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Jeremiah 25

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Prophecy Dated: 23 Years of Warning 1–7

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The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon), ​
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which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:
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From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even unto this day, these three and twenty years, the word of Jehovah hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. ​
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And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, (but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear),
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saying, Return ye now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah hath given unto you and to your fathers, from of old and even for evermore; ​
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and go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
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Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith Jehovah; that ye may provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt.

Judgment Declared: The Seventy Years 8–14

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Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Because ye have not heard my words,
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behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Jehovah, and I will send unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations. ​
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Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. ​
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And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ​
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And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith Jehovah, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate for ever. ​
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And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. ​
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For many nations and great kings shall make bondmen of them, even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.

The Wine Cup of God’s Wrath 15–29

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For thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto me: Take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. ​
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And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
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Then took I the cup at Jehovah’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom Jehovah had sent me:
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to wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; ​
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Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
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and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
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Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon;
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and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea;
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Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that have the corners of their hair cut off;
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and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the wilderness;
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and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes;
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and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. ​
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And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink ye, and be drunken, and spew, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
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And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Ye shall surely drink.
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For, lo, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah of hosts. ​

The Lord Roars Against the Nations 30–38

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Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, Jehovah will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he will mightily roar against his fold; he will give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. ​
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A noise shall come even to the end of the earth; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the nations; he will enter into judgment with all flesh: as for the wicked, he will give them to the sword, saith Jehovah. ​
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Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
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And the slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the face of the ground. ​
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Wail, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow in ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are fully come, and ye shall fall like a goodly vessel. ​
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And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
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A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the principal of the flock! for Jehovah layeth waste their pasture.
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And the peaceable folds are brought to silence because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.
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He hath left his covert, as the lion; for their land is become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppressing sword, and because of his fierce anger. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jeremiah 25

Verse 1

the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon — The same year is reckoned in two ways, as the fourth of Jehoiakim in Judah and the first of Nebuchadrezzar in Babylon. In that same fourth year Nebuchadrezzar defeated Pharaohnecho at Carchemish (Jer 46:2) and Jeremiah's word was written down (Jer 36:1–4). The king named here as the LORD's instrument is himself judged in vv.12 and 26.

Verse 3

rising early and speaking — The span of Jeremiah's word runs from the thirteenth year of Josiah (Jer 1:2) to the twenty-third year. 'Rising early' (shakam) is a phrase found in eleven verses of Jeremiah, of the LORD speaking and sending his prophets without pause (Jer 7:25; 35:14). The charge is that 'ye have not hearkened'.

Verse 5

Turn ye again now every one from his evil way — Shub, to turn back, is the standing call of the prophets: 'return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good' (Jer 18:11). The reward named is the land 'that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever', the gift sworn to Abraham (Gen 17:8).

Verse 9

Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant — The LORD uses the title again for him in Jer 27:6 and 43:10, as one who works the LORD's sentence on 'this land'. He comes with 'all the families of the north', as Jeremiah was told at his call (Jer 1:15). 'Utterly destroy' is charam, to put under the ban; 'astonishment' returns in vv.11 and 18, 'hissing' in v.18.

Verse 10

the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride — The voices of mirth, gladness, the bridegroom and the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp (ner) are all taken away. Jeremiah had said the same of Judah's cities (Jer 7:34); the promise of return gives the same voices back (Jer 33:10–11). Revelation uses these words of Babylon's end (Rev 18:22–23).

Verse 11

seventy years — The nations 'shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years'. Daniel counted it 'by books' (Dan 9:2), and Chronicles records its fulfilment: the land lay desolate 'to fulfil threescore and ten years' (2 Chr 36:21), and the first year of Cyrus ended it (2 Chr 36:22). Jeremiah gives the promise of return after it (Jer 29:10).

Verse 12

when seventy years are accomplished — The servant is judged too: 'I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation… for their iniquity'. Paqad, to visit, is the verb of Jer 29:10, where it is the LORD's visit in mercy to his people. Babylon's sentence is the subject of Jeremiah's later chapters (Jer 50:1), and 'perpetual desolations' echoes v.9 (Hebrew shemamah, not chorbah).

Verse 13

all that is written in this book — The book written against the nations is the part of Jeremiah that opens 'against the Gentiles' (Jer 46:1) and closes with 'Thus far are the words of Jeremiah' (Jer 51:64). The LORD calls the words his own: 'all my words which I have pronounced against it'. Jeremiah was set 'over the nations' from the start (Jer 1:10).

Verse 15

the wine cup of this fury — This is a cup of the LORD's anger, given to the prophet to hand to the nations: 'in the hand of the LORD there is a cup' (Ps 75:8). Jerusalem had drunk it first (Isa 51:17); here 'all the nations' follow, and the list of vv.17–26 runs from Jerusalem to the king of Sheshach. Revelation uses the cup for the final judgment (Rev 14:10).

Verse 18

Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah — The list of the cup begins with Jerusalem. Judgment starts with the people who bear the LORD's name: so Ezekiel is told, 'begin at my sanctuary' (Ezek 9:6), and Peter, 'judgment must begin at the house of God' (1 Pet 4:17). 'Desolation… astonishment… hissing' are the three words of v.9.

Verse 26

the king of Sheshach shall drink after them — Sheshach is Babylon: Jer 51:41 sets the two side by side, 'How is Sheshach taken!… how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!' These are the only two occurrences. Babylon drinks last, as the 'seventy years' of v.12 run out; its king was drinking from the temple's vessels when his kingdom was taken (Dan 5:2, 31).

Verse 29

the city which is called by my name — Qara, to call: Jerusalem bears the LORD's name, so the sword reaches it first, and 'unpunished' (naqah) is repeated three times in the verse. The argument runs from the nearer to the further, as in Prov 11:31: 'the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.'

Verse 30

The LORD shall roar from on high — Sha'ag, the lion's roar, occurs three times in the verse, and Amos 1:2 ('The LORD will roar from Zion') and Joel 3:16 use the same verb. The 'shout' (hedad) is the cry of the grape-treaders, the vintage shout of Isa 16:9 and Jer 48:33. 'Holy habitation' is the LORD's heavenly dwelling (Deut 26:15).

Verse 31

the LORD hath a controversy with the nations — Rib, a legal case, is the word used of Israel in Hos 4:1 and in 'the LORD'S controversy' (Mic 6:2). Here the case is against 'all flesh', and the way he 'will plead' (shaphat, to judge) is the sword. Isa 66:16 uses the same expression: 'by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh'.

Verse 33

the slain of the LORD — They fall 'from one end of the earth even unto the other end', and are left unburied: 'they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried'. Jeremiah used the same words of Judah's own dead (Jer 16:4: 'they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth').

Verse 34

Howl, ye shepherds — The 'shepherds' are the rulers of the nations, and the 'principal of the flock' (addir) its leaders; v.36 returns to their cry. Their mourning is the one Jeremiah demanded of Zion's daughter, 'wallow thyself in ashes' (Jer 6:26). 'Dispersions' (tephotsah) occurs only here. A 'pleasant vessel' is keli chemdah, a prized vessel.

Verse 38

He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion — Sok, a lair or booth, is a lion's 'den' in Ps 10:9 and the LORD's own 'tabernacle' in Salem in Ps 76:2. The 'oppressor' (yonah) is the word of 'the oppressing sword' (Jer 46:16; 50:16). The 'fierce anger' (charon) closes the chapter as it began in v.37: 'because of the fierce anger of the LORD'.