1When Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, first became king this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2This is what the Lord has said to me: Make for yourself bands and yokes and put them on your neck;
3And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Zidon, by their servants who come to Jerusalem, to Zedekiah, king of Judah;
4And give them orders to say to their masters, This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Say to your masters,
5I have made the earth, and man and beast on the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I will give it to anyone at my pleasure.
6And now I have given all these lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant; and I have given the beasts of the field to him for his use.
7And all the nations will be servants to him and to his son and to his son's son, till the time comes for his land to be overcome: and then a number of nations and great kings will take it for their use.
