Jeremiah 25:9-29

9 behold, I will 1send and take all the families of the north,' declares the LORD, 'and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, 2My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them and 3make them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation.
10 'Moreover, I will 4take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the 5sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.
11 '6This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon 7seventy years.

Babylon Will Be Judged

12 'Then it will be 8when seventy years are completed I will 9punish the king of Babylon and that nation,' declares the LORD, 'for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and 10I will make it an everlasting desolation.
13 'I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in 11this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against 12all the nations.
14 '(For 13many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will 14recompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)' "
15 For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, says to me, "Take this 15cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.
16 "They will 16drink and stagger and go mad because * of the sword that I will send among them."
17 Then I took the cup from the LORD'S hand and 17made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it:
18 18Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing and a curse, as it is this day;
19 19Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes and all his people;
20 and all the 20foreign people, all the kings of the 21land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the 22Philistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and the remnant of 23Ashdod );
21 24Edom, 25Moab and the sons of 26Ammon;
22 and all the kings of 27Tyre, all the kings of Sidon and the kings of 28the coastlands which are beyond the sea;
23 and 29Dedan, Tema, 30Buz and all who 31cut the corners of their hair;
24 and all the kings of 32Arabia and all the kings of the 33foreign people who dwell in the desert;
25 and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of 34Elam and all the kings of 35Media;
26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and 36all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of 37Sheshach shall drink after them.
27 "You shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "38Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall and rise no more because * of the 39sword which I will send among you."'
28 "And it will be, if they 40refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "41You shall surely drink!
29 "For behold, I am 42beginning to work calamity in this city which is 43called by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for 44I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth," declares the LORD of hosts.'

Jeremiah 25:9-29 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 44

  • 1. Jeremiah 1:15; Jeremiah 6:22, 23
  • 2. Isaiah 13:3; Jeremiah 27:6; Jeremiah 43:10
  • 3. 1 Kings 9:7, 8; Jeremiah 18:16; Jeremiah 25:18
  • 4. Isaiah 24:8-11; Jeremiah 7:34; Jeremiah 16:9; Ezekiel 26:13; Revelation 18:23
  • 5. Ecclesiastes 12:4; Isaiah 47:2
  • 6. Jeremiah 4:27; Jeremiah 12:11, 12
  • 7. 2 Chronicles 36:21; Jeremiah 29:10; Daniel 9:2; Zechariah 7:5
  • 8. Ezra 1:1; Jeremiah 29:10; Daniel 9:2
  • 9. Isaiah 13:14; Jeremiah 50, 51
  • 10. Isaiah 13:19
  • 11. Jer 36:4, 29, 32
  • 12. Jeremiah 1:5, 10; Jeremiah 36:2
  • 13. Jeremiah 27:7; Jeremiah 50:9, 41; Jeremiah 51:27, 28
  • 14. Jer 51:6, 24, 56
  • 15. Job 21:20; Psalms 75:8; Isaiah 51:17, 22; Jeremiah 51:7
  • 16. Nahum 3:11
  • 17. Jeremiah 1:10; Jeremiah 25:28
  • 18. Psalms 60:3; Isaiah 51:17
  • 19. Jeremiah 46:2-28; Nahum 3:8-10
  • 20. Jeremiah 25:24; Jeremiah 50:37; Ezekiel 30:5
  • 21. Job 1:1; Lamentations 4:21
  • 22. Jeremiah 47:1-7
  • 23. Isaiah 20:1
  • 24. Psalms 137:7; Jeremiah 49:7-22
  • 25. Jeremiah 48:1-47; Amos 2:1-3
  • 26. Jeremiah 49:1-6; Amos 1:13-15
  • 27. Jeremiah 47:4; Zechariah 9:2-4
  • 28. Jeremiah 31:10
  • 29. Isaiah 21:13; Jeremiah 49:7, 8
  • 30. Genesis 22:21
  • 31. Jeremiah 9:26; Jeremiah 49:32
  • 32. 2 Chronicles 9:14
  • 33. Jeremiah 25:20; Jeremiah 50:37; Ezekiel 30:5
  • 34. Genesis 10:22; Isaiah 11:11; Jeremiah 49:34
  • 35. Isaiah 13:17; Jeremiah 51:11, 28
  • 36. Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 50:9
  • 37. Jeremiah 51:41
  • 38. Jeremiah 25:16; Habakkuk 2:16
  • 39. Ezekiel 21:4, 5
  • 40. Job 34:33
  • 41. Jeremiah 49:12
  • 42. Proverbs 11:31; Isaiah 10:12; Jeremiah 13:13; Ezekiel 9:6; 1 Peter 4:17
  • 43. 1 Kings 8:43
  • 44. Ezekiel 38:21

Footnotes 6

  • [a]. Or "put them under the ban"
  • [b]. Lit "cause to perish"
  • [c]. Or "For they have served many nations and great kings"
  • [d]. Or "mixed multitude"
  • [e]. Or "mixed multitude"
  • [f]. Cryptic name for Babylon
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