Jeremiah 25:17-28

17 I took the cup from God's hand and made them drink it, all the nations to which he sent me:

18 Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, along with their kings and leaders, turning them into a vast wasteland, a horror to look at, a cussword - which, in fact, they now are;

19 Pharaoh king of Egypt with his attendants and leaders,

20 plus all his people and the melting pot of foreigners collected there; All the kings of Uz; All the kings of the Philistines from Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what's left of Ashdod;

21 Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;

22 All the kings of Tyre, Sidon, and the coastlands across the sea;

23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and the nomads on the fringe of the desert;

24 All the kings of Arabia and the various Bedouin sheiks and chieftains wandering about in the desert;

25 All the kings of Zimri, Elam, and the Medes;

26 All the kings from the north countries near and far, one by one; All the kingdoms on planet Earth... And the king of Sheshak (that is, Babylon) will be the last to drink.

27 "Tell them, 'These are orders from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: Drink and get drunk and vomit. Fall on your faces and don't get up again. You're slated for a massacre.'

28 "If any of them refuse to take the cup from you and drink it, say to them, 'God-of-the-Angel-Armies has ordered you to drink. So drink!

Jeremiah 25:17-28 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.