1. This is the message that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah. It came in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah. This was the first year Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon.
2. This is the message Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
3. The Lord has spoken his word to me again and again for these past 23 years. I have been a prophet since the thirteenth year of Josiah. Josiah was the son of Amon king of Judah. I have spoken messages from the Lord to you from that time until today. But you have not listened.
4. The Lord has sent his servants the prophets to you over and over again. But you have not listened to them. You have not paid any attention to them.
5. They have said, “Stop your evil ways. Stop doing what is wrong. Do this so you can stay in the land. This is the land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors long ago. He gave it to you to live in forever.
6. Don’t follow other gods to serve them or to worship them. You must not worship idols that are the work of someone’s hands. That makes the Lord angry, and he will punish you.”
7. “But you did not listen to me,” says the Lord. “You worshiped idols that were the work of someone’s hands. That made me angry. So I punished you.”
8. So this is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “You have not listened to my messages.
9. So I will soon send for all the peoples of the north,” says the Lord. “I will soon send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I will bring them all against Judah and all the nations around you, too. I will completely destroy all those countries. I will leave them in ruins forever. People will be shocked when they see how badly they will be destroyed.
10. I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and happiness. There will be no more happy sounds of brides and bridegrooms. I will take away the sound of people grinding meal. And I will take away the light of the lamp.
11. That whole area will be an empty desert. And these nations will be slaves of the king of Babylon for 70 years.
12. “But when the 70 years have passed, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation,” says the Lord. “I will punish the Babylonians for their evil. I will make that land a desert forever.