buried. They will become like dung on the {surface} of the ground.

34 Wail, you shepherds, and cry out. And roll about in mourning [in the dust], O leaders of the flock. For your days of slaughter and your dispersions have arrived, and you will fall like a vessel of desire.

35 And flight will perish from the shepherds, and escape from the leaders of the flock.

36 A sound, the cry of distress of the shepherds and the wailing of the leaders of the flock, for Yahweh [is] despoiling their pasture.

37 And the {peaceful settlements} are devastated because of {the burning anger of Yahweh}.

38 He has left his den like a lion, for their land has become a horror, because of the anger of the oppressors, and because of {his burning anger}."

Jeremiah 25 Commentary

Chapter 25

The Jews rebuked for not obeying calls to repentance. (1-7) Their captivity during seventy years is expressly foretold. (8-14) Desolations upon the nations shown by the emblem of a cup of wrath. (15-29) The judgments again declared. (30-38)

Verses 1-7 The call to turn from evil ways to the worship and service of God, and for sinners to trust in Christ, and partake of his salvation, concerns all men. God keeps an account how long we possess the means of grace; and the longer we have them, the heavier will our account be if we have not improved them. Rising early, points out the earnest desire that this people should turn and live. Personal and particular reformation must be insisted on as necessary to a national deliverance; and every one must turn from his own evil way. Yet all was to no purpose. They would not take the right and only method to turn away the wrath of God.

Verses 8-14 The fixing of the time during which the Jewish captivity should last, would not only confirm the prophecy, but also comfort the people of God, and encourage faith and prayer. The ruin of Babylon is foretold: the rod will be thrown into the fire when the correcting work is done. When the set time to favour Zion is come, Babylon shall be punished for their iniquity, as other nations have been punished for their sins. Every threatening of the Scripture will certainly be accomplished.

Verses 15-29 The evil and the good events of life are often represented in Scripture as cups. Under this figure is represented the desolation then coming upon that part of the world, of which Nebuchadnezzar, who had just began to reign and act, was to be the instrument; but this destroying sword would come from the hand of God. The desolations the sword should make in all these kingdoms, are represented by the consequences of excessive drinking. This may make us loathe the sin of drunkenness, that the consequences of it are used to set forth such a woful condition. Drunkenness deprives men of the use of their reason, makes men as mad. It takes from them the valuable blessing, health; and is a sin which is its own punishment. This may also make us dread the judgments of war. It soon fills a nation with confusion. They will refuse to take the cup at thy hand. They will not believe Jeremiah; but he must tell them it is the word of the Lord of hosts, and it is in vain for them to struggle against Almighty power. And if God's judgments begin with backsliding professors, let not the wicked expect to escape.

Verses 30-38 The Lord has just ground of controversy with every nation and every person; and he will execute judgment on all the wicked. Who can avoid trembling when God speaks in displeasure? The days are fully come; the time fixed in the Divine counsels, which will make the nations wholly desolate. The tender and delicate shall share the common calamity. Even those who used to live in peace, and did nothing to provoke, shall not escape. Blessed be God, there is a peaceable habitation above, for all the sons of peace. The Lord will preserve his church and all believers in all changes; for nothing can separate them from his love.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "to say"
• [b]. Hebrew "year"
• [c]. Literally "I have spoken to you doing early and speaking"
• [d]. Literally "do early and sending"
• [e]. Literally "to say"
• [f]. Or "fathers"
• [g]. Literally "a declaration of"
• [h]. Hebrew "they"
• [i]. Literally "To thus"
• [j]. Or "families"
• [k]. Literally "a declaration of"
• [l]. Here the subject and verb are supplied from context in the English translation
• [m]. Literally "sites of ruins of eternity"
• [n]. Hebrew "year"
• [o]. Literally "And it will happen"
• [p]. Hebrew "year"
• [q]. Literally "a declaration of"
• [r]. Literally "a waste of eternity"
• [s]. Literally "face"
• [t]. Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [u]. Or "foreign"
• [v]. Hebrew "Philistine"
• [w]. Literally "sons of Ammon"
• [x]. Or "foreign"
• [y]. Or "wilderness"
• [z]. Literally "face"
• [aa]. Literally "on it"
• [ab]. Literally "a declaration of"
• [ac]. Literally "a declaration of"
• [ad]. Literally "face"
• [ae]. Or "nobles"
• [af]. Or "nobles"
• [ag]. Or "nobles"
• [ah]. Literally "settlements of the peace"
• [ai]. Literally "the blaze of the nose of Yahweh"
• [aj]. Literally "the blaze of his nose"

Chapter Summary

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.