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,

Verse Jeremiah 27:1. In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim — It is most evident that his prophecy was delivered about the fourth year of ZEDEKIAH, and not Jehoiakim, as in the text. See Jeremiah 28:1. Three of Kennicott's MSS. (one in the text, a second in the margin, and the third upon a rasure) have Zedekiah; so likewise have the Syriac and the Arabic. Houbigant, Lowth, Blayney, Dahler, and others declare for this reading against that in the present text. And it is clear from the third and twelfth verses, where Zedekiah is expressly mentioned, that this is the true reading.

2.

Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,

Verse Jeremiah 27:2. Make thee bonds and yokes — Probably yokes with straps, by which they were attached to the neck. This was a symbolical action, to show that the several kings mentioned below should be brought under the dominion of the Chaldeans.

3.

And 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 Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;

4.

And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;

5.

I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.

Verse Jeremiah 27:5. I have made the earth — I am the Creator and Governor of all things, and I dispose of the several kingdoms of the world as seemeth best to me.

6.

And now have I given all these lands unto the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.

Verse Jeremiah 27:6. And now have I given — These kingdoms are at my sovereign disposal; and at present, for the punishment of their rulers and people, I shall give them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

7.

And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.

Verse Jeremiah 27:7. And all nations shall serve him, (Nebuchadnezzar,) and his son, (Evil-merodach, Jeremiah 52:31,) and his son's son, (Belshazzar, Daniel 5:11.) All which was literally fulfilled.

8.

And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

9.

Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:

Verse Jeremiah 27:9. Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets — Who pretend to have a revelation from heaven.
Nor to your diviners — קסמיכם kosemeychem, from קסם kasam, to presage or prognosticate. Persons who guessed at futurity by certain signs in the animate or inanimate creation.
Nor to your dreamers — חלמתיכם chalomotheychem, from חלם chalam, to break in pieces; hence chalom, a dream, because it consists of broken fragments. Dream-interpreters, who, from these broken shreds patch up a meaning by their own interpolations.
Nor to your enchanters — ענניכם oneneychem, from ענן anan, a cloud-cloud-mongers. Diviners by the flight, colour, density, rarity, and shape of clouds.
Nor to your sorcerers — כשפיכם cashshapheychem, from כשף kashaph, to discover; the discoverers, the finders out of hidden things, stolen goods, c. Persons also who use incantations, and either by spells or drugs pretend to find out mysteries, or produce supernatural effects. Every nation in the world had persons who pretended to find out hidden things, or foretell future events and such were gladly encouraged by the ignorant multitude; and many of them were mere apes of the prophets of God. Man knows that he is short-sighted, feels pain at the uncertainty of futurity, and wishes to have his doubts resolved by such persons as the above, to put an end to his uncertainty.

10.

For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.

11.

But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.

12.

I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

13.

Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

Verse Jeremiah 27:13. Why will ye die — If ye resist the king of Babylon, to whom I have given a commission against you, ye shall be destroyed by the sword and by famine; but if ye submit, ye shall escape all these evils.

14.

Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.

15.

For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.

16.

Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.

Verse Jeremiah 27:16. The vessels of the Lord's house — Which had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar under the reigns of Jehoiakim and Jeconiah, 2 Chronicles 36:7-10.
Shall now shortly be brought again — This is a lie. They shall not be restored till I bring them up, Jeremiah 27:22, which was after the captivity, when they were sent back by Cyrus, the Lord inclining his heart to do it, Ezra 1:7; Ezra 7:19.

17.

Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?

18.

But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.

19.

For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,

Verse Jeremiah 27:19. Concerning the pillars — Two brazen columns placed by Solomon in the pronaos or portico of the temple, eighteen cubits high, and twelve in circumference, 1 Kings 7:16-22; Jeremiah 52:11.
The sea — The brazen sea, ten cubits in diameter, and thirty in circumference. It contained water for different washings in the Divine worship, and was supported on twelve brazen oxen. Perhaps these are what are called the bases here. See the parallel places in the margin, and the notes on them (2 Kings 25:13; Jeremiah 52:17; Jeremiah 52:20-21).

20.

Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;

21.

Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem;

22.

They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.

Verse Jeremiah 27:22. They shall be carried to Babylon — Far from those already taken being brought back, those which now remain shall be carried thither, unless ye submit to the Chaldeans. They did not submit, and the prophecy was literally fulfilled; see Jer 52:17-23; 2 Kings 25:13, and the other places in the margin. (2 Chronicles 36:18)