Brenton/LXX Jeremiah 32 presents the command to Jeremiah to take the cup of unmixed wine from the Lord’s hand and cause all the nations to drink. Jerusalem drinks first, then Egypt, the Philistines, Idumea, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, the mingled peoples, Elam, Persia, the kings of the north, and all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. In many English Bibles the cup passage appears in Jeremiah 25:15-38 with some related material in chapter 49. This guide follows the embedded Brenton/LXX source while naming the familiar reference.
Source Shape Note
Brenton/LXX Jeremiah 32 carries the cup-of-wrath oracle (the command to cause all nations to drink). In standard Bibles the same material appears as Jeremiah 25:15-38 (with portions in 49). This guide uses the LXX sequence (cup in the nations block after ch. 25).
The cup is carried to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, then to Pharaoh and all Egypt, the mingled people, the kings of the Philistines (Ascalon, Gaza, Accaron, Azotus), Idumea, Moab, Ammon, the kings of Tyre and Sidon and the islands, Dedan, Teman, the shaven faces, those lodging in the wilderness, Elam, Persia, all the kings from the north far and near, and all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. The geography is universal. No region, no alliance, no distant power is exempt from the cup that begins at the city where the Lord’s name is called.
Jeremiah 32 LXX: The cup of unmixed wine
15. Thus said the Lord God of Israel; Take the cup of this unmixed wine from mine hand, and thou shalt cause all the nations to drink, to whom I send thee. 16. And they shall drink, and vomit, and be mad, because of the sword which I send among them. 17. So I took the cup out of the Lord’s hand, and caused the nations to whom the Lord sent me to drink: 18. Jerusalem, and the cities of Juda, and the kings of Juda, and his princes, to make them a desert place, a desolation, and a hissing; 19. and Pharao king of Egypt, and his servants, and his nobles, and all his people; 20. and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ascalon, and Gaza, and Accaron, and the remnant of Azotus, 21. and Idumea, and the land of Moab, and the children of Ammon, 22. and the kings of Tyre, and the kings of Sidon, and the kings in the country beyond the sea, 23. and Dædan, and Thæman, and Ros, and every one that is shaved round about the face, 24. and all the mingled people lodging in the wilderness, 25. and all the kings of Ælam, and all the kings of the Persians, 26. and all the kings from the north, the far and the near, each one with his brother, and all the kingdoms which are on the face of the earth. 27. And thou shalt say to them, Thus said the Lord Almighty; Drink ye, be ye drunken; and ye shall vomit, and shall fall, and shall in nowise rise, because of the sword which I send among you. 28. And it shall come to pass, when they refuse to take the cup out of thine hand, to drink it, that thou shalt say, Thus said the Lord; Ye shall surely drink. 29. For I am beginning to afflict the city whereon my name is called, and ye shall by no means be held guiltless: for I am calling a sword upon all that dwell upon the earth. 30. And thou shalt prophesy against them these words, and shalt say, The Lord shall speak from on high, from his sanctuary he will utter his voice; he will pronounce a declaration on his place; and these shall answer like men gathering grapes: and destruction is coming on them that dwell on the earth, 31. even upon the extreme part of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with the nations, he is pleading with all flesh, and the ungodly are given to the sword, saith the Lord. 32. Thus said the Lord; Behold, evils are proceeding from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind goes forth from the end of the earth. 33. And the slain of the Lord shall be in the day of the Lord from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be buried; they shall be as dung on the face of the earth. 34. Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and lament, ye rams of the flock: for your days have been completed for slaughter, and ye shall fall as the choice rams. 35. And flight shall perish from the shepherds, and safety from the rams of the flock. 36. A voice of the crying of the shepherds, and a moaning of the sheep and the rams: for the Lord has destroyed their pastures. 37. And the peaceable abodes that remain shall be destroyed before the fierceness of my anger. 38. He has forsaken his lair, as a lion: for their land is become desolate before the great sword.
The command is stark: “Take the cup of this unmixed wine from mine hand, and thou shalt cause all the nations to drink.” The effect is immediate and physical: they drink, vomit, are mad, fall, and in no wise rise. The cup begins with “the city whereon my name is called” — Jerusalem and Judah drink first — and then moves outward without exception. Pharaoh and all Egypt, the Philistines with their five cities, Idumea, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, the islands, the desert peoples, Elam, Persia, the far north, and every kingdom on the face of the earth.
The Lord is “beginning to afflict” the city that bears His name, and the nations “shall by no means be held guiltless.” He has “a controversy with the nations, he is pleading with all flesh.” The imagery of the whirlwind from the end of the earth, the slain from one end to the other unburied, the shepherds howling because their days are completed for slaughter, the peaceable abodes destroyed before the fierceness of anger — all of this flows from the single cup.
The hard-text guardrail is the order and the universality. Judgment begins at the house of God, yet it does not stop there. The nations who were not appointed to drink still drink. Refusal to take the cup does not exempt; “Ye shall surely drink.” The Lord who made the earth by great power and high arm gives it to whom it seems good in His eyes, and He calls the sword upon all who dwell upon it.
The cup is not a symbol of blessing here. It is the cup of unmixed wrath that produces madness, vomiting, and irreversible fall. The shepherds and rams of the flock are not spared because they are “peaceable.” Their pastures are destroyed. The lion has forsaken his lair. The land is desolate before the great sword.
The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪
No specific Coptic Orthodox lectionary reading for Jeremiah 32 is attested in the sources consulted. The cup imagery appears in the prophets and reaches its fulfillment when Christ voluntarily takes the cup of suffering and judgment in Gethsemane (Matt 26:39, 42), offering Himself as the new covenant in His blood (Luke 22:20). The Church drinks the cup of blessing in the Eucharist rather than the cup of wrath meted to the nations. Those who refuse the Lord’s word drink the cup of His judgment.
Spiritual Fruit 🍇
The fruit is the sober recognition that the cup of wrath begins at the house where the Lord’s name is called and does not stop until every nation has drunk. “I am beginning to afflict the city whereon my name is called, and ye shall by no means be held guiltless: for I am calling a sword upon all that dwell upon the earth.” Jerusalem and Judah drink first, then Pharaoh and all Egypt, the Philistines, Idumea, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, the islands, the desert peoples, Elam, Persia, the far north, and every kingdom on the face of the earth. “From one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth” the slain of the Lord shall lie unburied.
In parish life this calls the Church to examine whether she treats the Lord’s controversy with the nations as someone else’s problem. The shepherds and rams of the flock are not spared because they are “peaceable.” “Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and lament, ye rams of the flock: for your days have been completed for slaughter.” The peaceable abodes that remain are destroyed before the fierceness of anger. The lion has forsaken his lair.
Ascetically, the text invites the reader to ask whether he refuses the cup of repentance and therefore must drink the cup of wrath that produces vomiting, madness, and irreversible fall. Ecclesially, no distance, no alliance, no desert stronghold, no sea commerce, no ancient glory exempts anyone. The same Lord who begins with His own city will not hold the nations guiltless. The cup of unmixed wine is the end of every life and every power that refuses to be poured out in repentance; those who refuse to take it “shall surely drink.”
Teaching Notes
People and nations at a glance
- Jeremiah, commanded to take the cup from the Lord’s hand and cause the nations to drink, to prophesy the evils, and to declare that they shall surely drink.
- The Lord Almighty, who gives the cup, begins the affliction with the city on which His name is called, and has a controversy with the nations.
- The nations, from Jerusalem outward, who must drink, vomit, be mad, fall, and in no wise rise because of the sword.
- The shepherds and rams of the flock, whose days are completed for slaughter; the peaceable abodes that remain are destroyed before the fierceness of anger.
Jeremiah 32 LXX: The cup of unmixed wine
Ask: Why does the cup of wrath begin with the city where the Lord’s name is called?
Emphasize: Judgment begins with the people who bear the name; privilege does not exempt, it intensifies accountability.
Watch for: Assuming that because we are “the Church” or “the people of God” we are automatically on the safe side of the cup.
Connect: Christ voluntarily takes the cup of suffering and judgment in Gethsemane and offers Himself as the new covenant in His blood; the Church receives the Eucharistic cup of blessing through His Passion and victory over death.
Show: Trace the list from Jerusalem outward on a map of the ancient world to show the expanding circle.
Ask: What does the exhaustive list of nations teach about the scope of the Lord’s controversy?
Emphasize: From Egypt to Persia, from the islands to the far north, every kingdom on the face of the earth must drink.
Watch for: Reading the passage as ancient politics rather than as a word that still addresses every human power and every human heart.
Connect: The Lord who has a controversy with all flesh will judge the living and the dead.
Show: Note the repeated refusal language: even if they refuse the cup, they shall surely drink.
Ask: Why are the shepherds and the peaceable abodes not spared?
Emphasize: Visible peace and leadership do not protect when the fierceness of anger comes. The cup reaches the “choice rams.”
Watch for: Trusting in outward stability or religious leadership without the inward reality the Lord requires.
Connect: Christ is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep; false shepherds are judged.
Show: Contrast the “peaceable abodes that remain” with the lion who has forsaken his lair.
Sources
Embedded Scripture is from Brenton’s English Septuagint (LXX).