Jeremiah 27:5-22

5‘1I have made the earth, mankind, and the animals which are on the face of the earth 2by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will 3give it to the one who is 4pleasing in My sight. 6And now I 5have handed all these lands over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, 6My servant, and I have also given him the 7animals of the field to serve him. 78All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson 9until the time of his own land comes; then 10many nations and great kings will 11make him their servant.

8‘And it will be that the nation or the kingdom which 12will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the 13sword, with famine, and with plague,’ declares the Lord, ‘until I have eliminated 14it by his hand. 9And as for you, 15do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your 16dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers who talk to you, saying, “You will not serve the king of Babylon.” 10For they are prophesying a 17lie to you in order to 18remove you far from your land; and I will drive you away and you will perish. 11But the nation that will 19bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will 20let remain on its land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and they will cultivate it and live in it.’”’”

12I spoke words like all these to 21Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live! 13Why should you 22die, you and your people, by the sword, famine, and plague, as the Lord has spoken to the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14So 23do not listen to the words of the prophets who talk to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying a 24lie to you; 15for 25I have not sent them,” declares the Lord, “but they are 26prophesying falsely in My name, so that I will 27drive you away and that you will perish, 28you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

16Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, “Behold, the 29vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon”; for they are prophesying a 30lie to you. 17Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city 31become a place of ruins? 18But 32if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, have them now 33plead with the Lord of armies that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord and the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem do not go to Babylon. 19For this is what the Lord of armies says concerning the 34pillars, concerning the 35sea, concerning the kettle stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he 36led into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem-- 21Yes, this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: 22“They will be 37brought to Babylon and will be there until the 38day I visit them,” declares the Lord. “Then I will 39bring them 40back and restore them to this place.”’”