1At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD.
2This is what the LORD said to me: “Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck.
3Send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
4Give them a message from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, to relay to their masters:
5By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.
6So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him.
7All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.
8As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation by sword and famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I have destroyed it by his hand.
9But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’
10For they prophesy to you a lie that will serve to remove you from your land; I will banish you and you will perish.
11But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the LORD.”