1In beginning (bereshit) of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying,
2Thus said YHWH to me: Make for yourself bonds and bars, and put them on your neck.
3And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the sons of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
4And command (tzivvah) them concerning their lords, saying, Thus said YHWH of hosts (tzevaot), the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to your lords:
5I made the earth, the man (adam) and the beast that are on the face of the earth, by My great power and by My outstretched arm; and I give it to whomever is right in My eyes.
6And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant; and also the beast of the field I have given to him to serve him (avad).
7And all the nations shall serve him (avad), and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land comes; and many nations and great kings shall make a servant of him (avad).
8And it shall be, the nation and the kingdom that will not serve him (avad), Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put its neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon—with the sword and with the famine and with the pestilence I will visit upon that nation, declares YHWH, until I have consumed them by his hand.
9And you, do not hear to your prophets, and to your diviners, and to your dreams, and to your soothsayers, and to your sorcerers, who say to you, saying, You shall not serve (avad) the king of Babylon.
10For falsehood they are prophesying to you, in order to remove you far from your ground (adamah); and I will drive you out, and you shall perish.
11But the nation that brings its neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him (avad), I will leave it upon its ground (adamah), declares YHWH; and it shall till it and dwell in it.
12And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him (avad) and his people, and live.
13Why should you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as YHWH has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve (avad) the king of Babylon?
14And do not hear to the words of the prophets who say to you, saying, You shall not serve (avad) the king of Babylon, for falsehood they are prophesying to you.
15For I have not sent them, declares YHWH, and they are prophesying in My name for falsehood, in order that I drive you out, and you perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.
16And to the priests and to all this people I spoke, saying, Thus said YHWH: Do not hear to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the house of YHWH are being brought back from Babylon now quickly; for falsehood they are prophesying to you.
17Do not hear to them; serve (avad) the king of Babylon, and live. Why should this city become a ruin?
18And if they are prophets, and if the word of YHWH is with them, let them now intercede with YHWH of hosts (tzevaot), that the vessels that are left in the house of YHWH and the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not go to Babylon.
19For thus said YHWH of hosts (tzevaot) concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that remain in this city,
20which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he exiled Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—
21for thus said YHWH of hosts (tzevaot), the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of YHWH and the house of the king of Judah and Jerusalem:
22To Babylon they shall be brought, and there they shall be until the day I visit them, declares YHWH; and I will bring them up and restore them to this place.