Jeremiah 27 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from Yahweh:

This is what Yahweh said to me: "Make yourself straps and yoke bars, and put them on your neck."

Then send word to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to meet with Zedekiah king of Judah.

Give them this instruction for their masters: 'This is what Yahweh who commands armies, the God of Israel, says: Tell your masters this — '

"I am the one who made the earth, the people, and the animals on it by my great power and my outstretched arm, and I give it to whoever I see fit."

"And now I have handed all these lands over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even given him the wild animals to serve him."

"All nations will serve him, then his son, and then his grandson, until the time comes for his own land too. Then many nations and powerful kings will make him serve them."

"But if any nation or kingdom refuses to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and refuses to put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with war, famine, and plague — this is Yahweh's declaration — until I have finished them off through his hand."

"So don't listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dream interpreters, your sorcerers, or your spell-casters who keep telling you, 'You won't have to serve the king of Babylon.'"

"What they're prophesying to you is a lie, and it will only result in you being removed far from your land. I will drive you out, and you will be destroyed."

"But the nation that puts its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him — I will let that nation stay on its own soil," declares Yahweh. "They will farm it and live on it."

I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah. I said, "Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and you will live."

"Why would you and your people choose to die by war, famine, and plague — exactly what Yahweh has promised will happen to any nation that refuses to serve the king of Babylon?"

"Don't listen to the words of the prophets who keep telling you, 'You won't have to serve the king of Babylon,' because what they're prophesying to you is a lie."

"I didn't send them," declares Yahweh. "They are prophesying lies in my name, and the result will be that I drive you out and you will be destroyed — both you and the prophets who are prophesying to you."

Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people: "This is what Yahweh says: Don't listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, 'Look! The items from Yahweh's house will be brought back from Babylon any day now.' They are prophesying a lie to you."

"Don't listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a pile of rubble?"

"But if they really are prophets and actually have a message from Yahweh, then let them plead with Yahweh who commands armies that the items still remaining in Yahweh's house, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem won't also end up in Babylon."

Because this is what Yahweh who commands armies says about the pillars, the bronze basin, the movable stands, and the rest of the items still left in this city —

the ones that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, away from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the leading people of Judah and Jerusalem —

Yes, this is what Yahweh who commands armies, the God of Israel, says about the items still remaining in Yahweh's house, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:

"They will be carried off to Babylon and there they will stay until the day I turn my attention to them," declares Yahweh. "Then I will bring them back up and restore them to this place."