1-2 which was the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylonia, the Lord told me to speak to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. So I told them:
3For 23 years now, ever since the thirteenth year that Josiah was king, I have been telling you what the Lord has told me. But you have not listened.
4The Lord has sent prophets to you time after time, but you refused to listen.
5They told you that the Lord had said:
Change your ways! If you stop doing evil, I will let you stay forever in this land that I gave your ancestors.
6I don't want to harm you. So don't make me angry by worshiping idols and other gods.
7But you refused to listen to my prophets. So I, the Lord, say that you have made me angry by worshiping idols, and you are the ones who were hurt by what you did.
8You refused to listen to me,
9and now I will let you be attacked by nations from the north, and especially by my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. You and other nearby nations will be destroyed and left in ruins forever. Everyone who sees what has happened will be shocked, but they will still make fun of you.
10
21Then I went to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon,
22and to the kings of Tyre, Sidon, and their colonies across the sea.
23-24After this, I went to the kings of Dedan, Tema, Buz, the tribes of the Arabian Desert,
25Zimri, Elam, Media,
26and the countries in the north, both near and far.
I went to all the countries on earth, one after another, and finally to Babylonia.
27The Lord had said to tell each king, “The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, commands you to drink from this cup that is full of the wine of his anger. It will make you so drunk that you will vomit. And when the Lord sends war against the nations, you will be completely defeated.”
28The Lord told me that if any of them refused to drink from the cup, I must tell them that he had said, “I, the Lord All-Powerful, command you to drink.
29Starting with my own city of Jerusalem, everyone on earth will suffer from war. So there is no way I will let you escape unharmed.”
30The Lord told me to say:
From my sacred temple
I will roar like thunder,
while I trample my people
and everyone else
as though they were grapes.
31My voice will be heard
everywhere on earth,
accusing nations of their crimes
and sentencing the guilty
to death.
Disaster Is Coming32The Lord All-Powerful says:
You can see disaster spreading
from far across the earth,
from nation to nation
like a horrible storm.
33When it strikes, I will kill so many people that their bodies will cover the ground like manure. No one will be left to bury them or to mourn.
The Leaders of Judah Will Be Punished34The Lord's people are his flock,
and you leaders
were the shepherds.
But now it's your turn
to be butchered like sheep.
You'll shatter like fine pottery
dropped on the floor.
So roll on the ground,
crying and mourning.
35You have nowhere to run,
nowhere to hide.
*
36-37Listen to the cries
of the shepherds,
as the Lord's burning anger
turns peaceful meadows
into barren deserts.
38Like a lion leaving its den,
the Lord has abandoned
his people
to the destruction of war.
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