Jeremiah 25:10-20

10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp.
11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chalde'ans, for their iniquity, says the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste.
13 I will bring upon that land all the words which I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations.
14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands."
15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: "Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.
16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword which I am sending among them."
17 So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it:
18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and princes, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day;
19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, all his people,
20 and all the foreign folk among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ash'kelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod);

Jeremiah 25:10-20 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.

Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.