Jeremiah 44-52

Jubilee Bible 2000

44 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwelt in the land of Egypt, which dwelt at Migdol and at Tahpanhes and at Noph and in the country of Pathros, saying,

² Thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel said: Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwells therein,

³ because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.

⁴ Howbeit I sent unto you all my slaves the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.

⁵ But they did not hearken, nor incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.

⁶ Therefore my fury and my anger was poured forth and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.

⁷ Therefore now thus hath the LORD, the God of the hosts, the God of Israel said: Why do ye commit this great evil against your souls, that ye be cut off, man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah. Why do ye not desire to have a remnant?

⁸ In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, where ye are gone to dwell. Why do ye cut yourselves off that ye might be a curse and a reproach to all the Gentiles of the earth?

⁹ Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which was committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁰ They are not broken even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my rights, that I set before you and before your fathers.

¹¹ Therefore thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel said: Behold, I will set my face against you for evil and to cut off all Judah.

¹² And I will take the remnant of Judah that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to dwell there, and they shall all be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine; they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine; and they shall be for an oath and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach.

¹³ For I will visit those that dwell in the land of Egypt as I visited Jerusalem with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence:

¹⁴ so that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall escape or remain alive to return into the land of Judah, unto which they have a desire to return to dwell there; for none shall return but some fugitives.

¹⁵ ¶ Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

¹⁶ As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.

¹⁷ But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goes forth out of our own mouth to burn incense unto the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings unto her as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.

¹⁸ But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have lacked all things and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.

¹⁹ And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?

²⁰ ¶ Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people who had given him that answer, saying,

²¹ The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them and did it not come into his mind?

²² So that the LORD could no longer bear because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation and an astonishment and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.

²³ Because ye have burned incense and because ye have sinned against the LORD and have not listened to the voice of the LORD nor walked in his law nor in his rights, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil has come upon you, as at this day.

²⁴ Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:

²⁵ Thus hath spoken the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel, saying: Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings unto her; ye will surely accomplish your vows and surely perform your vows.

²⁶ Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, said the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD lives.

²⁷ Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine until there is an end of them.

²⁸ Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, so that all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.

²⁹ And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will visit you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:

³⁰ thus hath the LORD said: Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those that seek his soul; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his soul.

45 ¶ The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,

² Thus hath the LORD, the God of Israel said unto thee, O Baruch:

³ Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the LORD has added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I have found no rest.

⁴ Thus shalt thou say unto him, The LORD said thus: Behold, I destroy those whom I have built up and those whom I have planted I pluck up, even this whole land.

⁵ And dost thou seek great things for thyself? seek them not; for, behold, I bring evil upon all flesh, said the LORD: but I will give thee thy life as a spoil of battle in all places where thou goest.

46 ¶ The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles.

² To Egypt: against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.

³ Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.

⁴ Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.

⁵ Why have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down and are fled in haste, and do not look back: for fear was round about, said the LORD.

⁶ Do not let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they stumbled and fell toward the north by the river Euphrates.

⁷ Who is this that comes up as a flood, whose waters move as rivers?

⁸ Egypt rises up like a flood, and his waters move like rivers; and he said, I will go up and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.

⁹ Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.

¹⁰ But this day shall be unto the Lord GOD of the hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries; and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood; for it shall be a slaughter unto the Lord GOD of the hosts in the north country by the river Euphrates.

¹¹ Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for there is no cure for thee.

¹² ¶ The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry has filled the land; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, and they are both fallen together.

¹³ The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.

¹⁵ Why is thy fortress swept away? It could not stand because the LORD pushed it over.

¹⁶ He multiplied the fallen; yea, one fell upon another; and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people and to the land of our nativity, away from the overcoming sword.

¹⁷ They cried there: Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he allowed the appointed time to pass by.

¹⁸ As I live, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of the hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.

¹⁹ O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity; for Memphis shall be a pasture and shall be made desolate without an inhabitant.

²⁰ Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north.

²¹ Also her soldiers are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also turned back, and all fled away without stopping: because the day of their calamity was come upon them and the time of their visitation.

²² Her voice shall go forth like a serpent; for they shall march with an army and come against her with axes as hewers of wood.

²³ They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, for they cannot be counted because they are more than the locusts; they are innumerable.

²⁴ The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.

²⁵ The LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel, said: Behold, I will visit the multitude of Alexandria, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all those that trust in him.

²⁶ And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their soul and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his slaves; and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.

²⁷ But fear not thou, O my slave Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return and be in rest and be prospered, and no one shall make him afraid.

²⁸ Fear thou not, O Jacob my slave, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the Gentiles where I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but I will chastise thee with judgment; and I will not completely cut thee off.

47 ¶ The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Palestinians, before Pharaoh smote Gaza.

² Thus hath the LORD said: Behold, waters rise up out of the north and shall be an overflowing flood and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the cities and those that dwell therein; then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.

³ At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;

⁴ because of the day that comes to destroy all the Palestinians, and to cut off from Tyre and Zidon every helper that remains: for the LORD will destroy the Palestinians, the remnant of the island of Caphtor.

⁵ Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?

⁶ O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.

⁷ How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD has given it a charge against Ashkelon and against the sea shore? there has he appointed it.

48 ¶ Against Moab thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel said; Woe unto Nebo! for it is destroyed; it is confounded; Kiriathaim is taken; Misgab is confounded and dismayed.

² Moab shall no longer be praised; they have devised evil against Heshbon, saying, Come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.

³ A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.

⁴ Moab is destroyed; they have caused the cry of her little ones to be heard.

⁵ For in the ascending road of Luhith he that weeps shall go up weeping; for in the descending road of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.

⁶ Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.

⁷ For because thou hast trusted in thy works; in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken; and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.

⁸ And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed as the LORD has spoken.

⁹ Give wings {Heb. open flowers} unto Moab that he may flee and get away, for his cities shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.

¹⁰ Cursed be he that does the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keeps back his sword from blood.

¹¹ Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity; therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.

¹² Therefore, behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will send unto him captors that shall take him captive and shall empty his vessels and break his wineskins.

¹³ And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.

¹⁴ ¶ How do ye say, We are mighty and strong men for the war?

¹⁵ Moab is spoiled, and his cities destroyed, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, said the King whose name is the LORD of the hosts.

¹⁶ The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hastens fast.

¹⁷ All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken: the beautiful rod!

¹⁸ Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab has come against thee and has dissipated thy strong holds.

¹⁹ O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch; ask her that flees and her that escapes and say, What has happened?

²⁰ Moab is confounded, for it is broken down; howl and cry; tell it in Arnon that Moab is spoiled,

²¹ and judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,

²² and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Bethdiblathaim,

²³ and upon Kiriathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmeon,

²⁴ and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, those that are far and those that are near.

²⁵ The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, said the LORD.

²⁶ Make him drunken, for he magnified himself against the LORD; Moab shall also wallow in his vomit, and be in derision.

²⁷ For was not Israel a derision unto thee, as if he were found among thieves? for since thou hast spoken of him, thou hast slipped.

²⁸ O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities and dwell in the rock and be like the dove that makes her nest in the sides of the hole’s mouth.

²⁹ We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness and his arrogancy and his pride and the haughtiness of his heart.

³⁰ I know his wrath, saith the LORD, but it shall have no effect; his lies shall not be to his advantage.

³¹ Therefore I will weep over Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; my heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.

³² O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer; thy shoots are gone over the sea; they reach even to the sea of Jazer; the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.

³³ And joy and gladness shall be taken from the plentiful field and from the land of Moab; and I shall cause wine to cease from the winepresses; no one shall tread with song; their song shall be no song.

³⁴ The cry, from Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, they have uttered their voice; from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as a heifer of three years old; for the waters of Nimrim shall also be destroyed.

³⁵ Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offers upon an altar and him that burns incense to his gods.

³⁶ Therefore my heart shall sound like flutes for Moab, and my heart shall sound like flutes for the men of Kirheres because the riches that he has gotten are perished.

³⁷ For every head shall be bald, and every beard shaved: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon all the loins sackcloth.

³⁸ There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab and in the streets thereof; for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which there is no pleasure, said the LORD.

³⁹ They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how has Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all those about him.

⁴⁰ For thus hath the LORD said: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle and shall spread his wings over Moab.

⁴¹ The cities are taken, and the strong holds are taken, and the mighty men’s hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

⁴² And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people because he has magnified himself against the LORD.

⁴³ Fear and the pit and the snare shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, said the LORD.

⁴⁴ He that flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for I will bring upon him, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, said the LORD.

⁴⁵ Those that fled from the force stood under the shadow of Heshbon; because fire came forth out of Heshbon and a flame from the midst of Sihon and burned the corner of Moab and the crown of the head of the rebellious sons.

⁴⁶ Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh have perished; for thy sons are taken prisoners into captivity, and thy daughters are captives.

⁴⁷ Yet I will turn again the captivity of Moab in the last of the times, said the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

49 ¶ Concerning the Ammonites, thus hath the LORD said: Does Israel have no sons? does he have no heir? why then does their king inherit Gad and his people dwell in his cities?

² Therefore, behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be made a desolate heap, and her cities shall be burned with fire; then shall Israel be heir unto those that were his heirs, said the LORD.

³ Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled; cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird yourselves with sackcloth; lament and run to and fro by the hedges, for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.

⁴ Why gloriest thou in the valleys? Thy valley has slipped, O backsliding daughter that trusted in her treasures, she that saith, Who shall come against me?

⁵ Behold, I bring fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of the hosts, from all sides; and ye shall be driven out each man right forth in the direction he is facing; and no one shall gather up him that wanders.

⁶ And afterward I will turn again the captivity of the sons of Ammon, said the LORD.

⁷ ¶ Concerning Edom, thus hath the LORD of the hosts said: Is there no more wisdom in Teman? Has the counsel of the wise perished? Is their wisdom corrupted?

⁸ Flee, turn back, hide in the deeps to remain, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, at the time that I have to visit him.

⁹ If grapegatherers came against thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, they will take what they have need of.

¹⁰ But I will make Esau bare, I will uncover his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself; his seed shall be destroyed, and his brethren and his neighbours and he shall no longer be.

¹¹ Leave thy fatherless children; I will raise them; and thy widows shall trust in me.

¹² For thus hath the LORD said: Behold, those who were not condemned to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and shalt thou be absolved of everything? Thou shalt not be absolved, but thou shalt surely drink of it.

¹³ For I have sworn by myself, said the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes.

¹⁴ I have heard the news, that from the LORD a messenger had been sent unto the Gentiles, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.

¹⁵ For, behold, I have placed thee as small among the Gentiles and despised among men.

¹⁶ Thy arrogance has deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dost dwell in the clefts of the rock, that dost hold the height of the mountain: though thou should make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from there, said the LORD.

¹⁷ Also Edom shall be a desolation; every one that goes by it shall be astonished and shall hiss at all its plagues.

¹⁸ As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, said the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.

¹⁹ Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan to the strong habitation: for I will make rest and make him run from upon her, and he who is chosen I shall appoint over her; for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

²⁰ Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD that he has taken against Edom; and his thoughts, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out; surely he shall destroy their habitations with them.

²¹ The earth is moved at the noise of their fall; at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red Sea.

²² Behold, he shall rise up and fly as the eagle and spread his wings over Bozrah; and at that day the heart of the mighty men of Edom shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

²³ ¶ Concerning Damascus. Hamath is con­founded, and Arpad, for they have heard bad news; they have melted in waters of feebleness; they cannot be reassured.

²⁴ Damascus is waxed feeble and turns herself to flee, and fear has seized on her; anguish and sorrows have taken her as a woman in travail.

²⁵ How did they not forgive the city of praise, the city of my joy!

²⁶ Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, said the LORD of the hosts.

²⁷ And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the houses of Benhadad.

²⁸ ¶ Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote, thus hath the LORD said; Arise ye, go up to Kedar and destroy the men of the east.

²⁹ Their tents and their flocks shall they take away; they shall take to themselves their curtains and all their vessels and their camels; and they shall invoke fear on every side against them.

³⁰ Flee, get you far off, dwell in the deeps that ye may stand, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, said the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you and has conceived a purpose against you.

³¹ Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation that dwells without care, saith the LORD, which has neither gates nor bars, which dwells alone.

³² And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter them into all the winds, throwing them out unto the utmost corner; and from all their sides I will bring their ruin, said the LORD.

³³ And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons and a desolation for ever: no man shall abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.

³⁴ ¶ The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet regarding Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

³⁵ Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said: Behold, I break the bow of Elam, the foundation of their might.

³⁶ And upon Elam I will bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

³⁷ For I will cause Elam to fear before their enemies and before those that seek their soul; and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, said the LORD; and I will send the sword after them until I have consumed them.

³⁸ And I will set my throne in Elam and will destroy from there the king and the princes, said the LORD.

³⁹ But it shall come to pass in the last of the days that I will turn again the captivity of Elam, said the LORD.

50 ¶ The word that the LORD spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.

² Declare ye among the Gentiles, and publish, and set up a banner; publish, and do not conceal: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.

³ For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell therein: they shall leave, they shall depart, both man and beast.

⁴ In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the sons of Israel shall come, they and the sons of Judah together, going and weeping they shall go and seek the LORD their God.

⁵ They shall ask the way to Zion, unto where they shall turn their faces, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in an eternal covenant that shall never be forgotten.

⁶ My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their restingplace.

⁷ All that found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.

⁸ Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the meek in front of the flocks.

⁹ ¶ For, behold, I awake and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country, and from there they shall set themselves in array against her; she shall be taken; their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert one, who shall not return in vain.

¹⁰ And the land of the Chaldeans shall be for a spoil; all that spoil her shall come forth full, saith the LORD.

¹¹ Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced destroying my heritage, because ye filled yourselves as a heifer on grass and neighed like horses;

¹² your mother was sore confounded; she that bore you was ashamed: see here the latter end of the Gentiles: wilderness, dry land, and desert.

¹³ Because of the wrath of the LORD, she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be completely desolate; every one that goes by Babylon shall be astonished and hiss at all her plagues.

¹⁴ Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about; all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows; for she has sinned against the LORD.

¹⁵ Shout against her round about; she has given her hand; her foundations are fallen; her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD; take vengeance upon her; as she has done, do unto her.

¹⁶ Cut off the sower from Babylon and him that handles the sickle in the time of harvest; for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn each one to his people, and they shall flee each one to his own land.

¹⁷ Israel has been like scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away; first the king of Assyria has devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.

¹⁸ Therefore thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel said; Behold, I visit the king of Babylon and his land as I have visited the king of Assyria.

¹⁹ And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead.

²⁰ In those days, and in that time, said the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon those whom I shall have left.

²¹ ¶ Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it and against the inhabitants of Pekod; waste and utterly destroy after them, said the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

²² A sound of battle is in the land and of great destruction.

²³ How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! How is Babylon become a desolation among the Gentiles!

²⁴ I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware; thou art found, and also caught because thou hast provoked the LORD.

²⁵ The LORD has opened his treasury and has brought forth the vessels of his indignation; for this is the work of the Lord GOD of the hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

²⁶ Come against her from the ends of the earth, open her storehouses; cast her up as heaps and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.

²⁷ Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.

²⁸ The voice of those that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.

²⁹ Call together the archers against Babylon; all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do unto her; for she has become proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.

³⁰ Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, said the LORD.

³¹ Behold, I am against thee, O thou proud one, said the Lord GOD of the hosts; for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.

³² And the proud one shall stumble and fall and have no one to raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.

³³ ¶ Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said: The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah were oppressed together; and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.

³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of the hosts is his name: he shall thoroughly plead their cause that he may give rest to the land and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵ A sword is upon the Chaldeans, said the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon and upon her princes and upon her wise men.

³⁶ A sword is upon the fortune-tellers; and they shall be fools: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be broken.

³⁷ A sword is upon their horses and upon their chariots and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women; a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.

³⁸ A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up; for it is the land of graven images, and they are become mad upon their idols.

³⁹ Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall no longer be inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.

⁴⁰ As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

⁴¹ Behold, a people comes from the north, and a great nation and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

⁴² They shall hold the bow and the lance; they shall be cruel and will not show mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

⁴³ The king of Babylon has heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble; anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.

⁴⁴ Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the strong habitation; but I will rest and will make him run from upon her; and he who shall be chosen I will appoint over her. For who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

⁴⁵ Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD that he has taken against Babylon and his thoughts that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall drag them out, and they shall destroy their habitations with them.

⁴⁶ At the noise of the taking of Babylon, the earth was moved, and the cry was heard among the Gentiles.

51 ¶ Thus hath the LORD said; Behold, I raise up against Babylon and against her inhabitants that rise up against me from the heart, a destroying wind.

² And I will send unto Babylon fanners that shall fan her and shall empty her land; for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.

³ I shall say to the archer that bends his bow and unto him that lifts himself up in his brigandine, Spare ye not her young men; utterly destroy all her host.

⁴ Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans and those that are thrust through in her streets.

⁵ For Israel and Judah have not been made widows of their God, of the LORD of the hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

⁶ Flee out of the midst of Babylon and deliver each one his soul that ye not perish because of her iniquity, for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.

⁷ Babylon has been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand that made all the earth drunken: the Gentiles have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

⁸ Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed; howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

⁹ We applied the medicine to Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go each one into his own land; for her judgment is come unto heaven and is lifted up even to the clouds.

¹⁰ The LORD has brought our righteousness to light; come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.

¹¹ Make bright the arrows; gather the shields; the LORD has awakened the spirit of the kings of the Medes; for his thought is against Babylon to destroy her; for it is vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.

¹² Set up the banner upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for the LORD has deliberated and shall put into effect that which he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.

¹³ O thou that dwellest among many waters, rich in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy covetousness.

¹⁴ The LORD of the hosts has sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men as with locusts; and they shall sing the song of the winepress against thee.

¹⁵ He is the one who makes the earth by his power; he upholds the world by his wisdom and extends the heavens by his intelligence;

¹⁶ he who gives with his voice a multitude of waters from heaven, then he causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightnings with the rain and brings forth the wind out of his treasures.

¹⁷ Every man has become carnal and is without knowledge; let every founder be ashamed of the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

¹⁸ They are vanity, the work of errors; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

¹⁹ The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the Former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance; the LORD of the hosts is his name.

²⁰ Thou art my hammer, O weapons of war: for with thee I will break in pieces the Gentiles, and with thee I will destroy kingdoms;

²¹ and with thee I will break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee I will break in pieces the chariots and their riders;

²² with thee also I will break in pieces men and women; and with thee I will break in pieces old and young; and with thee I will break in pieces young men and virgins;

²³ I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee I will break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee I will break in pieces dukes and princes.

²⁴ And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, said the LORD.

²⁵ Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, said the LORD, which destroys all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand upon thee and roll thee down from the rocks and will make thee a burnt mountain.

²⁶ And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, said the LORD.

²⁷ Set ye up a banner in the land, blow the shofar among the Gentiles, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as raised up locusts.

²⁸ Prepare the nations against her: the kings of Media, the captains thereof, and all the princes thereof, and all the land of their dominion.

²⁹ And the land shall tremble and sorrow for every thought of the LORD is confirmed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.

³⁰ The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight; they have remained in their holds; their might has failed; they became as women: the enemies have burned her dwelling places; they have broken her bars.

³¹ One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken in all places,

³² And the fords were taken, and they have burned the reeds with fire, and the men of war were astounded.

³³ For thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel said: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor; it is now time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.

³⁴ Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a dragon; he has filled his belly with my delicates; he has cast me out.

³⁵ The violence against me and my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.

³⁶ Therefore thus hath the LORD said: Behold, I judge thy cause and shall take thy vengeance; and I will dry up her sea and make her flowing waters dry.

³⁷ And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and a hissing, without an inhabitant.

³⁸ They shall roar together like lions; they shall roar as lions’ whelps.

³⁹ In their heat I will place their feasts before them, and I will make them drunken that they may rejoice and sleep an eternal sleep and not wake, said the LORD.

⁴⁰ I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.

⁴¹ How is Sheshach a prey! and how is she who was the praise of the whole earth taken! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the Gentiles!

⁴² The sea is come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.

⁴³ Her cities were devastated, the land dry and desert, a land in which no man dwells, neither shall any son of man pass thereby.

⁴⁴ And I will visit Bel himself in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up; and the Gentiles shall not flow together any more unto him; and the wall of Babylon shall fall.

⁴⁵ Come out of the midst of her, my people, and save each one his life from the fierce anger of the LORD.

⁴⁶ And lest your heart faint, and ye fear because of the news that shall be heard in the land; in one year shall the news come, and after that in the next year shall come the rumour, and then shall come the violence in the land, and the ruler over him who rules.

⁴⁷ Therefore, behold, the days come that I will visit the graven images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be ashamed, and all her dead shall fall in the midst of her.

⁴⁸ Then the heavens and the earth and all that is therein shall sing praises over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come unto her from the north, said the LORD.

⁴⁹ As Babylon has caused the dead of Israel to fall, so because of Babylon the dead of all the earth fell.

⁵⁰ Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, do not tarry: remember the LORD for many days, and remember Jerusalem.

⁵¹ We are ashamed, because we have heard the reproach; confusion has covered our faces; for strangers are come against the sanctuaries of the LORD’s house.

⁵² Therefore, behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will visit her graven images; and through all her land the wounded unto death shall groan.

⁵³ Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify her strength upon high, yet from me shall destroyers come unto her, said the LORD.

⁵⁴ The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!

⁵⁵ Because the LORD destroys Babylon and takes out of her the many thunders, her waves shall roar; like many waters shall be the sound of their voice:

⁵⁶ because the destroyer is come against her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bow is broken: for the LORD God of recompenses shall surely requite.

⁵⁷ And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep an eternal sleep and shall not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of the hosts.

⁵⁸ Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly cast down, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and peoples and nations shall labour in vain in the fire to save her, and they shall become weary.

⁵⁹ ¶ The word which Jeremiah the prophet sent to Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was the chief steward of the bedchambers.

⁶⁰ So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.

⁶¹ And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon and shalt see and shalt read all these things;

⁶² then thou shalt say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that no one shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.

⁶³ And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates;

⁶⁴ and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be overcome. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

52 ¶ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

² And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

³ For because of the anger of the LORD against Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out of his presence, Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

⁴ Therefore it came to pass after nine years of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem and pitched camp against it and built forts against it round about.

⁵ So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

⁶ And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine prevailed in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

⁷ Then the city was breached, and all the men of war fled and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden, and they went by the way of the desert, even though the Chaldeans were by the city round about.

⁸ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king and took Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.

⁹ So they took the king and caused him to come up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath where he pronounced the sentence upon him.

¹⁰ And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.

¹¹ But he put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains; and the king of Babylon caused him to be taken to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.

¹² ¶ And in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem

¹³ and burned the house of the LORD and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great house he burned with fire:

¹⁴ And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, destroyed all the walls of Jerusalem round about.

¹⁵ Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and the fugitives that had fled to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.

¹⁶ But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.

¹⁷ Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.

¹⁸ The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they ministered, they took away.

¹⁹ And the basins, and the censers, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the lampstands, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, the captain of the guard took away.

²⁰ The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brazen bulls that were under the bases, which King Solomon had made in the house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels could not be weighed.

²¹ And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.

²² And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.

²³ And there were ninety-six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were one hundred round about.

²⁴ ¶ And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door.

²⁵ He also took out of the city a eunuch, who had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of those that were near the king’s person, who were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land for war; and sixty men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city.

²⁶ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.

²⁷ And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.

²⁸ This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand and twenty-three Jews:

²⁹ In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty-two persons:

³⁰ In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty-five persons: all the persons were four thousand six hundred.

³¹ ¶ And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty-fifth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him forth out of prison

³² and spoke kindly unto him and set his seat above the seat of the kings that were with him in Babylon

³³ and changed his prison garments: and he continually ate bread before him all the days of his life.

³⁴ And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every thing in its day for all the days of his life, until the day of his death.