Jeremiah 25:9
Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Study Note
Study Note
God calls Nebuchadnezzar 'my servant' — his chosen instrument to bring judgment on Judah and the surrounding nations for seventy years. As with Isaiah 10's description of Assyria as the rod of God's anger, the use of a pagan king as divine servant raises profound questions about providence, moral responsibility, and the limits of political power. Daniel 1:1-2's 'the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand' confirms Jeremiah's theological interpretation, and both texts contributed to the biblical theology of exile as divine discipline rather than divine defeat.
Other Translations
behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Jehovah, and I will send unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Lo, I am sending, and have taken all the families of the north--an affirmation of Jehovah--even unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and have brought them in against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations round about, and have devoted them, and appointed them for an astonishment, and for a hissing, and for wastes age-during.
See, I will send and take all the families of the north, says the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, my servant, and make them come against this land, and against its people, and against all these nations on every side; and I will give them up to complete destruction, and make them a cause of fear and surprise and a waste place for ever.
Cross References
And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are …
These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel in …
Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because …
A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:
Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I …
And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and …
The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he …
And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end …
And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto …
O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.