Jeremias 25

ARC · Chapter 25/52

1A palavra que veiu a Jeremias ácerca de todo o povo de Judah no anno quarto de Joaquim, filho de Josias, rei de Judah (que é o primeiro anno de Nabucodonozor, rei de Babylonia),

2A qual fallou o propheta Jeremias a todo o povo de Judah, e a todos os habitantes de Jerusalem, dizendo:

3Desde o anno treze de Josias, filho de Ammon, rei de Judah, até este dia (que é o anno vinte e tres), veiu a mim a palavra do Senhor, e vol-a fallei a vós, madrugando e fallando; porém não escutastes.

4Tambem vos enviou o Senhor todos os seus servos, os prophetas, madrugando e enviando-os (porém não escutastes, nem inclinastes os vossos ouvidos para ouvir),

5Dizendo: Convertei-vos agora cada um do seu mau caminho, e da maldade das suas acções, e habitae na terra que vos deu o Senhor, e a vossos paes, de seculo em seculo;

6E não andeis após deuses alheios para os servirdes, e para vos inclinardes diante d'elles, nem me provoqueis á ira com a obra de vossas mãos, para que vos não faça mal.

7Porém não me déstes ouvidos, diz o Senhor, para me provocardes á ira com a obra de vossas mãos, para vosso mal.

8Portanto assim diz o Senhor dos Exercitos: Porquanto não escutastes as minhas palavras,

9Eis que eu enviarei, e tomarei a todas as gerações do norte, diz o Senhor, como tambem a Nabucodonozor, rei de Babylonia, meu servo, e os trarei sobre esta terra, e sobre os seus moradores, e sobre todas estas nações em redor, e os destruirei totalmente, e pôl-os-hei em espanto, e em assobio, e em perpetuos desertos.

10E farei perecer d'entre elles a voz de folguedo, e a voz de alegria, a voz do esposo, e a voz da esposa, como tambem o som das mós, e a luz do candieiro.

11E toda esta terra virá a ser um deserto e um espanto: e estas nações servirão ao rei de Babylonia setenta annos.

12Será, porém, que, quando se cumprirem os setenta annos, então visitarei sobre o rei de Babylonia, e sobre esta nação, diz o Senhor, a sua iniquidade, e sobre a terra dos chaldeos; farei d'elles uns desertos perpetuos.

13E trarei sobre esta terra todas as minhas palavras, que fallei contra ella, a saber, tudo quanto está escripto n'este livro, que prophetizou Jeremias contra todas estas nações.

14Porque tambem d'elles se servirão muitas nações e grandes reis: assim lhes pagarei segundo os seus feitos, e segundo as obras das suas mãos.

15Porque assim me disse o Senhor, o Deus d'Israel: Toma da minha mão este copo do vinho do furor, e darás a beber d'elle a todas as nações, ás quaes eu te enviarei.

16Para que bebam e tremam, e enlouqueçam, por causa da espada, que eu enviarei entre elles.

17E tomei o copo da mão do Senhor, e dei a beber a todas as nações, ás quaes o Senhor me tinha enviado:

18A Jerusalem, e ás cidades de Judah, e aos seus reis, e aos seus principes, para fazer d'elles um deserto, um espanto, um assobio, e uma maldição, como hoje se vê

19Como tambem a Pharaó, rei do Egypto, e a seus servos, e a seus principes, e a todo o seu povo;

20E a toda a mistura de gente, e a todos os reis da terra de Uz, e a todos os reis da terra dos philisteos, e a Asquelon, e a Gaza, e a Ecron, e ao resto de Asdod,

21E a Edom, e a Moab, e aos filhos d'Ammon;

22E a todos os reis de Tyro, e a todos os reis de Sidon; e aos reis das ilhas que estão d'alem do mar;

23A Dedan, e a Tema, e a Buz e a todos os que habitam nos ultimos cantos da terra;

24E a todos os reis da Arabia, e todos os reis da mistura de gentea que habita no deserto;

25E a todos os reis de Zimri, e a todos os reis d'Elam, e a todos os reis da Media:

26E a todos os reis do norte, os de perto, e os de longe, um com outro, e a todos os reinos da terra, que estão sobre a face da terra, e o rei de Sheshach beberá depois d'elles.

27Pois lhes dirás: Assim diz o Senhor dos Exercitos, o Deus d'Israel: Bebei, e embebedae-vos, e vomitae, e cahi, e não torneis a levantar-vos, por causa da espada que eu enviarei entre vós.

28E será que, se não quizerem tomar o copo da tua mão para beber, então lhes dirás: Assim diz o Senhor dos Exercitos: Certamente bebereis.

29Porque, eis que na cidade que se chama pelo meu nome começo a castigar; e serieis vós totalmente innocentes? não sereis innocentes; porque eu chamo a espada sobre todos os moradores da terra, diz o Senhor dos Exercitos.

30Tu pois lhes prophetizarás todas estas palavras, e lhes dirás: O Senhor desde o alto bramará, e dará a sua voz desde a morada da sua sanctidade: terrivelmente bramará contra a sua habitação, e com grito de alegria, como dos que pizam as uvas, contra todos os moradores da terra.

31Chegará o estrondo até á extremidade da terra, porque o Senhor tem contenda com as nações, entrará em juizo com toda a carne: os impios entregará á espada, diz o Senhor.

32Assim diz o Senhor dos Exercitos: Eis que o mal sae de nação a nação, e grande tormenta se levantará das ilhargas da terra.

33E serão os mortos do Senhor, n'aquelle dia, desde uma extremidade da terra até á outra extremidade da terra: não serão pranteados, nem recolhidos, nem sepultados; mas estarão por esterco sobre a face da terra

34Uivae, pastores, e clamae, e rebolae-vos na cinza, honrados do rebanho, porque já se cumpriram os vossos dias para vos matar, e eu vos quebrantarei, e vós então caireis como um vaso precioso.

35E não haverá fugida para os pastores, nem salvamento para os honrados do rebanho.

36Voz de grito dos pastores, e uivo dos honrados do rebanho; porque o Senhor destruiu o pasto d'elles.

37Porque as suas malhadas pacificas serão desarraigadas, por causa do furor da ira do Senhor.

38Desamparou a sua cabana, como o filho de leão; porque a sua terra foi posta em assolação, por causa do furor do oppressor, e por causa do furor da sua ira.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jeremiah announces that the people will serve Babylon for seventy years as punishment, but after that period Babylon itself will also be judged. The prophecy extends to all the neighboring nations.

Explanation

This chapter marks a structural turning point in the book: from here on, the focus begins to include judgments against foreign nations, not just Judah. The 'seventy years' of Babylonian rule became one of the most precise and often-cited prophecies in the Bible, later confirmed in Daniel 9:2 and fulfilled with the return of the exiles under the decree of Cyrus of Persia. The image of the 'cup of fury' that all nations must drink shows that the announced judgment was not for Judah alone — Babylon, the instrument of punishment, would also eventually be judged for its own pride and violence.

Fun facts

  • The 'seventy years' of exile are generally counted from 605 BC (the first deportation) to 536 BC (the return after Cyrus's decree), matching historical records and the book of Ezra.
  • 'Sheshach,' mentioned at the end of the list of nations, is a coded cipher (using a system called 'atbash') for 'Babel' (Babylon) — a discreet way of naming the dominant empire of the time.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremias 25:1Dates the speech precisely: the year 605 BC, when Babylon, under Nebuchadrezzar, was beginning to become the great power that would dominate the whole region.
  2. Jeremias 25:2Confirms that this particular message was addressed to the whole nation, not just a limited group — a summary speech of Jeremiah’s entire prophetic career up to that point.
  3. Jeremias 25:3Jeremiah takes stock of 23 years of prophetic ministry, since his initial call during Josiah’s reign, showing that the warnings had gone back a long time, not a sudden new thing.
  4. Jeremias 25:4Broadens the picture: it wasn’t just Jeremiah, but an unbroken succession of prophets across decades, all ignored the same way.
  5. Jeremias 25:5Sums up the basic, repeated content of all these prophetic messages: a simple call to repentance, with the promise of remaining in the promised land.
  6. Jeremias 25:6Details the specific condition repeated by every prophet: abandon idolatry, to avoid provoking the very disaster their unfaithfulness was attracting.
  7. Jeremias 25:7Confirms that, despite so many warnings across generations, the final result was always the same: disobedience that brought harm on the people themselves.
  8. Jeremias 25:8A transition formula introducing the final sentence after the whole record of disobedience just presented.
  9. Jeremias 25:9Directly names Nebuchadrezzar as God’s instrument, surprisingly called “my servant” — even as a pagan king, he fulfills the role of carrying out divine judgment.
  10. Jeremias 25:10Describes the end of ordinary daily life: even the mundane sounds of everyday life, like the noise of the grinding millstones or the light of a lit lamp, will disappear.
  11. Jeremias 25:11The seventy years became a chronological landmark repeated in other texts (2 Chronicles 36:21, Daniel 9:2). It is not an exact count, but a round way of saying an entire generation, before Babylon itself would also be judged.
  12. Jeremias 25:12After the seventy years of dominance announced in the previous verse, it becomes Babylon’s own turn to be judged for its excesses — the instrument of punishment must also answer for itself.
  13. Jeremias 25:13A direct reference to the book of Jeremiah itself being written — a rare, self-aware mention that the prophecies against various nations are being put down in writing.
  14. Jeremias 25:14Announces that Babylon itself will be dominated by other nations in the future, which indeed happened with the Persian conquest — no one escapes accountability for their own actions.
  15. Jeremias 25:15The cup of fury that the nations are forced to drink is an image of forced drunkenness: just as wine takes away the control of someone who drinks too much, God’s judgment will leave these nations staggering and falling, with no escape. The list of nations shows that the judgment was not only against Judah, but regional.
  16. Jeremias 25:16Explains the effect of the “cup of fury” mentioned in the previous verse: an image of forced drunkenness representing the chaos and despair caused by war.
  17. Jeremias 25:17Jeremiah recounts carrying out the symbolic enactment, metaphorically handing this “cup of judgment” to each of the nations listed in the following verses.
  18. Jeremias 25:18Begins the long list of nations that will drink from the judgment, starting with Judah itself — judgment begins at home before it extends to the neighbors.
  19. Jeremias 25:19Includes Egypt in the list of judged nations — even though it was a superpower of the time, it too will face the consequences announced by God.
  20. Jeremias 25:20Continues the list, including smaller peoples of the region, like the Philistine cities — the judgment spares neither great empires nor small neighboring kingdoms.
  21. Jeremias 25:21Lists three nations neighboring Judah, on the other side of the Jordan River, with whom the people had a history of conflicts and alliances over the centuries.
  22. Jeremias 25:22Includes the Phoenician cities, famous for their maritime trade, and even distant territories across the Mediterranean Sea in the list of judgment.
  23. Jeremias 25:23Mentions Arab peoples of the desert, known for their caravan trade, reinforcing that the judgment reaches even the most remote, least-known regions.
  24. Jeremias 25:24Continues extending the list to nomadic peoples of the Arabian desert region, showing the almost universal reach of the announced judgment.
  25. Jeremias 25:25Includes even more distant kingdoms like Elam and Media, territories that would later become part of the future Persian empire — no nation of the time is left out.
  26. Jeremias 25:26Closes the list with one final reference to all the nations of the north — “Sheshach” is a secret code for Babylon itself, which will drink last from this judgment.
  27. Jeremias 25:27Returns to the image of forced drunkenness to describe the devastating, final effect of judgment on all these listed nations.
  28. Jeremias 25:28Makes clear that this judgment is not optional: even if some nation resists, the carrying out of the sentence is guaranteed, with no escape.
  29. Jeremias 25:29Argues that if even Jerusalem, the city chosen by God, did not escape judgment, no other nation would have grounds to consider itself exempt.
  30. Jeremias 25:30Describes God roaring like a lion from heaven, a powerful image of universal judgment, compared ironically to the joy of those treading grapes at harvest.
  31. Jeremias 25:31Broadens the judgment to a universal scope, described as a legal case brought by God against all humanity, not just against Judah or its immediate neighbors.
  32. Jeremias 25:32Describes the judgment spreading like a storm moving from one place to another, striking nation after nation in sequence.
  33. Jeremias 25:33Repeats the shocking image of unburied bodies, already used several times in the book, now on a global scale instead of confined to Judah alone.
  34. Jeremias 25:34Returns to the image of the “shepherds,” the political leaders of the nations, calling them to mourning because they too will be broken, like a precious vessel shattering.
  35. Jeremias 25:35Confirms that not even the most powerful, respected leaders will manage to escape the universal judgment being announced.
  36. Jeremias 25:36Describes the audible despair of these leaders as they realize they have completely lost their territories and power, compared to shepherds who have lost their own pasture.
  37. Jeremias 25:37Even the places that seemed safe and peaceful for these peoples will be uprooted, because of the intensity of the divine judgment.
  38. Jeremias 25:38Closes the chapter with one final image: God abandons His temporary shelter, like a lion leaving its den, because the whole land has been devastated by the violence of the judgment.

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