Jeremiah 25:4-14

4 And the Lord sent to you all his servants (the) prophets, and rose (up) full early, and sent, and ye heard not (but you would not listen), neither ye bowed [in] your ears, for to hear;

5 when he said, Turn ye again, each man from his evil way, and from your worst thoughts, and ye shall dwell in the land which the Lord gave to you, and to your fathers, from the world and till into the world. (when they said, Turn ye, each person, from your evil ways, and from your worst thoughts, and ye shall live in the land which the Lord gave to you, and to your forefathers, forever and ever.)

6 And do not ye go after alien gods, (saith the Lord,) that ye serve them, and worship them, neither stir ye me to wrathfulness, in the works of your hands, and I shall not torment you. (And do not ye go after strange, or foreign, gods, saith the Lord, so that ye serve them, and worship them, nor stir ye me to anger, with the works of your hands, and I shall not torment you.)

7 And ye heard not me, saith the Lord, that ye stirred me to wrathfulness in the works of your hands, into your [own] evil. (But ye would not listen to me, saith the Lord, and ye stirred me to anger with the works of your hands, to your own harm.)

8 Therefore the Lord of hosts saith these things, For that that ye heard not my words, (And so the Lord of hosts saith these things, Because ye did not listen to, or obey, my words,)

9 lo! I shall send (for), and take all the kindreds of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar, my servant, the king of Babylon; and I shall bring them on this land, and on the dwellers thereof, and on all nations, that be in the compass thereof (lo! I shall send for all the tribes of the north, saith the Lord, and my servant Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon; and I shall bring them against this land, and its inhabitants, and all the nations that be all around it); and I shall slay them, and I shall set them into wondering, and into hissing, and into everlasting wildernesses.

10 And I shall lose of them the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of spouse, and the voice of spousess, the voice of [the] quern, and the light of the lantern. (And I shall take from them the sound of joy, and the sound of happiness, the voice of the spouse, and the voice of the spousess, the sound of the quern, and the light of the lantern.)

11 And all the land thereof shall be into wilderness, and into wondering; and all these folks shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

12 And when seventy years be [ful]filled, I shall visit on the king of Babylon, and on that folk, (for) the wickedness of them, saith the Lord, and on the land of Chaldees, and I shall set it into everlasting wildernesses. (And when seventy years be fulfilled, I shall punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their wickedness, and I shall make the land of the Chaldeans into an everlasting wilderness.)

13 And I shall bring on that land all my words which I spake against it, all thing that is written in this book; whatever things Jeremy prophesied against all folks (whatever Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations);

14 for they served to them, when they were many folks, and great kings; and I shall yield to them after the works of them, and after the deeds of their hands. (and then they shall serve many nations, and great kings; and so I shall yield to them after their works, and after the deeds of their own hands.)

Jeremiah 25:4-14 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.