Jeremiah 25:28-38

28 "And it will be, if they 1refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "2You shall surely drink!
29 "For behold, I am 3beginning to work calamity in this city which is 4called by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for 5I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth," declares the LORD of hosts.'
30 "Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them, 'The 6LORD will 7roar from on high And utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His fold. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, Against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 'A clamor has come to the end of the earth, Because the LORD has 8a controversy with the nations. He is entering into 9judgment with all flesh; As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,' declares the LORD."
32 Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, evil is going forth From 10nation to nation, And a great 11storm is being stirred up From the remotest parts of the earth.
33 "Those 12slain by the LORD on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other *. They will 13not be lamented, gathered or buried; they will be like 14dung on the face of the ground.
34 "Wail, you shepherds, and cry; And 15wallow in ashes, you masters of the flock; For the days of your 16slaughter and your dispersions have come, And you will fall like a choice vessel.
35 "17Flight will perish from the shepherds, And escape from the masters of the flock.
36 "Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds, And the wailing of the masters of the flock! For the LORD is destroying their pasture,
37 "And the peaceful 18folds are made silent Because * of the 19fierce anger of the LORD.
38 "He has left His hiding place 20like the lion; For their land has become a horror Because * of the fierceness of the oppressing sword And because * of His fierce anger."

Jeremiah 25:28-38 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.

Cross References 20

  • 1. Job 34:33
  • 2. Jeremiah 49:12
  • 3. Proverbs 11:31; Isaiah 10:12; Jeremiah 13:13; Ezekiel 9:6; 1 Peter 4:17
  • 4. 1 Kings 8:43
  • 5. Ezekiel 38:21
  • 6. Isaiah 42:13; Jeremiah 25:38
  • 7. Joel 2:11; Joel 3:16; Amos 1:2
  • 8. Hosea 4:1; Micah 6:2
  • 9. Isaiah 66:16; Ezekiel 20:35, 36; Joel 3:2
  • 10. 2 Chronicles 15:6; Isaiah 34:2
  • 11. Isaiah 30:30; Jeremiah 23:19
  • 12. Isaiah 34:2, 3; Isaiah 66:16
  • 13. Psalms 79:3; Jeremiah 16:4; Ezekiel 39:4, 17
  • 14. Isaiah 5:25
  • 15. Jeremiah 6:26; Ezekiel 27:30
  • 16. Isaiah 34:6, 7; Jeremiah 50:27
  • 17. Job 11:20; Jeremiah 11:11; Amos 2:14
  • 18. Isaiah 27:10, 11; Jeremiah 5:17; Jeremiah 13:20
  • 19. Psalms 97:1-3; Isaiah 66:15; Hebrews 12:29
  • 20. Jeremiah 4:7; Jeremiah 5:6; Hosea 5:14; Hosea 13:7, 8

Footnotes 5

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.