Jeremiah 52 - Lamentations 2
English Standard Version
The Fall of Jerusalem Recounted
52 (A)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, (B)according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 3 For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.
And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 (C)And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it. 5 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled and went out from the city by night by the way of a gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. 8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 9 Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. 10 The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at (D)Riblah. 11 (E)He put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in chains, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in prison (F)till the day of his death.
The Temple Burned
12 (G)In the fifth month, on (H)the tenth day of the month—that was (I)the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who (J)served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. 13 And he burned the house of the Lord, and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poorest of the people and the rest of the people who were left in the city and (K)the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the artisans. 16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.
17 And the (L)pillars of bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and the (M)bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and (N)carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18 And they took away (O)the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the basins and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service; 19 (P)also the small bowls and the fire pans and the basins and the pots and (Q)the lampstands and (R)the dishes for incense (S)and the bowls for drink offerings. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. 20 As for the two pillars, the one sea, (T)the twelve bronze bulls that were under the sea,[a] and the stands, which Solomon the king had made for the house of the Lord, the bronze of all these things was beyond weight. 21 As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,[b] (U)its circumference was twelve cubits, and its thickness was four fingers, and it was hollow. 22 On it was a capital of bronze. The height of the one capital was (V)five cubits. A network and pomegranates, all of bronze, were around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with pomegranates. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were a hundred upon the network all around.
The People Exiled to Babylon
24 And the captain of the guard took (W)Seraiah the chief priest, and (X)Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; 25 and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and (Y)seven men of the king's council, who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city. 26 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at (Z)Riblah. 27 And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at (AA)Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.
28 This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: (AB)in the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans; 29 (AC)in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832 persons; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Judeans 745 persons; all the persons were 4,600.
Jehoiachin Released from Prison
31 (AD)And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed[c] (AE)Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. 32 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of (AF)the kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table, 34 and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, until the day of his death, as long as he lived.
How Lonely Sits the City
1 (AG)How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like (AH)a widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was (AI)a princess among the provinces
has become (AJ)a slave.
2 (AK)She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
(AL)among all her lovers
she has (AM)none to comfort her;
(AN)all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.
3 (AO)Judah has gone into exile because of affliction[d]
and hard servitude;
(AP)she dwells now among the nations,
(AQ)but finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.[e]
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
for none come to (AR)the festival;
(AS)all her gates are desolate;
her priests (AT)groan;
her virgins have been afflicted,[f]
and she herself suffers bitterly.
5 (AU)Her foes have become the head;
her (AV)enemies prosper,
because (AW)the Lord has afflicted her
(AX)for the multitude of her transgressions;
(AY)her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
6 From the daughter of Zion
all her majesty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
(AZ)that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembers
in the days of her affliction and wandering
(BA)all the precious things
that were hers from (BB)days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
and there was none to help her,
her foes gloated over her;
they (BC)mocked at her downfall.
8 (BD)Jerusalem sinned grievously;
therefore she became filthy;
all who honored her despise her,
(BE)for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself (BF)groans
and turns her face away.
9 Her uncleanness was (BG)in her skirts;
(BH)she took no thought of her future;[g]
therefore her fall is terrible;
(BI)she has no comforter.
“O Lord, behold my affliction,
for the enemy has (BJ)triumphed!”
10 The enemy has stretched out his hands
over all her (BK)precious things;
for she has seen (BL)the nations
enter her sanctuary,
those whom you (BM)forbade
to enter your congregation.
11 All her people (BN)groan
as (BO)they search for bread;
they trade their (BP)treasures for (BQ)food
to revive their strength.
“Look, O Lord, and see,
for I am despised.”
12 “Is it nothing to you, all (BR)you who pass by?
(BS)Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which (BT)the Lord inflicted
on (BU)the day of his fierce anger.
13 “From on high he (BV)sent fire;
into my bones[h] he made it descend;
(BW)he spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
(BX)he has left me stunned,
faint all the day long.
14 “My transgressions were bound[i] into (BY)a yoke;
by his hand they were fastened together;
they were set upon my neck;
he caused my strength to fail;
the Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.
15 “The Lord rejected
all my mighty men in my midst;
he summoned an assembly against me
to crush my young men;
(BZ)the Lord has trodden as in a winepress
the virgin daughter of Judah.
16 “For these things (CA)I weep;
my eyes flow with tears;
for (CB)a comforter is far from me,
one to (CC)revive my spirit;
my children are desolate,
for the enemy has prevailed.”
17 (CD)Zion stretches out her hands,
but (CE)there is none to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.
18 (CF)“The Lord is in the right,
(CG)for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
(CH)my young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.
19 “I called to (CI)my lovers,
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city,
while (CJ)they sought food
to revive their strength.
20 “Look, O Lord, for I am in distress;
(CK)my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
(CL)In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.
21 “They heard[j] (CM)my groaning,
yet (CN)there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
(CO)they are glad that you have done it.
You have brought[k] the day you announced;
(CP)now let them be as I am.
22 (CQ)“Let all their evildoing come before you,
and deal with them
as (CR)you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for (CS)my groans are many,
and (CT)my heart is faint.”
The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity
2 How the Lord in his anger
has set the daughter of Zion (CU)under a cloud!
(CV)He has cast down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered (CW)his footstool
in the day of his anger.
2 The Lord (CX)has swallowed up (CY)without mercy
all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath (CZ)he has broken down
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought (DA)down to the ground (DB)in dishonor
the kingdom (DC)and its rulers.
3 He has cut down in (DD)fierce anger
all (DE)the might of Israel;
(DF)he has withdrawn from them his right hand
in the face of the enemy;
(DG)he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.
4 (DH)He has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set (DI)like a foe;
and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes
in the tent of the daughter of Zion;
he has poured out his fury like fire.
5 (DJ)The Lord has become like an enemy;
(DK)he has swallowed up Israel;
(DL)he has swallowed up all its palaces;
he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
(DM)mourning and lamentation.
6 He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
laid in ruins (DN)his meeting place;
(DO)the Lord has made Zion forget
festival and (DP)Sabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.
7 (DQ)The Lord has scorned his altar,
(DR)disowned his sanctuary;
(DS)he has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
(DT)they raised a clamor in the house of the Lord
as on the day of festival.
8 (DU)The Lord determined to lay in ruins
(DV)the wall of the daughter of Zion;
(DW)he stretched out the measuring line;
he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
(DX)he caused rampart and wall to lament;
(DY)they languished together.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
(DZ)he has ruined (EA)and broken her bars;
(EB)her king and princes are among the nations;
the law is no more,
and (EC)her prophets find
no vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
(ED)sit on the ground (EE)in silence;
(EF)they have thrown dust on their heads
and (EG)put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 (EH)My eyes are spent with weeping;
(EI)my stomach churns;
(EJ)my bile is poured out to the ground
(EK)because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
(EL)because infants and babies (EM)faint
in the streets of the city.
12 They cry to their mothers,
(EN)“Where is bread and wine?”
(EO)as they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers' bosom.
13 What can I say for you, (EP)to what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
(EQ)What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
(ER)For your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14 (ES)Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
(ET)they have not exposed your iniquity
to (EU)restore your fortunes,
(EV)but have seen for you (EW)oracles
that are false and misleading.
15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
(EX)they hiss and wag their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
(EY)the perfection of beauty,
(EZ)the joy of all the earth?”
16 (FA)All your enemies
rail against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We (FB)have swallowed her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; (FC)we see it!”
17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
he has carried out (FD)his word,
which he commanded (FE)long ago;
(FF)he has thrown down (FG)without pity;
(FH)he has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the (FI)might of your foes.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
O (FJ)wall of the daughter of Zion,
(FK)let tears stream down like a torrent
(FL)day and night!
(FM)Give yourself no rest,
(FN)your eyes no respite!
19 “Arise, (FO)cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
(FP)Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
(FQ)Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
(FR)who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
20 Look, O Lord, and see!
(FS)With whom have you dealt thus?
(FT)Should women eat the fruit of their womb,
the children of (FU)their tender care?
Should (FV)priest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 In the dust of the streets
(FW)lie the young and the old;
(FX)my young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
(FY)you have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering (FZ)without pity.
22 You summoned as if to (GA)a festival day
(GB)my terrors on every side,
(GC)and on the day of the anger of the Lord
no one escaped or survived;
(GD)those whom I held and raised
my enemy destroyed.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 52:20 Hebrew lacks the sea
- Jeremiah 52:21 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
- Jeremiah 52:31 Hebrew reign, lifted up the head of
- Lamentations 1:3 Or under affliction
- Lamentations 1:3 Or in the narrow passes
- Lamentations 1:4 Septuagint, Old Latin dragged away
- Lamentations 1:9 Or end
- Lamentations 1:13 Septuagint; Hebrew bones and
- Lamentations 1:14 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Lamentations 1:21 Septuagint, Syriac Hear
- Lamentations 1:21 Syriac Bring
1 Thessalonians 1
English Standard Version
Greeting
1 Paul, (A)Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the (B)Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
(C)Grace to you and peace.
The Thessalonians' Faith and Example
2 (D)We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly[a] (E)mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before (F)our God and Father (G)your work of faith and labor of (H)love and (I)steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, (J)brothers[b] loved by God, (K)that he has chosen you, 5 because (L)our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and (M)in the Holy Spirit and with full (N)conviction. You know (O)what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And (P)you became imitators of us (Q)and of the Lord, for (R)you received the word in much affliction, (S)with the (T)joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord (U)sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth (V)everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of (W)reception we had among you, and how (X)you turned to God (Y)from idols to serve the living and (Z)true God, 10 and (AA)to wait for his Son (AB)from heaven, (AC)whom he raised from the dead, Jesus (AD)who delivers us from (AE)the wrath to come.
Footnotes
- 1 Thessalonians 1:2 Or without ceasing
- 1 Thessalonians 1:4 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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