Judgment on Babylon and Babylonia
1 The word that theLordspokeagainst Babylonandagainst the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
2 “Declare among the nations,
Proclaim, and set up a standard;
Proclaim—do not concealit—
# Say, ‘Babylon istaken,Bel is shamed.
Merodach is broken in pieces;
# Her idols are humiliated,
Her images are broken in pieces.’
3 For out of the northa nation comes up against her,
Which shall make her land desolate,
And no one shall dwell therein.
They shall move, they shall depart,
Both man and beast.
4 “In those days and in that time,” says theLord,
“The children of Israel shall come,
# They and the children of Judah together;
# With continual weeping they shall come,
# And seek theLordtheir God.
5 They shall ask the way to Zion,
With their faces toward it,saying,
‘Come and let us join ourselves to theLord
# Ina perpetual covenant
Thatwill not be forgotten.’
6 “My people have beenlost sheep.
# Their shepherds have led themastray;
# They have turned them awayonthe mountains.
They have gone from mountain to hill;
They have forgotten their resting place.
7 All who found them havedevoured them;
# Andtheir adversaries said,‘We have not offended,
# Because they have sinned against theLord,the habitation of justice,
# TheLord,the hope of their fathers.’
8 “Movefrom the midst of Babylon,
Go out of the land of the Chaldeans;
And be like the rams before the flocks.
9 For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon
An assembly of great nations from the north country,
And they shall array themselves against her;
From there she shall be captured.
Their arrowsshallbelikethoseof an expert warrior;
# None shall return in vain.
10 And Chaldea shall become plunder;
# All who plunder her shall be satisfied,” says theLord.
11 “Becauseyou were glad, because you rejoiced,
You destroyers of My heritage,
# Because you have grown fatlike a heifer threshing grain,
And you bellow like bulls,
12 Your mother shall be deeply ashamed;
She who bore you shall be ashamed.
# Behold, the least of the nationsshallbeawilderness,
A dry land and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of theLord
She shall not be inhabited,
# But she shall be wholly desolate.
# Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified
And hiss at all her plagues.
14 “Putyourselves in array against Babylon all around,
All you who bend the bow;
Shoot at her, spare no arrows,
For she has sinned against theLord.
15 Shout against her all around;
# She hasgiven her hand,
Her foundations have fallen,
# Her walls are thrown down;
# Foritisthe vengeance of theLord.
Take vengeance on her.
As she has done, so do to her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon,
And him who handles the sickle at harvest time.
For fear of the oppressing sword
# Everyone shall turn to his own people,
And everyone shall flee to his own land.
17 “Israelislikescattered sheep;
# The lions have drivenhimaway.
# Firstthe king of Assyria devoured him;
# Now at last thisNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”
18 Therefore thus says theLordof hosts, the God of Israel:
“Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,
# As I have punished the king ofAssyria.
19 But I will bring back Israel to his home,
And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan;
His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days and in that time,” says theLord,
# “The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, butthereshallbenone;
And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found;
# For I will pardon thosewhom I preserve.
21 “Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it,
# And against the inhabitants ofPekod.
Waste and utterly destroy them,” says theLord,
# “And doaccording to all that I have commanded you.
22 A sound of battleisin the land,
And of great destruction.
23 Howthe hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken!
How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
24 I have laid a snare for you;
# You have indeed beentrapped, O Babylon,
And you were not aware;
You have been found and also caught,
# Because you havecontended against theLord.
25 TheLordhas opened His armory,
# And has brought outthe weapons of His indignation;
For thisisthe work of the LordGodof hosts
In the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the farthest border;
Open her storehouses;
Cast her up as heaps of ruins,
And destroy her utterly;
Let nothing of her be left.
27 Slay all herbulls,
Let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them!
# For their day has come, the time oftheir punishment.
28 The voice of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon
# Declares in Zion the vengeance of theLordour God,
The vengeance of His temple.
29 “Call together the archers against Babylon.
All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around;
Let none of them escape.
# Repay her according to her work;
According to all she has done, do to her;
# For she has been proud against theLord,
Against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets,
And all her men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says theLord.
31 “Behold, Iamagainst you,
O most haughty one!” says the LordGodof hosts;
“For your day has come,
The timethatI will punish you.
32 The mostproud shall stumble and fall,
And no one will raise him up;
# I will kindle a fire in his cities,
And it will devour all around him.”
33 Thus says theLordof hosts:
“The children of Israelwereoppressed,
Along with the children of Judah;
All who took them captive have held them fast;
They have refused to let them go.
34 Their Redeemerisstrong;
# TheLordof hostsisHis name.
# He will thoroughly plead theircase,
That He may give rest to the land,
And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 “A swordisagainst the Chaldeans,” says theLord,
“Against the inhabitants of Babylon,
# Andagainst her princes andher wise men.
36 A swordisagainst the soothsayers, and they will be fools.
A swordisagainst her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.
37 A swordisagainst their horses,
Against their chariots,
# And against allthe mixed peoples whoarein her midst;
# Andthey will become like women.
A swordisagainst her treasures, and they will be robbed.
38 A droughtisagainst her waters, and they will be dried up.
For itisthe land of carved images,
And they are insane withtheiridols.
39 “Thereforethe wild desert beasts shall dwelltherewith the jackals,
And the ostriches shall dwell in it.
# It shall be inhabited no more forever,
Nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
And their neighbors,” says theLord,
“Sono one shall reside there,
# Nor son of mandwell in it.
41 “Behold,a people shall come from the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Shall be raised up from the ends of the earth.
42 They shall hold the bow and the lance;
# Theyarecruel and shall not show mercy.
# Their voice shall roar like the sea;
They shall ride on horses,
Set in array, like a man for the battle,
Against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 “The king of Babylon hasheard the report about them,
And his hands grow feeble;
Anguish has taken hold of him,
# Pangs as of a woman inchildbirth.
44 “Behold,he shall come up like a lion from the floodplain of the Jordan
Against the dwelling place of the strong;
But I will make them suddenly run away from her.
And whoisa chosenmanthatI may appoint over her?
For whoislike Me?
Who will arraign Me?
# Andwhoisthat shepherd
Who will withstand Me?”
45 Therefore hearthe counsel of theLordthat He has taken against Babylon,
# And Hispurposes that He has proposed against the land of the Chaldeans:
# Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out;
Surely He will make their dwelling place desolate with them.
46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon
The earth trembles,
And the cry is heard among the nations.