New King James Version (NKJV)

Judgment on Moab

1 AgainstMoab.

Thus says theLordof hosts, the God of Israel:

# “Woe toNebo!

For it is plundered,

# Kirjathaim is shamedandtaken;

The high stronghold is shamed and dismayed—

2 No more praise of Moab.

# InHeshbon they have devised evil against her:

‘Come, and let us cut her off as a nation.’

# You also shall be cut down, OMadmen!

The sword shall pursue you;

3 A voice of cryingshallbefromHoronaim:

‘Plundering and great destruction!’

4 “Moab is destroyed;

Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard;

5 For in the Ascent of Luhith they ascend with continual weeping;

For in the descent of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.

6 “Flee, save your lives!

# And be like thejuniper in the wilderness.

7 For because you have trusted in your works and yourtreasures,

You also shall be taken.

# AndChemosh shall go forth into captivity,

# Hispriests and his princes together.

8 Andthe plunderer shall come against every city;

No one shall escape.

The valley also shall perish,

And the plain shall be destroyed,

As theLordhas spoken.

9 “Givewings to Moab,

That she may flee and get away;

For her cities shall be desolate,

Without any to dwell in them.

10 Cursedishe who does the work of theLorddeceitfully,

And cursedishe who keeps back his sword from blood.

11 “Moab has been at ease from his youth;

# Hehas settled on his dregs,

And has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,

Nor has he gone into captivity.

Therefore his taste remained in him,

And his scent has not changed.

12 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says theLord,

“That I shall send him wine-workers

Who will tip him over

And empty his vessels

And break the bottles.

13 Moab shall be ashamed ofChemosh,

# As the house of Israelwas ashamed ofBethel, their confidence.

14 “How can you say,‘Wearemighty

And strong men for the war’?

15 Moab is plundered and gone upfromher cities;

# Her chosen young men havegone down to the slaughter,” saysthe King,

Whose nameistheLordof hosts.

16 “The calamity of Moabisnear at hand,

And his affliction comes quickly.

17 Bemoan him, all you who are around him;

And all you who know his name,

# Say,‘How the strong staff is broken,

The beautiful rod!’

18 “Odaughter inhabitingDibon,

Come down fromyourglory,

And sit in thirst;

For the plunderer of Moab has come against you,

He has destroyed your strongholds.

19 O inhabitant ofAroer,

# Stand by the way and watch;

Ask him who flees

And her who escapes;

Say, ‘What has happened?’

20 Moab is shamed, for he is broken down.

# Wail and cry!

# Tell it inArnon, that Moab is plundered.

21 “And judgment has come on the plain country:

On Holon and Jahzah and Mephaath,

22 On Dibon and Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,

23 On Kirjathaim and Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,

24 OnKerioth and Bozrah,

On all the cities of the land of Moab,

Far or near.

25 The horn of Moab is cut off,

# And hisarm is broken,” says theLord.

26 “Makehim drunk,

Because he exaltedhimselfagainst theLord.

Moab shall wallow in his vomit,

And he shall also be in derision.

27 Forwas not Israel a derision to you?

# Was he found among thieves?

For whenever you speak of him,

# You shakeyourheadinscorn.

28 You who dwell in Moab,

# Leave the cities anddwell in the rock,

# And be likethe dovewhichmakes her nest

In the sides of the cave’s mouth.

29 “We have heard thepride of Moab

(Heisexceedingly proud),

# Of his loftiness and arrogance andpride,

And of the haughtiness of his heart.”

30 “I know his wrath,” says theLord,

“But itisnot right;

# His lies have made nothing right.

31 ThereforeI will wail for Moab,

And I will cry out for all Moab;

I will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.

32 O vine of Sibmah! I will weep for you with the weeping ofJazer.

Your plants have gone over the sea,

They reach to the sea of Jazer.

The plunderer has fallen on your summer fruit and your vintage.

33 Joy and gladness are taken

From the plentiful field

And from the land of Moab;

I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses;

No one will tread with joyous shouting—

Not joyous shouting!

34 “Fromthe cry of Heshbon toElealeh and to Jahaz

They have uttered their voice,

# From Zoar to Horonaim,

Likea three-year-old heifer;

For the waters of Nimrim also shall be desolate.

35 “Moreover,” says theLord,

“I will cause to cease in Moab

# The one who offerssacrificesin the high places

And burns incense to his gods.

36 ThereforeMy heart shall wail like flutes for Moab,

And like flutes My heart shall wail

For the men of Kir Heres.

# Thereforethe riches they have acquired have perished.

37 “Forevery headshallbebald, and every beard clipped;

# On all the handsshallbecuts, andon the loins sackcloth—

38 A general lamentation

# On all thehousetops of Moab,

And in its streets;

# For I havebroken Moab like a vessel in whichisno pleasure,” says theLord.

39 “They shall wail:

‘How she is broken down!

How Moab has turned her back with shame!’

So Moab shall be a derision

And a dismay to all those about her.”

40 For thus says theLord:

# “Behold,one shall fly like an eagle,

# Andspread his wings over Moab.

41 Kerioth is taken,

And the strongholds are surprised;

# The mighty men’s hearts in Moab on that day shall be

Like the heart of a woman in birth pangs.

42 And Moab shall be destroyedas a people,

Because he exaltedhimselfagainst theLord.

43 Fear and the pit and the snareshallbeupon you,

O inhabitant of Moab,” says theLord.

44 “He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit,

# And he who gets out of the pit shall be caught in thesnare.

# For upon Moab, upon itI will bring

The year of their punishment,” says theLord.

45 “Those who fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon

Because of exhaustion.

# Buta fire shall come out of Heshbon,

# A flame from the midst ofSihon,

# Andshall devour the brow of Moab,

The crown of the head of the sons of tumult.

46 Woe to you, O Moab!

The people of Chemosh perish;

For your sons have been taken captive,

And your daughters captive.

47 “Yet I will bring back the captives of Moab

# In the latter days,” says theLord.

Thus faristhe judgment of Moab.

Judgment on Ammon

1 Against theAmmonites.

Thus says theLord:

“Has Israel no sons?

Has he no heir?

# Whythendoes Milcom inheritGad,

And his people dwell in its cities?

2 Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says theLord,

“That I will cause to be heard an alarm of war

# InRabbah of the Ammonites;

It shall be a desolate mound,

And her villages shall be burned with fire.

Then Israel shall take possession of his inheritance,” says theLord.

3 “Wail, OHeshbon, for Ai is plundered!

Cry, you daughters of Rabbah,

# Gird yourselves with sackcloth!

Lament and run to and fro by the walls;

For Milcom shall go into captivity

# With hispriests and his princes together.

4 Whydo you boast in the valleys,

# Your flowing valley, Obacksliding daughter?

# Who trusted in hertreasures,saying,

‘Who will come against me?’

5 Behold, I will bring fear upon you,”

Says the LordGodof hosts,

“From all those who are around you;

You shall be driven out, everyone headlong,

And no one will gather those who wander off.

6 Butafterward I will bring back

The captives of the people of Ammon,” says theLord.

Judgment on Edom

7 Against Edom.

Thus says theLordof hosts:

# “Iswisdom no more in Teman?

# Has counsel perished from the prudent?

# Has their wisdomvanished?

8 Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants ofDedan!

For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,

The timethatI will punish him.

9 If grape-gatherers came to you,

Would they not leavesomegleaning grapes?

If thieves by night,

Would they not destroy until they have enough?

10 But I have made Esau bare;

I have uncovered his secret places,

And he shall not be able to hide himself.

His descendants are plundered,

His brethren and his neighbors,

# Andheisno more.

11 Leave your fatherless children,

I will preservethemalive;

And let your widows trust in Me.”

12 For thus says theLord: “Behold,those whose judgmentwasnot to drink of the cup have assuredly drunk. Andareyou the one who will altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drinkofit.

13 ForI have sworn by Myself,” says theLord, “thatBozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. And all its cities shall be perpetual wastes.”

14 I have heard a message from theLord,

And an ambassador has been sent to the nations:

“Gather together, come against her,

And rise up to battle!

15 “For indeed, I will make you small among nations,

Despised among men.

16 Your fierceness has deceived you,

# Thepride of your heart,

O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,

Who hold the height of the hill!

# Though you make yournest as high as the eagle,

# I will bring you down from there,” says theLord.

17 “Edom also shall be an astonishment;

# Everyone who goes by it will be astonished

And will hiss at all its plagues.

18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah

And their neighbors,” says theLord,

“No one shall remain there,

Nor shall a son of man dwell in it.

19 “Behold,he shall come up like a lion fromthe floodplain of the Jordan

Against the dwelling place of the strong;

But I will suddenly make him run away from her.

And whoisa chosenmanthatI may appoint over her?

# Forwhoislike Me?

Who will arraign Me?

# Andwhoisthat shepherd

Who will withstand Me?”

20 Therefore hear the counsel of theLordthat He has taken against Edom,

And His purposes that He has proposed against the inhabitants of Teman:

Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out;

Surely He shall make their dwelling places desolate with them.

21 The earth shakes at the noise of their fall;

At the cry its noise is heard at the Red Sea.

22 Behold,He shall come up and fly like the eagle,

And spread His wings over Bozrah;

The heart of the mighty men of Edom in that day shall be

Like the heart of a woman in birth pangs.

Judgment on Damascus

23 Against Damascus.

# “Hamath and Arpad are shamed,

For they have heard bad news.

They are fainthearted;

# Thereistrouble on the sea;

It cannot be quiet.

24 Damascus has grown feeble;

She turns to flee,

And fear has seizedher.

# Anguish and sorrows have taken her like a woman in labor.

25 Why isthe city of praise not deserted, the city of My joy?

26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets,

And all the men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says theLordof hosts.

27 “Iwill kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,

And it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.”

Judgment on Kedar and Hazor

28 Against Kedar and against the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon shall strike.

Thus says theLord:

“Arise, go up to Kedar,

# And devastatethe men of the East!

29 Theirtents and their flocks they shall take away.

They shall take for themselves their curtains,

All their vessels and their camels;

And they shall cry out to them,

# ‘Fearison every side!’

30 “Flee, get far away! Dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of Hazor!” says theLord.

“For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you,

And has conceived a plan against you.

31 “Arise, go up tothe wealthy nation that dwells securely,” says theLord,

“Which has neither gates nor bars,

# Dwelling alone.

32 Their camels shall be for booty,

And the multitude of their cattle for plunder.

# I willscatter to all winds those in the farthest corners,

And I will bring their calamity from all its sides,” says theLord.

33 “Hazorshall be a dwelling for jackals, a desolation forever;

No one shall reside there,

Nor son of man dwell in it.”

Judgment on Elam

34 The word of theLordthat came to Jeremiah the prophet againstElam, in thebeginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

35 “Thus says theLordof hosts:

# ‘Behold, I will breakthe bow of Elam,

The foremost of their might.

36 Against Elam I will bring the four winds

From the four quarters of heaven,

And scatter them toward all those winds;

There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go.

37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies

And before those who seek their life.

# I will bring disaster upon them,

My fierce anger,’ says theLord;

‘And I will send the sword after them

Until I have consumed them.

38 I willset My throne in Elam,

And will destroy from there the king and the princes,’ says theLord.

39 ‘But it shall come to passin the latter days:

I will bring back the captives of Elam,’ says theLord.”

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.

The Utter Destruction of Babylon

1 Thus says theLord:

# “Behold, I will raise up againstBabylon,

Against those who dwell in Leb Kamai,

# A destroying wind.

2 And I will sendwinnowers to Babylon,

Who shall winnow her and empty her land.

# For in the day of doom

They shall be against her all around.

3 Againstherlet the archer bend his bow,

And lift himself up againstherin his armor.

Do not spare her young men;

# Utterly destroy all her army.

4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans,

# Andthosethrust through in her streets.

5 For Israel isnot forsaken, nor Judah,

By his God, theLordof hosts,

Though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.”

6 Flee from the midst of Babylon,

And every one save his life!

Do not be cut off in her iniquity,

# Forthisisthe time of theLord’s vengeance;

# He shall recompense her.

7 Babylonwasa golden cup in theLord’s hand,

That made all the earth drunk.

# The nations drank her wine;

# Therefore the nationsare deranged.

8 Babylon has suddenlyfallen and been destroyed.

# Wail for her!

# Take balm for her pain;

Perhaps she may be healed.

9 We would have healed Babylon,

But she is not healed.

# Forsake her, andlet us go everyone to his own country;

# For her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies.

10 TheLordhasrevealed our righteousness.

# Come and let usdeclare in Zion the work of theLordour God.

11 Make the arrows bright!

Gather the shields!

# TheLordhas raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes.

# For His planisagainst Babylon to destroy it,

# Because itisthe vengeance of theLord,

The vengeance for His temple.

12 Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon;

Make the guard strong,

Set up the watchmen,

Prepare the ambushes.

For theLordhas both devised and done

What He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.

13 O you who dwell by many waters,

Abundant in treasures,

Your end has come,

The measure of your covetousness.

14 TheLordof hosts has sworn by Himself:

# “Surely I will fill you with men,as with locusts,

# And they shall liftup a shout against you.”

15 He has made the earth by His power;

He has established the world by His wisdom,

# Andstretched out the heaven by His understanding.

16 When He uttersHisvoice—

Thereisa multitude of waters in the heavens:

# “He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;

He makes lightnings for the rain;

He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

17 Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge;

Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image;

# For his molded imageisfalsehood,

Andthereisno breath in them.

18 Theyarefutile, a work of errors;

In the time of their punishment they shall perish.

19 The Portion of Jacobisnot like them,

For Heisthe Maker of all things;

AndIsraelisthe tribe of His inheritance.

TheLordof hostsisHis name.

20 “YouareMy battle-axandweapons of war:

For with you I will break the nation in pieces;

With you I will destroy kingdoms;

21 With you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider;

With you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider;

22 With you also I will break in pieces man and woman;

# With you I will break in piecesold and young;

With you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden;

23 With you also I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;

With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen;

And with you I will break in pieces governors and rulers.

24 “AndI will repay Babylon

And all the inhabitants of Chaldea

For all the evil they have done

In Zion in your sight,” says theLord.

25 “Behold, Iamagainst you,O destroying mountain,

Who destroys all the earth,” says theLord.

“And I will stretch out My hand against you,

Roll you down from the rocks,

# And make you a burnt mountain.

26 They shall not take from you a stone for a corner

Nor a stone for a foundation,

# But you shall be desolate forever,” says theLord.

27 Set up a banner in the land,

Blow the trumpet among the nations!

# Prepare the nations against her,

# Callthe kingdoms together against her:

Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.

Appoint a general against her;

Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts.

28 Prepare against her the nations,

With the kings of the Medes,

Its governors and all its rulers,

All the land of his dominion.

29 And the land will tremble and sorrow;

# For everypurpose of theLordshall be performed against Babylon,

# To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.

30 The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting,

They have remained in their strongholds;

Their might has failed,

# They becamelikewomen;

They have burned her dwelling places,

# The bars of hergateare broken.

31 One runner will run to meet another,

And one messenger to meet another,

To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken onallsides;

32 The passages are blocked,

The reeds they have burned with fire,

And the men of war are terrified.

33 For thus says theLordof hosts, the God of Israel:

# “The daughter of Babylonislike a threshing floor

# Whenit is time to thresh her;

Yet a little while

# And the time of her harvest will come.”

34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon

# Hasdevoured me, he has crushed me;

# He has made me anempty vessel,

He has swallowed me up like a monster;

He has filled his stomach with my delicacies,

He has spit me out.

35 Let the violencedoneto me and my fleshbeupon Babylon,”

The inhabitant of Zion will say;

“And my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!”

Jerusalem will say.

36 Therefore thus says theLord:

# “Behold,I will plead your case and take vengeance for you.

# I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.

37 Babylon shall become a heap,

A dwelling place for jackals,

# An astonishment and a hissing,

Without an inhabitant.

38 They shall roar together like lions,

They shall growl like lions’ whelps.

39 In their excitement I will prepare their feasts;

# I will make them drunk,

That they may rejoice,

And sleep a perpetual sleep

And not awake,” says theLord.

40 “I will bring them down

Like lambs to the slaughter,

Like rams with male goats.

41 “Oh, howSheshach is taken!

# Oh, howthe praise of the whole earth is seized!

How Babylon has become desolate among the nations!

42 The sea has come up over Babylon;

She is covered with the multitude of its waves.

43 Her cities are a desolation,

A dry land and a wilderness,

# A land whereno one dwells,

Through which no son of man passes.

44 I will punishBel in Babylon,

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

And the nations shall not stream to him anymore.

# Yes,the wall of Babylon shall fall.

45 “Mypeople, go out of the midst of her!

And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of theLord.

46 And lest your heart faint,

# And you fearfor the rumor thatwillbeheard in the land

(A rumor will comeoneyear,

And after that, inanotheryear

A rumorwillcome,

And violence in the land,

Ruler against ruler),

47 Therefore behold, the days are coming

That I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon;

Her whole land shall be ashamed,

And all her slain shall fall in her midst.

48 Thenthe heavens and the earth and all thatisin them

Shall sing joyously over Babylon;

# For the plunderers shall come to her from the north,” says theLord.

49 As Babylonhascausedthe slain of Israel to fall,

So at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall.

50 You who have escaped the sword,

Get away! Do not stand still!

# Remember theLordafar off,

And let Jerusalem come to your mind.

51 We are ashamed because we have heard reproach.

Shame has covered our faces,

# For strangershave come into the sanctuaries of theLord’s house.

52 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says theLord,

“That I will bring judgment on her carved images,

And throughout all her land the wounded shall groan.

53 Though Babylon were to mount up to heaven,

And though she were to fortify the height of her strength,

Yetfrom Me plunderers would come to her,” says theLord.

54 The sound of a crycomesfrom Babylon,

And great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans,

55 Because theLordis plundering Babylon

And silencing her loud voice,

Though her waves roar like great waters,

And the noise of their voice is uttered,

56 Because the plunderer comes against her, against Babylon,

And her mighty men are taken.

Every one of their bows is broken;

# For theLordisthe God of recompense,

He will surely repay.

57 “And I will make drunk

# Her princes andwise men,

Her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men.

And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep

# And not awake,” saysthe King,

Whose nameistheLordof hosts.

58 Thus says theLordof hosts:

# “The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterlybroken,

And her high gates shall be burned with fire;

# The people will labor in vain,

And the nations, because of the fire;

And they shall be weary.”

Jeremiah’s Command to Seraiah

59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son ofNeriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiahwasthe quartermaster.

60 So Jeremiahwrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon.

61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words,

62 then you shall say, ‘OLord, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so thatnone shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.’

63 Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book,thatyou shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates.

64 Then you shall say, ‘Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary.’ ”

Thus fararethe words of Jeremiah.

The Fall of Jerusalem Reviewed

1 Zedekiahwastwenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s namewasHamutal the daughter of Jeremiah ofLibnah.

2 He also did evil in the sight of theLord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

3 For because of the anger of theLordthishappened in Jerusalem and Judah, till He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiahrebelled against the king of Babylon.

4 Now it came to pass in theninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenthdayof the month,thatNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; andtheybuilt a siege wall against it all around.

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

6 By the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

7 Then the citywallwas broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, whichwasby the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeanswerenear the city all around. And they went by way of the plain.

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

9 So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgment on him.

10 Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. And he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah.

11 He alsoput out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in bronze fetters, took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

The Temple and City Plundered and Burned

12 Now in the fifth month, on the tenthdayof the month (whichwasthe nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,whoserved the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.

13 He burned the house of theLordand the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire.

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

15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captivesomeof the poor people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.

16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard leftsomeof the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers.

17 Thebronze pillars thatwerein the house of theLord, and the carts and the bronze Sea thatwerein the house of theLord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all their bronze to Babylon.

18 They also took awaythe pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the bowls, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which thepriestsministered.

19 The basins, the firepans, the bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the spoons, and the cups, whateverwassolid gold and whateverwassolid silver, the captain of the guard took away.

20 The two pillars, one Sea, the twelve bronze bulls whichwereunderit, andthe carts, which King Solomon had made for the house of theLord—the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure.

21 Nowconcerningthepillars: the height of one pillarwaseighteen cubits, a measuring line of twelve cubits could measure its circumference, and its thicknesswasfour fingers;itwashollow.

22 A capital of bronzewason it; and the height of one capitalwasfive cubits, with a network and pomegranates all around the capital, all of bronze. The second pillar, with pomegranates was the same.

23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides;all the pomegranates, all around on the network,wereone hundred.

The People Taken Captive to Babylonia

24 The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest,Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers.

25 He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, seven men of the king’s close associates who were found in the city, the principal scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city.

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

27 Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.

28 Thesearethe people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive:in the seventh year,three thousand and twenty-three Jews;

29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons;

30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons. All the personswerefour thousand six hundred.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

31 Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifthdayof the month,thatEvil-Merodach king of Babylon, in thefirstyear of his reign,lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.

32 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings whowerewith him in Babylon.

33 So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments,and he ate bread regularly before thekingall the days of his life.

34 And as for his provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day until the day of his death, all the days of his life.