Jeremiah 28:14

28:14 For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says, “I have put an irresistible yoke of servitude on all these nations ²  so they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And they will indeed serve him. I have even given him control over the wild animals.”’” ³ 

Jeremiah 34:2-3

34:2 The Lord God of Israel told Jeremiah ⁴  to go and give King Zedekiah of Judah a message. He told Jeremiah ⁵  to tell him, “The Lord says, ‘I am going to ⁶  hand this city over to the king of Babylon and he will burn it down. 34:3 You yourself will not escape his clutches, but will certainly be captured and handed over to him. You must confront the king of Babylon face to face and answer to him personally. ⁷  Then you must go to Babylon.

Jeremiah 37:17

37:17 Then King Zedekiah had him brought to the palace. There he questioned him privately and asked him, ⁸  “Is there any message from the Lord?” Jeremiah answered, “Yes, there is.” Then he announced, ⁹  “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” ¹⁰ 

¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for this title.

² tn Heb “An iron yoke I have put on the necks of all these nations.”

³ sn The emphasis is on the absoluteness of Nebuchadnezzar’s control. The statement is once again rhetorical and not to be taken literally. See the study note on 27:6.

⁴ tn Heb “told him”; the referent (Jeremiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “told him”; the referent (Jeremiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb 34:1 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord…saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I am going to….”’”’” The translation has tried to avoid some of the confusion that is created by embedding quotations within quotations by using indirect quotation in some instances; the conceptualization is the same but the style is simpler.

⁷ tn Heb “Your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon and his mouth will speak with your mouth.” For this same idiom in reverse order see 32:4 and consult the translator’s note there for the obligatory nuance given to the verbs.

¹⁰ tn Heb “Then King Zedekiah sent and brought him and the king asked him privately [or more literally, in secret] and said.”

¹¹ tn Heb “Then he said.”

¹² sn Jeremiah’s answer even under duress was the same that he had given Zedekiah earlier. (See Jer 34:3 and see the study note on 34:1 for the relative timing of these two incidents.)