And now I have handed all these lands over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have also given him the animals of the field to serve him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and I have also given the animals of the field to him to serve him.
- KJV And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
- BSB So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him.
- NKJV And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him.
- NLT Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant. I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God has handed all these lands to Nebuchadnezzar, even calling the pagan king 'my servant.' God can use even an idolatrous ruler to accomplish His purposes.
Overview
Strikingly, God names Nebuchadnezzar His servant, meaning an instrument of His judgment, not a worshiper. The Lord sovereignly grants Babylon dominion over the nations and even the beasts. This humbles human pride by showing that empires rise only by God's permission. The same sovereignty that ruled Babylon ultimately bends all things toward the kingdom of Christ, the true and faithful Servant.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jer 28:14For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him. I have also given him the animals of the field.”’”
- Jer 25:9behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,” says Yahweh, “and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations around. I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
- Dan 2:37–38You, O king, are king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory;
- Ezek 29:18–20Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.
- Jer 43:10and tell them, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne on these stones that I have hidden; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.
- Isa 44:28Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure,’ even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built;’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”
- Jer 51:20–23“You are my battle ax and weapons of war. With you I will break the nations into pieces. With you I will destroy kingdoms.
- Dan 5:18–19You, king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty:
- Jer 21:7Afterward,” says Yahweh, “I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even those who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. He will strike them with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.”’
- Jer 24:1Yahweh showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs set before Yahweh’s temple, after that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
- Ps 50:10–12For every animal of the forest is mine, and the livestock on a thousand hills.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 27:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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