Jeremiah 27:17

17 Therefore hearken not to them, but serve the king of Babylon, that you may live. Why should this city be given up to desolation?

Jeremiah 27:17 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 27:17

Hearken not unto them
The false prophets: serve the king of Babylon, and live;
pay homage and tribute to him; which is the way to live in your own land, and enjoy the benefits of that, and of the temple worship; which, if not, you will be utterly deprived of: wherefore should this city be laid waste?
as it certainly will, should you rebel against the king of Babylon; and as it was in a few years after, when they did.

Jeremiah 27:17 In-Context

15 For I have not sent them, saith the Lord: and they prophesy in my name falsely: to drive you out, and that you may perish, both you, and the prophets that prophesy to you.

16 I spoke also to the priests, and to this people, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Hearken not to the words of your prophets, that prophesy to you, saying: Behold the vessels of the Lord shall now in a short time be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.

17 Therefore hearken not to them, but serve the king of Babylon, that you may live. Why should this city be given up to desolation?

18 But if they be prophets, and the word of the Lord be in them: let them interpose themselves before the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which were left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Juda, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.

19 For thus saith the Lord of hosts to the pillars, and to the sea, and to the bases, and to the rest of the vessels that remain in this city: