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Jeremiah 49-52
The Message
Jeremiah 49-52
The Message
You’re a Broken-Down Has-Been
49 1-6 God’s Message on the Ammonites:
“Doesn’t Israel have any children,
no one to step into her inheritance?
So why is the god Milcom taking over Gad’s land,
his followers moving into its towns?
But not for long! The time’s coming”
—God’s Decree—
“When I’ll fill the ears of Rabbah, Ammon’s big city,
with battle cries.
She’ll end up a pile of rubble,
all her towns burned to the ground.
Then Israel will kick out the invaders.
I, God, say so, and it will be so.
Wail Heshbon, Ai is in ruins.
Villages of Rabbah, wring your hands!
Dress in mourning, weep buckets of tears.
Go into hysterics, run around in circles!
Your god Milcom will be hauled off to exile,
and all his priests and managers right with him.
Why do you brag of your once-famous strength?
You’re a broken-down has-been, a castoff
Who fondles his trophies and dreams of glory days
and vainly thinks, ‘No one can lay a hand on me.’
Well, think again. I’ll face you with terror from all sides.”
Word of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
“You’ll be stampeded headlong,
with no one to round up the runaways.
Still, the time will come
when I will make things right with Ammon.” God’s Decree.
Strutting Across the Stage of History
7-11 The Message of God-of-the-Angel-Armies on Edom:
“Is there nobody wise left in famous Teman?
no one with a sense of reality?
Has their wisdom gone wormy and rotten?
Run for your lives! Get out while you can!
Find a good place to hide,
you who live in Dedan!
I’m bringing doom to Esau.
It’s time to settle accounts.
When harvesters work your fields,
don’t they leave gleanings?
When burglars break into your house,
don’t they take only what they want?
But I’ll strip Esau clean.
I’ll search out every nook and cranny.
I’ll destroy everything connected with him,
children and relatives and neighbors.
There’ll be no one left who will be able to say,
‘I’ll take care of your orphans.
Your widows can depend on me.’”
12-13 Indeed. God says, “I tell you, if there are people who have to drink the cup of God’s wrath even though they don’t deserve it, why would you think you’d get off? You won’t get off. You’ll drink it. Oh yes, you’ll drink every drop. And as for Bozrah, your capital, I swear by all that I am”—God’s Decree—“that that city will end up a pile of charred ruins, a stinking garbage dump, an obscenity—and all her daughter-cities with her.”
14 I’ve just heard the latest from God.
He’s sent an envoy to the nations:
“Muster your troops and attack Edom.
Present arms! Go to war!”
15-16 “Ah, Edom, I’m dropping you to last place among nations,
the bottom of the heap, kicked around.
You think you’re so great—
strutting across the stage of history,
Living high in the impregnable rocks,
acting like king of the mountain.
You think you’re above it all, don’t you,
like an eagle in its aerie?
Well, you’re headed for a fall.
I’ll bring you crashing to the ground.” God’s Decree.
17-18 “Edom will end up trash. Stinking, despicable trash. A wonder of the world in reverse. She’ll join Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors in the sewers of history.” God says so.
“No one will live there,
no mortal soul move in there.
19 “Watch this: Like a lion coming up
from the thick jungle of the Jordan
Looking for prey in the mountain pastures,
I will come upon Edom and pounce.
I’ll take my pick of the flock—and who’s to stop me?
The shepherds of Edom are helpless before me.”
20-22 So, listen to this plan that God has worked out against Edom, the blueprint of what he’s prepared for those who live in Teman:
“Believe it or not, the young, the vulnerable—
mere lambs and kids—will be dragged off.
Believe it or not, the flock
in shock, helpless to help, will watch it happen.
The very earth will shudder because of their cries,
cries of anguish heard at the distant Red Sea.
Look! An eagle soars, swoops down,
spreads its wings over Bozrah.
Brave warriors will double up in pain, helpless to fight,
like a woman giving birth to a baby.”
The Blood Will Drain from the Face of Damascus
23-27 The Message on Damascus:
“Hamath and Arpad will be in shock
when they hear the bad news.
Their hearts will melt in fear
as they pace back and forth in worry.
The blood will drain from the face of Damascus
as she turns to flee.
Hysterical, she’ll fall to pieces,
disabled, like a woman in childbirth.
And now how lonely—bereft, abandoned!
The once famous city, the once happy city.
Her bright young men dead in the streets,
her brave warriors silent as death.
On that day”—Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies—
“I’ll start a fire at the wall of Damascus
that will burn down all of Ben-hadad’s forts.”
Find a Safe Place to Hide
28-33 The Message on Kedar and the sheikdoms of Hazor who were attacked by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. This is God’s Message:
“On your feet! Attack Kedar!
Plunder the Bedouin nomads from the east.
Grab their blankets and pots and pans.
Steal their camels.
Traumatize them, shouting, ‘Terror! Death! Doom!
Danger everywhere!’
Oh, run for your lives,
You nomads from Hazor.” God’s Decree.
“Find a safe place to hide.
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
has plans to wipe you out,
to go after you with a vengeance:
‘After them,’ he says. ‘Go after these relaxed nomads
who live free and easy in the desert,
Who live in the open with no doors to lock,
who live off by themselves.’
Their camels are there for the taking,
their herds and flocks, easy picking.
I’ll scatter them to the four winds,
these defenseless nomads on the fringes of the desert.
I’ll bring terror from every direction.
They won’t know what hit them.” God’s Decree.
“Jackals will take over the camps of Hazor,
camps abandoned to wind and sand.
No one will live there,
no mortal soul move in there.”
The Winds Will Blow Away Elam
34-39 God’s Message to the prophet Jeremiah on Elam at the outset of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies says:
“Watch this! I’ll break Elam’s bow,
her weapon of choice, across my knee.
Then I’ll let four winds loose on Elam,
winds from the four corners of earth.
I’ll blow them away in all directions,
landing homeless Elamites in every country on earth.
They’ll live in constant fear and terror
among enemies who want to kill them.
I’ll bring doom on them,
my anger-fueled doom.
I’ll set murderous hounds on their heels
until there’s nothing left of them.
And then I’ll set up my throne in Elam,
having thrown out the king and his henchmen.
But the time will come when I make
everything right for Elam again.” God’s Decree.
Get Out of Babylon as Fast as You Can
50 1-3 The Message of God through the prophet Jeremiah on Babylon, land of the Chaldeans:
“Get the word out to the nations! Preach it!
Go public with this, broadcast it far and wide:
Babylon taken, god-Bel hanging his head in shame,
god-Marduk exposed as a fraud.
All her god-idols shuffling in shame,
all her play-gods exposed as cheap frauds.
For a nation will come out of the north to attack her,
reduce her cities to rubble.
Empty of life—no animals, no people—
not a sound, not a movement, not a breath.
4-5 “In those days, at that time”—God’s Decree—
“the people of Israel will come,
And the people of Judah with them.
Walking and weeping, they’ll seek me, their God.
They’ll ask directions to Zion
and set their faces toward Zion.
They’ll come and hold tight to God,
bound in a covenant eternal they’ll never forget.
6-7 “My people were lost sheep.
Their shepherds led them astray.
They abandoned them in the mountains
where they wandered aimless through the hills.
They lost track of home,
couldn’t remember where they came from.
Everyone who met them took advantage of them.
Their enemies had no qualms:
‘Fair game,’ they said. ‘They walked out on God.
They abandoned the True Pasture, the hope of their parents.’
8-10 “But now, get out of Babylon as fast as you can.
Be rid of that Babylonian country.
On your way. Good sheepdogs lead, but don’t you be led.
Lead the way home!
Do you see what I’m doing?
I’m rallying a host of nations against Babylon.
They’ll come out of the north,
attack and take her.
Oh, they know how to fight, these armies.
They never come home empty-handed.
Babylon is ripe for picking!
All her plunderers will fill their bellies!” God’s Decree.
11-16 “You Babylonians had a good time while it lasted, didn’t you?
You lived it up, exploiting and using my people,
Frisky calves romping in lush pastures,
wild stallions out having a good time!
Well, your mother would hardly be proud of you.
The woman who bore you wouldn’t be pleased.
Look at what’s come of you! A nothing nation!
Rubble and garbage and weeds!
Emptied of life by my holy anger,
a desert of death and emptiness.
Travelers who pass by Babylon will gasp, appalled,
shaking their heads at such a comedown.
Gang up on Babylon! Pin her down!
Throw everything you have against her.
Hold nothing back. Knock her flat.
She’s sinned—oh, how she’s sinned, against me!
Shout battle cries from every direction.
All the fight has gone out of her.
Her defenses have been flattened,
her walls smashed.
‘Operation God’s Vengeance.’
Pile on the vengeance!
Do to her as she has done.
Give her a good dose of her own medicine!
Destroy her farms and farmers,
ravage her fields, empty her barns.
And you captives, while the destruction rages,
get out while the getting’s good,
get out fast and run for home.
* * *
17 “Israel is a scattered flock,
hunted down by lions.
The king of Assyria started the carnage.
The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar,
Has completed the job,
gnawing the bones clean.”
18-20 And now this is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
the God of Israel, has to say:
“Just watch! I’m bringing doom on the king of Babylon and his land,
the same doom I brought on the king of Assyria.
But Israel I’ll bring home to good pastures.
He’ll graze on the hills of Carmel and Bashan,
On the slopes of Ephraim and Gilead.
He will eat to his heart’s content.
In those days and at that time”—God’s Decree—
“they’ll look high and low for a sign of Israel’s guilt—nothing;
Search nook and cranny for a trace of Judah’s sin—nothing.
These people that I’ve saved will start out with a clean slate.
* * *
21 “Attack Merathaim, land of rebels!
Go after Pekod, country of doom!
Hunt them down. Make a clean sweep.” God’s Decree.
“These are my orders. Do what I tell you.
22-24 “The thunderclap of battle
shakes the foundations!
The Hammer has been hammered,
smashed and splintered,
Babylon pummeled
beyond recognition.
I set out a trap and you were caught in it.
O Babylon, you never knew what hit you,
Caught and held in the steel grip of that trap!
That’s what you get for taking on God.
25-28 “I, God, opened my arsenal.
I brought out my weapons of wrath.
The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
has a job to do in Babylon.
Come at her from all sides!
Break into her granaries!
Shovel her into piles and burn her up.
Leave nothing! Leave no one!
Kill all her young turks.
Send them to their doom!
Doom to them! Yes, Doomsday!
The clock has finally run out on them.
And here’s a surprise:
Runaways and escapees from Babylon
Show up in Zion reporting the news of God’s vengeance,
taking vengeance for my own Temple.
29-30 “Call in the troops against Babylon,
anyone who can shoot straight!
Tighten the noose!
Leave no loopholes!
Give her back as good as she gave,
a dose of her own medicine!
Her brazen insolence is an outrage
against God, The Holy of Israel.
And now she pays: her young strewn dead in the streets,
her soldiers dead, silent forever.” God’s Decree.
31-32 “Do you get it, Mister Pride? I’m your enemy!”
Decree of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
“Time’s run out on you:
That’s right: It’s Doomsday.
Mister Pride will fall flat on his face.
No one will offer him a hand.
I’ll set his towns on fire.
The fire will spread wild through the country.”
* * *
33-34 And here’s more from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“The people of Israel are beaten down,
the people of Judah along with them.
Their oppressors have them in a grip of steel.
They won’t let go.
But the Rescuer is strong:
God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Yes, I will take their side,
I’ll come to their rescue.
I’ll soothe their land,
but rough up the people of Babylon.
35-40 “It’s all-out war in Babylon”—God’s Decree—
“total war against people, leaders, and the wise!
War to the death on her boasting pretenders, fools one and all!
War to the death on her soldiers, cowards to a man!
War to the death on her hired killers, gutless wonders!
War to the death on her banks—looted!
War to the death on her water supply—drained dry!
A land of make-believe gods gone crazy—hobgoblins!
The place will be haunted with jackals and scorpions,
night-owls and vampire bats.
No one will ever live there again.
The land will reek with the stench of death.
It will join Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors,
the cities I did away with.” God’s Decree.
“No one will live there again.
No one will again draw breath in that land, ever.
* * *
41-43 “And now, watch this! People pouring
out of the north, hordes of people,
A mob of kings stirred up
from far-off places.
Flourishing deadly weapons,
barbarians they are, cruel and pitiless.
Roaring and relentless, like ocean breakers,
they come riding fierce stallions,
In battle formation, ready to fight
you, Daughter Babylon!
Babylon’s king hears them coming.
He goes white as a ghost, limp as a dishrag.
Terror-stricken, he doubles up in pain, helpless to fight,
like a woman giving birth to a baby.
44 “And now watch this: Like a lion coming up
from the thick jungle of the Jordan,
Looking for prey in the mountain pastures,
I’ll take over and pounce.
I’ll take my pick of the flock—and who’s to stop me?
All the so-called shepherds are helpless before me.”
45-46 So, listen to this plan that God has worked out against Babylon, the blueprint of what he’s prepared for dealing with Chaldea:
Believe it or not, the young,
the vulnerable—mere lambs and kids—will be dragged off.
Believe it or not, the flock
in shock, helpless to help, watches it happen.
When the shout goes up, “Babylon’s down!”
the very earth will shudder at the sound.
The news will be heard all over the world.
Hurricane Persia
51 1-5 There’s more. God says more:
“Watch this:
I’m whipping up
A death-dealing hurricane against Babylon—‘Hurricane Persia’—
against all who live in that perverse land.
I’m sending a cleanup crew into Babylon.
They’ll clean the place out from top to bottom.
When they get through there’ll be nothing left of her
worth taking or talking about.
They won’t miss a thing.
A total and final Doomsday!
Fighters will fight with everything they’ve got.
It’s no-holds-barred.
They will spare nothing and no one.
It’s final and wholesale destruction—the end!
Babylon littered with the wounded,
streets piled with corpses.
It turns out that Israel and Judah
are not widowed after all.
As their God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, I am still alive and well,
committed to them even though
They filled their land with sin
against Israel’s most Holy God.
6-8 “Get out of Babylon as fast as you can.
Run for your lives! Save your necks!
Don’t linger and lose your lives to my vengeance on her
as I pay her back for her sins.
Babylon was a fancy gold chalice
held in my hand,
Filled with the wine of my anger
to make the whole world drunk.
The nations drank the wine
and they’ve all gone crazy.
Babylon herself will stagger and crash,
senseless in a drunken stupor—tragic!
Get anointing balm for her wound.
Maybe she can be cured.”
* * *
9 “We did our best, but she can’t be helped.
Babylon is past fixing.
Give her up to her fate.
Go home.
The judgment on her will be vast,
a skyscraper-memorial of vengeance.
Your Lifeline Is Cut
10 “God has set everything right for us.
Come! Let’s tell the good news
Back home in Zion.
Let’s tell what our God did to set things right.
11-13 “Sharpen the arrows!
Fill the quivers!
God has stirred up the kings of the Medes,
infecting them with war fever: ‘Destroy Babylon!’
God’s on the warpath.
He’s out to avenge his Temple.
Give the signal to attack Babylon’s walls.
Station guards around the clock.
Bring in reinforcements.
Set men in ambush.
God will do what he planned,
what he said he’d do to the people of Babylon.
You have more water than you need,
you have more money than you need—
But your life is over,
your lifeline cut.”
* * *
14 God-of-the-Angel-Armies has solemnly sworn:
“I’ll fill this place with soldiers.
They’ll swarm through here like locusts
chanting victory songs over you.”
* * *
15-19 By his power he made earth.
His wisdom gave shape to the world.
He crafted the cosmos.
He thunders and rain pours down.
He sends the clouds soaring.
He embellishes the storm with lightnings,
launches the wind from his warehouse.
Stick-god worshipers look mighty foolish!
god-makers embarrassed by their handmade gods!
Their gods are frauds, dead sticks—
deadwood gods, tasteless jokes.
They’re nothing but stale smoke.
When the smoke clears, they’re gone.
But the Portion-of-Jacob is the real thing;
he put the whole universe together,
With special attention to Israel.
His name? God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
They’ll Sleep and Never Wake Up
20-23 God says, “You, Babylon, are my hammer,
my weapon of war.
I’ll use you to smash godless nations,
use you to knock kingdoms to bits.
I’ll use you to smash horse and rider,
use you to smash chariot and driver.
I’ll use you to smash man and woman,
use you to smash the old man and the boy.
I’ll use you to smash the young man and young woman,
use you to smash shepherd and sheep.
I’ll use you to smash farmer and yoked oxen,
use you to smash governors and senators.
24 “Judeans, you’ll see it with your own eyes. I’ll pay Babylon and all the Chaldeans back for all the evil they did in Zion.” God’s Decree.
25-26 “I’m your enemy, Babylon, Mount Destroyer,
you ravager of the whole earth.
I’ll reach out, I’ll take you in my hand,
and I’ll crush you till there’s no mountain left.
I’ll turn you into a gravel pit—
no more cornerstones cut from you,
No more foundation stones quarried from you!
Nothing left of you but gravel.” God’s Decree.
* * *
27-28 “Raise the signal in the land,
blow the shofar-trumpet for the nations.
Consecrate the nations for holy work against her.
Call kingdoms into service against her.
Enlist Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a field marshal against her,
and round up horses, locust hordes of horses!
Consecrate the nations for holy work against her—
the king of the Medes, his leaders and people.
29-33 “The very land trembles in terror, writhes in pain,
terrorized by my plans against Babylon,
Plans to turn the country of Babylon
into a lifeless moonscape—a wasteland.
Babylon’s soldiers have quit fighting.
They hide out in ruins and caves—
Cowards who’ve given up without a fight,
exposed as cowering crybabies.
Babylon’s houses are going up in flames,
the city gates torn off their hinges.
Runner after runner comes racing in,
each on the heels of the last,
Bringing reports to the king of Babylon
that his city is a lost cause.
The fords of the rivers are all taken.
Wildfire rages through the swamp grass.
Soldiers desert left and right.
I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, said it would happen:
‘Daughter Babylon is a threshing floor
at threshing time.
Soon, oh very soon, her harvest will come
and then the chaff will fly!’
* * *
34-37 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
chewed up my people and spit out the bones.
He wiped his dish clean, pushed back his chair,
and belched—a huge gluttonous belch.
Lady Zion says,
‘The brutality done to me be done to Babylon!’
And Jerusalem says,
‘The blood spilled from me be charged to the Chaldeans!’
Then I, God, step in and say,
‘I’m on your side, taking up your cause.
I’m your Avenger. You’ll get your revenge.
I’ll dry up her rivers, plug up her springs.
Babylon will be a pile of rubble,
scavenged by stray dogs and cats,
A dumping ground for garbage,
a godforsaken ghost town.’
* * *
38-40 “The Babylonians will be like lions and their cubs,
ravenous, roaring for food.
I’ll fix them a meal, all right—a banquet, in fact.
They’ll drink themselves falling-down drunk.
Dead drunk, they’ll sleep—and sleep, and sleep . . .
and they’ll never wake up.” God’s Decree.
“I’ll haul these ‘lions’ off to the slaughterhouse
like the lambs, rams, and goats,
never to be heard of again.
* * *
41-48 “Babylon is finished—
the pride of the whole earth is flat on her face.
What a comedown for Babylon,
to end up inglorious in the sewer!
Babylon drowned in chaos,
battered by waves of enemy soldiers.
Her towns stink with decay and rot,
the land empty and bare and sterile.
No one lives in these towns anymore.
Travelers give them a wide berth.
I’ll bring doom on the glutton god-Bel in Babylon.
I’ll make him vomit up all he gulped down.
No more visitors stream into this place,
admiring and gawking at the wonders of Babylon.
The wonders of Babylon are no more.
Run for your lives, my dear people!
Run, and don’t look back!
Get out of this place while you can,
this place torched by God’s raging anger.
Don’t lose hope. Don’t ever give up
when the rumors pour in hot and heavy.
One year it’s this, the next year it’s that—
rumors of violence, rumors of war.
Trust me, the time is coming
when I’ll put the no-gods of Babylon in their place.
I’ll show up the whole country as a sickening fraud,
with dead bodies strewn all over the place.
Heaven and earth, angels and people,
will throw a victory party over Babylon
When the avenging armies from the north
descend on her.” God’s Decree!
Remember God in Your Long and Distant Exile
49-50 “Babylon must fall—
compensation for the war dead in Israel.
Babylonians will be killed
because of all that Babylonian killing.
But you exiles who have escaped a Babylonian death,
get out! And fast!
Remember God in your long and distant exile.
Keep Jerusalem alive in your memory.”
51 How we’ve been humiliated, taunted and abused,
kicked around for so long that we hardly know who we are!
And we hardly know what to think—
our old Sanctuary, God’s house, desecrated by strangers.
52-53 “I know, but trust me: The time is coming”
—God’s Decree—
“When I will bring doom on her no-god idols,
and all over this land her wounded will groan.
Even if Babylon climbed a ladder to the moon
and pulled up the ladder so that no one could get to her,
That wouldn’t stop me.
I’d make sure my avengers would reach her.”
God’s Decree.
54-56 “But now listen! Do you hear it? A cry out of Babylon!
An unearthly wail out of Chaldea!
God is taking his wrecking bar to Babylon.
We’ll be hearing the last of her noise—
Death throes like the crashing of waves,
death rattles like the roar of cataracts.
The avenging destroyer is about to enter Babylon:
Her soldiers are taken, her weapons are trashed.
Indeed, God is a God who evens things out.
All end up with their just deserts.
57 “I’ll get them drunk, the whole lot of them—
princes, sages, governors, soldiers.
Dead drunk, they’ll sleep—and sleep and sleep . . .
and never wake up.” The King’s Decree.
His name? God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
58 God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaks:
“The city walls of Babylon—those massive walls!—
will be flattened.
And those city gates—huge gates!—
will be set on fire.
The harder you work at this empty life,
the less you are.
Nothing comes of ambition like this
but ashes.”
* * *
59 Jeremiah the prophet gave a job to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when Seraiah went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon. It was in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign. Seraiah was in charge of travel arrangements.
60-62 Jeremiah had written down in a little booklet all the bad things that would come down on Babylon. He told Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, read this out in public. Read, ‘You, O God, said that you would destroy this place so that nothing could live here, neither human nor animal—a wasteland to top all wastelands, an eternal nothing.’
63-64 “When you’ve finished reading the page, tie a stone to it, throw it into the River Euphrates, and watch it sink. Then say, ‘That’s how Babylon will sink to the bottom and stay there after the disaster I’m going to bring upon her.’”
The Destruction of Jerusalem and Exile of Judah
52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he started out as king. He was king in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah. Her hometown was Libnah.
2 As far as God was concerned, Zedekiah was just one more evil king, a carbon copy of Jehoiakim.
3-5 The source of all this doom to Jerusalem and Judah was God’s anger. God turned his back on them as an act of judgment.
Zedekiah revolted against the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar set out for Jerusalem with a full army. He set up camp and sealed off the city by building siege mounds around it. He arrived on the ninth year and tenth month of Zedekiah’s reign. The city was under siege for nineteen months (until the eleventh year of Zedekiah).
6-8 By the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month, the famine was so bad that there wasn’t so much as a crumb of bread for anyone. Then the Babylonians broke through the city walls. Under cover of the night darkness, the entire Judean army fled through an opening in the wall (it was the gate between the two walls above the King’s Garden). They slipped through the lines of the Babylonians who surrounded the city and headed for the Jordan into the Arabah Valley, but the Babylonians were in full pursuit. They caught up with them in the Plains of Jericho. But by then Zedekiah’s army had deserted and was scattered.
9-11 The Babylonians captured Zedekiah and marched him off to the king of Babylon at Riblah in Hamath, who tried and sentenced him on the spot. The king of Babylon then killed Zedekiah’s sons right before his eyes. The summary murder of his sons was the last thing Zedekiah saw, for they then blinded him. The king of Babylon followed that up by killing all the officials of Judah. Securely handcuffed, Zedekiah was hauled off to Babylon. The king of Babylon threw him in prison, where he stayed until the day he died.
12-16 In the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon on the seventh day of the fifth month, Nebuzaradan, the king of Babylon’s chief deputy, arrived in Jerusalem. He burned the Temple of God to the ground, went on to the royal palace, and then finished off the city. He burned the whole place down. He put the Babylonian troops he had with him to work knocking down the city walls. Finally, he rounded up everyone left in the city, including those who had earlier deserted to the king of Babylon, and took them off into exile. He left a few poor dirt farmers behind to tend the vineyards and what was left of the fields.
17-19 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the bronze washstands, and the huge bronze basin (the Sea) that were in the Temple of God, and hauled the bronze off to Babylon. They also took the various bronze-crafted liturgical accessories, as well as the gold and silver censers and sprinkling bowls, used in the services of Temple worship. The king’s deputy didn’t miss a thing. He took every scrap of precious metal he could find.
20-23 The amount of bronze they got from the two pillars, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls that supported the Sea, and the ten washstands that Solomon had made for the Temple of God was enormous. They couldn’t weigh it all! Each pillar stood twenty-seven feet high with a circumference of eighteen feet. The pillars were hollow, the bronze a little less than an inch thick. Each pillar was topped with an ornate capital of bronze pomegranates and filigree, which added another seven and a half feet to its height. There were ninety-six pomegranates evenly spaced—in all, a hundred pomegranates worked into the filigree.
24-27 The king’s deputy took a number of special prisoners: Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the associate priest, three wardens, the chief remaining army officer, seven of the king’s counselors who happened to be in the city, the chief recruiting officer for the army, and sixty men of standing from among the people who were still there. Nebuzaradan the king’s deputy marched them all off to the king of Babylon at Riblah. And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon killed the lot of them in cold blood.
Judah went into exile, orphaned from her land.
* * *
28 3,023 men of Judah were taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar in the seventh year of his reign.
29 832 from Jerusalem were taken in the eighteenth year of his reign.
30 745 men from Judah were taken off by Nebuzaradan, the king’s chief deputy, in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year.
The total number of exiles was 4,600.
* * *
31-34 When Jehoiachin king of Judah had been in exile for thirty-seven years, Evil-Merodach became king in Babylon and let Jehoiachin out of prison. This release took place on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month. The king treated him most courteously and gave him preferential treatment beyond anything experienced by the political prisoners held in Babylon. Jehoiachin took off his prison garb and from then on ate his meals in company with the king. The king provided everything he needed to live comfortably for the rest of his life.
Jeremiah 49-52
New International Version
Jeremiah 49-52
New International Version
A Message About Ammon
49 Concerning the Ammonites:(A)
This is what the Lord says:
“Has Israel no sons?
Has Israel no heir?
Why then has Molek[a](B) taken possession of Gad?(C)
Why do his people live in its towns?
2 But the days are coming,”
declares the Lord,
“when I will sound the battle cry(D)
against Rabbah(E) of the Ammonites;
it will become a mound of ruins,(F)
and its surrounding villages will be set on fire.
Then Israel will drive out
those who drove her out,(G)”
says the Lord.
3 “Wail, Heshbon,(H) for Ai(I) is destroyed!
Cry out, you inhabitants of Rabbah!
Put on sackcloth(J) and mourn;
rush here and there inside the walls,
for Molek(K) will go into exile,(L)
together with his priests and officials.
4 Why do you boast of your valleys,
boast of your valleys so fruitful?
Unfaithful Daughter Ammon,(M)
you trust in your riches(N) and say,
‘Who will attack me?’(O)
5 I will bring terror on you
from all those around you,”
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
“Every one of you will be driven away,
and no one will gather the fugitives.(P)
6 “Yet afterward, I will restore(Q) the fortunes of the Ammonites,”
declares the Lord.
A Message About Edom(R)(S)
7 Concerning Edom:(T)
This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?(U)
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom decayed?
8 Turn and flee, hide in deep caves,(V)
you who live in Dedan,(W)
for I will bring disaster on Esau
at the time when I punish him.
9 If grape pickers came to you,
would they not leave a few grapes?
If thieves came during the night,
would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
10 But I will strip Esau bare;
I will uncover his hiding places,(X)
so that he cannot conceal himself.
His armed men are destroyed,
also his allies and neighbors,
so there is no one(Y) to say,
11 ‘Leave your fatherless children;(Z) I will keep them alive.
Your widows(AA) too can depend on me.’”
12 This is what the Lord says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup(AB) must drink it, why should you go unpunished?(AC) You will not go unpunished, but must drink it. 13 I swear(AD) by myself,” declares the Lord, “that Bozrah(AE) will become a ruin and a curse,[b] an object of horror(AF) and reproach;(AG) and all its towns will be in ruins forever.”(AH)
14 I have heard a message from the Lord;
an envoy was sent to the nations to say,
“Assemble yourselves to attack it!
Rise up for battle!”
15 “Now I will make you small among the nations,
despised by mankind.
16 The terror you inspire
and the pride(AI) of your heart have deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rocks,(AJ)
who occupy the heights of the hill.
Though you build your nest(AK) as high as the eagle’s,
from there I will bring you down,”
declares the Lord.
17 “Edom will become an object of horror;(AL)
all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff
because of all its wounds.(AM)
18 As Sodom(AN) and Gomorrah(AO) were overthrown,
along with their neighboring towns,”
says the Lord,
“so no one will live there;
no people will dwell(AP) in it.
19 “Like a lion(AQ) coming up from Jordan’s thickets(AR)
to a rich pastureland,
I will chase Edom from its land in an instant.
Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this?
Who is like(AS) me and who can challenge me?(AT)
And what shepherd(AU) can stand against me?”
20 Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Edom,(AV)
what he has purposed(AW) against those who live in Teman:(AX)
The young of the flock(AY) will be dragged away;
their pasture will be appalled at their fate.(AZ)
21 At the sound of their fall the earth will tremble;(BA)
their cry(BB) will resound to the Red Sea.[c]
22 Look! An eagle will soar and swoop(BC) down,
spreading its wings over Bozrah.(BD)
In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors(BE)
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.(BF)
A Message About Damascus
23 Concerning Damascus:(BG)
“Hamath(BH) and Arpad(BI) are dismayed,
for they have heard bad news.
They are disheartened,
troubled like[d] the restless sea.(BJ)
24 Damascus has become feeble,
she has turned to flee
and panic has gripped her;
anguish and pain have seized her,
pain like that of a woman in labor.(BK)
25 Why has the city of renown not been abandoned,
the town in which I delight?
26 Surely, her young men(BL) will fall in the streets;
all her soldiers will be silenced(BM) in that day,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
27 “I will set fire(BN) to the walls of Damascus;(BO)
it will consume(BP) the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.(BQ)”
A Message About Kedar and Hazor
28 Concerning Kedar(BR) and the kingdoms of Hazor,(BS) which Nebuchadnezzar(BT) king of Babylon attacked:
This is what the Lord says:
“Arise, and attack Kedar
and destroy the people of the East.(BU)
29 Their tents and their flocks(BV) will be taken;
their shelters will be carried off
with all their goods and camels.
People will shout to them,
‘Terror(BW) on every side!’
30 “Flee quickly away!
Stay in deep caves,(BX) you who live in Hazor,(BY)”
declares the Lord.
“Nebuchadnezzar(BZ) king of Babylon has plotted against you;
he has devised a plan against you.
31 “Arise and attack a nation at ease,
which lives in confidence,”
declares the Lord,
“a nation that has neither gates nor bars;(CA)
its people live far from danger.
32 Their camels(CB) will become plunder,
and their large herds(CC) will be spoils of war.
I will scatter to the winds(CD) those who are in distant places[e](CE)
and will bring disaster on them from every side,”
declares the Lord.
33 “Hazor(CF) will become a haunt of jackals,(CG)
a desolate(CH) place forever.
No one will live there;
no people will dwell(CI) in it.”
A Message About Elam
34 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam,(CJ) early in the reign of Zedekiah(CK) king of Judah:
35 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“See, I will break the bow(CL) of Elam,
the mainstay of their might.
36 I will bring against Elam the four winds(CM)
from the four quarters of heaven;(CN)
I will scatter them to the four winds,
and there will not be a nation
where Elam’s exiles do not go.
37 I will shatter Elam before their foes,
before those who want to kill them;
I will bring disaster on them,
even my fierce anger,”(CO)
declares the Lord.
“I will pursue them with the sword(CP)
until I have made an end of them.
38 I will set my throne in Elam
and destroy her king and officials,”
declares the Lord.
39 “Yet I will restore(CQ) the fortunes of Elam
in days to come,”
declares the Lord.
A Message About Babylon(CR)
50 This is the word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon(CS) and the land of the Babylonians[f]:
2 “Announce and proclaim(CT) among the nations,
lift up a banner(CU) and proclaim it;
keep nothing back, but say,
‘Babylon will be captured;(CV)
Bel(CW) will be put to shame,(CX)
Marduk(CY) filled with terror.
Her images will be put to shame
and her idols(CZ) filled with terror.’
3 A nation from the north(DA) will attack her
and lay waste her land.
No one will live(DB) in it;
both people and animals(DC) will flee away.
4 “In those days, at that time,”
declares the Lord,
“the people of Israel and the people of Judah together(DD)
will go in tears(DE) to seek(DF) the Lord their God.
5 They will ask the way(DG) to Zion
and turn their faces toward it.
They will come(DH) and bind themselves to the Lord
in an everlasting covenant(DI)
that will not be forgotten.
6 “My people have been lost sheep;(DJ)
their shepherds(DK) have led them astray(DL)
and caused them to roam on the mountains.
They wandered over mountain and hill(DM)
and forgot their own resting place.(DN)
7 Whoever found them devoured(DO) them;
their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty,(DP)
for they sinned against the Lord, their verdant pasture,
the Lord, the hope(DQ) of their ancestors.’
8 “Flee(DR) out of Babylon;(DS)
leave the land of the Babylonians,
and be like the goats that lead the flock.
9 For I will stir(DT) up and bring against Babylon
an alliance of great nations(DU) from the land of the north.(DV)
They will take up their positions against her,
and from the north she will be captured.(DW)
Their arrows(DX) will be like skilled warriors
who do not return empty-handed.
10 So Babylonia[g] will be plundered;(DY)
all who plunder her will have their fill,”
declares the Lord.
11 “Because you rejoice and are glad,
you who pillage my inheritance,(DZ)
because you frolic like a heifer(EA) threshing grain
and neigh like stallions,
12 your mother will be greatly ashamed;
she who gave you birth will be disgraced.(EB)
She will be the least of the nations—
a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.(EC)
13 Because of the Lord’s anger she will not be inhabited
but will be completely desolate.(ED)
All who pass Babylon will be appalled;(EE)
they will scoff(EF) because of all her wounds.(EG)
14 “Take up your positions around Babylon,
all you who draw the bow.(EH)
Shoot at her! Spare no arrows,(EI)
for she has sinned against the Lord.
15 Shout(EJ) against her on every side!
She surrenders, her towers fall,
her walls(EK) are torn down.
Since this is the vengeance(EL) of the Lord,
take vengeance on her;
do to her(EM) as she has done to others.(EN)
16 Cut off from Babylon the sower,
and the reaper with his sickle at harvest.
Because of the sword(EO) of the oppressor
let everyone return to their own people,(EP)
let everyone flee to their own land.(EQ)
17 “Israel is a scattered flock(ER)
that lions(ES) have chased away.
The first to devour(ET) them
was the king(EU) of Assyria;
the last to crush their bones(EV)
was Nebuchadnezzar(EW) king(EX) of Babylon.”
18 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“I will punish the king of Babylon and his land
as I punished the king(EY) of Assyria.(EZ)
19 But I will bring(FA) Israel back to their own pasture,
and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
their appetite will be satisfied(FB)
on the hills(FC) of Ephraim and Gilead.(FD)
20 In those days, at that time,”
declares the Lord,
“search will be made for Israel’s guilt,
but there will be none,(FE)
and for the sins(FF) of Judah,
but none will be found,
for I will forgive(FG) the remnant(FH) I spare.
21 “Attack the land of Merathaim
and those who live in Pekod.(FI)
Pursue, kill and completely destroy[h] them,”
declares the Lord.
“Do everything I have commanded you.
22 The noise(FJ) of battle is in the land,
the noise of great destruction!
23 How broken and shattered
is the hammer(FK) of the whole earth!(FL)
How desolate(FM) is Babylon
among the nations!
24 I set a trap(FN) for you, Babylon,
and you were caught before you knew it;
you were found and captured(FO)
because you opposed(FP) the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his arsenal
and brought out the weapons(FQ) of his wrath,
for the Sovereign Lord Almighty has work to do
in the land of the Babylonians.(FR)
26 Come against her from afar.(FS)
Break open her granaries;
pile her up like heaps of grain.(FT)
Completely destroy(FU) her
and leave her no remnant.
27 Kill all her young bulls;(FV)
let them go down to the slaughter!(FW)
Woe to them! For their day(FX) has come,
the time(FY) for them to be punished.
28 Listen to the fugitives(FZ) and refugees from Babylon
declaring in Zion(GA)
how the Lord our God has taken vengeance,(GB)
vengeance for his temple.(GC)
29 “Summon archers against Babylon,
all those who draw the bow.(GD)
Encamp all around her;
let no one escape.(GE)
Repay(GF) her for her deeds;(GG)
do to her as she has done.
For she has defied(GH) the Lord,
the Holy One(GI) of Israel.
30 Therefore, her young men(GJ) will fall in the streets;
all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,”
declares the Lord.
31 “See, I am against(GK) you, you arrogant one,”
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
“for your day(GL) has come,
the time for you to be punished.
32 The arrogant(GM) one will stumble and fall(GN)
and no one will help her up;(GO)
I will kindle a fire(GP) in her towns
that will consume all who are around her.”
33 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“The people of Israel are oppressed,(GQ)
and the people of Judah as well.
All their captors hold them fast,
refusing to let them go.(GR)
34 Yet their Redeemer(GS) is strong;
the Lord Almighty(GT) is his name.
He will vigorously defend their cause(GU)
so that he may bring rest(GV) to their land,
but unrest to those who live in Babylon.
35 “A sword(GW) against the Babylonians!”(GX)
declares the Lord—
“against those who live in Babylon
and against her officials and wise(GY) men!
36 A sword against her false prophets!
They will become fools.
A sword against her warriors!(GZ)
They will be filled with terror.(HA)
37 A sword against her horses and chariots(HB)
and all the foreigners in her ranks!
They will become weaklings.(HC)
A sword against her treasures!(HD)
They will be plundered.
38 A drought on[i] her waters!(HE)
They will dry(HF) up.
For it is a land of idols,(HG)
idols that will go mad with terror.
39 “So desert creatures(HH) and hyenas will live there,
and there the owl will dwell.
It will never again be inhabited
or lived in from generation to generation.(HI)
40 As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah(HJ)
along with their neighboring towns,”
declares the Lord,
“so no one will live there;
no people will dwell in it.(HK)
41 “Look! An army is coming from the north;(HL)
a great nation and many kings
are being stirred(HM) up from the ends of the earth.(HN)
42 They are armed with bows(HO) and spears;
they are cruel(HP) and without mercy.(HQ)
They sound like the roaring sea(HR)
as they ride on their horses;
they come like men in battle formation
to attack you, Daughter Babylon.(HS)
43 The king of Babylon has heard reports about them,
and his hands hang limp.(HT)
Anguish has gripped him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.(HU)
44 Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets(HV)
to a rich pastureland,
I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant.
Who is the chosen(HW) one I will appoint for this?
Who is like me and who can challenge me?(HX)
And what shepherd can stand against me?”
45 Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Babylon,
what he has purposed(HY) against the land of the Babylonians:(HZ)
The young of the flock will be dragged away;
their pasture will be appalled at their fate.
46 At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble;(IA)
its cry(IB) will resound among the nations.
51 This is what the Lord says:
“See, I will stir(IC) up the spirit of a destroyer
against Babylon(ID) and the people of Leb Kamai.[j]
2 I will send foreigners(IE) to Babylon
to winnow(IF) her and to devastate her land;
they will oppose her on every side
in the day(IG) of her disaster.
3 Let not the archer string his bow,(IH)
nor let him put on his armor.(II)
Do not spare her young men;
completely destroy[k] her army.
4 They will fall(IJ) down slain in Babylon,[l]
fatally wounded in her streets.(IK)
5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken(IL)
by their God, the Lord Almighty,
though their land[m] is full of guilt(IM)
before the Holy One of Israel.
6 “Flee(IN) from Babylon!
Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of her sins.(IO)
It is time(IP) for the Lord’s vengeance;(IQ)
he will repay(IR) her what she deserves.
7 Babylon was a gold cup(IS) in the Lord’s hand;
she made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore they have now gone mad.
8 Babylon will suddenly fall(IT) and be broken.
Wail over her!
Get balm(IU) for her pain;
perhaps she can be healed.
9 “‘We would have healed Babylon,
but she cannot be healed;
let us leave(IV) her and each go to our own land,
for her judgment(IW) reaches to the skies,
it rises as high as the heavens.’
11 “Sharpen the arrows,(IZ)
take up the shields!(JA)
The Lord has stirred up the kings(JB) of the Medes,(JC)
because his purpose(JD) is to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will take vengeance,(JE)
vengeance for his temple.(JF)
12 Lift up a banner(JG) against the walls of Babylon!
Reinforce the guard,
station the watchmen,(JH)
prepare an ambush!(JI)
The Lord will carry out his purpose,(JJ)
his decree against the people of Babylon.
13 You who live by many waters(JK)
and are rich in treasures,(JL)
your end has come,
the time for you to be destroyed.(JM)
14 The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself:(JN)
I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts,(JO)
and they will shout(JP) in triumph over you.
15 “He made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom(JQ)
and stretched(JR) out the heavens by his understanding.(JS)
16 When he thunders,(JT) the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain(JU)
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.(JV)
17 “Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;(JW)
they have no breath in them.
18 They are worthless,(JX) the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.
19 He who is the Portion(JY) of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including the people of his inheritance(JZ)—
the Lord Almighty is his name.
20 “You are my war club,(KA)
my weapon for battle—
with you I shatter(KB) nations,(KC)
with you I destroy kingdoms,
21 with you I shatter horse and rider,(KD)
with you I shatter chariot(KE) and driver,
22 with you I shatter man and woman,
with you I shatter old man and youth,
with you I shatter young man and young woman,(KF)
23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
with you I shatter governors and officials.(KG)
24 “Before your eyes I will repay(KH) Babylon(KI) and all who live in Babylonia[n] for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.
25 “I am against(KJ) you, you destroying mountain,
you who destroy the whole earth,”(KK)
declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand(KL) against you,
roll you off the cliffs,
and make you a burned-out mountain.(KM)
26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
nor any stone for a foundation,
for you will be desolate(KN) forever,”
declares the Lord.
27 “Lift up a banner(KO) in the land!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
summon against her these kingdoms:(KP)
Ararat,(KQ) Minni and Ashkenaz.(KR)
Appoint a commander against her;
send up horses like a swarm of locusts.(KS)
28 Prepare the nations for battle against her—
the kings of the Medes,(KT)
their governors and all their officials,
and all the countries they rule.(KU)
29 The land trembles(KV) and writhes,
for the Lord’s purposes(KW) against Babylon stand—
to lay waste(KX) the land of Babylon
so that no one will live there.(KY)
30 Babylon’s warriors(KZ) have stopped fighting;
they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
they have become weaklings.(LA)
Her dwellings are set on fire;(LB)
the bars(LC) of her gates are broken.
31 One courier(LD) follows another
and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his entire city is captured,(LE)
32 the river crossings seized,
the marshes set on fire,(LF)
and the soldiers terrified.(LG)”
33 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Daughter Babylon(LH) is like a threshing floor(LI)
at the time it is trampled;
the time to harvest(LJ) her will soon come.(LK)”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar(LL) king of Babylon has devoured(LM) us,(LN)
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(LO) us out.
35 May the violence(LP) done to our flesh[o] be on Babylon,”
say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
says Jerusalem.(LQ)
36 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“See, I will defend your cause(LR)
and avenge(LS) you;
I will dry up(LT) her sea
and make her springs dry.
37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
a haunt(LU) of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,(LV)
a place where no one lives.(LW)
38 Her people all roar like young lions,(LX)
they growl like lion cubs.
39 But while they are aroused,
I will set out a feast for them
and make them drunk,(LY)
so that they shout with laughter—
then sleep forever(LZ) and not awake,”
declares the Lord.(MA)
40 “I will bring them down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats.(MB)
41 “How Sheshak[p](MC) will be captured,(MD)
the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate(ME) Babylon will be
among the nations!
42 The sea will rise over Babylon;
its roaring waves(MF) will cover her.
43 Her towns will be desolate,
a dry and desert(MG) land,
a land where no one lives,
through which no one travels.(MH)
44 I will punish Bel(MI) in Babylon
and make him spew out(MJ) what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
And the wall(MK) of Babylon will fall.
45 “Come out(ML) of her, my people!
Run(MM) for your lives!
Run from the fierce anger(MN) of the Lord.
46 Do not lose heart(MO) or be afraid(MP)
when rumors(MQ) are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
rumors of violence in the land
and of ruler against ruler.
47 For the time will surely come
when I will punish the idols(MR) of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced(MS)
and her slain will all lie fallen within her.(MT)
48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will shout(MU) for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north(MV)
destroyers(MW) 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.(MX)
50 You who have escaped the sword,
leave(MY) and do not linger!
Remember(MZ) the Lord in a distant land,(NA)
and call to mind Jerusalem.”
51 “We are disgraced,(NB)
for we have been insulted
and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s house.”(NC)
52 “But days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will punish her idols,(ND)
and throughout her land
the wounded will groan.(NE)
53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens(NF)
and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
I will send destroyers(NG) against her,”
declares the Lord.
54 “The sound of a cry(NH) comes from Babylon,
the sound of great destruction(NI)
from the land of the Babylonians.[q]
55 The Lord will destroy Babylon;
he will silence(NJ) her noisy din.
Waves(NK) of enemies will rage like great waters;
the roar of their voices will resound.
56 A destroyer(NL) will come against Babylon;
her warriors will be captured,
and their bows will be broken.(NM)
For the Lord is a God of retribution;
he will repay(NN) in full.
57 I will make her officials(NO) and wise(NP) men drunk,(NQ)
her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep(NR) forever and not awake,”
declares the King,(NS) whose name is the Lord Almighty.
58 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Babylon’s thick wall(NT) will be leveled
and her high gates(NU) set on fire;
the peoples(NV) exhaust(NW) themselves for nothing,
the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”(NX)
59 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah,(NY) the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah(NZ) king of Judah in the fourth(OA) year of his reign. 60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll(OB) about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. 61 He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62 Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate(OC) forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.(OD) 64 Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more(OE) because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people(OF) will fall.’”(OG)
The words of Jeremiah end(OH) here.
The Fall of Jerusalem(OI)(OJ)(OK)
52 Zedekiah(OL) 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.(OM) 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim(ON) had done. 3 It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah,(OO) and in the end he thrust them from his presence.(OP)
Now Zedekiah rebelled(OQ) against the king of Babylon.
4 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth(OR) day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem(OS) with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege works(OT) all around it.(OU) 5 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
6 By 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.(OV) 7 Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled.(OW) They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians[r] were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,[s] 8 but the Babylonian[t] army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, 9 and he was captured.(OX)
He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah(OY) in the land of Hamath,(OZ) where he pronounced sentence on him. 10 There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons(PA) of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. 11 Then 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.(PB)
12 On the tenth day of the fifth(PC) month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan(PD) commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13 He set fire(PE) to the temple(PF) of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses(PG) of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 14 The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls(PH) around Jerusalem. 15 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile(PI) some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen[u] and those who had deserted(PJ) to the king of Babylon. 16 But Nebuzaradan left behind(PK) the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
17 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars,(PL) the movable stands(PM) and the bronze Sea(PN) that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.(PO) 18 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls,(PP) dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.(PQ) 19 The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers,(PR) sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands,(PS) dishes(PT) and bowls used for drink offerings(PU)—all that were made of pure gold or silver.(PV)
20 The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls(PW) under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed.(PX) 21 Each pillar was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference[v]; each was four fingers thick, and hollow.(PY) 22 The bronze capital(PZ) on top of one pillar was five cubits[w] high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates(QA) of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates(QB) above the surrounding network was a hundred.(QC)
24 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah(QD) the chief priest, Zephaniah(QE) the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers.(QF) 25 Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the secretary(QG) who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land, sixty of whom were found in the city. 26 Nebuzaradan(QH) the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 There at Riblah,(QI) in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.
So Judah went into captivity, away(QJ) from her land. 28 This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile:(QK)
in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year,
832 people from Jerusalem;
30 in his twenty-third year,
745 Jews taken into exile(QL) by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard.
There were 4,600 people in all.(QM)
Jehoiachin Released(QN)
31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin(QO) king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison. 32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table.(QP) 34 Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance(QQ) as long as he lived, till the day of his death.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 49:1 Or their king; also in verse 3
- Jeremiah 49:13 That is, its name will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that it is cursed.
- Jeremiah 49:21 Or the Sea of Reeds
- Jeremiah 49:23 Hebrew on or by
- Jeremiah 49:32 Or who clip the hair by their foreheads
- Jeremiah 50:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 8, 25, 35 and 45
- Jeremiah 50:10 Or Chaldea
- Jeremiah 50:21 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 26.
- Jeremiah 50:38 Or A sword against
- Jeremiah 51:1 Leb Kamai is a cryptogram for Chaldea, that is, Babylonia.
- Jeremiah 51:3 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
- Jeremiah 51:4 Or Chaldea
- Jeremiah 51:5 Or Almighty, / and the land of the Babylonians
- 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.
- Jeremiah 51:54 Or Chaldeans
- Jeremiah 52:7 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 17
- Jeremiah 52:7 Or the Jordan Valley
- Jeremiah 52:8 Or Chaldean; also in verse 14
- Jeremiah 52:15 Or the populace
- Jeremiah 52:21 That is, about 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference or about 8.1 meters high and 5.4 meters in circumference
- Jeremiah 52:22 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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