Symbol of the Bonds and Yokes

1In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

2Thus says the Lord to me; Make you bonds and yokes, and put them upon your neck,

3And 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 to Zedekiah king of Judah;

4And command them to say to their masters, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall you^p say to your^p masters;   Jehovah^s.f. Tsebaoth^p.f.

5I 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 to whom it seemed meet to Me.   right

6And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.

7And 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.

8And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, says the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.   disease

9Therefore hearken not you^p to your^p prophets, nor to your^p diviners, nor to your^p dreamers, nor to your^p enchanters, nor to your^p sorcerers, which speak to you^p, saying, You^p shall not serve the king of Babylon:   listen; soothsayers, those who foretell; magicians; wizards

10For they prophesy a lie to you^p, to remove you^p far from your^p land; and that I should drive you^p out, and you^p should perish.

11But 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, says the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.

12I spoke also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your^p necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

13Why will you^p die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

14Therefore hearken not to the words of the prophets that speak to you^p, saying, You^p shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie to you^p.

15For I have not sent them, says the Lord, yet they prophesy a lie in My name; that I might drive you^p out, and that you^p might perish, you^p, and the prophets that prophesy to you^p.

16Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus says the Lord; Hearken not to the words of your^p prophets that prophesy to you^p, saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie to you^p.

17Hearken not to them: serve the king of Babylon, and live: why should this city be laid waste?

18But 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.

19For thus says 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,   rest

20Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;

21Yea, thus says 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;

22They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, says the Lord; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.   punish