The Cup of the Wine of Wrath
15 For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. 16 They will drink, and reel back and forth, and be insane, because of the sword that I will send among them.” 17 Then I took the cup at Yahweh’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom Yahweh had sent me: 18 Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, with its kings and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is today; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, with his servants, his princes, and all his people; 20 and all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the Philistines, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; 21 Edom, Moab, and the children of Ammon; 22 and all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who have the corners of their beard cut off; 24 and all the kings of Arabia, all the kings of the mixed people who dwell in the wilderness; 25 and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes; 26 and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the surface of the earth. The king of Sheshach will drink after them. 27 “You shall tell them, ‘Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Drink, and be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.”’ 28 It shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then you shall tell them, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “You shall surely drink. 29 For, behold, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and should you be utterly unpunished? You will not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, says Yahweh of Armies.”’ 30 “Therefore prophesy against them all these words, and tell them, “‘Yahweh will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation. He will mightily roar against his fold. He will give a shout, as those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31 A noise will come even to the end of the earth; for Yahweh has a controversy with the nations. He will enter into judgment with all flesh. As for the wicked, he will give them to the sword,”’ says Yahweh.” 32 Yahweh of Armies says, “Behold, evil will go out from nation to nation, and a great storm will be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth.” 33 The slain of Yahweh will be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They won’t be lamented. They won’t be gathered or buried. They will be dung on the surface of the ground. 34 Wail, you shepherds, and cry. Wallow in dust, you leader of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions have fully come, and you will fall like fine pottery. 35 The shepherds will have no way to flee. The leader of the flock will have no escape. 36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the leader of the flock, for Yahweh destroys their pasture. 37 The peaceful folds are brought to silence because of the fierce anger of Yahweh. 38 He has left his covert, as the lion; for their land has become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppression, and because of his fierce anger.
A cup is carried around the whole known world and every nation drinks, and the first name on the list is Jerusalem.
The commission is theatrical and its logic is plain: take the cup from God's hand and make all the nations to whom you are sent drink it. Wine here is not pleasure but incapacity — they will reel back and forth and be insane — which is a description of what a nation looks like while an army moves through it. The image also carries the fact that nobody chooses their portion. A cup is handed over already poured.
The list that follows runs from Judah out to the edges of the known map: Egypt, the Philistine cities, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon, the Arabian tribes, Elam, the Medes, and the kings of the north far and near. What matters is not the geography but the first entry: Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, with its kings and its princes. The cup begins at the temple's own city. The principle is stated outright a few verses later. If God is beginning at the city called by his name, no one else should expect to be passed over. Judgment starts where the knowledge was greatest.
The refusal is anticipated and dismissed. If they will not take the cup, they are to be told You shall surely drink, which removes the last thing a listener might have thought was theirs to decide. The last name on the list is given in a substitute form, and the book supplies the identification itself when the same word stands in parallel with Babylon at the end of the oracles against the nations Jeremiah 51:41. The empire that pours for everyone else is served last, and is served.
The closing verses change the sound. God roars from on high like a lion that has left its lair, and shouts like men treading grapes — the workers' rhythmic cry at the winepress, set against a vintage of blood. The reason given is judicial: Yahweh has a controversy with the nations. He will enter into judgment with all flesh. This is not a local deity punishing the neighbors of his people. It is a court with universal jurisdiction. The shepherds who thought themselves outside it are told to wallow in the dust, because there is nowhere to run.
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