Jeremiah 51:15-58

New American Standard Bible

¹⁵It is ^(A)He who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom,
And by His understanding He ^(B)stretched out the heavens.
¹⁶When He utters His ^(C)voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
And He makes the ^(D)clouds ascend from the end of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
And brings out ^(E)wind from His storehouses.
¹⁷^(F)Every person is stupid, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his ^[a]idols,
For his cast metal images are ^(G)deceitful,
And there is no breath in them.
¹⁸They are ^(H)worthless, a work of mockery;
At the time of their punishment they will perish.
¹⁹The ^(I)portion of Jacob is not like these;
For He is the ^[b]Maker of everything,
And of the ^[c]tribe of His inheritance;
The ^(J)Lord of armies is His name.
²⁰He says, “You are My ^[d]^(K)war-club, My weapon of war;
And with you I ^(L)shatter nations,
And with you I destroy kingdoms.
²¹With you I ^(M)shatter the horse and his rider,
And with you I shatter the ^(N)chariot and its rider,
²²And with you I shatter ^(O)man and woman,
And with you I shatter the old man and ^(P)youth,
And with you I shatter the young man and virgin,
²³And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock,
And with you I shatter the farmer and his team,
And with you I shatter governors and officials.

²⁴“But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of ^(Q)Chaldea for ^(R)all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares the Lord.

²⁵“Behold, ^(S)I am against you, mountain of ^(T)destruction
That destroys the whole earth,” declares the Lord,
“And I will stretch out My hand against you,
And roll you down from the rocky cliffs,
And I will make you a ^(U)burnt out mountain.
²⁶They will not take from you even a stone for a corner
Nor a stone for foundations,
But you will be ^(V)desolate forever,” declares the Lord.

²⁷^(W)Lift up a signal flag in the land,
Blow a trumpet among the nations!
Consecrate the nations against her,
Summon against her the ^(X)kingdoms of ^(Y)Ararat, Minni, and ^(Z)Ashkenaz;
Appoint an officer against her,
Bring up the ^(AA)horses like bristly locusts.
²⁸Consecrate the nations against her,
The kings of the Medes,
^[e]Their governors and all ^[f]their officials,
And every land ^[g]under their control.
²⁹So the ^(AB)land quakes and writhes,
For the plans of the Lord against Babylon stand,
To make the land of Babylon
^[h]A ^(AC)desolation without inhabitants.
³⁰The ^(AD)warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting,
They stay in the strongholds;
^(AE)Their strength is ^[i]exhausted,
They are becoming ^(AF)like women;
Their homes are set on fire,
The ^(AG)bars of her gates are broken.
³¹One ^[j]^(AH)courier runs to meet ^[k]another,
And one ^[l]^(AI)messenger to meet ^[m]another,
To tell the king of Babylon
That his city has been captured from end to end;
³²The river crossing places have been seized,
And they have burned the marshes with fire,
And the men of war are terrified.

³³For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says:
“The daughter of Babylon is like a ^(AJ)threshing floor
At the time that ^[n]it is tread down;
In just a little while the time of ^(AK)harvest will come for her.”

³⁴“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has ^(AL)devoured me, he has crushed me,
He has set me down like an ^(AM)empty vessel;
He has ^(AN)swallowed me like a monster,
He has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
He has washed me away.
³⁵May the ^(AO)violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,”
The ^[o]inhabitant of Zion will say;
And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
Jerusalem will say.

³⁶Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“Behold, I am going to ^(AP)plead your case
And ^(AQ)take vengeance for you;
And ^(AR)I will dry up her ^[p]sea
And make her fountain dry.
³⁷^(AS)Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals,
An ^(AT)object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.
³⁸They will roar together like ^(AU)young lions,
They will growl like lions’ cubs.
³⁹When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet
And ^(AV)make them drunk, so that they may rejoice in triumph,
And may ^(AW)sleep a perpetual sleep
And not wake up,” declares the Lord.
⁴⁰“I will bring them down like ^[q]lambs ^(AX)to the slaughter,
Like rams together with male goats.

⁴¹“How ^[r]^(AY)Sheshak has been captured,
And ^(AZ)the praise of the whole earth has been seized!
How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!
⁴²The ^[s]^(BA)sea has come up over Babylon;
She has been engulfed by its roaring waves.
⁴³Her cities have become an ^(BB)object of horror,
A dry land and a desert,
A land in which ^(BC)no one lives
And through which no ^[t]one of mankind passes.
⁴⁴^(BD)I will punish Bel in Babylon,
And I will make what he has swallowed ^(BE)come out of his mouth;
And the nations will no longer ^(BF)stream toward him.
Even the ^(BG)wall of Babylon has fallen down!

⁴⁵“^(BH)Come out from her midst, My people,
And each of you ^(BI)save yourselves
From the fierce anger of the Lord.
⁴⁶Now, ^(BJ)so that your heart does not grow faint,
And you are not afraid at the ^(BK)report that will be heard in the land—
For the report will come in ^[u]one year,
And after that ^[v]another report in ^[w]another year,
And violence will be in the land
With ^(BL)ruler against ruler—
⁴⁷Therefore behold, days are coming
When I will punish the ^(BM)idols of Babylon;
And her whole land will be ^(BN)put to shame.
And all her slain will fall in her midst.
⁴⁸Then ^(BO)heaven and earth and everything that is in them
Will shout for joy over Babylon,
Because ^(BP)the destroyers will come to her from the north,”
Declares the Lord.

⁴⁹^(BQ)Indeed, Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel,
As ^(BR)the slain of all the earth have also fallen for Babylon.
⁵⁰You ^(BS)who have escaped the sword,
Go! Do not stay!
^(BT)Remember the Lord from far away,
And let Jerusalem ^[x]come to your mind.
⁵¹^(BU)We are ashamed because we have heard rebuke;
Disgrace has covered our faces,
Because ^(BV)strangers have entered
The holy places of the Lord’s house.

⁵²“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When I will punish her ^(BW)idols,
And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.
⁵³Though Babylon ^(BX)ascends to the heavens,
And though she fortifies ^[y]her lofty stronghold,
Destroyers will come from ^(BY)Me to her,” declares the Lord.

⁵⁴The ^(BZ)sound of an outcry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
⁵⁵For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon,
And He will make her loud ^[z]noise vanish from her.
And their ^(CA)waves will roar like many waters;
The clamor of their voices ^[aa]sounds forth.
⁵⁶For the ^(CB)destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
And her warriors will be captured,
Their ^(CC)bows shattered;
For the Lord is a God of ^(CD)retribution,
He will fully repay.
⁵⁷“I will ^(CE)make her leaders and her wise men drunk,
Her governors, her officials, and her warriors,
So that they will sleep a ^(CF)perpetual sleep and not wake up,”
^(CG)Declares the King, whose name is the Lord of armies.

⁵⁸This is what the Lord of armies says:

“The broad ^(CH)wall of Babylon will be completely demolished,
And her high ^(CI)gates will be set on fire;
So the peoples will ^(CJ)labor for nothing,
And the nations become ^(CK)exhausted only for fire.”

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 51:17 Or images
Jeremiah 51:19 Lit Fashioner
Jeremiah 51:19 Or scepter; cf. Num 24:17
Jeremiah 51:20 Lit shatterer
Jeremiah 51:28 Lit her
Jeremiah 51:28 Lit her
Jeremiah 51:28 Lit of his dominion
Jeremiah 51:29 Or An object of horror
Jeremiah 51:30 Lit dried up
Jeremiah 51:31 Lit runner
Jeremiah 51:31 Lit runner
Jeremiah 51:31 Lit announcer
Jeremiah 51:31 Lit announcer
Jeremiah 51:33 Lit of treading it
Jeremiah 51:35 Lit inhabitress
Jeremiah 51:36 Or broad river
Jeremiah 51:40 Or young rams
Jeremiah 51:41 Cryptic name for Babylon
Jeremiah 51:42 Or broad river
Jeremiah 51:43 Lit son of man
Jeremiah 51:46 Lit the
Jeremiah 51:46 Lit the
Jeremiah 51:46 Lit the
Jeremiah 51:50 Lit come upon your heart
Jeremiah 51:53 Lit the height of her strength
Jeremiah 51:55 Or voice
Jeremiah 51:55 Lit is given

2 Chronicles 36:10

New American Standard Bible

Captivity in Babylon Begun

¹⁰^(A)At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent men and had him brought to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of the Lord; and he made his relative ^(B)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

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2 Chronicles 36:10 in all English translations

2 Kings 24:10-17

New American Standard Bible

Deportation to Babylon

¹⁰At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. ¹¹And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. ¹²Then ^(A)Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials. And ^(B)the king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³^(C)He also brought out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and he ^(D)smashed all the articles of gold ^(E)that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, just as the Lord had said. ¹⁴Then ^(F)he led into exile all the people of Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the valiant warriors, ^(G)ten thousand exiles, and ^(H)all the craftsmen and the smiths. None were left ^(I)except the poorest people of the land.

¹⁵So ^(J)he led Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother, the king’s wives, and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶And all the valiant men, ^(K)seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, a thousand, all strong and fit for war, these too the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.

Zedekiah Made King

¹⁷^(L)Then the king of Babylon made ^[a]his uncle Mattaniah king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

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Footnotes

2 Kings 24:17 I.e., Jehoiachin’s uncle

1 Chronicles 3:10-16

New American Standard Bible

¹⁰Now Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, then Abijah was his son, Asa, his son, Jehoshaphat, his son, ¹¹Joram, his son, Ahaziah, his son, Joash, his son, ¹²Amaziah, his son, Azariah, his son, Jotham, his son, ¹³Ahaz, his son, Hezekiah, his son, Manasseh, his son, ¹⁴Amon, his son, and Josiah, his son. ¹⁵The sons of Josiah were Johanan, the firstborn, the second was Jehoiakim, the third, Zedekiah, and the fourth, Shallum. ¹⁶The sons of Jehoiakim were his son Jeconiah and his son Zedekiah.

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2 Chronicles 36:11-14

New American Standard Bible

Zedekiah Rules in Judah

¹¹^(A)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹²He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God; ^(B)he did not humble himself ^(C)before Jeremiah the prophet ^[a]who spoke for the Lord. ¹³^(D)He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance by God. But ^(E)he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁴Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.

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Footnotes

2 Chronicles 36:12 Lit from the mouth of the Lord

Jeremiah 52:1-3

New American Standard Bible

The Fall of Jerusalem

52 ^(A)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^[a]^(B)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of ^(C)Libnah. ²He did ^(D)evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that ^(E)Jehoiakim had done. ³For because of the ^(F)anger of the Lord this came about in Jerusalem and Judah, until He drove them out from His presence. And Zedekiah ^(G)revolted against the king of Babylon.

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 52:1 Another reading is Hamital

2 Kings 24:18-20

New American Standard Bible

¹⁸^(A)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^(B)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(C)in accordance with everything that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰For it was ^(D)due to the anger of the Lord that this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He cast them out of His presence. And ^(E)Zedekiah revolted against the king of Babylon.

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Jeremiah 37:1-10

New American Standard Bible

Jeremiah Warns against Trust in Pharaoh

37 Now ^(A)Zedekiah the son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had ^(B)made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king in place of ^(C)Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. ²But ^(D)neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

³Yet ^(E)King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and ^(F)the priest Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “^(G)Please pray to the Lord our God in our behalf.” ⁴Now Jeremiah was still coming and going among the people, for they had not yet ^(H)put him in prison. ⁵Meanwhile, ^(I)Pharaoh’s army had set out from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they ^(J)withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ⁷“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘^(K)This is what you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, ^(L)Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, is going to return to its own land of Egypt. ⁸Then the Chaldeans will ^(M)return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.”’ ⁹This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not ^(N)deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will certainly go away from us,” for they will not go. ¹⁰For ^(O)even if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and ^(P)burn this city with fire.’”