1At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from Yahweh:
2Yahweh said to me, "Make chains and wooden yokes, and put them on your neck.
3Then 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. Give them to the messengers who have come to Jerusalem to King Zedekiah of Judah.
4Tell them to give this message to their masters: 'Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: You are to tell your masters:
5"I made the earth, and the people and animals on its surface, by my great power and my outstretched arm. I give it to whomever I choose."
6Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant. I have also given him the wild animals to serve him.
7All nations will serve him, and his son, and his grandson, until the time comes for his own land. Then many nations and powerful kings will make him their slave.
8"'"'Any nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and does not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish,' says Yahweh, 'with war, famine, and disease, until I have destroyed them by his hand."'
9"'So don't listen to your prophets, fortune-tellers, dream interpreters, diviners, or sorcerers who tell you, "You will not serve the king of Babylon;"
10because they are prophesying lies to you. Their goal is to make you leave your land, and for me to drive you out and make you perish.
11But the nation that puts its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him—that nation I will let remain in its own land,' says Yahweh, 'and they will farm it and live there.'"
12I spoke to King Zedekiah of Judah, telling him all these words: "Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and you will live.
13Why should you and your people die by war, famine, and disease, as Yahweh has declared will happen to any nation that does not serve the king of Babylon?
14Don't listen to the words of the prophets who tell you, 'You will not serve the king of Babylon,' because they are prophesying lies to you."
15“Because I have not sent them,” says Yahweh, “but they are prophesying lies in my name. This will cause me to drive you out, and you, along with the prophets who prophesy to you, will die.”
16I also spoke to the priests and to all these people, saying, Yahweh says: “Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Look, the articles from Yahweh’s house will be brought back from Babylon very soon.’ Because they are prophesying a lie to you.
17Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a wasteland?
18But if they are prophets, and if Yahweh’s word is with them, let them now beg Yahweh of Armies that the articles remaining in Yahweh’s house, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon.”
19For Yahweh of Armies says concerning the pillars, and concerning the large bronze basin, and concerning the stands, and concerning the rest of the articles that are left in this city—
20which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon did not take when he carried away King Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—
21yes, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says concerning the articles that are left in Yahweh’s house, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:
22“They will be carried to Babylon, and they will stay there until the day I come to them,” says Yahweh. “Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.”