Jeremiah 27

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 (At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiahfrom Yahweh:)	1 (In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah,) . . . this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
2 Yahweh said this to me, 'Make yourself thongs and yokes and put them on your neck.	2 Thus said the LORD to me: Make for yourself bands and yoke bars and put them over your shoulders.
3 Then send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre,and the king of Sidon, through their envoys accredited to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem.	3 Send to the kings of Edom, of Moab, of the Ammonites, of Tyre, and of Sidon, through the ambassadors who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah, king of Judah,
4 Give them the following message for their masters, "Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, says this: Youmust tel your masters this:	4 and charge them thus: Tell your masters: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
5 I by my great power and outstretched arm made the earth, the human beings and the animals that areon earth, and I give them to whom I please.	5 It was I who made the earth, and man and beast on the face of the earth, by my great power, with my outstretched arm; and I can give them to whomever I think fit.
6 For the present, I have handed al these countries over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, myservant; I have even put the wild animals at his service.	6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant; even the beasts of the field I have given him for his use.
7 (Al the nations will serve him, his son and his grandson, until the time for his own country comes in itsturn, when mighty nations and great kings wil enslave him.)	7 All nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his land, too, shall come. Then it in turn shall serve great nations and mighty kings.
8 Any nation or kingdom that will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and will not bow its neck tothe yoke of the king of Babylon, I shall punish that nation with sword, famine and plague, Yahweh declares, untilI have destroyed it by his hand.	8 Meanwhile, if any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, or will not bend its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with sword, famine, and pestilence, says the LORD, until I give them into his hand.
9 For your own part, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, dreamers, magicians and sorcerers,who tel you: You wil not be enslaved by the king of Babylon.	9 You, however, must not listen to your prophets, to your diviners and dreamers, to your soothsayers and sorcerers, who say to you, "You need not serve the king of Babylon."
10 They prophesy lies to you, the result of which wil be that you wil be banished from your soil, that Ishall drive you out, and you will perish.	10 For they prophesy lies to you, in order to drive you far from your land, to make me banish you so that you will perish.
11 The nation, however, that is prepared to bend its neck to the yoke of the king of Babylon and servehim, I shal leave in peace on its own soil, Yahweh declares, to farm it and stay on it." '	11 The people that submits its neck to the yoke of the king of Babylon to serve him I will leave in peace on its own land, says the LORD, to till it and dwell in it.
12 To Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke in exactly the same terms. 'Bend your necks', I told him, 'to theyoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people and you wil survive.	12 To Zedekiah, king of Judah, I spoke the same words: Submit your necks to the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, so that you may live.
13 (Why so anxious to die, you and your people, by sword, famine and plague, with which Yahweh hasthreatened the nation refusing to serve the king of Babylon?)	13 Why should you and your people die by sword, famine, and pestilence, with which the LORD has threatened the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
14 Do not listen to the words the prophets say to you, "You will not be enslaved by the king of Babylon."They prophesy lies to you.	14 Do not listen to the words of those prophets who say, "You need not serve the king of Babylon," for they prophesy lies to you.
15 Since I have not sent them, Yahweh declares, they prophesy untruths to you in my name. The resultwil be that I shal drive you out, you wil perish, and so wil the prophets who prophesy to you.'	15 I did not send them, says the LORD, but they prophesy falsely in my name, with the result that I must banish you, and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.
16 I also spoke to the priests and to al this people as fol ows, 'Yahweh says this, "Do not listen to thewords of your prophets who prophesy to you as fol ows: Look, the vessels of the Temple of Yahweh wil veryshortly be brought back from Babylon. They prophesy lies to you.	16 To the priests and to all the people I spoke as follows: Thus says the LORD: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you: "The vessels of the house of the LORD will be brought back from Babylon soon now," for they prophesy lies to you.
17 (Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and you wil survive. Why should this city become aruin?)	17 Do not listen to them! Serve the king of Babylon that you may live; else this city will become a heap of ruins.
18 If they are real prophets, if Yahweh's word is real y with them, they ought now to be pleading withYahweh Sabaoth that the remaining vessels in the Temple of Yahweh, in the palace of the king of Judah andelsewhere in Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon too!	18 If they were prophets, if the word of the LORD were with them, they would intercede with the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which remain in the house of the LORD and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem might not be taken to Babylon.
19 For this is what Yahweh Sabaoth says about (the pil ars, the Sea, the stands and) the other vesselsstill remaining in this city,	19 For thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, the bronze sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that remain in this city,
20 those not carried off by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon when he took Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim,king of Judah, into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon (with al the leading men of Judah and Jerusalem).	20 which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, did not take when he exiled Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem--
21 Yes, this is what Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, says about the vessels stil remaining in the Templeof Yahweh, in the palace of the king of Judah and elsewhere in Jerusalem:	21 yes, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:
22 They wil be carried off to Babylon (and stay there until the day I punish them), Yahweh declares.(Then I shal bring them back and restore them to this place.)" '	22 To Babylon they shall be brought, and there they shall remain, until the day I look for them, says the LORD; then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.