1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, this Word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

2 Thus says Jehovah to me, Make bonds and yokes for yourself, and put them on your neck,

3 and 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 Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

4 And command them to go to their masters, saying, Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Thus you shall say to your masters,

5 I have made the earth, man, and the animals on the face of the earth, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed right to Me.

6 And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant. And I have also given him the beasts of the field to serve him.

7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the time of his land comes. And then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them.

8 And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish, says Jehovah, with the sword and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

9 Therefore, do not listen to your prophets, nor to your fortune tellers, nor to your dreamers, nor to your conjurers, nor to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon.

10 For they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out and you should perish.

11 But the nations who bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, those I will let remain on their own land, says Jehovah. And they shall work it and dwell in it.

12 I also spoke to Zedekiah king of 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.

13 Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Jehovah has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

14 Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon. For they prophesy a lie to you.

15 For I have not sent them, says Jehovah; yet they prophesy a lie in My name, so that I might drive you out, and that you might perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.

16 Also I spoke to the priests and to all the people, saying, Thus says Jehovah, Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of Jehovah’s house shall now shortly be brought back from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you.

17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. For why should this city be laid waste?

18 But if they are prophets, and if the Word of Jehovah is with them, let them now make entreaties to Jehovah of Hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.

19 For thus says Jehovah of Hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels which remain in this city,

20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;

21 yes, thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of Jehovah and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem:

22 They shall be carried to Babylon, and they shall be there until the day that I visit them, says Jehovah. Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.