Zedekiah questions Jeremiah again

14 Later King Zedekiah sent men who brought Jeremiah the prophet to him at the third entrance to the temple of Yahweh. The king said to Jeremiah, “I want to ask you about something. Do not hide anything from me.” 15 Jeremiah answered Zedekiah, “If I tell you, you will certainly kill me. And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16 So King Zedekiah made a solemn promise to Jeremiah privately. He said, “As surely as Yahweh lives, the one who gave us the lives that we have, I will not kill you, and I will not hand you over to these men who are trying to kill you.”

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God whom the people of Israel worship, says this to you: ‘If you go out and surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, you will stay alive, and no one will burn this city down, and you and your family will keep on living. 18 However, if you do not go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, then I will hand this city over to the Chaldeans, and they will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape from them.’ ” 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans may hand me over to those Judeans, and those Judeans will torment me.” 20 Jeremiah answered, “The Chaldeans will not hand you over to them. Please obey what Yahweh is telling you through me. Then things will go well for you, and you will stay alive. 21 However, if you refuse to go out and surrender, this is what Yahweh has revealed to me. 22 Men will bring out all the women who are still in the palace of the king of Judah, and they will hand those women over to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:

‘Your friends, the men you trusted, misled you and got the better of you.

Now that you are completely helpless, they have deserted you.’

23 Men will bring out all your wives and your sons to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from them. The king of Babylon will capture you, and you yourself will cause this city to burn down.”

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone at all know about what we have said, and you will not die. 25 The officials may hear that I have talked with you. They may come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king. Do not hide it from us, and we will not kill you. Tell us also what the king said to you.’ 26 If that happens, say to them, ‘I was humbly begging the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan, because I would die there.’ ” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. He told them exactly what the king had commanded him to say. So they stopped questioning him, because no one had overheard what he and the king had said. 28 So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem. This is what took place when they captured Jerusalem:

39 After King Zedekiah had been ruling Judah for almost nine years, King Nebuchadnezzar came in the tenth month of the year with his army, and they surrounded Jerusalem. 2 One and a half years later, after Zedekiah had been ruling for almost eleven years, in the eleventh year and fourth month, soldiers from Babylonia broke through the city wall. Then they rushed in and captured the city. 3 Then all the officers of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the Middle Gate to decide what they would do to the city. They included Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar Nebo, Sarsekim who was one of the chief administrative officers, Nergal-Sharezer, the king’s advisor, and many other officials.

4 When King Zedekiah and all his soldiers realized that the army of Babylonia had broken into the city, they fled. They waited until it was dark. Then they went out of the city through the king’s garden, through the gate that was between the two walls. Then they started running toward the plain along the Jordan.

5 But the soldiers from Babylonia pursued the king, and they caught him on the plains near Jericho. They took him to the king of Babylon, who was at Riblah in the Hamath. There Nebuchadnezzar told his soldiers what they should do to punish Zedekiah. 6 They forced Zedekiah to watch while they killed his sons and all the officials from Judah. 7 Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes. They fastened him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.

8 Meanwhile, the Babylonian army burned the palace and all the other buildings in Jerusalem. And they tore down the city walls. 9 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the king’s bodyguards, forced to go to Babylon most of the other people who remained in the city and the Jews who had joined the soldiers of Babylonia. 10 But he allowed some of the very poor people to remain in Judah, and he gave them vineyards and fields to take care of.

11 King Nebuchadnezzar had previously told the captain of the guard, Nebuzaradan to find Jeremiah. He said, 12 “Make sure that no one harms him. Take care of him, and do for him whatever he requests you to do.” 13 So he and Nebushazban, who was one of their chief officers, and Nergal-Sharezer the king’s advisor, and other officers of the king of Babylon 14 sent some men to bring Jeremiah out of the courtyard outside of the palace. They took him to Gedaliah who was the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. Then Gedaliah took Jeremiah to his home, and he stayed in Judah among his own people who had been allowed to remain there.

15 But while Jeremiah was still being guarded in the palace courtyard, Yahweh gave him this message: 16 “Say this to Ebed-Melek, the official from Ethiopia: ‘This is what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, says: I will do to this city everything that I said that I would do. Everthing I told you would be done, and you will see it with your own eyes. 17 But I promise to rescue you from the people you are afraid of. This is what I, Yahweh, have promised to you! 18 You trusted me, so I will save you. You will not be killed by our enemies’ swords. You will live. That will surely happen, because I, Yahweh, have said it.’ ”

40 The soldiers from Babylonia captured Jeremiah and many other people from Jerusalem and other places in Judah. They planned to take them to Babylon. So they fastened chains around their wrists and took them to Ramah, a town north of Jerusalem. While they were there, Jeremiah was released. This is how it happened: 2 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the king’s guards, found that Jeremiah was there. He summoned Jeremiah and said to him, “Yahweh your God said that he would cause this land to experience a disaster. 3 And now he has caused it to happen. He has done just what he said that he would do, because you people sinned against Yahweh and refused to obey him. 4 But today I am going to take the chains off your wrists and release you. If you want to come with me to Babylon, that will be fine. I will take care of you. But if you do not want to come with me, do not come. Stay here. Look, the entire country is available; you can choose whatever part you want to go to. You can go wherever you think it is best.” Then he took the chains off Jeremiah’s wrists. 5 He said, “If you decide to stay here, go to Gedaliah. The king of Babylon appointed him to be the governor of Judah. You will be allowed to stay here with the people that he is governing. But you can do whatever you want to.”

Then Nebuzaradan gave Jeremiah some food and some money, and he allowed him to go.

6 He returned to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and he stayed in Judah with the people who still remained in the land.

7 The Israelite soldiers who had not surrendered to the army of Babylonia were roaming around in the countryside. Then their leaders heard someone say that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to be the governor of the very poor people who were still in Judah, who had not been taken to Babylon. 8 So they went to talk to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Those who went included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai from Netophath, and Jezaniah from Maacah, and the soldiers who were with them. 9 Gedaliah solemnly promised that the soldiers from Babylonia would not harm them. He said, “Do not be afraid to do things for them. Stay here in this land and do things for the king of Babylon. If you do that, things will go well for you. 10 As for me, I will stay here at Mizpah to be your representative to the officials from Babylonia who come to talk with us. But you should return to your towns, and eat the things that are produced on your land. Harvest the grapes and the fruit that ripens in the summer and the olives, make wine and olive oil, and store it.”

11 Then the Jews who had fled to Moab, Ammon, Edom, and other nearby countries heard people say that the king of Babylon had allowed a few people to remain in Judah, and that he had appointed Gedaliah to be their governor. 12 So they began to return to Judah. They stopped at Mizpah to talk with Gedaliah. Then they went to various places in Judea, and they harvested a great amount of grapes and summer fruit.

13 Some time later, Johanan and all the other leaders of the Israelite soldiers who had not surrendered to the army of Babylonia came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. 14 They said to him, “Do you know that Baalis, the king of the people of Ammon, has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to assassinate you?” But Gedaliah did not believe what they said.

15 Later Johanan talked with Gedaliah privately. He said, “Allow me to go and murder Ishmael secretly. It would not be good to allow him to come and murder you! If you are killed, what will happen to all the Jews who have returned to this area? They will be scattered, and the other people who remain in Judah will all be killed!”

16 But Gedaliah said to Johanan, “No, I will not allow you to do that. I think that you are lying about Ishmael.”

41 Ishmael son of Nethaniah was a member of the king’s family. He had been one of King Zedekiah’s important officials. In the seventh month of that year, he went to Mizpah with ten other men to talk with Gedaliah. While they were eating together, 2 Ishmael and the other ten men jumped up, and with their swords they killed Gedaliah—the man whom the king of Babylon had appointed to be their governor! 3 Ishmael and the other men also killed all the Jews and the Babylonians who his soldiers found with Gedaliah at Mizpah.

4 The next day, before anyone had found out that Gedaliah had been murdered, 5 eighty men from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria came to worship at the temple of Yahweh in Mizpah. They had shaved off their beards and torn their clothes and cut themselves to show that they were mourning. And they had brought grain offerings and incense to burn on the altar. 6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out of the city to meet them, weeping as he went. When he reached them, he said, “Come and see what has happened to Gedaliah!”

7 But as soon as they had all entered the town, Ishmael and his men killed most of them and threw their corpses into a well. 8 There were only ten of them whom they spared. They were not killed because they promised to Ishmael that if he allowed them to remain alive, they would bring him lots of wheat and barley and olive oil and honey that they had hidden. 9 The well where Ishmael’s men had thrown the corpses of the men whom they had murdered was the deep well that King Asa’s men had dug in order that they would have water in the city if the army of King Baasha of Israel would surround the city. Ishmael’s men filled that well with corpses.

10 Then Ishmael and his men captured the king’s daughters and some of the other people who had been left in Mizpah by the chief Babylonian guard Nebuzaradan so that Gedaliah would take care of them. Ishmael and his men took those people and started back toward the Ammon area.

11 But Johanan son of Kareah and all the other leaders of the Israelite soldiers who had not surrendered to the army of Babylonia heard about what Ishmael son of Nethaniah and his men had done. 12 So they immediately went with all their men to stop them. They caught up with them at the large pool near the city of Gibeon. 13 When all the people whom Ishmael and his men had captured saw Johanan and the soldiers who were with him, they shouted joyfully. 14 So all those who had been captured in Mizpah escaped, and they started to help Johanan. 15 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped and fled to the Ammon area. 16 Then Johanan son of Kareah and the men who were with him gathered together all the people whom they had rescued at Gibeon. They included soldiers and women and children and some of the king’s palace officials. They were all people whom Ishmael and his men had captured after they had killed Gedaliah. 17 They took them all to Geruth Kimham village near Bethlehem. And they all prepared to go to Egypt. 18 They were worried about what the soldiers of Babylonia would do to them when they found out that Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, who had been appointed by the king of Babylonia to be their governor.

42 Then Johanan son of Kereah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the other leaders of the Israelite soldiers who had not surrendered to the army of Babylonia, and many other people, including those who were important and those who were not important, came to me. 2 They said, “Please listen to our request and pray to Yahweh our God for all of us. Although we were previously a huge number of people, you can see that now we are only a small number of people who have survived. 3 Pray that Yahweh our God will show us what we should do and where we should go.”

4 I replied, “Okay, I will pray to Yahweh our God, like you have requested, and I will tell you what he says. I will tell you everything.”

5 They replied to me, “We know that Yahweh our God will be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to do everything that he tells us to do. 6 We are requesting you to ask Yahweh our God what we should do. When he replies, we will obey him, whether we like what he says or not. We will do that because we know that things will go well for us if we obey him.”

7 So I prayed to Yahweh, and ten days later he gave me his reply. 8 So I summoned Johanan son of Kereah and all the other leaders of the and all the other people, including those who were important and those who were not important. 9 I said to them, “You told me to tell Yahweh, the God of Israel what you were requesting. This is what he replied: 10 ‘You should stay here in this land. If you do that, I will cause your nation to be strong and not be weak. I will cause you to prosper and not be exiled again. I will stop the disasters that I made you experience. 11 But do not be afraid of the king of Babylon anymore, because I will be with you. I will rescue you from his power. 12 I will be merciful to you by causing him to act kindly toward you. So as a result, he will allow you to stay here in your land.’

13 But if you refuse to obey Yahweh our God, and if you say ‘We will not stay here; 14 instead, we will go to Egypt. There we will not experience any wars, we will not hear trumpets signaling our soldiers to prepare for battles, and we will not be hungry.’ 15 Listen now! You people who are left in Judah! Listen to what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, says to you: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt, and if you go and live there, 16 you will experience those wars and famines that you are afraid of, and you will all die there. 17 That is what will happen to all you who are determined to go to Egypt and live there. Some of you will be killed by the swords of your enemies, and others of you will die from famines and from diseases. None of you will escape the disasters that I will bring on you.’

18 And Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, also says this: ‘Because I was very angry, I severely punished all the people of Jerusalem. I will do the same things to you when you go to Egypt. The result will be that people will curse you. They will be horrified about what has happened to you. They will make fun of you, and you will never see this land again.’

19 You little group of people of Judah who are still alive, listen to me: Yahweh has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ So do not forget what I have warned you today. 20 You made a life-and-death mistake when you requested me to pray to Yahweh our God and claimed to be willing to obey everything he said. 21 So today I have told you exactly what he said, but I know that you will not obey Yahweh our God now, just as you have not obeyed him previously. 22 You want to go to Egypt and live there. So now, you can be sure of this: All of you will die there. Some of you will be killed by the swords of your enemies and others will die from famines or from diseases.”

43 So I finished telling to the people that message from Yahweh our God. 2 But then Johanan son of Kareah and Azariah son of Hoshaiah and some other insolent men said to me, “You are lying! Yahweh our God has not told us that we should not go to Egypt! 3 We think that Baruch son of Neriah has urged you to say this, in order that if we stay here, the soldiers from Babylonia will seize us and kill us or take us to Babylonia.”

4 So Johanan and the other leaders of the Judean soldiers and many of the other people who were there refused to obey Yahweh’s command to stay in Judah. 5 Johanan and all the other leaders gathered together all the people who had returned from the other countries to which they had been scattered. 6 They included men, women, children, the king’s daughters, and all those whom Nebuzaradan had left with Gedaliah, and they also took Baruch and me. 7 They refused to obey Yahweh, and they took us all to Egypt, as far as the city of Tahpanhes.

8 While we were at Tahpanhes, Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 9 “While the people of Judah are watching you, take some large rocks and bury them under the brick pavement at the entrance to the king’s palace there at Tachpanches. 10 Then say to the people of Judah, ‘This is what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, says: “I will summon Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, who does my work, to come with his army to Egypt. I will set up his throne over these stones that I told Jeremiah to bury. And Nebuchadnezzar will set up his tent there to show that he has become the king of Egypt. 11 When his army comes, they will attack Egypt. Then those will die who I have determined must die, those who I have determined must be captured will be captured, and those who I have determined must be killed by swords will be killed by swords. 12 Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt and take away their idols as souvenirs. His troops will clean Egypt like a shepherd cleans lice from his cloak and leave without having been harmed. 13 But before they leave, they will have torn down the pillars that are in the temple of their sun god and burned all of the temple of the false Egyptian gods.” ’ ”

44 This is the message that Yahweh gave me concerning the Judeans who were living in northern Egypt—in Migdol, Tachpanches, and Memphis—and in the region of Pathros in southern Egypt: 2 “This is what I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, say: You saw the disaster that I caused the people in Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah to experience. Those towns are now ruined and deserted. 3 That happened because I was extremely angry with them on account of their being very wicked. They burned incense to other gods and worshiped them. They were gods that you previously did not know about, and your ancestors also did not know about them. 4 Many times I sent my prophets who served me, to say to them, ‘Do not do those abominable things that I hate!’ 5 But my people would not pay any attention to what I said to them. They would not turn away from their wicked behavior, or stop burning incense to worship other gods. 6 So I poured out the consequences of my great anger on them. My punishment fell on the streets of Jerusalem and on the other towns in Judah like a fire. It caused those towns to be ruined and deserted, and they are still like that.

7 So now I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, ask you: Why are you causing yourselves to experience these disasters? Do you not realize that because of what you are doing, soon there will be no more men or women or children or infants left among you who have come here to Egypt from Judah? 8 Why are you provoking me and causing me to be very angry by burning incense to the idols that you have made here in Egypt? If you continue doing this, you will destroy yourselves, and you will cause yourselves to be people whom all the nations on the earth will curse and despise. 9 Have you forgotten how I punished your ancestors for the wicked things that they did, and how I punished the kings and queens of Judah for what they did, and you and your wives for the sins that you committed in the streets of Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah? 10 Up until this day you have not humbled yourselves or revered me. You have not obeyed the laws and decrees that I gave to you and your ancestors.

11 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, say: I am determined to cause all of you to experience disasters and to get rid of everyone in Judah. 12 You people from Judah who have survived were determined to come and live here in Egypt. So I will get rid of all of you here in Egypt. Every one of you will die, including those who are important and those who are not important. Some of you will be killed by your enemies’ swords, some will die from famines. You will become people whom others curse, be horrified about, and make fun of. 13 I will punish you here in Egypt like I punished others in Jerusalem, some of whom were killed by their enemies’ swords and some of whom died from famines or diseases. 14 None of you people who came from Judah and now live in Egypt, none of you will be successful in any attempt to escape from Egypt, you will not grow in numbers while you live in Egypt, and you will not be able to return to Judah, even though you desire to return to Judah, you will not be able to go back there to live and make your homes. None of you will be able to return to Judah, except only a very small number of you who will be able to escape from Egypt and to return Judah and live there.”

15 Then a large group of the people who had started to live in northern Egypt and southern Egypt, including all the men who knew that their wives had been burning incense to other gods, and all the women who were standing there, said this to me: 16 “You are saying that Yahweh gave messages to you, but we will not pay any attention to your messages! 17 We will certainly do everything that we said that we would do. We will burn incense to worship our goddess Asherah, the Queen of Heaven, and we will pour out offerings of wine to her, just like we and our ancestors and our kings and their officials have always done in the streets of Jerusalem and in the other towns in Judah. At that time, we had plenty of food, and we were prosperous and we did not have any troubles. 18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and giving her offerings of wine, we have had many troubles, and some of our people have been killed by our enemies or died from hunger.”

19 And the women said, “Furthermore, we burned incense and poured out wine offerings to the Queen of Heaven, and we also made small cakes that resembled her idol, to offer to her, and we poured drinks to honor her. But our husbands certainly knew about and approved of what we were doing!”

20 Then I said to all the men and women who had answered me, 21 “Do not think that Yahweh did not know that you and your ancestors and your kings and their officials and all the other people in Judah were burning incense to worship idols in the streets of Jerusalem and in the other towns in Judah! He knew about it! 22 It was because Yahweh could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things that you were doing that he caused your land to be a place whose name people say when they curse someone, a land that is ruined and which has no one living in it. And your land is still like that. 23 It is because you burned incense to worship idols and committed other sins against Yahweh that you experienced all those disasters. It is because you have not obeyed him or obeyed his laws and decrees and commandments.”

24 Then Jeremiah said to all of them, including the women, “All you people of Judah who are here in Egypt, listen to this message from Yahweh. 25 This is what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, says to you men: ‘You and your wives have said that you would continue to do what you promised, to burn incense and pour out wine to the goddess whom you call the Queen of Heaven. And you have proved by your actions that you intend to continue to do that. So go ahead and continue doing what you have promised to do for her.’

26 But now, all you people from Judah who are now living here in Egypt, listen to this message from Yahweh. He says, ‘I have solemnly declared, using my great name, that soon none of you people from Judah who are here in Egypt will ever again use my name. There will be none of you who, when you solemnly promise to do something, will ever again say, “I will do it as surely as Yahweh lives.” 27 Because I will be watching over you, not to cause good things to happen to you but to cause things to happen that will harm you. Almost everyone from Judah who is now here in Egypt will be killed by their enemies’ swords or die from famine until almost all of you have come to an end. 28 Only a very few of you will not die by the sword and will return to Judah. When that happens, all those who came to Egypt will find out whose words were true, theirs or mine.’

29 And Yahweh also says, ‘I will do something that will prove to you that everything that I have said will happen, and that I will punish you here in this place. 30 I will cause Hophra, the king of Egypt, to be captured by his enemies who want to kill him, just like I caused King Zedekiah of Judah to be captured by the soldiers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.’ ”

45 After Jehoiakim son of King Josiah had been ruling Judah for almost four years, Baruch son of Neriah wrote down all the messages that the prophet Jeremiah had dictated. Jeremiah gave a message and he said, 2 “Baruch, Yahweh, the God of Israel, has a message for you. 3 You have said, ‘Terrible things are happening to me! I have endured much pain already. And now Yahweh is causing me to be very sad, in addition to my having pain. I am exhausted from my groaning, and I am unable to rest!’

4 But Baruch, this is what Yahweh says: ‘I will destroy this nation that I established. This nation is like a tree that I planted and that I will now pull up with its roots. I will do this everywhere in the world. 5 So, should you desire that people do things to honor you in a special way? Do not desire that. It is true that I will cause all these people to experience a great disaster, but wherever you go, I will protect you, and you will not be killed.’ ”

46 These are messages that Yahweh gave to the prophet Jeremiah about other nations.

2 After Jehoiakim son of King Josiah, had been ruling Judah for almost four years, this message about Egypt was given to me by Yahweh. It was when the army of King Necho of Egypt was defeated by the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon at Carchemish by the Euphrates River.

This is what Yahweh said: “The officers of the army of Egypt are saying to their troops,

3 ‘Prepare your small and large shields

and march out to fight the battle!

4 Put harnesses on your horses,

and get on their backs.

Get into your positions for the battle;

put on your helmets.

Sharpen your spears,

and put on your armor!’

5 But what do I see?

I see that the soldiers of Egypt will be terrified and will be fleeing.

Even the bravest of their soldiers will be running away,

without even looking backward!

I, Yahweh, say that their soldiers will be terrified on all sides!

6 Even the fastest runners will try to run away,

but even the greatest of their warriors will not escape.

In the north, by the Euphrates River,

they will stumble and fall.

7 What group is this that will be covering the land

like the water of the Nile River covers the land when it floods and its waves surge?

8 The kingdom of Egypt rises and falls

like the Nile that surging with a flood of water,

and Egypt will boast that they will cover the earth

and will destroy cities and the people who live in them.

9 You riders of horses, charge into the battle!

You drivers of chariots, drive furiously like a crazy person!

All you warriors from Ethiopia and Libya

who carry your shields,

you warriors from Lydia

who shoot arrows,

you come!

10 But, you need to know that this is the day when I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, will get revenge on my enemies.

With my sword I will kill my enemies until I am satisfied;

my sword will be like a monster that drinks the blood of the animals it kills until it is no longer thirsty.

The enemy soldiers who will be killed in the north beside the Euphrates River

will be like a sacrifice to me, the Lord Yahweh, commander of the angel armies.

11 You innocent people of Egypt,

go up to the region of Gilead to obtain medicine;

but it will be useless to take all those medicines;

you will not be healed.

12 People in the other nations hear how you were humiliated.

People all over the earth hear you wailing.

Your mighty warriors stumble over each other

and they all fall down together.”

13 Then Yahweh gave to the prophet Jeremiah this message about King Nebuchadnezzar when he planned to attack Egypt with his army:

14 “Shout this message throughout Egypt!

Proclaim it in the cities of Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpenes!

‘Get into your positions for the battle;

Prepare to defend yourselves,

because everyone around you will be killed.’

15 Why do those whose strength you trust fall down?

They cannot stand up,

because Yahweh will knock them down.

16 The soldiers from other countries will stumble and fall over each other,

and then they will say to each other,

“Let us get up and go back to our own people, to our own land.

Let us get away from the swords of our enemies!”

17 There in Egypt they will say,

“The king of Egypt talks loudly,

but when our army had an opportunity to defeat our enemies, they failed.”

18 I, the King, who is called Yahweh, commander of the angel armies,

say this:

‘As surely as I live, an army is coming to fight against the army of Egypt.

They will be extremely powerful,

as though they were as tall as Tabor Hill,

or as high as Mount Carmel, close to the Mediterranean Sea.

19 All you people who live in Egypt,

pack your possessions and prepare to be exiled.

Memphis will be destroyed;

it will become a ruin, and no people will be living there.

20 Egypt is like a beautiful young cow,

but a powerful king from the northeast is surely coming to attack it

like a horsefly bites a cow.

21 The mercenaries that Egypt has hired are like fat calves because of the Egyptians’ money;

but they also will turn around and run away;

they will not stand there and fight,

because it will be a day when there will be a great disaster for Egypt,

a day when their people will be greatly punished.

22 The soldiers of Egypt will run away,

as silently as a snake slithers away.

The army of the enemy will advance;

they will march along carrying their axes

like men who cut down trees.

23 I, Yahweh, say that they will kill the soldiers of Egypt

as though they were cutting down a forest of trees,

because the enemy soldiers will be as numerous as a swarm of locusts.

24 The people of Egypt will be humiliated;

they will be conquered by people from the northeast.’

25 I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, say, ‘I will punish Amon, the god whom the people of the city of Thebes worship, and all the other gods in Egypt. I will punish the king of Egypt and all those who trust in him. 26 I will cause them to be captured by those who want to kill them—Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and his army officers. But many years later, people will live in Egypt again. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’

27 But you people of Israel who serve me,

do not be at all dismayed now,

because some day I will bring you back from distant places;

I will bring your descendants from the land to which they were exiled.

Then you Israelite people will again live peacefully and safely,

and there will not be any nation to cause you to be terrified.

28 I, Yahweh, say to you people of Israel who serve me,

‘Do not be afraid,

because I will be with you.

I will completely destroy the nations among whom I have scattered you,

but I will not completely get rid of you.

I will punish you, but I will punish you only as severely as you deserve:

it would be wrong if I did not punish you at all.’ ”

47 Yahweh gave to the prophet Jeremiah a message about the people of Philistia. The message was given to him before the city of Gaza in Philistia was captured by the army of Egypt.

2 This is what Yahweh said:

“An army will be coming from the northeast

that will cover the land like a flood.

They will destroy the land and everything in it;

they will destroy people and cities.

People will scream out for help;

and everyone in the land will wail in mourning.

3 They will hear the sound of the hooves of the enemy horses,

and they will hear the rumble of the wheels of their enemies’ chariots.

Men will run away;

they will not stop to help their own children but

will be completely weak and helpless.

4 It will be the time for all the people of Philistia to be destroyed,

and the time to stop the remaining soldiers from being able to help the people living in the cities of Tyre and Sidon.

I, Yahweh, will destroy the people of Philistia,

those whose ancestors long ago came from Island of Crete.

5 The people of Gaza will be humiliated;

they will shave off all the hair on their heads to indicate that they are ashamed.

The people of the city of Ashkelon will all be silent because they will be mourning.

All you people who live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea who are still alive,

how long will you gash yourselves because you are mourning?”

6 The people of Philistia say, “Yahweh, when will you tell our enemies to stop killing us with their swords?

Tell them to put them back into their sheaths and allow them to stay there!”

7 But it would not be right for their swords to stay there,

because Yahweh has commanded their enemies to do something more;

Yahweh intends to tell them to attack all the people living in Ashkelon and in other cities along the coast.

48 This is a message about Moab. Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, says,

“Terrible things will happen to the city of Nebo;

it will soon be ruined.

The city of Kiriathaim will be put to shame. It is taken!

The defended fortress will be ruined, and its people will become ashamed.

2 No one will boast about Moab again;

the enemies of Moab will plan to destroy the capital city, Heshbon.

They will say, ‘Come, let us cause Moab to no longer be a nation.’

You also, You Madmen! You also will be silenced;

enemy armies will pursue you to kill you.

3 Listen to the people of Horonaim screaming;

they will be wailing because their town was completely destroyed.

4 All of Moab will be ruined;

even the little children will cry loudly.

5 They will cry bitterly

as they climb up Luhith hill.

Others will wail on the road down to Horonaim.

They were so very sad because their town was completely destroyed.

6 Someone will say to them, ‘Flee!

Hide in the desert!’

7 But you trusted that because you were rich and powerful, you would be safe;

so you will be captured.

Your god Chemosh and all his priests and officials

will be taken away to distant lands.

8 All the towns in Moab will be destroyed;

none of them will escape.

Towns in the valleys and on the plateau will all be destroyed,

because Yahweh has said that is what will happen.

9 Someone should help all the people in Moab to run away,

so that their land will be empty,

so that no one will live in it any longer.”

10 May Yahweh punish anyone who will not eagerly do what he desires;

may he curse anyone who refrains from using his sword to kill the people in Moab.

11 The people of Moab have always felt secure;

they have never been exiled.

They are like wine that has been left undisturbed in a container for many days to give it good flavor,

so now it is smells good,

and it tastes good.

12 But Yahweh says that there will be a time when he will send enemies to attack them;

they will get rid of the people of Moab like people pour out wine on the ground

and then smash the wine jar.

13 Then the people of Moab will be ashamed of their god Chemosh that they had trusted in, because it did not help them,

like the Israelite people were ashamed because their gold statue of a calf was smashed at Bethel.

14 The soldiers of Moab previously said, “We are warriors;

we have fought bravely in battles!”

15 But now our king, who is called Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, says that the country of Moab and all the towns in it will be destroyed.

Their fine young men will all be slaughtered.

16 Moab will very soon be destroyed.

They will soon experience disaster.

17 You people who live in nations near Moab,

who know that it is very famous,

should mourn for Moab,

and say, “Its glorious power is completely ended.”

18 You people of the city of Dibon, stop being proud because of being honored,

and sit in the dust where you will thirst for water,

because those who will destroy other places in Moab will attack your city

and destroy your fortifications.

19 You people of the city of Aroer,

stand along the road and watch.

Shout to the men and women who will be fleeing from Moab,

“What has happened there?”

20 They will reply,

“Moab is ruined and we are disgraced!”

So weep and wail.

Proclaim to Amon that Moab has been destroyed.

21 Yahweh is punishing the towns of Moab that are on the plateau:

Holon and Jahaz and Mephaath,

22 Dibon and Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,

23 Kiriathaim and Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,

24 Kerioth and Bozrah.

He is punishing cities that are near each other and towns that are far away from each other.

25 Yahweh says, “The power of Moab will be finished;

it is as though it will have a broken arm.

26 You people of Moab thought you were powerful enough to rebel against me, Yahweh;

so now I will cause you all to stagger like drunken people.

You people of Moab will wallow in your own vomit

and be ridiculed.

27 Did you not ridicule the people of Israel?

Did you think they were nothing but thieves,

so that you shook your head at them with scorn,

and despised them every time you spoke about them?

28 You people who live in Moab,

you should abandon your towns and go and live in caves.

Be like pigeons that make their nests in the entrances of caves.”

29 We have all heard that the people of Moab are very proud;

they are extremely proud and conceited.

30 But Yahweh says, “I know about that,

but it is useless for them to boast

because it will accomplish nothing.

31 So now I will wail for Moab;

I will cry about all its people.

I will moan for the men of the city of Kir Hareseth, the old capital of Moab.

32 You people of the city of Sibmah, you have many vineyards, and I will be sad when they are destroyed.

It is as though the branches of your vines extend across the Dead Sea to the city of Jazer, but the enemies of Moab will take your grapes and wine from you!

33 But no one will be joyful or happy in Moab now;

your fruit and grapes that ripen in the summer will soon be destroyed.

There will be no grape juice coming from the winepresses,

so there will be no wine.

People will not shout joyfully

as they tread on the grapes;

people will shout,

but they will not be shouting joyfully.

34 Instead, the sound of their wailing will rise from the city of Heshbon to the town of Elealeh and the village of Jahaz,

from the city of Zoar as far as the town of Horonaim Eglath Shelishiyah.

Even the water in the stream of Nimrim will be dried up.

35 I, Yahweh, say that I will get rid of the people who offer sacrifices on the hilltops,

those who burn incense to their gods.

36 I moan for the people of Moab and Kir Hareseth

like someone playing a funeral song on a flute,

because all their wealth will disappear.

37 The men will shave their heads and their beards to show that they are mourning.

They all will slash their hands and wear rough cloth around their waists.

38 In every home and in the town plazas in Moab there will be people who are mourning,

because I will have destroyed Moab

like someone smashes an old jar that no one wants anymore.

39 Moab will be completely shattered with terror!

And you will hear the people wailing loudly!

They will be disgraced.

Moab will become a nation that people ridicule.

The people in nearby countries will be horrified about what has happened there.

40 This is what I, Yahweh, say:

‘Look! Their enemies will be swooping down over Moab

like an eagle swoops down to seize an animal.

41 Its cities will be captured,

its fortresses will be seized.

Even their warriors will be afraid,

like a woman who is about to give birth.

42 Moab boasted against me, Yahweh,

so it will be destroyed.

43 I, Yahweh, say that you people of Moab will be terrified, and fall into pits and traps.

44 Those who are terrified and try to run away will fall into deep pits.

Whoever climbs out of a pit will be caught in a trap,

because I will punish them at the time that I have appointed.’

45 The people will flee as far as the city of Heshbon,

but they will not be able to go any further,

because a fire will burn in Heshbon,

which is the city where King Sihon lived long ago,

and it will burn up all the people in Moab

who noisily boasted very much.

46 You people of Moab, terrible things will happen to you!

You people who worship your god Chemosh, you will be destroyed.

Your sons and your daughters will be captured and taken away to other countries.

47 But some day, I will enable the people of Moab to return to their land again.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

That is the end of what Jeremiah prophesied about Moab.

49 This message is about the people who descended from Ammon. This is what Yahweh says:

“There are plenty of Israelite people left

to occupy the land of the tribe of Gad.

So, why are the people who worship the god Molech living in those towns?

2 There will be a time when I will sound the battle cry

for their enemies to attack their capital city, Rabbah.

Then it will become a heap of ruins,

and all the nearby towns will be burned.

Then the people of Israel will again possess the land

that the people of Ammon took away from them.

3 You people of the city of Heshbon, wail,

because the city of Ai will be destroyed.

You women in the city of Rabbah, weep;

put on rough clothing to show you are mourning;

run back and forth in confusion inside the city walls,

because your god Molech, along with its priests and officials, will be taken away in exile.

4 Why do you brag about your valleys,

your valleys that are so fruitful, you faithless daughter?

You think that your wealth will bring you protection against your enemies

and so you dare to ask, “Who is there who can come against me?’

5 But listen to this: I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies,

will cause you to become terrified.

You will all be forced to flee to other countries from the enemies all around you,

and no one will be able to bring you together again.

6 But some day I will enable the Ammonite people to return to their land.

That will surely happen, because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

7 This message is about the people of Edom. This is what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, says:

“It seems that there are no longer any wise people in Teman district in Edom!

There are no people left who can give others good advice.

The people who were wise have disappeared.

8 You people of the city of Dedan, in the south of Edom,

turn and flee and hide in deep caves,

because I am causing disaster to happen to all the people of Edom,

I will punish you!

9 Those who harvest grapes

always leave some on the vines.

When thieves come at night,

they surely steal only as much as they want.

10 But I will cause everything in Edom to be destroyed, and there will be nothing left,

and there will be no place for people to hide.

Many of the children, their relatives and their neighbors, will die,

and Edom will not exist anymore.

11 Leave behind the orphans because I will take care of them,

and the widows also will be able to depend on me to help them.”

12 And this is also what Yahweh says: “If those who do not deserve to suffer must suffer, you people of Edom must suffer much more! You will not escape being punished. 13 I, Yahweh, have solemnly promised, using my own name, that your chief city Bozrah will become a place that people will be horrified about. It will be a heap of ruins. People will make fun of it and use its name when they curse people. All the nearby towns and villages will be ruined forever.”

14 I heard this message from Yahweh:

“I have sent an ambassador to many nations,

to tell them to gather together to attack Edom.

They must prepare for battle!”

15 And Yahweh says to the people of Edom,

“I will cause your nation to become very unimportant among the other nations.

They will all despise your country.

16 You have caused people of other nations to be terrified,

and you have been very proud,

but you have deceived yourselves.

You live in caves in the rock cliffs;

you think that you are safe there because you live high up there.

But even if you make your homes as high up as the eagles’ nests,

I will cause you to come crashing down.

17 Edom will become a place about which people are horrified;

people who pass by will be horrified and will gasp

when they see the destruction.

18 Edom will be destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns were destroyed long ago.

As a result, no one—not a single person—will live there anymore.

19 I will come to Edom suddenly as a lion comes out of the jungle

and leaps on sheep that are eating in good pastures.

I will quickly chase the people of Edom from their land.

And then I will appoint for them a leader whom I will choose;

I can do that because there is no one like me who can object to what I do.

No ruler can oppose me.

20 Listen to what I have planned to do to the people of Teman and the rest of Edom:

even the little children will be dragged away,

and I will completely get rid of the people who live there.

21 When Edom is destroyed, the noise will be extremely great,

with the result that the earth will shake,

and the wailing of the people will be heard as far away as the Sea of Reeds.

22 Look! The enemy troops will swoop down over Bozrah

like an eagle spreads its wings when it swoops down to seize an animal.

On that day, even the strongest warriors of Edom will be afraid

like a woman who is about to give birth.”

23 This message is about Damascus. This is what Yahweh says:

“The people in the nearby cities of Hamath and Arpad will be ashamed,

because they have heard bad news about Damascus.

They are very anxious and restless,

like a sea in a big storm.

24 The people of Damascus have become very weak,

and they all have panicked and run away in terror.

The people are anguished and in pain

like a woman experiences who is about to give birth.

25 But even now the people of that famous city have not yet abandoned it. That was the city that gave me joy.

26 Its young men will fall in the streets.

Its soldiers will all be killed in one day.

27 And I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, will start a fire to burn the walls that surround Damascus,

and the palaces of King Ben Hadad will be burned down.”

28 This is a message about the Kedar people and the kingdom of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon is attacking. This is what Yahweh said:

“I will cause an army to advance to attack Kedar

and destroy those people who live east of Judah.

29 Enemies will capture their tents and their flocks of sheep.

They will take away the curtains of their tents, their camels, and all of their other possessions.

Everywhere men will shout,

‘We are terrified because terrible things are happening all around us!’

30 So I, Yahweh, say, ‘Run away quickly!

You people who live in Hazor, go and hide in deep caves,

because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon wants to attack you with his army;

he is planning to destroy you!’

31 But I say to Nebuchadnezzar,

‘Go up and attack that nation whose people feel secure;

they do not have allies who will help them and do not have walls with gates that have bars in them.

32 Your troops will seize their camels and other livestock.

I will scatter in every direction those people who will be in great mourning.

I will bring disasters to them from every direction.

33 Hazor will become a place where jackals live,

and it will be deserted forever.

No one will live there again;

no people will settle there.’ ”

34 The prophet Jeremiah received this message from Yahweh when King Zedekiah was starting to rule Judah.

35 This is what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, says:

“The men of Elam are famous archers;

that is how they have made their country very powerful.

But I will get rid of them.

36 I will bring their enemies from every direction

and they will scatter the people of Elam in all of those directions.

The people of Elam will be exiled to every nation on the earth.

37 Because I am very angry with the people of Elam,

I will enable their enemies to smash Elam;

I will cause the people of Elam to experience great disasters.

I will enable their enemies, who want to kill them, to pursue them and kill them with swords

until I completely get rid of all of them.

38 I, Yahweh, will judge them there,

and then I will get rid of their king and his officials.

39 But some day, I will enable the people of Elam to return to their land.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

50 Yahweh gave to Jeremiah the prophet a message about Babylon and the country of Babylonia.

2 This is what Yahweh says:

“Proclaim a message among the nations;

do not withhold any of it;

raise up a signal flag

to announce that Babylon will be captured.

Its chief god Marduk, whose other name is Bel, will be completely disgraced,

and all the other statues and idols will be shattered.

3 The army of a nation will come from the north to attack Babylon

and destroy the city very thoroughly,

with the result that no one will live there again.

Both people and animals will run away.”

4 “But I, Yahweh, say that in the future, when that is about to happen,

the people of Israel and the people of Judah will join together.

They will be weeping

and wanting to worship me, their God.

5 They will inquire about the road to Jerusalem,

and then they will start traveling toward it.

They will say to each other,

‘We must return to Yahweh again!’

They will make an everlasting agreement with me that they will never forget.

6 My people have been like lost sheep.

Their leaders have caused them to abandon me

like shepherds who have allowed their sheep to wander in the hills and mountains.

My people are like sheep

that do not know the path to return to the sheepfold.

7 All their enemies who found them attacked them.

They said, ‘We did not sin by attacking them,

because they sinned against Yahweh;

he is the one who provides what they need;

he is the one to whom they should have remained faithful;

he is the one whom their ancestors confidently expected to help them.’

8 But now, I say to the leaders of my people, ‘Depart from Babylon!

Leave the land of Babylonia!

Act like male goats that go in front of the rest of the flock;

lead my people back to their own land.

9 Do that because I am going to gather an army of great nations to the north of Babylon.

They will join together to attack Babylon and will capture it.

Their arrows will be like skilled warriors

that always hit what they are aiming at.

10 Babylonia will be conquered,

and those who conquer it will take away everything they want.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’ ”

11 “You people of Babylon who plundered my chosen people,

now you are very happy.

You run around joyfully like a calf in a meadow,

and are happy like stallions are happy when they are neighing.

12 But soon your people will be very disgraced as a result of being conquered.

Your country will be the most insignificant nation;

it will be a wilderness, a dry land and a desert plain.

13 Because I, Yahweh, am angry with you people of Babylon,

I will cause your city to become completely deserted.

All who pass by will be horrified

and will gasp because of the destruction there.

14 All you nations that surround Babylon,

prepare to attack it!

Tell your archers to shoot at their enemies;

shoot all of your arrows at them and do not hold back,

because the people of Babylon have sinned against me, Yahweh.

15 Shout victorious war cries against Babylon from all sides of the city.

The soldiers of Babylon will surrender;

the towers and walls will be torn down.

It is I, Yahweh, who will be getting revenge on the people of Babylon,

and I will use you to get revenge.

Do to the people of Babylon what they have done to others!

16 Take away from Babylon those who plant crops

and those who reap the harvests!

Because of the swords carried by those who will attack Babylon,

the people in Babylon who have come from other countries

should all run away; they should go back to their own countries.”

17 “The Israelite people are like sheep

that have been scattered by lions.

First the army of the king of Assyria defeated them.

Then the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon smashed them.

18 So this is what I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, say:

‘Now I will punish the king of Babylon and the people of his land,

like I punished the king of Assyria.

19 And I will bring the people of Israel back to their own land

where they will eat the food that grows in the fields of the regions of Carmel and Bashan,

and the people in the hill areas of Ephraim and Gilead will have all they want to eat.

20 At that time, there will not be people in Israel and in Judah who are still guilty for having sinned,

because I will forgive the small group of people whom I enable to still be alive.’ ”

21 “So, I, Yahweh, say to the enemies of Babylonia, ‘Attack the people who live in the region of Merathaim

and the people in the region of Pekod of Babylonia.

Pursue them to kill them, and completely get rid of every single one of them,

as I have commanded you to do.

22 Shout your battle cries throughout the land;

shout when you are causing great destruction.

23 The army of Babylon is like the most powerful hammer on the earth,

but it will be completely shattered.

Babylon, one of the nations, will be a complete ruin.’

24 You people of Babylon, listen,

because I have set a trap for you without your awareness;

you will be caught in that trap,

because you fought against me.

25 It is as though I have opened the place where I store my weapons,

and I have brought out all the weapons

to use against the people with whom I am angry.

I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, have a lot of work to do

to punish the people of Babylonia.

26 So, you enemies of Babylonia, come from distant lands and attack it.

Break open the places where they store the grain,

and pile up the rubble like heaps of grain.

Destroy everything completely;

do not leave anything that is not destroyed.

27 Destroy all the young warriors who are as strong as bulls;

take them to where you will slaughter them.

It will be terrible for them,

because it will be time for them to be punished.

28 Listen to the people who have fled and escaped from Babylon

while they tell in Jerusalem how I, Yahweh, have gotten revenge against those who destroyed my temple in Jerusalem.

29 Summon archers to come to attack Babylon;

surround the city

in order that no one will escape.

Do to the people of Babylon what they have done to others ,

because they have defied me, the Holy One of the Israelite people.

30 The young men of Babylon will fall in the streets;

all their soldiers will be killed in one day. This will happen because I, Yahweh, have declared it!

31 I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, say this:

‘You arrogant people,

it is now the time;

it is the day when I will punish you.

32 Your land is full of proud people,

but you will stumble and fall,

and no one will lift you up again.

I will light a fire in the cities of Babylonia

that will burn up everything that is nearby.’

33 I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, also say this:

‘The people of Israel and Judah were oppressed;

those who captured them guarded them carefully and would not allow them to leave Babylon.

34 But Yahweh is strong, and he will free them.

Yahweh is the Commander of the angel armies;

He will defend his people

and enable them to return to their land where they will have peace,

but the people of Babylonia will not have peace.

35 He will send enemy soldiers carrying swords to strike the people of Babylonia;

they will strike the officials and wise men

and all the other people who live in Babylon.

36 They will strike their false prophets with swords

and they will become foolish.

They will strike the strongest warriors of Babylonia,

and they will all be terrified.

37 They will strike their horses and chariots

and the foreign mercenaries who are in the army of Babylonia,

and they will all become as weak as women.

They will seize all the valuable things there in Babylon

and take them away.

38 Yahweh will cause the streams to become dry.

He will do all those things because the entire land of Babylonia is filled with idols,

and those horrible idols have caused the people who worship them to become crazy.

39 Soon only jackals and other wild creatures will live there;

and it will be a place where ostriches live.

People will never live there again;

it will be uninhabited forever.

40 Yahweh God will destroy Babylon like he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns;

no one will ever live there again.

41 Look! A great army will come from the north.

A great nation far away with many kings is preparing to attack you people of Babylon.

42 Their army has bows and arrows and spears;

they are very cruel, and do not act mercifully to anyone.

As they ride along on their horses,

the sound of the horses’ hooves is like the roaring of the ocean waves;

they are riding in battle formation

to attack you, you people of Babylon.

43 The king of Babylon heard their report,

“The enemy is approaching.”

So he was frightened and became weak.

Fear and anguish gripped him,

like a woman who is about to give birth to a baby.”

44 I, Yahweh, will come to Babylon suddenly like a lion comes out of the jungle

and leaps on the sheep that are eating the good pastureland.

I will quickly chase the people of Babylonia from their land.

And then I will appoint for them a leader whom I will choose;

I will do that because there is no one like me who can say that what I have done is not right.

No ruler can oppose me.

45 Listen to what I have planned to do to the people of Babylon city and the rest of Babylonia:

even the little children will be dragged away,

and I will completely destroy the people who live there.

46 When Babylon is destroyed, the noise will be extremely loud,

with the result that the earth will shake,

and the wailing of the people will be heard by the people of other nations.’ ”

51 This is what Yahweh says:

“I will inspire an army to destroy Babylon like a powerful wind,

and also to destroy the people of Babylonia in Leb Kamai.

2 I will send a foreign army to come to get rid of Babylonia

like a strong wind that blows away chaff.

They will attack from every direction

on that day of disaster.

3 I will tell them, ‘Do not allow the archers of Babylon to have time to put on their armor

or draw their bows.

Do not spare the young men of Babylon.

Completely destroy their army.’

4 Their soldiers will fall dead in Babylonia;

they will die after being impaled by spears in the streets.

5 I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, whom Israel worships, have not abandoned Israel and Judah.

Even though their land was filled with people who sinned against me, the Holy God of Israel,

I am still their God.

6 You people of Israel and Judah, flee from Babylon!

Run to escape!

Do not stay there and be killed when the people of Babylon are punished!

It will be the time when Yahweh gets revenge;

He will do to them what they deserve.

7 Babylon has been like a gold cup in Yahweh’s hand, a cup that is full of wine

that caused people all over the earth who drank some of it to become drunk.

It is as though the rulers of the nations drank the wine from Babylon,

and it caused them to become crazy.

8 But suddenly Babylon will be conquered.

Weep for its people!

Give them medicine for their wounds;

perhaps they can be healed.”

9 We foreigners would have tried to heal them,

but now they cannot be healed.

So we will not try to help them; we will abandon them,

and return to our own lands,

because it is as though the punishment they are receiving reaches up to the clouds in the sky;

it is very great, with the result that no one can measure it.

10 Yahweh has vindicated us;

so let us proclaim in Jerusalem everything that Yahweh our God has done for us.

11 You enemy soldiers, sharpen your arrows!

Fill up your quivers for battle,

because Yahweh has incited your kings of Media and Persia to march with their armies to Babylon and to destroy it.

That is how Yahweh will get revenge on those foreigners who entered his temple in Jerusalem and defiled it.

12 Lift up a battle flag close to the walls of Babylon!

Reinforce the guards,

and tell the watchmen to stand in their positions!

Prepare an ambush,

because Yahweh is about to accomplish all that he has planned to do to the people of Babylon.

13 Babylon is a city near the great Euphrates River,

a city in which there are many rich people,

but it is time for Babylon to be finished;

the time for the city to exist is ended.

14 Yahweh, commander of the angel armies has solemnly promised, using his own name,

“Your cities will be filled with your enemies;

I will cause them to be like a swarm of locusts;

and they will shout triumphantly when they conquer your city.”

15 Yahweh created the earth by his power;

he established it by his wisdom,

and he stretched out the sky by his understanding.

16 When he speaks loudly, there is thunder in the sky;

he causes clouds to form in every part of the earth.

He sends lightning with the rain

and releases the winds from his storehouses.

17 People are as senseless as a beast, and they know very little;

those who make idols are always disappointed,

because their idols do nothing for them.

The images that they make are not real gods;

they are lifeless.

18 Idols are worthless; they deserve to be ridiculed;

there will be a time when they will all be destroyed.

19 But the God of Israel is not like those idols;

he is the one who created everything that exists;

we, the tribe of Israel, belong to him;

his name is Yahweh, commander of the angel armies.

20 Yahweh says about the army of Babylonia,

“You are like my weapons of war and my war club;

with your power I shatter nations

and destroy many kingdoms.

21 With your power I shatter armies of other nations:

I destroy their horses and their riders, their chariots and their chariot drivers.

22 With your power I shatter men and women,

old people and children,

young men and young women.

23 With your power I shatter shepherds and their flocks of sheep,

farmers and their oxen,

governors and their officials.”

24 But, Yahweh also says,

“Soon I will repay you people in Babylon and in the rest of Babylonia

for all the evil things that you have done in Jerusalem.

25 Babylonia is like a great mountain

from which bandits descend to plunder people all over the earth.

But I, Yahweh, am the enemy of you people of Babylonia.

I will raise my fist to strike you.

I will knock you down from the cliffs

and cause you to be only a huge pile of burned rubble.

26 Your city will be abandoned forever;

even the stones in your city will never again be used for buildings.

Your city will be completely destroyed.”

27 Tell the nations to lift up a battle flag!

Tell them to blow their trumpets of war!

Gather all their armies to fight against Babylon!

Prepare the nations to attack Babylon.

Summon the armies of the kingdoms north of Babylonia—from Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.

Appoint a commander for them,

and bring a great number of horses;

there must be a huge number of horses; that huge number will resemble a swarm of locusts.

28 Prepare the armies of other nations,

armies that will be led by the kings of Media and Persia,

their governors and their officials.

29 When they attack Babylon, it will be as though the earth will shake and writhe in pain,

because those armies will accomplish everything that Yahweh has planned to do to Babylon.

Then the nations will destroy it completely,

with the result that no one will live there again.

30 When their enemies attack, the strongest warriors in Babylon will not fight.

They will remain in their barracks, without any strength.

They will be as timid as women.

The enemy soldiers will burn the buildings in the city

and break the bars of the city gates into pieces.

31 Messengers will go quickly, one after another,

to tell the king that his city has been captured.

32 The places at which people can cross the river to escape from the city will be blocked.

The dry reeds in the marshes will be set on fire,

and the soldiers of Babylon will be terrified.

33 This is what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, whom Israel worships, says;

“Babylon is like wheat on the ground where it is about to be threshed

by animals tramping on it.

Very soon their enemies will trample on the city of Babylon.”

34 The army of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has attacked and crushed us Israelites,

and we have no strength left.

It is as though they have swallowed us like a great monster

that filled its belly with all our tasty parts,

and then has spit out what it did not like.

35 So the people of Jerusalem say to Yahweh,

“Cause the people of Babylon to suffer

like they caused us to suffer!

Cause the people of Babylonia to be punished for killing our people!”

36 And this is what Yahweh replies to the people of Jerusalem:

“I will be like your lawyer to defend you,

and I will avenge you.

I will dry up the river in Babylon

and all the springs of water.

37 Babylon will become a heap of ruins,

a place where jackals live.

It will become a place that people are horrified about and will ridicule;

it will be a place where no one lives.

38 The people of Babylon will all roar like young lions;

they will growl like baby lions.

39 But while they are extremely hungry,

I will prepare a different kind of feast for them.

I will cause them to drink wine until they are very drunk,

with the result that they will fall asleep.

But they will never wake up from that sleep!

40 I will bring them down to a place where they will be slaughtered,

like someone who takes lambs or rams or goats to where they will be slaughtered for sacrifices.

41 People all over the earth now honor Babylon;

they say that it is a great city.

But it will become a place about which people of all nations are horrified.

42 The enemies of Babylon will cover the city like huge waves of the sea.

43 The towns in Babylonia will be a horror, a dry and desert plain,

and it will be a land in which no one lives

and which no one walks through.

44 And I will punish Bel, the god that the people of Babylon worship,

and I will cause the people to give back what they have stolen.

People of other nations will no longer come to worship Bel.

And the walls of Babylon will collapse.”

45 Yahweh also says, “My people, come out of Babylon!

Flee to escape!

Run, because I, Yahweh, am extremely angry with the people of Babylon, and I will get rid of them!

46 Do not be discouraged or afraid

when you hear reports about what is happening in Babylon.

People will report rumors like that every year,

rumors about violent things being done in the land,

and rumors about leaders fighting against each other.

47 But it will soon be the time for me to get rid of the carved idols in Babylon.

People all over the land will be ashamed because of being defeated,

and the corpses of their soldiers will lie in the streets.

48 Then all the angels in heaven and all the people on the earth will rejoice,

because from the north will come armies that will destroy Babylon.

49 Like the soldiers of Babylon killed the people of Israel

and also killed others all over the world,

the people of Babylon must also be killed.

50 You Israelite people who have not been killed, get out of Babylon!

Do not wait!

Even though you are in a land far away from Israel,

think about Yahweh, and think about Jerusalem!”

51 The Israelite people say,

“We are ashamed.

We are completely disgraced,

because foreigners have entered Yahweh’s temple and defiled it.”

52 Yahweh replies, “That is true, but there will soon be a time when I will destroy the carved idols in Babylon,

and throughout Babylonia there will be wounded people who will groan.

53 Even if the walls around Babylon could extend up to the sky,

and if its walls were extremely strong,

I will send armies that will destroy the city.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

54 Listen to the people of Babylon shouting for help!

And listen to the sounds of things being destroyed all over Babylonia!

55 Yahweh will be destroying Babylon.

He will cause the loud noises in the city to cease.

56 Enemy troops will surge against the city like a great wave.

They will capture the city’s mighty soldiers

and break their weapons.

That will happen because Yahweh is a God who punishes his enemies justly;

he will punish them as they deserve.

57 Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, says,

“I will cause the city officials and wise men, the army captains and soldiers, to become drunk.

They will fall asleep,

but they will never wake up again!”

58 Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, also says,

“The thick walls around Babylon will be flattened to the ground.

The city gates will be burned.

People from other countries will work hard to save the city,

but it will be in vain,

because everything that they have built will be destroyed by fire.”

59 Seraiah, son of Neraiah and grandson of Mahseiah, was an important servant of King Zedekiah. After Zedekiah had been ruling Judah for almost four years, the prophet Jeremiah gave him a message. This was when Seraiah was about to go to Babylon with the king. 60 Now Jeremiah had written on a scroll a list of all the disasters that he had written about, disasters that would soon happen to Babylon. 61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, read aloud everything that I have written on this scroll. 62 Then pray, ‘Yahweh, you said that you will thoroughly destroy Babylon, with the result that people and animals will no longer live there. You said that it will be desolate forever.’ 63 Then, when you have finished reading what is written on the scroll, tie it to a heavy stone and throw it into the Euphrates River. 64 Then say, ‘In the same way, Babylon and its people will disappear and never exist again, because of the disasters that Yahweh will bring to it.’ ”

This is the end of Jeremiah’s messages.

52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became the king of Judah. He ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of a man named Jeremiah from Libnah. 2 Zedekiah did many things that Yahweh says are evil, like his father Jehoiakim had done. 3 The events described here happened because Yahweh was angry with the people of Jerusalem and of other places in Judah, and finally he exiled them and said that he did not want to have anything to do with them anymore.

Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 So, on the tenth day of the tenth month, when Zedekiah had been ruling for almost nine years, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army to attack Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built dirt ramps up to the top of the city walls to enable them to attack the city. 5 They continued to surround Jerusalem until Zedekiah had been ruling for almost eleven years.

6 When Zedekiah had been ruling for almost eleven years, on the ninth day of the fourth month of that year, the famine in the city had become very severe, and there was no more food for the people to eat. 7 Then the soldiers of Babylonia broke through a section of the city wall, and all the Israelite soldiers fled. But because the city was surrounded by soldiers from Babylonia, Zedekiah and the Israelite soldiers waited until it became dark. Then they left the city through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they ran toward the plain along the Jordan. 8 But the soldiers of Babylonia pursued King Zedekiah, and they caught up with him on the plains near Jericho. He was alone because all his men had all deserted him and had scattered. 9 The soldiers of Babylonia took him to the king of Babylon, who was at Riblah in the region of Hamath. There the king of Babylon told his soldiers what they should do to punish Zedekiah. 10 They forced Zedekiah to watch while they killed his sons and all the officials from Judah. 11 Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes. They fastened him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon. They put him in a prison, and he remained there until the day that he died.

12 On the tenth day of the fifth month of that year, which was when King Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for almost nineteen years, Nebuzaradan, who was the captain of the king’s bodyguards and one of the king’s officials, arrived in Jerusalem. 13 He commanded his soldiers to burn down the temple of Yahweh, the king’s palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem. They also destroyed all the important buildings in the city. 14 Then he supervised the soldiers from Babylonia while they tore down the walls on all sides of Jerusalem. 15 Then Nebuzaradan forced to go to Babylon some of the poorest people, those Israelites who had said they would support the king of Babylon, the rest of the craftsmen, and other people who had remained in Jerusalem. 16 But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the very poor people to remain in Judah to take care of the vineyards and fields.

17 The soldiers from Babylonia broke into pieces the huge bronze pillars that were in front of the temple, and the large bronze water tank called “The Sea,” and the ten bronze water carts, and they took all the bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took away the basins for holding the ashes from the burned sacrifices, the shovels for cleaning out the ashes, the tools for snuffing out the wicks of the lamps, the basins for holding the blood of the sacrificed animals, the dishes for incense, and all the other bronze items that were used when they made sacrifices at the temple. 19 Nebuzaradan also told his soldiers to take away the small bowls, the dishes for burning incense, the basins, pots, lampstands, bowls for incense, and the bowls used for pouring out the wine offerings. They took all the other items that were made of pure gold or silver.

20 The bronze from the two pillars, the large water tank called “The Sea” and the twelve statues of oxen that were beneath it, and the water carts, was more than they could weigh. Those things had been made for the temple during the time that Solomon was the king. 21 Each of the pillars was 27 feet tall and 18 feet around. They were hollow, and each had sides that were 3 inches thick. 22 The bronze head on the top of each pillar was seven and one-half feet high and was decorated all around with a bronze network of figures that represented pomegranates. 23 There was a total of one hundred figures of pomegranates on the network at the top, 96 of which could be seen from the ground.

24 When Nebuzaradan returned to Babylon, he took with him as prisoners Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah who was Seraiah’s deputy, and the three men who guarded the entrances to the temple. 25 He found some other people who were hiding in the city. So from them he took a commander of the army of Judah, seven of the king’s advisors, the army commander’s chief secretary who was in charge of recruiting soldiers for the army, and sixty other soldiers. 26 Nebuzaradan took them all to the king of Babylon, who was still at Riblah. 27 There at Riblah in the Hamath region, the king of Babylon commanded that they all be executed.

Many of the people of Judah were forced to leave their own land. 28 The number of people who were captured and sent to Babylon at that time, when Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for almost seven years, was 3, 023. 29 Then, when he had been ruling for almost eighteen years, his soldiers took 832 more from Jerusalem to Babylonia. 30 When he had been ruling almost twenty-three years, he sent Nebuzaradan to Jerusalem again, and he brought back 745 more Israelites to Babylonia. That was a total of 4, 600 Israelites who were taken to Babylonia.

31 After King Jehoiachin of Judah had been in prison in Babylon for almost thirty-seven years, Awel-Marduk became the king of Babylon. He was kind to Jehoiachin and ordered that he be released from prison. That was on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the year that Awel-Marduk became king. 32 He always spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a position in which he was honored more than all the other kings who had been exiled to Babylon. 33 He supplied new clothes for Jehoiachin, to replace the clothes that he had been wearing in prison. He also allowed Jehoiachin to eat with him every day, all during the rest of his life. 34 Every day, the king of Babylon gave him some money to buy the things that he needed. That continued until the day that Jehoiachin died.