Jeremiah 25

1 This is the message that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah. It came in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah and the first year Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon.

2 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and Jerusalem:

3 The Lord has spoken his word to me again and again for these past twenty-three years. I have been a prophet since the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah. I have spoken messages from the Lord to you from that time until today, but you have not listened.

4 The Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you over and over again, but you have not listened or paid any attention to them.

5 Those prophets have said, "Stop your evil ways. Stop doing what is wrong so you can stay in the land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors to live in forever.

6 Don't follow other gods to serve them or to worship them. Don't make me, the Lord, angry by worshiping idols that are the work of your own hands, or I will punish you."

7 "But you people of Judah did not listen to me," says the Lord. "You made me angry by worshiping idols that were the work of your own hands, so I punished you."

8 So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Since you have not listened to my messages,

9 I will send for all the peoples of the north," says the Lord, "along with my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I will bring them all against Judah, those who live there, and all the nations around you, too. I will completely destroy all those countries and leave them in ruins forever. People will be shocked when they see how badly I have destroyed those countries.

10 I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and happiness, the sounds of brides and bridegrooms, and the sound of people grinding meal. And I will take away the light of the lamp.

11 That whole area will be an empty desert, and these nations will be slaves of the king of Babylon for seventy years.

12 "But when the seventy years have passed, I will punish the king of Babylon and his entire nation for their evil," says the Lord. "I will make that land a desert forever.

13 I will make happen all the terrible things I said about Babylonia -- everything Jeremiah prophesied about all those foreign nations, the warnings written in this book.

14 Even the Babylonians will have to serve many nations and many great kings. I will give them the punishment they deserve for all their own hands have done."

15 The Lord, the God of Israel, said this to me: "My anger is like the wine in a cup. Take it from my hand and make all the nations, to whom I am sending you, drink all of my anger from this cup.

16 They will drink my anger and stumble about and act like madmen because of the war I am going to send among them."

17 So I took the cup from the Lord's hand and went to those nations and made them drink from it.

18 I served this wine to the people of Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and the kings and officers of Judah, so they would become a ruin. Then people would be shocked and would insult them and speak evil of them. And so it has been to this day.

19 I also made these people drink of the Lord's anger: the king of Egypt, his servants, his officers, all his people,

20 and all the foreigners there; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines (the kings of the cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod);

21 the people of Edom, Moab, and Ammon;

22 all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; all the kings of the coastal countries to the west;

23 the people of Dedan and Tema and Buz; all who cut their hair short;

24 all the kings of Arabia; and the kings of the people who live in the desert;

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

26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other. I made all the kingdoms on earth drink from the cup of the Lord's anger, but the king of Babylon will drink from this cup after all the others.

27 "Then say to them, 'This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: Drink this cup of my anger. Get drunk from it and vomit. Fall down and don't get up because of the war I am sending among you!'

28 "If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink, say to them, 'The Lord All-Powerful says this: You must drink from this cup.

29 Look! I am already bringing disaster on Jerusalem, the city that is called by my name. Do you think you will not be punished? You will be punished! I am sending war on all the people of the earth, says the Lord All-Powerful.'

30 "You, Jeremiah, will prophesy against them with all these words. Say to them: 'The Lord will roar from heaven and will shout from his Holy Temple. He will roar loudly against his land. He will shout like people who walk on grapes to make wine; he will shout against all who live on the earth.

31 The noise will spread all over the earth, because the Lord will accuse all the nations. He will judge and tell what is wrong with all people, and he will kill the evil people with a sword,'" says the Lord.

32 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Disasters will soon spread from nation to nation. They will come like a powerful storm from the faraway places on earth."

33 At that time those killed by the Lord will reach from one end of the earth to the other. No one will cry for them or gather up their bodies and bury them. They will be left lying on the ground like dung.

34 Cry, you leaders! Cry out loud! Roll around in the dust, leaders of the people! It is now time for you to be killed. You will fall and be scattered, like pieces of a broken jar.

35 There will be no place for the leaders to hide; they will not escape.

36 I hear the sound of the leaders shouting. I hear the leaders of the people crying loudly, because the Lord is destroying their land.

37 Those peaceful pastures will be like an empty desert, because the Lord is very angry.

38 Like a lion, he has left his den. Their land has been destroyed because of the terrible war he brought, because of his fierce 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.

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.