1In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Yahudah (Judah) came this word unto Jeremiah from Yahuah (LORD), saying,
2Thus says Yahuah (LORD) to me; Make you bonds and yokes, and put them upon your neck,
3And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Yahudah (Judah);
4And command them to say unto their masters, Thus says Yahuah Tseva'ot (LORD of hosts), the Elohim (God) of Yashar'el (Israel); Thus shall you say unto your masters;
5I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
6And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
7And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
8And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, says Yahuah (LORD), with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
9Therefore hearken not you to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon:
10For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and you should perish.
11But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, says Yahuah (LORD); and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
12I spake also to Zedekiah king of Yahudah (Judah) according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
13Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Yahuah (LORD) has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
14Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
15For I have not sent them, says Yahuah (LORD), yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that you might perish, you, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.
16Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus says Yahuah (LORD); Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD’S house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
17Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?
18But if they be prophets, and if the word of Yahuah (LORD) be with them, let them now make intercession to Yahuah Tseva'ot (LORD of hosts), that the vessels which are left in the house of Yahuah (LORD), and in the house of the king of Yahudah (Judah), and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.
19For thus says Yahuah Tseva'ot (LORD of hosts) concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,
20Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Yahudah (Judah) from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Yahudah (Judah) and Jerusalem;
21Yea, thus says Yahuah Tseva'ot (LORD of hosts), the Elohim (God) of Yashar'el (Israel), concerning the vessels that remain in the house of Yahuah (LORD), and in the house of the king of Yahudah (Judah) and of Jerusalem;
22They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, says Yahuah (LORD); then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.