Jeremiah 25:1-8

1 The word of the Lord, that was made to Jeremy, of all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, after that Jeconiah was translated into Babylon; that is the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; (The word of the Lord, that was made to Jeremiah, about all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, after that Jehoahaz was carried away captive to Egypt; that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon;)

2 which word Jeremy, the prophet, spake to all the people of Judah, and to all the dwellers of Jerusalem, and said, (which word the prophet Jeremiah spoke to all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and said,)

3 From the thirteenth year of the realm of Josiah, the son of Amon, the king of Judah, unto this day, this is the three and twentieth year, (that) the word of the Lord was made to me; and I spake to you, and I rose (up) by night and spake, and ye heard not (but ye would not listen).

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,)

Jeremiah 25:1-8 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.