God has Jeremiah wear a yoke and tells the nations to submit to Nebuchadnezzar. He tells Zedekiah and the priests not to listen to prophets who say the temple vessels will soon return.
1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD , saying ,
2 Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes , and put them upon thy neck ,
3 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 Zedekiah king of Judah ;
4 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 ;
5 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.
6 And 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.
7 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.
8 And 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 , saith the LORD , with the sword , and with the famine , and with the pestilence , until I have consumed them by his hand .
9 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 :
10 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 .
11 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.
12 I spake also to Zedekiah 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 .
13 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 ?
14 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.
15 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.
16 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.
17 Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon , and live : wherefore should this city be laid waste ?
18 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 .
19 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 ,
20 Which 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 ;
21 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 ;
22 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 .