Jeremiah 51:15-58
New International Reader's Version
15 “I used my power to make the earth.
I used my wisdom to set the world in place.
I used my understanding to spread out the heavens.
16 When I thunder, the waters in the heavens roar.
I make clouds rise from one end of the earth to the other.
I send lightning with the rain.
I bring out the wind from my storerooms.
17 “No one has any sense.
No one knows anything.
Everyone who works with gold is put to shame
by his wooden gods.
His metal gods are fakes.
They can’t even breathe.
18 They are worthless, and people make fun of them.
When I judge them, they will be destroyed.
19 But I, the God of Jacob, am not like them.
I give my people everything they need.
I can do this because I made everything, including Israel.
They are the people who belong to me.
My name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
20 “Babylon, you are my war club.
You are my weapon for battle.
I use you to destroy nations.
I use you to wipe out kingdoms.
21 I use you to destroy horses and their riders.
I use you to destroy chariots and their drivers.
22 I use you to destroy men and women.
I use you to destroy old people and young people.
I use you to destroy young men and young women.
23 I use you to destroy shepherds and their flocks.
I use you to destroy farmers and their oxen.
I use you to destroy governors and officials.
24 “Judah, I will pay Babylon back. You will see it with your own eyes. I will pay back all those who live in Babylon. I will pay them back for all the wrong things they have done in Zion,” announces the Lord.
25 “Babylon, I am against you.
Your kingdom is like a destroying mountain.
You have destroyed the whole earth,”
announces the Lord.
“I will reach out my hand against you.
I will roll you off the cliffs.
I will make you like a mountain that has been burned up.
26 No rock will be taken from you to be used
as the most important stone for a building.
No stones will be taken from you
to be used for a foundation.
Your land will be empty forever,”
announces the Lord.
27 “Nations, lift up a banner in the land of Babylon!
Blow a trumpet among yourselves!
Prepare yourselves for battle against Babylon.
Send the kingdoms
of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz against it.
Appoint a commander against it.
Send many horses against it.
Let them be as many as a huge number of locusts.
28 Prepare yourselves for battle against Babylon.
Prepare the kings of the Medes.
Prepare their governors and all their officials.
Prepare all the countries they rule over.
29 The Babylonians tremble and shake with fear.
My plans against them stand firm.
I plan to destroy their land completely.
Then no one will live there.
30 Babylon’s soldiers have stopped fighting.
They remain in their forts.
Their strength is all gone.
They have become weak.
Their buildings are set on fire.
The metal bars that lock their gates are broken.
31 One messenger after another
comes to the king of Babylon.
All of them announce that
his entire city is captured.
32 The places where people go across the Euphrates River have been captured.
The swamps have been set on fire.
And the soldiers are terrified.”
33 The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,
“The city of Babylon is like a threshing floor
when cattle are walking on it.
The time to destroy it will soon come.”
34 The people of Jerusalem say,
“Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has destroyed us.
He has thrown us into a panic.
He has emptied us out like a jar.
Like a snake he has swallowed us up.
He has filled his stomach with our rich food.
Then he has spit us out of his mouth.”
35 The people continue, “May the people of Babylon
pay for the harmful things they have done to us.
May those who live in Babylon
pay for spilling the blood of our people.”
That’s what the people who live in Zion say.
36 So the Lord says,
“I will stand up for you.
I will pay the Babylonians back for what they did to you.
I will dry up their water supply.
I will make their springs run dry.
37 Babylon will have all its buildings knocked down.
It will be a home for wild dogs.
No one will live there.
People will be shocked at it.
They will make fun of it.
38 All its people roar like young lions.
They growl like lion cubs.
39 They are stirred up.
So I will set a feast in front of them.
I will make them drunk.
And they will shout and laugh.
But then they will lie down and die.
They will never wake up,”
announces the Lord.
40 “I will lead them down like lambs to be put to death.
They will be like rams and goats that have been killed.
41 “Babylon will be captured!
The whole earth was very proud of it.
But it will be taken over by others!
It will be a deserted place among the nations.
42 Babylon’s enemies will sweep over it like an ocean.
Like roaring waves they will cover it.
43 The towns of Babylon will be empty.
It will become a dry and desert land.
No one will live there.
No one will even travel through it.
44 I will punish the god named Bel in Babylon.
I will make Bel spit out what he has swallowed.
The nations will not come and worship him anymore.
And Babylon’s walls will fall down.
45 “Come out of there, my people!
Run for your lives!
Run away from my great anger.
46 You will hear about terrible things
that are happening in Babylon.
But do not lose hope. Do not be afraid.
You will hear one thing this year.
And you will hear something else next year.
You will hear about awful things in the land.
You will hear about one ruler fighting against another.
47 I will punish the gods of Babylon.
That time will certainly come.
Then the whole land will be full of shame.
Its people will lie down and die there.
48 So heaven and earth and everything in them will shout for joy.
They will be glad because of what will happen to Babylon.
Armies will attack it from the north.
And they will destroy it,”
announces the Lord.
49 “Babylon’s people have killed my people Israel.
They have also killed people all over the earth.
So now Babylon itself must fall.
50 You who have not been killed in the war against Babylon,
leave! Do not wait!
In a land far away remember me.
And think about Jerusalem.”
51 The people of Judah reply, “No one honors us anymore.
People make fun of us.
Our faces are covered with shame.
People from other lands have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s house.”
52 “But the days are coming,” announces the Lord.
“At that time I will punish the gods of Babylon.
And all through its land
wounded people will groan.
53 What if Babylon reached all the way to the heavens?
What if it made its high walls even stronger?
I would still send destroyers against it,”
announces the Lord.
54 “The noise of people screaming comes from Babylon.
A terrible sound comes from its land.
It is the sound of a mighty city being destroyed.
55 I will destroy Babylon.
I will put an end to all its noise.
Waves of enemies will sweep through it like great waters.
The roar of their voices will fill the air.
56 A destroying army will come against Babylon.
The soldiers in the city will be captured.
Their bows will be broken.
I am the Lord God who pays people back.
I will pay them back in full.
57 I will make Babylon’s officials and wise men drunk.
I will do the same thing to its governors, officers and soldiers.
They will lie down and die. They will never wake up,”
announces the King. His name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
58 The Lord who rules over all says,
“Babylon’s thick walls will fall down flat.
Its high gates will be set on fire.
The nations wear themselves out for no reason at all.
Their hard work will only be burned up in the flames.”
2 Chronicles 36:10
New International Reader's Version
10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him. He brought him to Babylon. He also brought things of value from the Lord’s temple. He made Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem. Zedekiah was Jehoiachin’s uncle.
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2 Kings 24:10-17
New International Reader's Version
10 At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, marched to Jerusalem. They surrounded it and got ready to attack it. 11 Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city. He arrived while his officers were attacking it. 12 Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, handed himself over to Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoiachin’s mother did the same thing. And so did all his attendants, nobles and officials.
The king of Babylon took Jehoiachin away as his prisoner. It was in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule. 13 Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures from the Lord’s temple. He also removed the treasures from the royal palace. He cut up the gold objects that Solomon, the king of Israel, had made for the temple. That’s what the Lord had announced would happen. 14 Nebuchadnezzar took all the people of Jerusalem to the land of Babylon as prisoners. That included all the officers and fighting men. It also included all the skilled workers. The total number of prisoners was 10,000. Only the poorest people were left in the land.
15 Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon as his prisoner. He also took the king’s mother from Jerusalem to Babylon. And he took Jehoiachin’s wives, his officials and the most important people of the land. 16 The king also forced the whole army of 7,000 soldiers to go away to the land of Babylon. Those men were strong and able to go to war. And the king forced 1,000 skilled workers to go to Babylon. 17 Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin’s uncle Mattaniah king in his place. And Nebuchadnezzar changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.
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1 Chronicles 3:10-16
New International Reader's Version
The Kings of Judah
10 Solomon’s son was Rehoboam.
Abijah was the son of Rehoboam.
Asa was the son of Abijah.
Jehoshaphat was the son of Asa.
11 Jehoram was the son of Jehoshaphat.
Ahaziah was the son of Jehoram.
Joash was the son of Ahaziah.
12 Amaziah was the son of Joash.
Azariah was the son of Amaziah.
Jotham was the son of Azariah.
13 Ahaz was the son of Jotham.
Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz.
Manasseh was the son of Hezekiah.
14 Amon was the son of Manasseh.
Josiah was the son of Amon.
15 Josiah’s first son was Johanan.
Jehoiakim was his second son.
Zedekiah was the third son.
Shallum was the fourth son.
16 The next king after Jehoiakim was his son Jehoiachin.
After that, Josiah’s son Zedekiah became king.
2 Chronicles 36:11-14
New International Reader's Version
Zedekiah King of Judah
11 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. 12 He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. He didn’t pay any attention to the message the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. 13 Zedekiah also refused to remain under the control of King Nebuchadnezzar. The king had forced Zedekiah to make a promise in God’s name. But Zedekiah’s heart became very stubborn. He wouldn’t turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 And that’s not all. The people and all the leaders of the priests became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the practices of the nations. The Lord hated those practices. The people and leaders made the Lord’s temple “unclean.” The Lord had set the temple in Jerusalem apart in a special way for himself.
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Jeremiah 52:1-3
New International Reader's Version
Nebuchadnezzar Destroys Jerusalem
52 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother’s name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah. She was from Libnah. 2 Zedekiah did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did just as Jehoiakim had done. 3 The enemies of Jerusalem and Judah attacked them because the Lord was angry. In the end he threw them out of his land.
Zedekiah refused to obey the king of Babylon.
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2 Kings 24:18-20
New International Reader's Version
Zedekiah King of Judah
18 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother’s name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah. She was from Libnah. 19 Zedekiah did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did just as Jehoiakim had done. 20 The enemies of Jerusalem and Judah attacked them because the Lord was angry. In the end the Lord threw them out of his land.
The Fall of Jerusalem
Zedekiah also refused to remain under the control of Nebuchadnezzar.
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Jeremiah 37:1-10
New International Reader's Version
Jeremiah Is Put in Prison
37 Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, appointed Zedekiah to be king of Judah. He was the son of Josiah. Zedekiah ruled in place of Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim. 2 Zedekiah and his attendants didn’t pay any attention to what the Lord had said through Jeremiah the prophet. And the people of the land didn’t pay any attention either.
3 But King Zedekiah sent Jehukal to Jeremiah the prophet. Zedekiah sent Zephaniah the priest along with him. Jehukal was the son of Shelemiah. Zephaniah was the son of Maaseiah. Jehukal and Zephaniah brought the king’s message to Jeremiah. It said, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”
4 At that time Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people. Jeremiah had not yet been put in prison. 5 The armies of Babylon were attacking Jerusalem. They received a report that Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt to help Zedekiah. So armies of Babylon pulled back from Jerusalem.
6 A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. 7 The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, “The king of Judah has sent you to ask me for advice. Tell him, ‘Pharaoh’s army has marched out to help you. But it will go back to its own land. It will return to Egypt. 8 Then the armies of Babylon will come back here. They will attack this city. They will capture it. Then they will burn it down.’
9 “The Lord says, ‘Do not fool yourselves. You think, “The Babylonians will leave us alone.” But they will not! 10 Suppose you destroy all the armies of Babylon that are attacking you. Suppose only wounded men are left in their tents. Even then they will come out and burn down this city.’ ”
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