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 hath the Lord said unto me: Make thee bonds and yokes and put them upon thy neck;
3. and thou shalt 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 Tyre and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the ambassadors which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
4. and thou shalt command them to say unto their masters, Thus hath the Lord of the hosts, the God of Israel said; Thus shall ye say unto your masters:
5. I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom was upright in my eyes.
6. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my slave; and even the beasts of the field I have given him that they might serve him.