2. I said to all the people of Judah and of Jerusalem,
3. “For 23 years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah until this very day, the Lord has spoken to me, and I have never failed to tell you what he said. But you have paid no attention.
4. You would not listen or pay attention, even though the Lord has continued to send you his servants the prophets.
5. They told you to turn from your wicked way of life and from the evil things you are doing, so that you could go on living in the land that the Lord gave you and your ancestors as a permanent possession.
6. They told you not to worship and serve other gods and not to make the Lord angry by worshipping the idols you had made. If you had obeyed the Lord, then he would not have punished you.
7. But the Lord himself says that you refused to listen to him. Instead, you made him angry with your idols and have brought his punishment on yourselves.
8. “So then, because you would not listen to him, the Lord Almighty says,
9. ‘I am going to send for all the peoples from the north and for my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. I am going to bring them to fight against Judah and its inhabitants and against all the neighbouring nations. I am going to destroy this nation and its neighbours and leave them in ruins for ever, a terrible and shocking sight. I, the Lord, have spoken.
19-26. Here is the list of all the others who had to drink from the cup:the king of Egypt, his officials and leaders;all the Egyptians and all the foreigners in Egypt;all the kings of the land of Uz;all the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod;all the people of Edom, Moab, and Ammon;all the kings of Tyre and Sidon;all the kings of the Mediterranean lands;the cities of Dedan, Tema, and Buz;all the people who cut their hair short;all the kings of Arabia;all the kings of the desert tribes;all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media;all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another.Every nation on the face of the earth had to drink from it. Last of all, the king of Babylonia will drink from it.
27. Then the Lord said to me, “Tell the people that I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, am commanding them to drink until they are drunk and vomit, until they fall down and cannot get up, because of the war that I am sending against them.
28. And if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink from it, then tell them that the Lord Almighty has said that they will still have to drink from it.
29. I will begin my work of destruction in my own city. Do they think they will go unpunished? No, they will be punished, for I am going to send war on all the people on earth. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken.
30. “You, Jeremiah, must proclaim everything I have said. You must tell these people,‘The Lord will roar from heavenand thunder from the heights of heaven.He will roar against his people;he will shout like a man treading grapes.Everyone on earth will hear him,
31. and the sound will echo to the ends of the earth.The Lord has a case against the nations.He will bring all people to trialand put the wicked to death.The Lord has spoken.’ ”
32. The Lord Almighty says that disaster is coming on one nation after another, and a great storm is gathering at the far ends of the earth.