Jeremiah 25:9-12

9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy[a] them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin.
10 I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp.
11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians,[b] for their guilt,” declares the LORD, “and will make it desolate forever.

Jeremiah 25:9-12 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 17

  • 1. Isaiah 13:3-5
  • 2. S Isaiah 14:31; Jeremiah 1:15
  • 3. S Isaiah 41:2; Jeremiah 27:6
  • 4. S 2 Chronicles 36:6
  • 5. S Numbers 21:2
  • 6. S 2 Chronicles 29:8; Jeremiah 18:16
  • 7. S Jeremiah 19:8; S Jeremiah 20:4; Ezekiel 12:20
  • 8. S Isaiah 24:8; Ezekiel 26:13
  • 9. Jeremiah 7:34; Jeremiah 33:11
  • 10. Ecclesiastes 12:3-4
  • 11. S Job 18:5; Lamentations 5:15; Revelation 18:22-23
  • 12. S Leviticus 26:31,32; Jeremiah 4:26-27; Jeremiah 12:11-12
  • 13. Jeremiah 28:14
  • 14. S 2 Chronicles 36:21
  • 15. Jeremiah 27:7; Jeremiah 29:10
  • 16. S Genesis 10:10; S Psalms 137:8
  • 17. S Isaiah 13:19-22; Isaiah 14:22-23

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  • [b]. Or "Chaldeans"
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