New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Prophecy against Philistia

1 That which came as the word of the Lordto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza.

2 Thus says the Lord:

“Behold, waters are going to rise from the north

And become an overflowing torrent,

And overflow the land and all its fullness,

The city and those who live in it;

And the men will cry out,

And every inhabitant of the land will wail.

3 “Because of the noise of the galloping hoofs of his stallions,

The tumult of his chariots,andthe rumbling of his wheels,

The fathers have not turned back fortheirchildren,

Because of the limpness oftheirhands,

4 On account of the day that is coming

To destroy all the Philistines,

To cut off from Tyre and Sidon

Every ally that is left;

For the Lordis going to destroy the Philistines,

The remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.

5 “Baldness has come upon Gaza;

Ashkelon has been ruined.

O remnant of their valley,

How long will you gash yourself?

6 “Ah, sword of the Lord,

How long will you not be quiet?

Withdraw into your sheath;

Be at rest and stay still.

7 “How can it be quiet,

When the Lordhas given it an order?

Against Ashkelon and against the seacoast-

There He has assigned it.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/JER/47-9ad3c2052916824eca766144d1547885.mp3?version_id=100—

Prophecy against Moab

1 Concerning Moab. Thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel,

“Woe to Nebo, for it has been destroyed;

Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured;

The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and shattered.

2 “There is praise for Moab no longer;

In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her:

‘Come and let us cut her off frombeinga nation!’

# You too,Madmen, will be silenced;

The sword will follow after you.

3 “The sound of an outcry from Horonaim,

‘Devastation and great destruction!’

4 “Moab is broken,

Her little ones have sounded out a cryof distress.

5 “For by the ascent of Luhith

They will ascend with continual weeping;

For at the descent of Horonaim

They have heard the anguished cry of destruction.

6 “Flee, save your lives,

That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.

7 “For because of your trust in your own achievements and treasures,

Even you yourself will be captured;

And Chemosh will go off into exile

Together with his priests and his princes.

8 “A destroyer will come to every city,

So that no city will escape;

The valley also will be ruined

And the plateau will be destroyed,

As the Lordhas said.

9 “Give wings to Moab,

For she will flee away;

And her cities will become a desolation,

Without inhabitants in them.

10 “Cursed be the one who does the Lord’swork negligently,

And cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood.

11 “Moab has been at ease since his youth;

He has also been undisturbed,like wineon its dregs,

And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,

Nor has he gone into exile.

Therefore he retains his flavor,

And his aroma has not changed.

12 Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will send to him those who tipvessels,and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter his jars.

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

14 “How can you say, ‘We are mighty warriors,

And men valiant for battle’?

15 “Moab has been destroyed and men have gone up to his cities;

His choicest young men have also gone down to the slaughter,”

Declares the King, whose name is the Lordof hosts.

16 “The disaster of Moab will soon come,

And his calamity has swiftly hastened.

17 “Mourn for him, all you wholivearound him,

Even all of you who know his name;

Say, ‘How has the mighty scepter been broken,

A staff of splendor!’

18 “Come down from your glory

And sit on the parched ground,

O daughter dwelling in Dibon,

For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you,

He has ruined your strongholds.

19 “Stand by the road and keep watch,

O inhabitant of Aroer;

Ask him who flees and her who escapes

Andsay, ‘What has happened?’

20 “Moab has been put to shame, for it has been shattered.

Wail and cry out;

Declare by the Arnon

That Moab has been destroyed.

21 “Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, Jahzah and against Mephaath,

22 against Dibon, Nebo and Beth-diblathaim,

23 against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul and Beth-meon,

24 against Kerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.

25 The horn of Moab has been cut off and his arm broken,” declares the Lord.

26 “Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant toward the Lord; so Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock.

27 Now was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Or was he caught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you shakeyour head in scorn.

28 “Leave the cities and dwell among the crags,

O inhabitants of Moab,

And be like a dove that nests

Beyond the mouth of the chasm.

29 “We have heard of the pride of Moab-heisvery proud-

Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance and his self-exaltation.

30 “I know his fury,” declares the Lord,

“But it is futile;

His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.

31 “Therefore I will wail for Moab,

Even for all Moab will I cry out;

I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.

32 “More than the weeping for Jazer

I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah!

Your tendrils stretched across the sea,

They reached to the sea of Jazer;

Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest

The destroyer has fallen.

33 “So gladness and joy are taken away

From the fruitful field, even from the land of Moab.

And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses;

No one will treadthemwith shouting,

The shouting will not be shoutsof joy.

34 From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaimand toEglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate.

35 I will make an end of Moab,” declares the Lord, “the one who offerssacrificeon the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods.

36 “Therefore My heart wails for Moab like flutes; My heart also wails like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have lost the abundance it produced.

37 For every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins.

38 On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable vessel,” declares the Lord.

39 “How shattered it is!Howthey have wailed! How Moab has turned his back-he is ashamed! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an object of terror to all around him.”

40 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, one will fly swiftly like an eagle And spread out his wings against Moab.

41 “Kerioth has been captured

And the strongholds have been seized,

So the hearts of the mighty men of Moab in that day

Will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

42 “Moab will be destroyed frombeinga people

Because he has become arrogant toward the Lord.

43 “Terror, pit and snare arecomingupon you,

O inhabitant of Moab,” declares the Lord.

44 “The one who flees from the terror

Will fall into the pit,

And the one who climbs up out of the pit

Will be caught in the snare;

For I shall bring upon her,evenupon Moab,

The year of their punishment,” declares the Lord.

45 “In the shadow of Heshbon

The fugitives stand without strength;

For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon

And a flame from the midst of Sihon,

And it has devoured the forehead of Moab

And the scalps of the riotous revelers.

46 “Woe to you, Moab!

The people of Chemosh have perished;

For your sons have been taken away captive

And your daughters into captivity.

47 “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab

In the latter days,” declares the Lord.

Thus far the judgment on Moab.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/JER/48-bf8a38c9837860ee00d2c871409812f7.mp3?version_id=100—

Prophecy against Ammon

1 Concerning the sons of Ammon. Thus says the Lord:

“Does Israel have no sons?

Or has he no heirs?

Why then has Malcam taken possession of Gad

And his people settled in its cities?

2 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“That I will cause a trumpet blast of war to be heard

Against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon;

And it will become a desolate heap,

And her towns will be set on fire.

Then Israel will take possession of his possessors,”

Says the Lord.

3 “Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed!

Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah,

Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament,

And rush back and forth inside the walls;

For Malcam will go into exile

Together with his priests and his princes.

4 “How boastful you are about the valleys!

Your valley is flowingaway,

O backsliding daughter

Who trusts in her treasures,saying,

‘Who will come against me?’

5 “Behold, I am going to bring terror upon you,”

Declares the Lord Godof hosts,

“From alldirectionsaround you;

And each of you will be driven out headlong,

With no one to gather the fugitives together.

6 “But afterward I will restore

The fortunes of the sons of Ammon,”

Declares the Lord.

Prophecy against Edom

7 Concerning Edom.

Thus says the Lordof hosts,

“Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman?

Has good counsel been lost to the prudent?

Has their wisdom decayed?

8 “Flee away, turn back, dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of Dedan,

For I will bring the disaster of Esau upon him

At the time I punish him.

9 “If grape gatherers came to you,

Would they not leave gleanings?

If thievescameby night,

They would destroyonlyuntil they had enough.

10 “But I have stripped Esau bare,

I have uncovered his hiding places

So that he will not be able to conceal himself;

His offspring has been destroyed along with his relatives

And his neighbors, and he is no more.

11 “Leave your orphans behind, I will keepthemalive;

And let your widows trust in Me.”

12 For thus says the Lord, “Behold, those who were not sentenced to drink the cup will certainly drinkit,and are you the one who will be completely acquitted? You will not be acquitted, but you will certainly drinkit.

13 For I have sworn by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that Bozrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin and a curse; and all its cities will become perpetual ruins.”

14 I have heard a message from the Lord,

And an envoy is sent among the nations,saying,

“Gather yourselves together and come against her,

And rise up for battle!”

15 “For behold, I have made you small among the nations,

Despised among men.

16 “As for the terror of you,

The arrogance of your heart has deceived you,

O you who live in the clefts of the rock,

Who occupy the height of the hill.

Though you make your nest as high as an eagle’s,

I will bring you down from there,” declares the Lord.

17 “Edom will become an object of horror; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss at all its wounds.

18 Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah with its neighbors,” says the Lord, “no one will live there, nor will a son of man reside in it.

19 Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make him run away from it, and whoever is chosen I shall appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Meinto court?And who then is the shepherd who can stand against Me?”

20 Therefore hear the plan of the Lordwhich He has planned against Edom, and His purposes which He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will drag them off,eventhe little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them.

21 The earth has quaked at the noise of their downfall. There is an outcry! The noise of it has been heard at the Red Sea.

22 Behold, He will mount up and swoop like an eagle and spread out His wings against Bozrah; and the hearts of the mighty men of Edom in that day will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

Prophecy against Damascus

23 Concerning Damascus.

“Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,

For they have heard bad news;

They are disheartened.

There is anxiety by the sea,

It cannot be calmed.

24 “Damascus has become helpless;

She has turned away to flee,

And panic has gripped her;

Distress and pangs have taken hold of her

Like a woman in childbirth.

25 “How the city of praise has not been deserted,

The town of My joy!

26 “Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets,

And all the men of war will be silenced in that day,” declares the Lordof hosts.

27 “I will set fire to the wall of Damascus,

And it will devour the fortified towers of Ben-hadad.”

Prophecy against Kedar and Hazor

28 Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. Thus says the Lord, “Arise, go up to Kedar And devastate the men of the east.

29 “They will take away their tents and their flocks;

They will carry off for themselves

Their tent curtains, all their goods and their camels,

And they will call out to one another, ‘Terror on every side!’

30 “Run away, flee! Dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of Hazor,” declares the Lord;

“For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has formed a plan against you

And devised a scheme against you.

31 “Arise, go up against a nation which is at ease,

Which lives securely,” declares the Lord.

“It has no gates or bars;

They dwell alone.

32 “Their camels will become plunder,

And their many cattle for booty,

And I will scatter to all the winds those who cut the cornersof their hair;

And I will bring their disaster from every side,” declares the Lord.

33 “Hazor will become a haunt of jackals,

A desolation forever;

No one will live there,

Nor will a son of man reside in it.”

Prophecy against Elam

34 That which came as the word of the Lordto Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

35 “Thus says the Lordof hosts,

‘Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam,

The finest of their might.

36 ‘I will bring upon Elam the four winds

From the four ends of heaven,

And will scatter them to all these winds;

And there will be no nation

To which the outcasts of Elam will not go.

37 ‘So I will shatter Elam before their enemies

And before those who seek their lives;

And I will bring calamity upon them,

Even My fierce anger,’ declares the Lord,

‘And I will send out the sword after them

Until I have consumed them.

38 ‘Then I will set My throne in Elam

And destroy out of it king and princes,’

Declares the Lord.

39 ‘But it will come about in the last days

That I will restore the fortunes of Elam,'”

Declares the Lord.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/JER/49-50f6cc36f062268589800a0755df6673.mp3?version_id=100—

Prophecy against Babylon

1 The word which the Lordspoke concerning Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:

2 “Declare and proclaim among the nations.

Proclaim it and lift up a standard.

Do not concealit butsay,

‘Babylon has been captured,

Bel has been put to shame, Marduk has been shattered;

Her images have been put to shame, her idols have been shattered.’

3 For a nation has come up against her out of the north; it will make her land an object of horror, and there will be no inhabitant in it. Both man and beast have wandered off, they have gone away!

4 “In those days and at that time,” declares the Lord, “the sons of Israel will come,boththey and the sons of Judah as well; they will go along weeping as they go, and it will be the Lordtheir God they will seek.

5 They will ask for the way to Zion,turningtheir faces in its direction; they will come that they may join themselves to the Lordinan everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.

6 “My people have become lost sheep;

Their shepherds have led them astray.

They have made them turn asideonthe mountains;

They have gone along from mountain to hill

And have forgotten their resting place.

7 “All who came upon them have devoured them;

And their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty,

Inasmuch as they have sinned against the Lordwho isthe habitation of righteousness,

Even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’

8 “Wander away from the midst of Babylon

And go forth from the land of the Chaldeans;

Be also like male goats at the head of the flock.

9 “For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon

A horde of great nations from the land of the north,

And they will draw uptheirbattle lines against her;

From there she will be taken captive.

Their arrows will be like an expert warrior

Who does not return empty-handed.

10 “Chaldea will become plunder;

All who plunder her will have enough,” declares the Lord.

11 “Because you are glad, because you are jubilant,

O you who pillage My heritage,

Because you skip about like a threshing heifer

And neigh like stallions,

12 Your mother will be greatly ashamed,

She who gave you birth will be humiliated.

Behold,she will bethe least of the nations,

A wilderness, a parched land and a desert.

13 “Because of the indignation of the Lordshe will not be inhabited,

But she will be completely desolate;

Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified

And will hiss because of all her wounds.

14 “Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side,

All you who bend the bow;

Shoot at her, do not be sparing withyourarrows,

For she has sinned against the Lord.

15 “Raise your battle cry against her on every side!

She has given herself up, her pillars have fallen,

Her walls have been torn down.

For this is the vengeance of the Lord:

Take vengeance on her;

As she has doneto others, sodo to her.

16 “Cut off the sower from Babylon

And the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest;

From before the sword of the oppressor

They will each turn back to his own people

And they will each flee to his own land.

17 “Israel is a scattered flock, the lions have driventhemaway. The first onewhodevoured him was the king of Assyria, and this last onewhohas broken his bones is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

18 Therefore thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria.

19 And I will bring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.

20 In those days and at that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.’

21 “Against the land ofMerathaim, go up against it,

# And against the inhabitants ofPekod.

Slay and utterly destroy them,” declares the Lord,

“And do according to all that I have commanded you.

22 “The noise of battle is in the land,

And great destruction.

23 “How the hammer of the whole earth

Has been cut off and broken!

How Babylon has become

An object of horror among the nations!

24 “I set a snare for you and you were also caught, O Babylon,

While you yourself were not aware;

You have been found and also seized

Because you have engaged in conflict with the Lord.”

25 The Lordhas opened His armory

And has brought forth the weapons of His indignation,

For it is a work of the Lord Godof hosts

In the land of the Chaldeans.

26 Come to her from the farthest border;

Open up her barns,

Pile her up like heaps

And utterly destroy her,

Let nothing be left to her.

27 Put all her young bulls to the sword;

Let them go down to the slaughter!

Woe be upon them, for their day has come,

The time of their punishment.

28 There is a sound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon,

To declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lordour God,

Vengeance for His temple.

29 “Summonmany against Babylon,

All those who bend the bow:

Encamp against her on every side,

Let there be no escape.

Repay her according to her work;

According to all that she has done,sodo to her;

For she has become arrogant against the Lord,

Against the Holy One of Israel.

30 “Therefore her young men will fall in her streets,

And all her men of war will be silenced in that day,” declares the Lord.

31 “Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,”

Declares the Lord Godof hosts,

“For your day has come,

The time when I will punish you.

32 “The arrogant one will stumble and fall

With no one to raise him up;

And I will set fire to his cities

And it will devour all his environs.”

33 Thus says the Lordof hosts,

“The sons of Israel are oppressed,

And the sons of Judah as well;

And all who took them captive have held them fast,

They have refused to let them go.

34 “Their Redeemer is strong, the Lordof hosts is His name;

He will vigorously plead their case

So that He may bring rest to the earth,

But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

35 “A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares the Lord,

“And against the inhabitants of Babylon

And against her officials and her wise men!

36 “A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become fools!

A sword against her mighty men, and they will be shattered!

37 “A sword against their horses and against their chariots

And against all the foreigners who are in the midst of her,

And they will become women!

A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!

38 “A drought on her waters, and they will be dried up!

For it is a land of idols,

And they are mad over fearsome idols.

39 “Therefore the desert creatures will livetherealong with the jackals;

The ostriches also will live in it,

And it will never again be inhabited

Or dwelt in from generation to generation.

40 “As when God overthrew Sodom

And Gomorrah with its neighbors,” declares the Lord,

“No man will live there,

Nor willanyson of man reside in it.

41 “Behold, a people is coming from the north,

And a great nation and many kings

Will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.

42 “They seizetheirbow and javelin;

They are cruel and have no mercy.

Their voice roars like the sea;

And they ride on horses,

Marshalled like a man for the battle

Against you, O daughter of Babylon.

43 “The king of Babylon has heard the report about them,

And his hands hang limp;

Distress has gripped him,

Agony like a woman in childbirth.

44 “Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make them run away from it, and whoever is chosen I will appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Meinto court?And who then is the shepherd who can stand before Me?”

45 Therefore hear the plan of the Lordwhich He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: surely they will drag them off,eventhe little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them.

46 At the shout, “Babylon has been seized!” the earth is shaken, and an outcry is heard among the nations.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/JER/50-3834703c42c575ee8ce94d9efbeff33f.mp3?version_id=100—

Babylon Judged for Sins against Israel

1 Thus says the Lord:

“Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon

# And against the inhabitants ofLeb-kamai

The spirit of a destroyer.

2 “I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her

And may devastate her land;

For on every side they will be opposed to her

In the day ofhercalamity.

3 “Let not him who bends his bow bendit,

Nor let him rise up in his scale-armor;

So do not spare her young men;

Devote all her army to destruction.

4 “They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,

And pierced through in their streets.”

5 For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken

By his God, the Lordof hosts,

Although their land is full of guilt

Before the Holy One of Israel.

6 Flee from the midst of Babylon,

And each of you save his life!

Do not be destroyed in her punishment,

For this is the Lord’stime of vengeance;

He is going to render recompense to her.

7 Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord,

Intoxicating all the earth.

The nations have drunk of her wine;

Therefore the nations are going mad.

8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;

Wail over her!

Bring balm for her pain;

Perhaps she may be healed.

9 We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed;

Forsake her and let us each go to his own country,

For her judgment has reached to heaven

And towers up to the very skies.

10 The Lordhas brought about our vindication;

Come and let us recount in Zion

The work of the Lordour God!

11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!

The Lordhas aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes,

Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it;

For it is the vengeance of the Lord, vengeance for His temple.

12 Lift up a signal against the walls of Babylon;

Post a strong guard,

Station sentries,

Place men in ambush!

For the Lordhas both purposed and performed

What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

13 O you who dwell by many waters,

Abundant in treasures,

Your end has come,

The measure of your end.

14 The Lordof hosts has sworn by Himself:

“Surely I will fill you with a population like locusts,

And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you.”

15 It isHe who made the earth by His power,

Who established the world by His wisdom,

And by His understanding He stretched out the heavens.

16 When He utters His voice,there isa tumult of waters in the heavens,

And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth;

He makes lightning for the rain

And brings forth the wind from His storehouses.

17 All mankind is stupid, devoid of knowledge;

Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,

For his molten images are deceitful,

And there is no breath in them.

18 They are worthless, a work of mockery;

In the time of their punishment they will perish.

19 The portion of Jacob is not like these;

For the Maker of all is He,

And of the tribe of His inheritance;

The Lordof hosts is His name.

20 He says,”You are My war-club,Myweapon of war;

And with you I shatter nations,

And with you I destroy kingdoms.

21 “With you I shatter the horse and his rider,

And with you I shatter the chariot and its rider,

22 And with you I shatter man and woman,

And with you I shatter old man and youth,

And with you I shatter young man and virgin,

23 And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock,

And with you I shatter the farmer and his team,

And with you I shatter governors and prefects.

24 “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares the Lord.

25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,

Who destroys the whole earth,” declares the Lord,

“And I will stretch out My hand against you,

And roll you down from the crags,

And I will make you a burnt out mountain.

26 “They will not take from youevena stone for a corner

Nor a stone for foundations,

But you will be desolate forever,” declares the Lord.

27 Lift up a signal in the land,

Blow a trumpet among the nations!

Consecrate the nations against her,

Summon against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz;

Appoint a marshal against her,

Bring up the horses like bristly locusts.

28 Consecrate the nations against her,

The kings of the Medes,

Their governors and all their prefects,

And every land of their dominion.

29 So the land quakes and writhes,

For the purposes of the Lordagainst Babylon stand,

To make the land of Babylon

A desolation without inhabitants.

30 The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting,

They stay in the strongholds;

Their strength is exhausted,

They are becominglikewomen;

Their dwelling places are set on fire,

The bars of hergatesare broken.

31 One courier runs to meet another,

And one messenger to meet another,

To tell the king of Babylon

That his city has been captured from endto end;

32 The fords also have been seized,

And they have burned the marshes with fire,

And the men of war are terrified.

33 For thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor At the time it is stamped firm; Yet in a little while the time of harvest will come for her.”

34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured meandcrushed me,

He has set me downlikean empty vessel;

He has swallowed me like a monster,

He has filled his stomach with my delicacies;

He has washed me away.

35 “May the violencedoneto me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,”

The inhabitant of Zion will say;

And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”

Jerusalem will say.

36 Therefore thus says the Lord,

“Behold, I am going to plead your case

And exact full vengeance for you;

And I will dry up her sea

And make her fountain dry.

37 “Babylon will become a heapof ruins,a haunt of jackals,

An object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.

38 “They will roar together like young lions,

They will growl like lions’ cubs.

39 “When they become heated up, I will servethemtheir banquet

And make them drunk, that they may become jubilant

And may sleep a perpetual sleep

And not wake up,” declares the Lord.

40 “I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,

Like rams together with male goats.

41 “HowSheshak has been captured,

And the praise of the whole earth been seized!

How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!

42 “The sea has come up over Babylon;

She has been engulfed with its tumultuous waves.

43 “Her cities have become an object of horror,

A parched land and a desert,

A land in which no man lives

And through which no son of man passes.

44 “I will punish Bel in Babylon,

And I will make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth;

And the nations will no longer stream to him.

Even the wall of Babylon has fallen down!

45 “Come forth from her midst, My people,

And each of you save yourselves

From the fierce anger of the Lord.

46 “Now so that your heart does not grow faint,

And you are not afraid at the report thatwill beheard in the land-

For the report will come one year,

And after that another report in another year,

And violencewill bein the land

With ruler against ruler-

47 Therefore behold, days are coming

When I will punish the idols of Babylon;

And her whole land will be put to shame

And all her slain will fall in her midst.

48 “Then heaven and earth and all that is in them

Will shout for joy over Babylon,

For the destroyers will come to her from the north,”

Declares the Lord.

49 Indeed Babylon is to fallforthe slain of Israel,

Asalso for Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen.

50 You who have escaped the sword,

Depart! Do not stay!

Remember the Lordfrom afar,

And let Jerusalem come to your mind.

51 We are ashamed because we have heard reproach;

Disgrace has covered our faces,

For aliens have entered

The holy places of the Lord’shouse.

52 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“When I will punish her idols,

And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.

53 “Though Babylon should ascend to the heavens,

And though she should fortify her lofty stronghold,

From Me destroyers will come to her,” declares the Lord.

54 The sound of an outcry from Babylon,

And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!

55 For the Lordis going to destroy Babylon,

And He will makeherloud noise vanish from her.

And their waves will roar like many waters;

The tumult of their voices sounds forth.

56 For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,

And her mighty men will be captured,

Their bows are shattered;

For the Lordis a God of recompense,

He will fully repay.

57 “I will make her princes and her wise men drunk,

Her governors, her prefects and her mighty men,

That they may sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,”

Declares the King, whose name is the Lordof hosts.

58 Thus says the Lordof hosts,

“The broad wall of Babylon will be completely razed

And her high gates will be set on fire;

So the peoples will toil for nothing,

And the nations become exhaustedonlyfor fire.”

59 The message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (Now Seraiah was quartermaster.)

60 So Jeremiah wrote in a single scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon,that is,all these words which have been written concerning Babylon.

61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud,

62 and say, ‘You, O Lord, have promised concerning this place to cut it off, so that there will be nothing dwelling in it, whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.’

63 And as soon as you finish reading this scroll, you will tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates,

64 and say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and not rise again because of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become exhausted.'” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/JER/51-6b7372262ee8bc6da85d1d264a73dc4d.mp3?version_id=100—

The Fall of Jerusalem

1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

2 He did evil in the sight of the Lordlike all that Jehoiakim had done.

3 For through the anger of the Lordthiscame about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

4 Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenthdayof the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it.

5 So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

6 On the ninthdayof the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

7 Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls whichwasby the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah.

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

9 Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.

10 The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the princes of Judah in Riblah.

11 Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.

12 Now on the tenthdayof the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who was in the service of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.

13 He burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every large house he burned with fire.

14 So all the army of the Chaldeans whowerewith the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem.

15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the artisans.

16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

17 Now the bronze pillars which belonged to the house of the Lordand the stands and the bronze sea, which were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon.

18 They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the pans and all the bronze vessels which were used intempleservice.

19 The captain of the guard also took away the bowls, the firepans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the pans and the drink offering bowls, what was fine gold and what was fine silver.

20 The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the sea,andthe stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord-the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight.

21 As for the pillars, the height of each pillarwaseighteen cubits, and itwastwelve cubits in circumference and four fingers in thickness,andhollow.

22 Now a capital of bronze was on it; and the height of each capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates.

23 There were ninety-six exposed pomegranates; all the pomegranatesnumbereda hundred on the network all around.

24 Then the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, with the three officers of the temple.

25 He also took from the city one official who was overseer of the men of war, and seven of the king’s advisers who were found in the city, and the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city.

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

27 Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was led away into exile from its land.

28 These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away into exile: in the seventh year 3,023 Jews;

29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem;

30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 persons in all.

31 Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in thefirstyear of his reign, showed favor to Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.

32 Then he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings whowerewith him in Babylon.

33 So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and had his meals in the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life.

34 For his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king of Babylon, a daily portion all the days of his life until the day of his death.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/JER/52-2250e12410bdc2aa9140ad80428987b2.mp3?version_id=100—