“Let the earth
Bless the Lord!
Let it sing praise
To him!
Let it highly exalt him forever!
Bless the Lord!
Mountains!
Hills!
Sing praise to him!
Highly exalt him forever!
Bless the Lord!
All things that grow
On the earth!
Sing praise to him!
Highly exalt him forever!”
Now this hymn turns to the earthly situation. The earth, the mountains, the hills, and all things that grow on earth should bless the Lord. They should sing praises and exalt him, because they are under his control.
“‘Go!
Tell Hananiah!
Thus says Yahweh!
You have broken wooden bars,
Only to forge iron bars
In place of them!
Thus says Yahweh of hosts!
The God of Israel!
I have put an iron yoke
On the neck of all these nations.
Thus they may serve
King Nebuchadnezzar
Of Babylon.
They shall indeed serve him.
I have even given to him
The wild animals.’”
Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah to tell him to go to the prophet Hananiah. Jeremiah was to tell Hananiah that even though he had broken the wooden yoke that Jeremiah had around his neck, it was going to be replaced with an iron yoke. In fact, Yahweh, the God of Israel, was going to put an iron yoke on all the nations, so that they would all serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. There was no doubt that Yahweh favored the Babylonian king, so that even the wild animals were under his control.
