Jeremiah 51:24-53

New International Version

²⁴“Before your eyes I will repay^(A) Babylon^(B) and all who live in Babylonia^[a] for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.

²⁵“I am against^(C) you, you destroying mountain,
    you who destroy the whole earth,”^(D)
declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand^(E) against you,
    roll you off the cliffs,
    and make you a burned-out mountain.^(F)
²⁶No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
    nor any stone for a foundation,
    for you will be desolate^(G) forever,”
declares the Lord.

²⁷“Lift up a banner^(H) in the land!
    Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
    summon against her these kingdoms:^(I)
    Ararat,^(J) Minni and Ashkenaz.^(K)
Appoint a commander against her;
    send up horses like a swarm of locusts.^(L)
²⁸Prepare the nations for battle against her—
    the kings of the Medes,^(M)
their governors and all their officials,
    and all the countries they rule.^(N)
²⁹The land trembles^(O) and writhes,
    for the Lord’s purposes^(P) against Babylon stand—
to lay waste^(Q) the land of Babylon
    so that no one will live there.^(R)
³⁰Babylon’s warriors^(S) have stopped fighting;
    they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
    they have become weaklings.^(T)
Her dwellings are set on fire;^(U)
    the bars^(V) of her gates are broken.
³¹One courier^(W) follows another
    and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
    that his entire city is captured,^(X)
³²the river crossings seized,
    the marshes set on fire,^(Y)
    and the soldiers terrified.^(Z)”

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

“Daughter Babylon^(AA) is like a threshing floor^(AB)
at the time it is trampled;
the time to harvest^(AC) her will soon come.^(AD)”

³⁴“Nebuchadnezzar^(AE) king of Babylon has devoured^(AF) us,^(AG)
    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^(AH) us out.
³⁵May the violence^(AI) done to our flesh^[b] be on Babylon,”
    say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
    says Jerusalem.^(AJ)

³⁶Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“See, I will defend your cause^(AK)
    and avenge^(AL) you;
I will dry up^(AM) her sea
    and make her springs dry.
³⁷Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
    a haunt^(AN) of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,^(AO)
    a place where no one lives.^(AP)
³⁸Her people all roar like young lions,^(AQ)
    they growl like lion cubs.
³⁹But while they are aroused,
    I will set out a feast for them
    and make them drunk,^(AR)
so that they shout with laughter—
    then sleep forever^(AS) and not awake,”
declares the Lord.^(AT)
⁴⁰“I will bring them down
    like lambs to the slaughter,
    like rams and goats.^(AU)

⁴¹“How Sheshak^[c]^(AV) will be captured,^(AW)
    the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate^(AX) Babylon will be
    among the nations!
⁴²The sea will rise over Babylon;
    its roaring waves^(AY) will cover her.
⁴³Her towns will be desolate,
    a dry and desert^(AZ) land,
a land where no one lives,
    through which no one travels.^(BA)
⁴⁴I will punish Bel^(BB) in Babylon
    and make him spew out^(BC) what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
    And the wall^(BD) of Babylon will fall.

⁴⁵“Come out^(BE) of her, my people!
    Run^(BF) for your lives!
    Run from the fierce anger^(BG) of the Lord.
⁴⁶Do not lose heart^(BH) or be afraid^(BI)
    when rumors^(BJ) 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^(BK) of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced^(BL)
    and her slain will all lie fallen within her.^(BM)
⁴⁸Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
    will shout^(BN) for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north^(BO)
    destroyers^(BP) 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.^(BQ)
⁵⁰You who have escaped the sword,
    leave^(BR) and do not linger!
Remember^(BS) the Lord in a distant land,^(BT)
    and call to mind Jerusalem.”

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

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

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 51:24 Or Chaldea; also in verse 35
Jeremiah 51:35 Or done to us and to our children
Jeremiah 51:41 Sheshak is a cryptogram for Babylon.

Psalm 119:169-176

New International Version

ת Taw

¹⁶⁹May my cry come^(A) before you, Lord;
    give me understanding^(B) according to your word.^(C)
¹⁷⁰May my supplication come^(D) before you;
    deliver me^(E) according to your promise.^(F)
¹⁷¹May my lips overflow with praise,^(G)
    for you teach me^(H) your decrees.
¹⁷²May my tongue sing^(I) of your word,
    for all your commands are righteous.^(J)
¹⁷³May your hand be ready to help^(K) me,
    for I have chosen^(L) your precepts.
¹⁷⁴I long for your salvation,^(M) Lord,
    and your law gives me delight.^(N)
¹⁷⁵Let me live^(O) that I may praise you,
    and may your laws sustain me.
¹⁷⁶I have strayed like a lost sheep.^(P)
    Seek your servant,
    for I have not forgotten^(Q) your commands.

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Hebrews 7:11-28

New International Version

Jesus Like Melchizedek

¹¹If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people^(A) established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come,^(B) one in the order of Melchizedek,^(C) not in the order of Aaron? ¹²For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. ¹³He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe,^(D) and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar.^(E) ¹⁴For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah,^(F) and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. ¹⁵And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, ¹⁶one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷For it is declared:

“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”^[a]^(G)

¹⁸The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless^(H) ¹⁹(for the law made nothing perfect),^(I) and a better hope^(J) is introduced, by which we draw near to God.^(K)

²⁰And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, ²¹but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:

“The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:^(L)
‘You are a priest forever.’”^[b]^(M)

²²Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.^(N)

²³Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.^(O) ²⁵Therefore he is able to save^(P) completely^[c] those who come to God^(Q) through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.^(R)

²⁶Such a high priest^(S) truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners,^(T) exalted above the heavens.^(U) ²⁷Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices^(V) day after day, first for his own sins,^(W) and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all^(X) when he offered himself.^(Y) ²⁸For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness;^(Z) but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son,^(AA) who has been made perfect^(AB) forever.