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Atomic Bible
Jeremiah

Chapter 25

Seventy Years of Captivity and more

Jeremiah 25 gathers decades of ignored prophetic warning into a decisive announcement of judgment. Judah's refusal to listen will bring Babylon's domination for seventy years, yet the chapter then widens beyond Judah to all the nations, portraying them as drinking the LORD's cup of wrath until the whole earth feels the force of His controversy and even the shepherds of the peoples collapse under His anger.

This chapter marks a major turning point in Jeremiah by naming the seventy-year Babylonian domination and linking Judah's fate with a global reckoning. It binds historical judgment, international scope, and divine sovereignty together: Babylon is both God's servant for a season and eventually itself an object of judgment.

3 sections·892 words·~4 min read

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Jeremiah 25

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vv. 1-14

Seventy Years of Captivity

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T1his 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. 2So 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, but you have not listened. 4And the LORD has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear. 5The 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. 6Do 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.’

8Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, 9behold, 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 and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation. 10Moreover, 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. 11And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

12But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation. 13I 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. 14For 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.’”

vv. 15-33

The Cup of God’s Wrath

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T15his 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. 16And they will drink and stagger and go out of their minds, because of the sword that I will send among them.” 17So 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, 18to 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; 19Pharaoh king of Egypt, his officials, his leaders, and all his people; 20all the mixed tribes; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines: Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; 21Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites; 22all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea; 23Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media; 26all 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 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.’ 28If 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! 29For 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.’

30So you are to prophesy all these words against them and say to them: 31The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth 32This is what the LORD of Hosts says: 33Those 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.

vv. 34-38

The Cry of the Shepherds

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W34ail, you shepherds, and cry out; 35Flight will evade the shepherds, 36Hear the cry of the shepherds,

37The peaceful meadows have been silenced 38He has left His den like a lion,

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  1. 01vv. 1-14Seventy Years of CaptivityIn the fourth year of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah addresses all Judah and Jerusalem after twenty-three years of persistent warning. Because the people have refused both Jeremiah and the other prophets who called them to turn from evil and idolatry, the LORD will summon the northern powers under Nebuchadnezzar, make the land a desolation, and place the surrounding nations under Babylon for seventy years before punishing Babylon in turn.
  2. 02vv. 15-33The Cup of God’s WrathThe LORD next gives Jeremiah a symbolic cup of wrath and sends him to make nation after nation drink it, beginning with Jerusalem and moving outward through Egypt, Philistia, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, Arabia, Elam, Media, the northern kingdoms, and finally Sheshach. No people can refuse the cup, because if judgment starts with the city bearing the LORD's name, then the nations of the earth cannot expect to escape His roaring controversy and the sword He sends among them.
  3. 03vv. 34-38The Cry of the ShepherdsThe chapter ends by turning again to rulers and leaders, calling them shepherds and lords of the flock. They are told to wail because their time for slaughter and shattering has come; there will be no escape, the peaceful pastures are silenced, and the LORD has gone out like a lion from His lair to leave the land desolate under His fierce anger.
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