IN the beginning of the reign of Yahuyaqiym the son of Yo'shiyahu king of Yahudah came this word unto Yirmeyahu from Yahuah, saying,
Thus says Yahuah to me; Make you bonds and yokes, and put them upon your neck,
And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Mo'av, and to the king of the Ammoniym, and to the king of Tsor, and to the king of Tsiydon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Yerushalayim unto Tsidqiyahu king of Yahudah;
And command them to say unto their adoniym, Thus says Yahuah Tseva'oth, the Elohai of Yashar'el; Thus shall ye say unto your adoniym;
I 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.
And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nevukadne'tstsar the king of Babel, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
And 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.
And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nevukadne'tstsar the king of Babel, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babel, that nation will I punish, says Yahuah, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babel:
For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babel, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, says Yahuah; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
I spoke also to Tsidqiyahu king of Yahudah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babel, and serve him and his people, and live.
Why will ye die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Yahuah has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babel?
Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babel: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
For I have not sent them, says Yahuah, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.
Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus says Yahuah; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of Yahuah's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babel: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babel, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?
But if they be prophets, and if the Word of Yahuah be with them, let them now make intercession to Yahuah Tseva'oth, that the vessels which are left in the house of Yahuah, and in the house of the king of Yahudah, and at Yerushalayim, go not to Babel.
For thus says Yahuah Tseva'oth concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the remnant of the vessels that remain in this city,
Which Nevukadne'tstsar king of Babel took not, when he carried away captive Yekonyahu the son of Yahuyaqiym king of Yahudah from Yerushalayim to Babel, and all the nobles of Yahudah and Yerushalayim;
Yea, thus says Yahuah Tseva'oth, the Elohai of Yashar'el, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of Yahuah, and in the house of the king of Yahudah and of Yerushalayim;
They shall be carried to Babel, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, says Yahuah; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.