Jeremiah 27
The Lesson from the
Yoke-bars |
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In the beginning of the reign of
Jehoi'akim 2 Kgs. 24.18-20 · 2 Chr.
36.11-13 the son of Josi'ah king of Judah came this word
unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
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Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy
neck,
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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 Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers
which come to Jerusalem unto Zedeki'ah king of Judah;
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and command them to say unto their
masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;
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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.
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And now have I given all these lands into
the hand of Nebuchadnez'zar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the
beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
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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.
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And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnez'zar
the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke
of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with
the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
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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 Babylon:
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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.
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But the nations that bring their neck
under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I
let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell
therein.
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I spake also to Zedeki'ah 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.
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Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by
the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not
serve the king of Babylon?
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Therefore hearken not unto the words of
the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the
king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
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For I have not sent them, saith the
LORD, 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.
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Also I spake to the priests and to all
this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD;
Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you,
saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house
shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a
lie unto you.
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Hearken not unto them; serve the king of
Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid
waste?
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But if they be prophets, and if
the word of the LORD be with them, let them now
make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that
the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah,
and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.
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For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning
the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the
vessels that remain in this city,
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which Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon
took not, when he carried away captive Jeconi'ah the son of
Jehoi'akim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the
nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
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yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the
vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and
of Jerusalem;
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They shall be carried to Babylon, and
there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the
LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore
them to this place.
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