1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 2 So the prophet Jeremiah spoke to all the people of Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem as follows:

3 “From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again,* Literally I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, but you have not listened. 4 And the LORD has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again,† Literally to you, rising up early and sending (them), but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear.

5 The prophets told you, ‘Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and deeds, and you can dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. 6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’

7 ‘But to your own harm, you have not listened to Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘so you have provoked Me to anger with the works of your hands.’

8 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, 9 behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction ‡ Forms of the Hebrew cherem refer to the giving over of things or persons, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering. and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.

10 Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. 11 And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

12 But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans,§ That is, the Babylonians for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.

13 I will bring upon that land all the words I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.’ ”

15 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it. 16 And they will drink and stagger and go out of their minds, because of the sword that I will send among them.”

17 So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand and made all the nations drink from it, each one to whom the LORD had sent me, 18 to make them a ruin, an object of horror and contempt and cursing, as they are to this day—Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his officials, his leaders, and all his people; 20 all the mixed tribes; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines: Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; 21 Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites; 22 all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media; 26 all the kings of the north, both near and far, one after another—all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshach * Sheshach is a code name for Babylon. will drink it too.

27 “Then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, because of the sword I will send among you.’

28 If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘You most certainly must drink it! 29 For behold, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears My Name, so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of Hosts.’

30 So you are to prophesy all these words against them and say to them:

32 This is what the LORD of Hosts says:

33 Those slain by the LORD on that day will be spread from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried. They will be like dung lying on the ground.