Jeremiah 51:33-52:16

New International Version

³³This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

“Daughter Babylon^(A) is like a threshing floor^(B)
at the time it is trampled;
the time to harvest^(C) her will soon come.^(D)”

³⁴“Nebuchadnezzar^(E) king of Babylon has devoured^(F) us,^(G)
    he has thrown us into confusion,
    he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
    and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
    and then has spewed^(H) us out.
³⁵May the violence^(I) done to our flesh^[a] be on Babylon,”
    say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
    says Jerusalem.^(J)

³⁶Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“See, I will defend your cause^(K)
    and avenge^(L) you;
I will dry up^(M) her sea
    and make her springs dry.
³⁷Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
    a haunt^(N) of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,^(O)
    a place where no one lives.^(P)
³⁸Her people all roar like young lions,^(Q)
    they growl like lion cubs.
³⁹But while they are aroused,
    I will set out a feast for them
    and make them drunk,^(R)
so that they shout with laughter—
    then sleep forever^(S) and not awake,”
declares the Lord.^(T)
⁴⁰“I will bring them down
    like lambs to the slaughter,
    like rams and goats.^(U)

⁴¹“How Sheshak^[b]^(V) will be captured,^(W)
    the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate^(X) Babylon will be
    among the nations!
⁴²The sea will rise over Babylon;
    its roaring waves^(Y) will cover her.
⁴³Her towns will be desolate,
    a dry and desert^(Z) land,
a land where no one lives,
    through which no one travels.^(AA)
⁴⁴I will punish Bel^(AB) in Babylon
    and make him spew out^(AC) what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
    And the wall^(AD) of Babylon will fall.

⁴⁵“Come out^(AE) of her, my people!
    Run^(AF) for your lives!
    Run from the fierce anger^(AG) of the Lord.
⁴⁶Do not lose heart^(AH) or be afraid^(AI)
    when rumors^(AJ) are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
    rumors of violence in the land
    and of ruler against ruler.
⁴⁷For the time will surely come
    when I will punish the idols^(AK) of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced^(AL)
    and her slain will all lie fallen within her.^(AM)
⁴⁸Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
    will shout^(AN) for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north^(AO)
    destroyers^(AP) will attack her,”
declares the Lord.

⁴⁹“Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain,
    just as the slain in all the earth
    have fallen because of Babylon.^(AQ)
⁵⁰You who have escaped the sword,
    leave^(AR) and do not linger!
Remember^(AS) the Lord in a distant land,^(AT)
    and call to mind Jerusalem.”

⁵¹“We are disgraced,^(AU)
    for we have been insulted
    and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
    the holy places of the Lord’s house.”^(AV)

⁵²“But days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will punish her idols,^(AW)
and throughout her land
    the wounded will groan.^(AX)
⁵³Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens^(AY)
    and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
    I will send destroyers^(AZ) against her,”
declares the Lord.

⁵⁴“The sound of a cry^(BA) comes from Babylon,
    the sound of great destruction^(BB)
    from the land of the Babylonians.^[c]
⁵⁵The Lord will destroy Babylon;
    he will silence^(BC) her noisy din.
Waves^(BD) of enemies will rage like great waters;
    the roar of their voices will resound.
⁵⁶A destroyer^(BE) will come against Babylon;
    her warriors will be captured,
    and their bows will be broken.^(BF)
For the Lord is a God of retribution;
    he will repay^(BG) in full.
⁵⁷I will make her officials^(BH) and wise^(BI) men drunk,^(BJ)
    her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep^(BK) forever and not awake,”
    declares the King,^(BL) whose name is the Lord Almighty.

⁵⁸This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Babylon’s thick wall^(BM) will be leveled
and her high gates^(BN) set on fire;
the peoples^(BO) exhaust^(BP) themselves for nothing,
the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”^(BQ)

⁵⁹This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah,^(BR) the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah^(BS) king of Judah in the fourth^(BT) year of his reign. ⁶⁰Jeremiah had written on a scroll^(BU) about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. ⁶¹He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. ⁶²Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate^(BV) forever.’ ⁶³When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.^(BW) ⁶⁴Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more^(BX) because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people^(BY) will fall.’”^(BZ)

The words of Jeremiah end^(CA) here.

The Fall of Jerusalem^(CB)^(CC)^(CD)

52 Zedekiah^(CE) was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.^(CF) ²He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim^(CG) had done. ³It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah,^(CH) and in the end he thrust them from his presence.^(CI)

Now Zedekiah rebelled^(CJ) against the king of Babylon.

⁴So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth^(CK) day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem^(CL) with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege works^(CM) all around it.^(CN) ⁵The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

⁶By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.^(CO) ⁷Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled.^(CP) They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians^[d] were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,^[e] ⁸but the Babylonian^[f] army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, ⁹and he was captured.^(CQ)

He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah^(CR) in the land of Hamath,^(CS) where he pronounced sentence on him. ¹⁰There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons^(CT) of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. ¹¹Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.^(CU)

¹²On the tenth day of the fifth^(CV) month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan^(CW) commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ¹³He set fire^(CX) to the temple^(CY) of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses^(CZ) of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. ¹⁴The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls^(DA) around Jerusalem. ¹⁵Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile^(DB) some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen^[g] and those who had deserted^(DC) to the king of Babylon. ¹⁶But Nebuzaradan left behind^(DD) the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.