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OEB by section JER 45:1

⌂ ← JER 45:1–52:34 ║ ©

Oracles Against Foreign Nations

Oracle on Egypt

46 The message concerning the nations which Jeremiah the prophet received from Jehovah.

2 On Egypt.

Concerning the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt at Carchemish on the river Euphrates, where it was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.

3 Set the buckler and shield in array,

And draw nigh for the battle.

4 Set the buckler and shield in array,

And draw nigh for the battle.

4b Harness the steeds, mount the chargers,

Stand forth in your helmets.

Polish your spears, don your breastplates.

5 Why are they turned in dismay–

Their warriors crushed,

Fled apace without once looking backward,

By terror beset?

6 The swift cannot flee,

Nor the strong man escape:

North by the banks of Euphrates

They stumble and fall.

7 Who is that rose up like the Nile,

Whose waters toss like floods?

8 It is Egypt that rose like the Nile,

Whose waters toll like floods.

" I will rise, I will cover the earth,

And destroy," said he, "her inhabitants.

9 Up, steeds; rage, ye chariots;

And forth, ye warriors, march–

Cush and Put, that handle the shield,

And ye Ludim, that bend the bow."

10 But that day is the Lord Jehovah’s–

A day of revenge on His foes,

When the sword shall devour to its fill,

And be drunken with their blood.

For Jehovah of Hosts hath a sacrifice

In the northern land, by Euphrates.

11 Up to Gilead, fetch thee balsam.

O virgin daughter of Egypt;

In vain dost thou multiply medicines,

No healing is there for thee.

12 The nations have heard thy wail,

And the earth is full of thy cry;

For warrior stumbles on warrior,

Both are fallen together.

13 The message of Jehovah to Jeremiah the prophet, that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, would come and smite the land of Egypt.

14 Tell it Migdol,

Publish it in Memphis:

Say, "Take thy stand and prepare,

For the sword hath devoured round about thee."

15 Wherefore is Apus fled?

Thy mighty one held not his ground,

Because down he was thrust by Jehovah.

16 The strangers among thee are fallen,

And prostrate, they say each to other,

"Let us flee from the murderous sword,

Let us rise and go back to our people,

To the land wherein we were born."

17 Call Pharaoh of Egypt "Blusterer,

Who hath let the hour go by."

18 As live, saith the King, whose name

Is Jehovah of Hosts: One shall come

Like Tabor among the mountains,

Or Carmel by the sea.

19 O daughter that dwellest in Egypt,

Prepare thee to go into exile;

For Noph is become like a desert,

An uninhabited waste.

20 A graceful heifer is Egypt,

But a wasp from the north hath assailed her.

21e For the day of disaster hath reached her,

f The time of her visitation.

a The warriors, too, that she hired,

b Were like unto fatted calves:

c As for them, together they turned

d And fled, without making a stand.

22a She hisseth like a serpent

b Against the advancing hosts;

23c For more are they than locusts,

d So many they cannot be counted.

22c Against her they come with axes,

Like men that hew down trees,

23a "Fell, saith Jehovah, "her forest,

b For it is impenetrable,"

24 Put to shame is the daughter of Egypt,

To men from the north given over.

25 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,

The God of Israel:

See! Amon of Thebes I will punish,

And Pharaoh and those that trust him;

26 An I will deliver them over

To those that seek their life,

To the hands of Nebuchadnezzar,

King of Babylon, and his servants.

But afterwards she shall be peopled

As in days of old, saith Jehovah.

27 So fear them not, O Jacob My Servant;

O Israel, be not dismayed, saith Jehovah.

For see! I will save both thee and thine offspring

From the far distant land where captive ye lie.

And Jacob once more shall have quiet and ease

In his own land, with no one to make him afraid;

28 So fear thou not, O Jacob My Servant,

For I, saith Jehovah, am with thee (to save thee).

An end I will make of the nations–

Of each, among whom I have driven thee;

But of thee I will not make an end.

I will not leave wholly unpunished,

But in measure I will chastise thee.

Oracle on the Philistines

47 The message concerning the Philistines which Jeremiah the prophet received from Jehovah, before Pharaoh smote Gaza. 2 Thus saith Jehovah:

From the north, see! waters are rising,

They swell to a raging torrent:

They will sweep o’er the land and its fulness,

The city and (all) her inhabitants.

Men shall utter a cry,

Those that dwell in the land shall howl.

3 At the noise of the hoofs of his galloping steeds,

At the rush of his chariots, the roar of his wheels,

The father shall not look behind for the children;

For all unnerved shall they be–

4 Because of the day of destruction

That cometh on all the Philistines,

Sweeping from Tyre and Sidon

All helpers that yet remain;

For Jehovah shall work destruction

On all that are left in the coast-land.

5 Baldness is come upon Gaza,

Ashkelon is destroyed.

O ye that are left of the Anakim,

How long must ye gash yourselves yet?

6 "Ah! Sword of Jehovah!

How long will it be ere thou rest?

Into thy scabbard get thee,

And keep thee quiet and still."

7 But how can it be quiet,

Since Jehovah hath given it a charge?

He hath destined it for Ashkelon,

And for the shore washed by the sea.

Oracle on Moab

48 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel:

Alas for the ruin of Nebo!

Kiriathaim is taken,

Misgab is shamed and dismayed.

2 The renown of Moab is vanished,

In Heshbon they plotted her ruin:

"Come, let us blot out the nation;

Thou, Madmen, shalt be silenced,

The sword shall follow thee hard."

3 Hark! a shriek from Horonaim–

Havoc and fell destruction.

4 Moab is destroyed,

The shriek can be heard far as Zoar,

5 They climb the ascent to Luhith,

Weeping the while as they go;

For the path that leads down to Horonaim

Is ringing with cries of destruction.

6 Fly, escape for your lives,

Though like bare desert shrub shall ye be.

7 Thou hast trusted in thy strongholds,

And therefore art thou taken:

Chemosh shall pass into exile,

His priests and his princes together.

8 Upon every city the spoiler shall come,

No city shall escape;

The valleys shall also perish,

And the table-land be destroyed,

In accord with the word of Jehovah.

9 Give ye wings unto Moab,

For fain would she fly away

From her cities that shall be desolate

And empty altogether.

10 Cursed be he that doeth

The work of Jehovah remissly;

And cursed be he that keepeth

His sword from (shedding) blood.

11 From his youth Moab been at ease,

On his lees he hath quietly rested–

Not emptied from vessel to vessel,

Nor ever to exile borne;

so his taste remaineth in him,

And his scent is all unchanged.

12 Therefore days, saith Jehovah, are coming,

When tilters I will send;

And they shall tilt him over

And empty out his vessels,

And dash his jars in pieces.

13 And the hopes of Moab in Chemosh

Shall be utterly disappointed,

As Israel was disappointed,

In Bethel, wherein she trusted.

14 How can ye claim to be heroes

And mighty men of war,

15 When the spoiler of Moab is come up against her,

And the flower of her youth is gone down to the slaughter?

Saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of Hosts.

16 The ruin of Moab is night at hand,

Her misery hasteth swiftly.

17 Bemoan her, all ye her neighbours,

All ye that know her name:

say, "How is the strong staff broken,

The rod that was so fair!"

18 Come down from thy splendour and sit in the mire,

Thou daughter that dwellest in Dibon;

For the spoiler of Moab is come up against thee,

Thy fortress he hath destroyed.

19 Stand by the way and spy,

O thou that dwellest in Aroer;

Ask of the fugitive men

And the women that flee, "What hath chanced?"

20 "Moab is put to shame:

She is broken; howl ye and cry."

21 Tell it by the Arnon that Moab is laid waste. Judgment is come upon the table-land – upon Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath, 22 upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23 upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, 24 upon Keriyyoth and Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.

25 Hewn off is the horn of Moab,

And her arm is broken, saith Jehovah.

26 Make ye her drunken, for she

Hath been insolent towards Jehovah.

Yeah, Moab hath clapped her hands,

And in turn shall she, too, be derided.

27 For didst thou hold Israel in derision? Hath she then been detected in the company of thieves, that thou shakest thy head so, every time thou speakest of her?

28 Leave the cities and dwell in the crags,

Ye inhabitants of Moab;

And be like to the dove that nesteth

In the holes of the rocks of the precipice.

29 We have heard of the pride of Moab–

How very proud is she–

of her crafty and arrogant pride,

And the haughtiness of her heart.

30 Well I know her arrogance,

The falseness of her boasting,

And the falseness of her behaviour.

31 There shall therefore be wailing in Moab,

Yea, shrieks from all quarters of Moab,

And moans for the men of Kir-heres.

32 For thee, O vine of Sibmah,

Shall be weeping as men weep for Jazer.

Thy branches passed over the sea,

They reached as far as Jazer;

On thy summer fruits and their vintage

Is the despoiler fallen.

33 Gladness and mirth are vanished

From Moab’s garden-land;

No wine is trod in the presses,

The merry shout I have stilled,

And the shout that is raised is of battle.

34 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,

And their voice doth reach unto Jahaz,

From Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyyah;

For the waters of Nimrim shall also be desolate.

35 I will cause, saith Jehovah, to vanish from Moab

Him that offereth in the high place,

And doth sacrifice to his god.

36 So my heart like a flute maketh moaning for Moab,

My heart maketh moan for the men of Kir-heres;

For the gain they had gotten is perished.

37 For every head is bald,

And every beard is clipped:

On every hand are gashes,

On every loin is sackcloth.

38 On Moab’s roofs and squares

Is universal wailing;

For Moab I have shattered

Like a vessel that one despiseth.

39 How broken is Moab! howl ye.

How she turneth her back in shame!

Her neighbours shall all behold her

With horror and derision.

40 For thus saith Jehovah, Behold,

One like a vulture shall swoop,

And spread out his swings against Moab.

41 Keriyyoth is taken, the strongholds are seized.

That day shall the heart of the warriors of Moab

Be like to the heart of a woman in anguish.

42 As a nation, Moab shall perish

For his insolence towards Jehovah.

43 Trap, terror, and pit are before you,

All ye that dwell in Moab.

44 He that flies from the terror shall fall down the pit,

He that creeps from the pit shall be caught in the trap.

Yea, this I will bring upon Moab

In the year of her visitation.

45 In the shadow of Heshbon stand fugitives–

All their strength now gone;

For a fire is gone forth from Heshbon,

A flame from the house of Sihon,

Devouring the temples of Moab’s head,

And the crown of the head of the sons of tumult.

46 Woe unto thee, O Moab!

The people of Chemosh is perished;

Thy sons are taken captive,

Thy daughters are led to captivity.

Yet Moab I will restore.

In the latter days, saith Jehovah.

Thus far is the judgment upon Moab.

Oracle on Ammon

49 Thus saith Jehovah:

Hath Israel no sons, no heirs?

Why then hath Milcom seized Gad,

And his people inhabit her cities?

2 Therefore days, saith Jehovah, are coming,

When over Rabbah of Ammon

I will bring the alarum of war.

A desolate mound shall she be,

And with fire shall her daughters be burned;

And Israel shall hold once more

The land from which she was driven.

3 Howl, ye children of Ammon,

Your capital is ruined;

And cry, ye daughters of Rabbah,

Gird you with sackcloth and wail,

And wander about in mourning;

For Milcom is gone into exile,

His priests and his princes together,

4 Why gloriest thou in thy valley,

Thou daughter that livest at ease;

And trustest in thy reserves,

Thinking no one shall ever assail thee.

5 Behold, I will bring on thee terror,

Saith the Lord Jehovah of Hosts,

From all that are round about thee;

Ye shall all be driven headlong,

And the wanderers none shall rally.

6 But afterwards, saith Jehovah,

The Ammonites I will restore.

Oracle on Edom

7 On Edom.

Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts:

Is wisdom no more in Teman?

Is the wit of the prudent perished,

Their wisdom vanished clean?

8 Turn, fly to retreats inaccessible,

Ye that dwell in Dedan;

For I bring upon Esau his doom,

The time of his visitation.

9 Gleaners are come upon thee,

Who will leave not a grape to glean;

Yea, thieves in the night are come,

Who will wreck to their heart’s content.

10 For I have stripped Esau bare,

And his lurking-place uncovered,

So that hide himself he cannot.

Destroyed is he to a man

By the arm of his brethren and neighbours.

11 Leave thine orphans, and I will preserve them;

Let thy widows trust in Me.

12 For thus saith Jehovah: If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it nevertheless, how canst thou expect to go utterly unpunished? Nay, verily, thou shalt no escape, but drink it thou shalt. 13 For I have most solemnly sworn, saith Jehovah, that Bozrah shall be a horror, a scorn, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.

14 Jehovah hath sent me tidings

Of an envoy despatched to the nations,

To bid them gather against her,

And rise up to do battle.

15 For small in the eyes of the nations,

Yea, scorned among men, will I make thee.

16 O how thou then wilt shudder!

The pride of thy heart hath beguiled thee,

Thou that hauntest the clefts of the crags,

That holdest the heights of the hills.

Though thou buildest thine eyrie as high as the eagle,

Even thence to the ground will I bring thee.

17 And Edom shall be a horror;

Yea, horror-struck, all that pass by her

Shall hiss at her many wounds.

18 As when Sodom was overthrown,

And Gomorrah and her neighbours,

No man shall dwell therein,

No mortal shall sojourn there.

19 Behold, as a lion comes up

To the pastures of sheep from the jungle of Jordan,

Even so will I chase them away, in a moment,

And visit with vengeance their choicest rams.

Who is like Me? who will challenge Me?

What shepherd is there that will face Me?

20 Therefore hear what Jehovah hath planned against Edom,

And purposed against the inhabitants of Teman:

The young shepherd lads shall be dragged away,

And their homestead assuredly smitten with horror.

21 At the sound of their fall the earth doth tremble,

And far as the Red Sea their cry shall be heard.

22 See! one like a vulture shall swoop,

And spread out his wings against Bozrah.

That day shall the heart of the warriors of Edom

Be like to the heart of a woman in anguish.

Oracle on Damascus

23 Hamath and Arpad are shamed,

For tidings of evil hath reached them;

They melt for very care,

They are restless, like the sea.

24 Damascus is all unstrung,

She betaketh herself to flight.

Trembling hath seized upon her,

Anguish hath taken hold of her,

And sorrow like that of a woman in travail.

25 How forlon is the famous city,

The city of wondrous charm!

26 In her squares shall her young men lie fallen;

Her warriors all shall be silenced

In that day, saith Jehovah of Hosts.

27 I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,

And the palaces of Benhadad it shall devour.

Oracle on Certain Arabian Tribes

28 On Kedar and the kingdom of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon smote. Thus saith Jehovah: Arise, get ye up unto Kedar,

Despoil the sons of the East,

29 Their tents and their flocks shall be taken,

Their hangings and all their vessels;

(The foe) shall seize their camels,

And shout at them "Terrors encircle you."

30 Turn, fly to retreats inaccessible,

Ye that dwell in Hazor;

For Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon

Hath purposed and planned to destroy you.

31 "Arise and assail the nation

That liveth in ease and security,

Strangers to gates and bars,

And dwelling apart by themselves."

32 Their camels shall fall a prey,

And the throng of their herds shall be plundered;

And those whose temples are clipped

I will scatter to all the winds;

And I, saith Jehovah, will bring on them

Ruin from every side.

33 A haunt of jackals shall Hazor become,

A perpetual desolation:

No man shall dwell therein,

No mortal shall sojourn there.

Oracle on Elam

34 The message concerning Elam which Jeremiah the prophet received from Jehovah at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah.

35 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts:

I will break the bow of Elam,

Chief weapon of their might.

36 I will bring four winds upon them

From the four ends of the heavens,

And to all these winds will I scatter them.

No nation shall there be

Where the outcasts of Elam shall come not.

37 I will fill them with dismay

In the presence of their foes

And of those that seek their life.

And I will bring evil upon them,

My glowing indignation;

I will send the sword to pursue them,

Until I have consumed them.

38 I will set My throne in Elam,

And thence will I destroy

The king and the princes together.

But Elam I will restore

In the latter days, saith Jehovah.

Oracle on Babylon

50 The message concerning Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans that Jehovah communicated to Jeremiah the prophet.

2 Tell ye the nations and publish it,

Publish it unreservedly,

That Babylon is taken,

Bel shamed, and Marduk dismayed.

Her images are shamed,

Her idol-blocks are dismayed;

3 For a folk from the north hath assailed her

That shall desolate her land,

So that none may dwell therein–

Man, beast, are fled and gone.

4 In those days, at the time, saith Jehovah,

The children of Israel shall come

With the children of Judah together;

They shall go on their way with weeping,

And seek Jehovah their God.

5 For Zion shall they ask,

With faces hitherward turned,

Saying, "Come, let us join Jehovah

In a covenant everlasting,

That never shall be forgotten."

6 Lost sheep have My people been,

Their shepherds have led them astray,

They have turned them away on the mountains;

From mountain to hill they have wandered,

Forgetful of the fold.

7 All have devoured them that found them:

Their enemies said "We are guiltless"–

For they had offended Jehovah,

The Fold, where righteousness dwelleth,

Jehovah, the Hope of their fathers.

8 Flee ye from Babylon’s midst,

Get ye out from the land of Chaldea,

Like male goats before the flock.

9 For behold! I will rouse against Babylon

A swarm of northern nations,

That shall set their array against her,

Until they have overcome her.

They shall shoot like a skilful warrior,

Who doth not return empty.

10 Chaldea shall be despoiled,

All that spoil her shall have their fill.

11 Though ye rejoice and be glad,

O ye that plunder My heritage;

Though ye gambol like calves in the grass,

And neigh like stalwart horses;

12 Your mother shall deeply be shamed,

And abashed shall she be that bore you–

The hindermost of the nations,

A wilderness dry and desert,

13 An empty desolation,

Because of the wrath of Jehovah.

Horror-struck, all that pass by her

Shall hiss at her many wounds.

14 Set your array round Babylon,

All ye that bend the bow;

Shoot your arrows at her without stint,

She hath sinned against Jehovah.

15 Encircle her with your war-cry,

Already she hath surrendered;

Her buttresses are fallen,

Her walls are torn down.

’Tis the vengeance of Jehovah:

Avenge yourselves upon her,

Do to her as she hath done.

16 Root out of Babylon him that soweth,

And him that wieldeth the sickle in harvest.

To escape the murderous sword

Shall each set his face to his people,

And each to his own land flee.

17 A scattered flock is Israel,

By lions driven away.

First, the king of Assyria devoured him,

And now at the last his bones

Have been gnawed by the king of Babylon.

18 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,

The God of Israel: Behold,

I will punish the king and the land of Babylon,

As I punished the king of Assyria.

19 But Israel I will bring back to his homestead,

To pasture on Carmel and Bashan;

On Ephraim’s hills and in Gilead

He shall fare to his heart’s content.

20 In those days, at that time, saith Jehovah,

Though Israel should be searched,

No guilt shall in her be found;

And no transgression in Judah

Shall any man discover:

For those whom I spare I will pardon.

21 Get ye up to the land of Marrati,

And the people that dwell in Pekod;

Slay and destroy them utterly,

And do all I command, saith Jehovah.

22 Hark! the alarum of war,

In Chaldea fell destruction.

How is she hewn and shattered–

The Hammer of all the earth.

What a horror among the nations

Is Babylon become!

24 I snared thee, and thou hast been taken,

O Babylon, unaware:

Thou art discovered and caught,

Because thou hast challenged Jehovah.

25 Jehovah has opened His armoury,

And brought forth His weapons of wrath;

For the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts,

Hath a work to do in Chaldea.

26 Assail her from every quarter,

Lay her granaries bare;

Pile her up like heaps of corn,

And utterly detroy her;

Let nothing of her be left.

27 Slay ye all her bullocks,

Down let them go to the slaughter.

Woe unto them: for their day is come,

The time of their visitation.

28 Hark! how they flee, they escape

Away from the land of Babylon

To Zion, to tell how Jehovah,

Our God, hath avenged His Temple.

29 Call against Babylon archers,

All those that bend the bow;

Camp round about against her,

Let none of them escape.

Requite her for all she hath done,

And deal with her as she dealt,

For her insolence towards Jehovah,

The Holy One of Israel.

30 In her squares shall her young men lie fallen,

Her warriors all shall be silenced,

In that day, saith Jehovah of Hosts.

31 See, Insolence, I will assail thee,

Saith the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts;

Because thy day is come,

The time of thy visitation.

32 Then shall Insolence stumble and fall,

And none shall lift her up;

I will kindle a fire in her forest,

Which shall all her thickets devour.

33 Thus saith Jehovah of Host:

The children of Israel are crushed,

And the children of Judah together;

Their captors hold them fast

And refuse to let them go.

34 But mighty is their Redeemer;

Jehovah of Hosts is His name.

He will surely defend their cause,

That He may give rest to the earth,

And disquiet the people of Babylon.

35 A sword upon the Chaldeans,

Upon all the people of Babylon,

Her princess and her wise men!

36 A sword upon her diviners!

And then shall their folly be manifest.

A sword upon her warriors!

And then how dismayed shall they be!

37 A sword on her horses and chariots,

And on all the strange folk in her midst!

And they shall become as women.

A sword upon her treasures!

And plundered shall they be.

38 A sword upon her waters!

And dried up shall they be!

For she is a land of images,

And with hideous (idols) they make themselves mad.

39 So wild cats and wolves shall dwell there,

And there shall ostriches dwell;

She shall not be re-peopled for ever,

Or dwelt in through all generations.

40 As when Sodom was overthrown,

Gomorrah and her neighbours,

No man shall dwell therein,

No mortal shall sojourn there.

41 See! a pople doth come from the north:

A great nation and many kings

From the ends of the earth bestir them

42 Bow they wield and javelin–

Cruel and pitiless they,

With a voice like the roar of the sea,

And they upon horses come riding,

Arrayed, like one man, for the battle,

Against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

43 The rumour of them hath come

To the ears of the king of Babylon,

And he is all unstrung;

Anguish hath seized upon him

And pangs as of woman in travail.

44 Behold, as a lion comes up

To the pastures of sheep from the jungle of Jordan,

Even so will I chase them away in a moment,

And visit with vengeance their choicest rams.

Who is like Me? Who will challenge Me?

What shepherd is there that will face Me?

45 Therefore hear what Jehovah hath planned against Babylon,

And purposed against those that dwell in Chaldea:

The young shepherd lads shall be dragged away,

And their homestead assuredly stricken with horror.

46 At the shout, " She is taken," the earth doth tremble,

And over the world their cry shall be heard.

51 Thus saith Jehovah:

Behold, I will raise against Babylon

And those that dwell in Chaldea

The spirit of a destroyer.

2 I will send upon Babylon winnowers

Who shall winnow and empty her land :

Yea, woe shall beset her about

In the day of her disaster.

3 Let the archer bend his bow,

Stand erect in his coat of mail;

Not one of her young men spare,

But destroy her whole host utterly.

4 Let them fall down slain in the land of Chaldea,

And stabbed upon her streets.

5c For their land is full of guilt

d Against the Holy One of Israel;

a But Israel and Judah were not forsaken

b By their God, Jehovah of Hosts.

6 Fly from the midst of Babylon,

Save every man his life,

Lest her guilt bring destruction upon you.

’Tis Jehovah’s day of revenge,

With a recompense He is requiting her.

7 A golden cup is Babylon,

That made the whole earth drunken:

The nations drank of her wine,

And therefore are they gone mad.

8 On a sudden she falls, she is shattered,

Raise ye your wail over her;

Take balsam for her pain,

Peradventure she may be healed.

9 We strove for Babylon’s healing,

But past all healing was she;

And so we now will leave her,

And each to his own land go;

For her judgment reacheth to heaven,

It mounts to the very clouds.

10 Jehovah hath shown that the right was ours:

Come, let us tell in Zion

What Jehovah our God hath done.

11 Polish the arrows,

Furbish the shields;

For Jehovah hath stirred up

The spirit of Media’s king.

He hath planned for the ruin of Babylon;

For such is Jehovah’s vengeance,

The vengeance for His Temple.

12 Hoist ye the flag for the march

Against the walls of Babylon;

Strengthen the watch, set watchmen,

And get the ambush ready:

For Jehovah hath planned and accomplished

His treats on the people of Babylon.

13 Thou that art rich in treasure,

And dwellest by many waters,

Thine end is come, thy web is spun.

14 Jehovah of Hosts hath most solemnly sworn:

" I will fill thee with men who will swarm like locusts

And lift up against thee a shout of triumph.

15 He created the earth by His power,

He established the world by His wisdom,

He stretched out the heavens by His skill.

16 When He uttereth His voice,

The waters roar in the heavens,

And He causeth vapours to rise

From the uttermost ends of the earth.

Lightnings He made for the rain,

And the wind He brings out of His storehouses.

17 How foolish is man with his knowledge!

The goldsmith is shamed by his image;

His idols are a delusion,

And breath in them is none.

18 They are an empty mockery,

In the hour of their trial they shall perish.

19 Not such is the Portion of Jacob,

His God is the Framer of all things;

Jehovah of Hosts is His name.

20 My hammer of war hast thou been,

With thee I have shattered the nations.

With thee have I kingdoms destroyed,

21 With thee horse and rider I shattered,

And chariot and charioteer;

22 With thee man and woman I shattered,

With thee old and young have I shattered,

With thee youth and maid have I shattered,

23 With thee flock and shepherd I shattered,

With thee team and ploughman I shattered,

With thee lord and viceroy I shattered.

24 And Babylon I will requite,

And the people of all Chaldea,

Before your eyes, saith Jehovah,

For the wrong they have wrought upon Zion,

25 Behold, I will assail thee,

Saith Jehovah, thou mount of destruction,

That destroyest all the earth;

I will stretch out My hand against thee,

And make thee a burning mountain.

26 No cornerstones shalt thou furnish,

And no foundation stones;

But thou, saith Jehovah, shalt be

A perpetual desolation.

27 Raise a banner upon the earth,

Blow the trumpet among the nations;

Prepare the nations against her,

Summon against her the kingdoms

Of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.

Muster your troops against her,

And bring up horses like locusts.

28 Prepare the nations against her,

King, lords, and viceroys of Media,

And all the land that he ruleth.

29 The earth is in tremor and anguish,

For Jehovah’s design against Babylon standeth–

To make the land of Babylon

An uninhabited waste.

30 The warriors of Babylon cease fight,

They stay within their fastnesses;

Their strength is all dried up,

They are become like women.

Her dwelling-places are burned,

Her bars are shattered to pieces.

31 Courier runs to meet courier,

And messenger to meet messenger,

To tell the king of Babylon

That on all sides his city is taken.

32 The ferries have been seized,

The defences are burned with fire,

And the men of war are confounded.

33 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,

The God of Israel:

The daughter of Babylon is now

Like a threshing-floor, when it is trodden;

But yet a little while–

And for her shall the harvest-time come.

34 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,

Hath done me violent wrong:

He hath left me an empty vessel,

He hath swallowed me up like a monster;

He hath filled his maw with my dainties,

And then hath cast me out.

35 Let her that inhabiteth Zion declare,

"The wrong done to me and my flesh be on Babylon!"

Let Jerusalem say, "My blood

Be on them that dwell in Chaldea!"

36 Thus therefore saith Jehovah:

See! I will defend thy cause,

And I will take vengeance for thee;

Her sea I will dry up,

And her fountain I will wither.

37 Babylon shall become a ruin,

A place that jackals haunt,

A place of horror and hissing,

A place where no man dwelleth.

38 They roar like young lions together,

They growl like lions’ whelps;

39 I will give them the banquet they crave for,

And make them drunk, that they swoon,

And sleep their eternal sleep,

To awake nevermore, saith Jehovah.

40 I will bring them down to the slaughter,

Like the lambs or rams with goats.

41 How is Sheshach seized and taken,

That was famous all over the world!

With what horror all the nations

Are smitten at Babylon’s fate!

42 The sea came up upon Babylon,

’Neath the roar of her billows she sank.

43 Her cities were turned to a waste,

A dry and desert land:

In then shall no man dwell,

No mortal shall ever pass through them.

44 I will punish Bel in Babylon,

And make him disgorge what he swallowed.

No more shall the nations stream to him;

The wall of Babylon is fallen.

45 Forth from her midst, My people,

Save every man his life

From the glowing wrath of Jehovah.

46 See that ye faint not nor fear

At the rumours ye hear in the land,

When one year one rumour cometh,

And in the next another,

And tyrant after tyrant

Doeth violence in the earth.

47 See therefore, the days are coming,

When I will punish the idols of Babylon,

And put her whole land to shame,

And all shall fall slain in the midst of her.

48 The heavens shall rejoice over Babylon,

The earth, and all therein;

For spoilers shall come from the north

And assail her, saith Jehovah.

49 Yes, Babylon must fall

For Israel’s sons that are slain,

As for Babylon are fallen

The slain of all the earth.

50 Ye that the sword have escaped,

Depart ye, stand not still:

Remember Jehovah afar,

And bethink ye of Jerusalem.

51 "We are shamed, we have heard a reproach,

And confusion hath covered our faces;

For strangers are entered in

To the Holy House of Jehovah."

52 See therefore, the days are coming

When her images I will punish,

And all through her land shall the wounded groan.

53 Though Babylon mounted to heaven,

And there in the heights built her fortress,

Yet from me should despoilers come

And assail her, saith Jehovah.

54 Hark! ’tis a shriek from Babylon,

Fell destruction in Chaldea,

55 For Jehovah despoileth Babylon,

He stilleth her mighty voice.

They shall roar like many waters,

And utter their clamorous din;

56 For the spoiler is come upon Babylon;

Her mighty men are taken,

Their bows are broken in pieces:

For Jehovah is a God of requitals,

And He will repay without fail.

57 Her princes I will make drunken,

Her wise men and her governors,

Her viceroys and her warriors;

They shall sleep their eternal sleep,

To awake nevermore, saith the King,

Whose name is Jehovah of Hosts.

58 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts:

Babylon’s broad wall shall be razed to the ground,

And her towering gates in the fire shall be burned:

Thus endeth the toil of the peoples in nothing,

The labour of nations is doomed to the flames.

Jeremiah’s Message to Babylon, Symbolic of her Doom

59 The instructions given by Jeremiah the prophet to Seraiah, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, who acted as quester-master, when he accompanied Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth Year of his reign. 60 Now Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the misery that was to come upon Babylon; 61 and he said to Seraiah, "When you arrive at Babylon, see that you read all these words, 62 and say: ’Thine, O Jehovah, are these words; it is Thou that hast decreed the destruction of this place – that never again shall it be a home for man or beast, but that it shall remain a desolation for ever.’ 63 When you have finished reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, with the words: 64 ’Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of all the misery that I shall bring upon her.’"

Here end the words of Jeremiah.

The Capture of Jerusalem and the Exile of the People

52 Zedekiah, who was twenty-one years of age when he came to the throne, reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal, a daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 His actions were offensive to Jehovah, exactly as Jehoiakim’s had been, 3 and Jehovah was so angry with Jerusalem and Judah that He cast them out of His sight; and Zedekiah revolted against the king of Babylon.

4 On the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came with all his forces to storm Jerusalem. They pitched their camp against it, and surrounded it with a siege-wall; 5 so the city was under siege till the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 6 In the ninth day of the fourth month – the famine in the city being so severe that there was no bread for the people of the land – 7 a breach was made in the city, and all the soldiers took to flight, leaving the city during the night by way of the gate between the two walls by the royal garden– the city being surrounded by the Chaldeans – and they made for the Jordan valley. 8 But the Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook him in the steppes of Jericho, all his own army having left him and scattered. 9 They seized the king and brought him to the king of Babylon who was at Riblah in the district of Hamath; and he pronounced judgment upon him. 10 At Riblah the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and all the princes of Judah did he also slay; he then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, 11 and having loaded him with chains, he carried him to Babylon, where he kept him in the House of Discipline till the day of his death.

12 On the tenth day of the fifth month of the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard, one of the ministers of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem; 13 and he proceeded to burn the Temple, the palace, and indeed every house in Jerusalem. 14 All the walls that encircled Jerusalem were demolished by the Chaldean forces that were under the commander of the guard. 15 The rest of the people left in the city, and the deserters who had gone over the king of Babylon, and those that were left of the artificers, were carried into exile by Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard. 16 Some of the poorest of the country people were left by Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, to act as vine-dressers and ploughmen.

17 The bronze pillars of the Temple, and the stands, and the bronze sea that was in the Temple, were broken in pieces by the Chaldeans, and all the bronze of them was taken to Babylon. 18 They also took the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the basons and the pans and all the bronze vessels used in the (Temple) service. 19 The goblets and the snuff-dishes (for the lamps) and the basons and the pots and the lamp-stands and the pans and the libation bowls – whatever was of gold or silver respectively – were removed by the commander of the guard: – 20 the pillars, two; the sea one; and the bronze bulls that supported the sea, twelve; and the stands which King Solomon had made for the Temple, ten; – vessels the mass of whose bronze was beyond weight. 21 Each of the pillars was twenty-seven feet in height, eighteen feet in circumference, three inches in thickness, and hollow within. 22 It was surmounted by a bronze capital, seven feet and a half in height, round which ran network and pomegranates of bronze throughout; the (network and) pomegranate adorment of both pillars was alike. 23 On the network round about there were a hundred pomegranates in all, of which ninety-six were visible.

24 The commander of the guard also took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold. 25 He took also from the city a eunuch who had charge of the soldiers, and seven of the King’s Privy Councillors who were found in the city, and the secretary of the commander-in-chief, who kept the army register, and sixty of the people of the land whom he found within the city. 26 Having seized them, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, brought them to Riblah to the king of Babylon; 27 and the king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the district of Hamath. Thus was Judah carried from her own land into exile.

28 These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile; in the seventeenth year (of his reign) three thousand and twenty-three Jews; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, eight hundred and thirty-two persons from Jerusalem; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried seven hundred and forty-five Jews into exile: – in all, four thousand six hundred.

A Gleam of Light in the Darkness of Exile

31 In the thirty seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, Evil-merodach, in the year of his accession to the throne of Babylon, restored Jehoiachin, king of Judah, to favour, liberated him from prison, 32 engaged him in friendly intercourse, and gave him precedence over the (other) kings who were (detained) with him in Babylon. 33 He also changed his prison dress, and he dined at the royal table to the very end of his life. 34 A perpetual allowance, which was disbursed daily, was assigned him by the king of Babylon, and he continued to enjoy it all his life up to the day that he died.