Jeremiah 44-52

Tree of Life Version

³ “Arrange breastplate and shield!
Advance to battle!
⁴ Harness the horses
and mount, O horsemen!
Take your position,
with helmets!
Polish the spears!
Put on armor!
⁵ Why have I seen them?
They are shattered, retreating,
their warriors beaten,
fleeing for cover, no turning back,
terror on every side!”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
⁶ “The swift cannot flee,
nor the warrior escape.
In the north by the river Euphrates
they stumbled and fell.
⁷ Who is this, rising like the Nile,
like the rivers whose waters churn?
⁸ Egypt rises like the Nile,
like the rivers whose waters churn.
He says: ‘I will rise up,
I will cover the earth,
I will destroy the city
and its inhabitants!’
⁹ Prance, you horses,
and rush madly, you chariots.
Let the warriors go out—
Cush and Put grasping the shield,
Lydians grasping and bending the bow!
¹⁰ For that day belongs to my Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot,
as a day of vengeance, to avenge Himself against His foes.
The sword will devour and be satisfied
and will drink its fill of their blood.
For it will be a sacrifice for my Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot,
in the northern land by the river Euphrates.
¹¹ Go up into Gilead and get balm,
O virgin daughter of Egypt.
In vain you use many medicines—
there is no cure for you.
¹² Nations have heard of your shame,
and your outcry fills the earth.
For warrior stumbles over warrior—
both fall down together.”

¹⁴ “Declare it in Egypt, proclaim in Migdol,
and announce in Noph and Tahpanhes.
Say: ‘Stand up and get ready!
For the sword has devoured all around you.
¹⁵ Why are your strong ones swept away?
They did not stand up,
because Adonai thrust him down.
¹⁶ They keep stumbling,
yes, falling over each other.
Then they said: ‘Get up!
Let’s return to our own people,
to the land of our birth,
away from the oppressor’s sword.’
¹⁷ They cried there:
‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise!
He let the opportune time pass.’
¹⁸ As I live,” declares the King
—whose Name is Adonai-Tzva’ot—
“like Tabor among the mountains,
or like Carmel by the sea,
so surely he will come.”
¹⁹ O daughter dwelling in Egypt,
get your bags ready for exile!
For Noph will become a ruin
laid waste, uninhabited.
²⁰ Egypt is a beautiful heifer—
but a biting fly is coming—
from the north it is coming!
²¹ Even her mercenaries among her
are like stall-fed calves,
for they also will turn back—
they will flee away together,
they will not stand up—
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
the time of their visitation.
²² Its sound will hiss like a snake,
as they march with an army,
and come against her as woodcutters with axes.
²³ They cut down her forest”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“though it was impenetrable,
for they are worse than the locust
—they are without number.
²⁴ The daughter of Egypt is disgraced,
handed over to people of the north.”

“Look, waters rising from the north
will become an overflowing torrent,
and overflow the land and all in it,
the city and those dwelling in it
and the men will cry,
and every inhabitant of the land wail.
³ The noise—
the stomping hooves of his stallions,
the rumbling of his chariots,
the reverberation of his wheels!
Fathers will not turn back for their children
because of their limp hands.
⁴ For the day is coming
to devastate all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally.
For Adonai will destroy the Philistines,
the rest of the island of Caphtor.
⁵ Baldness has come upon Gaza,
Ashkelon is ruined.
O remnant of their valley,
how long will you gash yourself?
⁶ O sword of Adonai,
how long until you are quiet?
Go back into your sheath,
rest and be still.
⁷ How can you be quiet
when Adonai has commanded?
He has assigned it against Ashkelon
and against the coast of the sea.

48 Concerning Moab, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel:
“Oy to Nebo! For it will be ravaged.
Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured.
The fortress will be shamed, shattered.
² There is no more praise for Moab.
In Heshbon they plotted evil against her:
‘Come, let’s cut her off as a nation.’
You too, Madmen, will be silenced—
the sword will chase you.
³ The sound of outcry from Horonaim,
devastation and great destruction!
⁴ Moab is shattered—
her little ones have raised a cry to be heard.
⁵ For at the ascent of Luhith
they go up with continual weeping.
For on the descent to Horonaim
they heard the foe’s shattering cry.
⁶ Flee! Escape with your lives!
Be like a tamarisk in the wilderness.
⁷ For because of your trust in your works and your treasures,
you will be captured, too.
Chemosh will go into exile,
together with his priests and princes.
⁸ The destroyer will come to every town.
No town will escape.
The valley will perish
and the plain will be destroyed,
as Adonai has said.
⁹ Give wings to Moab,
for she must fly and get away.
Her cities will become a wasteland,
with no one living in them.
¹⁰ Cursed is the one who does the work of Adonai with slackness,
and cursed is the one who withholds his sword from blood.
¹¹ Moab has been at ease since his youth.
He has settled like wine on its dregs.
He has not been emptied from jar to jar,
nor gone into exile.
Therefore he retains his flavor,
and his aroma has not changed.
¹² Therefore behold, days are coming”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“when I will send to him those who will tip him up and over,
and they will empty his vessels,
and smash his jars in pieces.
¹³ So Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh
just as the house of Israel was ashamed
of Bethel their confidence.
¹⁴ How can you say: ‘We are warriors
and men valiant for battle’?
¹⁵ Moab is ravaged, its towns entered,
its choice young men gone down to slaughter”
—It is a declaration of the King, whose Name is Adonai-Tzva’ot.
¹⁶ “Moab’s calamity will come soon,
and his downfall hastens swiftly.
¹⁷ Mourn for him,
all who are around him,
all who know his name.
Say: ‘How the mighty scepter,
the splendid rod, is broken!’
¹⁸ O daughter dwelling in Dibon
come down from your glory
and sit in thirst!
For Moab’s destroyer has come to you.
He has devastated your strongholds.
¹⁹ O inhabitant of Aroer,
stand by the road and watch—
ask him fleeing and her escaping,
‘What has happened?’
²⁰ Moab is disgraced, indeed shattered.
Wail and shriek!
Declare by the Arnon, Moab is ruined!
²¹ Judgment has come on the tableland
—on Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath,
²² on Dibon, Nebo, Beth-diblathaim,
²³ on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, Beth-meon,
²⁴ on Kerioth, Bozrah,
and all the towns of the land of Moab, far and near.
²⁵ The horn of Moab is cut off
and his arm is broken!”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
²⁶ “Make him drunk,
for he exalted himself against Adonai.
So Moab will wallow in his vomit
and also become a laughingstock.
²⁷ After all, Israel is a laughingstock to you.
Was he ever found among thieves,
that whenever you speak of him,
you should wag the head?
²⁸ Inhabitants of Moab, leave the towns and dwell in crags—
like a dove nesting in a cave’s mouth.
²⁹ We have heard of the pride of Moab
—very proud he is—his haughtiness,
his arrogance, his insolence,
and his self-exalted heart.
³⁰ I know his arrogance,” says Adonai,
“but it is dishonest—
his boasts really accomplish nothing.
³¹ Therefore I wail for Moab!
Yes, I cry out for all Moab,
for the men of Kir-heres I moan.
³² More than weeping of Jazer
will I weep for you, vine of Sibmah!
Your branches spread to the sea,
reached as far as the sea of Jazer.
On your summer fruits and your vintage
the destroyer has fallen.
³³ So joy and gladness are taken away
from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab.
I stopped wine from the winepresses.
No one will tread with shouting—
any shouting is not a shout of joy.”

³⁶ “That is why my heart is moaning like funeral flutes for Moab,
and my heart moans like flutes
for the people of Kir-heres.
Thus the wealth he made is lost.
³⁷ For every head is bald,
every beard clipped,
on all the hands are gashes,
and around the waist sackcloth.
³⁸ On all the housetops of Moab
and in its squares—
lamentation everywhere!
For I have broken Moab like a jar
In which no one delights”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
³⁹ “‘How shattered it is!’ they wailed!
‘How Moab turned his back in shame!’
So Moab will become a laughingstock
and a horror to all around him.”
⁴⁰ For thus says Adonai: “Behold,
he will swoop down like a vulture
and spread out his wings against Moab.
⁴¹ The towns are captured,
the strongholds seized.
The hearts of Moab’s warriors in that day
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
⁴² Moab will be destroyed as a people,
because he boasted against Adonai.
⁴³ Panic, pit and trap, are upon you,
inhabitant of Moab,” declares Adonai.
⁴⁴ “The one who flees from panic
will fall into the pit,
and one who climbs out of the pit
will be caught in the trap.
For I will bring on Moab
the year of their visitation.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
⁴⁵ “In the shadow of Heshbon
the fugitives stop, exhausted,
for fire breaks out of Heshbon
flame from within Sihon,
and it singes the foreheads
and the scalps of Moab’s noisy sons.
⁴⁶ Oy to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh have perished!
For your sons are taken away captive
and your daughters into exile.
⁴⁷ Yet I will restore Moab from exile
in the end of days.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“Until then this is the judgment of Moab.”

49 About Ammon’s children, thus says Adonai:
“Has Israel no sons?
Has he no heir?
Why then did Malcam dispossess Gad
and his people settled in its towns?
² Therefore behold, days are coming”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“when I will sound an alarm of war
heard against Rabbah of Ammon!
It will become a mound of ruins.
Her villages will be burned with fire.
Then Israel will dispossess those
who dispossessed him.”
it is a declaration of Adonai.
³ “Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated!
Cry, daughters of Rabbah!
Wear sackcloth, lament,
and run to and fro within the walls,
for Malcam will go into captivity
together with his priests and princes.
⁴ Why do you brag about valleys—
your flowing valley, faithless daughter?
Trusting in your treasures:
‘Who will come against me?’
⁵ I am about to bring terror on you”
—a declaration of my Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot—
“from all those around you.
Each of you will be banished headlong,
with no one to gather the fugitives.
⁶ Yet afterward I will restore Ammon’s children from exile.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.

“Arise, go up against Kedar
and devastate the children of the east.
²⁹ They will take away their tents and their flocks.
They will carry away their curtains,
all their gear and their camels.
They will cry out against them,
‘Terror on every side!’
³⁰ Flee! Scatter far!
Stay low, inhabitants of Hazor!”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has taken counsel against you,
and devised a plan against you.
³¹ Arise, go up against a nation at ease,
dwelling securely,” says Adonai.
“They have no gates or bars;
they dwell alone.
³² Their camels will become plunder,
their many cattle a spoil.
I will scatter to all the winds those who shave the edges.
I bring their calamity from every side.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
³³ “Hazor will be a lair of jackals,
a desolation forever—
no one will abide there,
nor any son of man dwell there.”

“Behold, I will break Elam’s bow—
the source of their might.
³⁶ I will bring upon Elam the four winds
from the four quarters of heaven,
and will scatter them to all those winds.
There will be no nation
where the dispersed of Elam will not go.
³⁷ I will shatter Elam before their enemies
and before those seeking their soul.
I will bring calamity on them—
My burning anger!”
It is a declaration of Adonai,
“I will send the sword after them
until I have consumed them.
³⁸ Then I will put My throne in Elam
and destroy from it king and princes.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
³⁹ “Yet it will be in the end of days,
that I will restore Elam from exile.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.

50 The word that Adonai spoke about Babylon, about the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:
² “Declare it among the nations and proclaim!
Raise a banner, announce, hide nothing!
Say: ‘Babylon will be captured,
Bel put to shame,
Merodach dismayed,
her images disgraced,
her idols shattered!’
³ For a nation comes up against her
out of the land of the north
—it will desolate her land.
No one will dwell there—
they have fled, gone, both man and beast.”

⁴ “In those days and at that time”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“the children of Israel will come,
together with the children of Judah,
weeping as they come,
and will seek Adonai their God.
⁵ They will ask about Zion, the way—
here are their faces! Come!
They will join themselves to Adonai
in an everlasting covenant
that will never be forgotten.^[d]
6 My people have been lost sheep.^[e]
Their shepherds led them astray.
Turning around in the mountains,
they went from mountain to hill,
and forgot their resting place.
⁷ Everyone finding them devoured them.
Their foes said: ‘We’re not guilty!’
Instead, they sinned against Adonai,
the habitation of justice—
Adonai, the hope of their fathers.”

⁸ “Flee from within Babylon,^[f]
get out of the land of the Chaldeans,
and be like he-goats before the flock.
⁹ For I will soon stir up and bring against Babylon
an alliance of great nations from the north.
They will form battle lines against her,
from there she will be captured.
Their arrows will be like a warrior who bereaves,
not returning empty.
¹⁰ Chaldea will be a spoil—
all who plunder her will be satisfied.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
¹¹ “Because you rejoice, because you exult—
you who plunder My inheritance—
because you frolic like a trampling heifer
and neigh like stallions,
¹² your mother will be utterly ashamed,
she who bore you will be humiliated.
Behold, the least of the nations will be a wilderness,
a dry land, a desert.”
¹³ Because of Adonai’s wrath,
it will be uninhabited, all waste.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled,
hissing at all her wounds.
¹⁴ Array against Babylon all around,
all you who bend the bow.
Shoot at her! Spare no arrows—
for she has sinned against Adonai.
¹⁵ Raise a war cry against her all around!
She has thrown up her hands,
her bulwarks are fallen,
her walls thrown down.
For it is Adonai’s vengeance:
take vengeance on her,
as she has done, do to her!^[g]
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon
and the one who wields a sickle in the time of harvest.
Before the sword of the oppressor
they will each turn to his people,
each will flee to his own land.
¹⁷ Israel is a scattered flock—
lions have driven them away.
First, Assyria’s king devoured him.
This last one who broke his bones
was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
¹⁸ Therefore thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot,
the God of Israel:
“Indeed, I will punish Babylon’s king and his land,
just as I punished Assyria’s king.
¹⁹ I will bring Israel back to his pasture.
He will feed on Carmel and Bashan,
and his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
²⁰ In those days and in that time”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“Israel’s guilt will be sought,
but there will be none,
also for the sins of Judah,
but they will not be found.
For I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
²¹ Go up against the land of Merathaim,
against the inhabitants of Pekod.
Put them to the sword
and utterly destroy them”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“and do all that I commanded you.”
²² The noise of battle is in the land
and great crashing.
²³ How the hammer of the whole earth
has been cut down and smashed!
How Babylon has become a horror
among the nations!
²⁴ I set a snare for you, so you were caught,
O Babylon, when you were unaware.
You were found and also caught,
because you challenged Adonai.
²⁵ Adonai has opened His armory
and brought out the weapons of His indignation.
For it is a work that my Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot has to do
in the land of Chaldea.
²⁶ Come against her from afar,
open her granaries,
pile her up like heaps
and utterly destroy her!
Let nothing be left to her.
²⁷ To the sword with all her bulls,
going down to the slaughter!
Oy to them! Their day has come—
the time of their visitation.
²⁸ The sound of fugitives, escaping out of the land of Babylon—
declaring in Zion the vengeance of Adonai our God,
vengeance for His Temple.
²⁹ Summon archers to Babylon,
all who bend the bow.
Encamp against her all around,
let no one there escape.
Repay her for her deed.
As all she has done, do to her.^[h]
For she was arrogant against Adonai,
against the Holy One of Israel.
³⁰ Therefore her young men will fall in her squares,
all her warriors silenced in that day.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
³¹ “Look, I am against you, arrogant one”
—declares my Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot—
“for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
³² The arrogant will stumble and fall,
and no one will lift him up.
I will kindle fire in his cities,
and it will devour all who are round about him.”
³³ Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“The children of Israel and the children of Judah
are oppressed together.
All their captors hold them fast.
They refused to let them go.
³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong
—Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name—
He will vigorously plead their case,
so He may give rest to the earth,
but trembling to the Babylonians.
³⁵ “A sword is on the Chaldeans”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“and on Babylon’s inhabitants,
and her officials and wise men.
³⁶ A sword on the diviners—fools!
A sword on her warriors—shattered!
³⁷ A sword on their horses, their chariots,
on all the mixed people within her,
so they will become like women!
A sword on her treasures—
so they may be plundered.
³⁸ A drought is on her waters,
so they will be dried up.
For it is a land of idols—
they are mad about horrible things.
³⁹ So wildcats and hyenas will live there
and ostriches settle there.
It will never again be inhabited
or dwelt in from generation to generation.^[i]
40 As when Elohim overthrew Sodom, Gomorrah
and their neighbor towns”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
so no man will live there,
nor any son of man dwell in it.^[j]
41 Look! A people coming from the north,
a great nation and many kings
will rise up from the ends of the earth.
⁴² They grasp bow and javelin.
They are cruel, with no compassion.
Their voice roars like the sea,
as they ride on horses,
arranged as warriors for battle,
against you, daughter of Babylon.
⁴³ Babylon’s king heard news of them.
His hands droop;
anguish grabs him,
agony like a woman in labor.
⁴⁴ Look, it is like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan
to a secure pasture—
for abruptly I will make him run away from it.
I appoint over it whomever I choose.
For who is like Me?
Who will summon Me to court?
What shepherd stands up to Me?”
⁴⁵ Therefore hear the plan that Adonai has drawn up against Babylon,
and His strategies that He designed against the land of the Chaldeans.
Surely the least of the flock will be dragged away,
Surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them.
⁴⁶ The earth will tremble at the noise of Babylon’s capture.
The sound of their outcry will be heard among the nations.

51 Thus says Adonai:
“Look!
Stirring up against Babylon and those living in Leb-kamai,
a spirit of destruction.
² I will send strangers to Babylon
to scatter her and empty her land.
For in the day of trouble
they will be against her all around.
³ Let the archer bend his bow at her.
Let him rise up at her in his armor.
Do not spare her young men.
Destroy her whole army.
⁴ They will fall down slain in the land of Chaldea,
thrust through in her streets.
⁵ For neither Israel nor Judah will be widowed
by his God, Adonai-Tzva’ot,
though their land is full of guilt
before the Holy One of Israel.
⁶ Flee from within Babylon!
Each one, escape with his soul!
Be not silenced in her iniquity!
For it is a time of vengeance for Adonai.
He will repay her recompense.^[k]
7 Babylon has been a golden cup in Adonai’s hand,
intoxicating the whole earth.
The nations drunk her wine—
so the nations are going crazy.
⁸ Suddenly Babylon is fallen!^[l]
Shattered! Howl over her!
Bring balm for her wound.
Perhaps she may be healed?
⁹ We would have healed Babylon,
but she cannot be healed.
Abandon her!
Let’s go, each one to his own country,
for her judgment has reached up to the heavens^[m]
and has risen beyond the skies.
¹⁰ Adonai has brought forth our vindication!
Come, let us declare in Zion
the work of Adonai Eloheinu!
¹¹ Sharpen the arrows.
Fill the quivers!
Adonai has roused the spirit of the kings of the Medes.
For His plan is against Babylon, to destroy it.
For it is Adonai’s vengeance, vengeance for His Temple.
¹² Raise a banner at Babylon’s walls!
Strengthen the guard.
Station watchmen.
Prepare ambushes.
For Adonai has both planned and accomplished what He spoke about the Babylonians.
¹³ You dwelling by many waters,
rich in treasures, your end has come,
the measure of your covetousness.
¹⁴ Adonai-Tzva’ot has sworn by Himself:
“Surely I will fill you with men like a locust swarm,
and they will shout cheers over you.”

¹⁵ One made the earth by His power,
set up the world by His wisdom,
and spread out the heavens by His knowledge.^[n]
16 At His giving voice—
tumult of waters in the skies!
He causes clouds to rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings forth wind from His storehouses.
¹⁷ All mankind is stupid, ignorant.
Every goldsmith is disgraced by an idol,
for his molten image is a lie—
there is no breath in them.
¹⁸ They are futile, a work of delusion.
In the time of their visitation they will perish.
¹⁹ Jacob’s Portion is not like these,
for He is the former of all things,
including the tribe of His heritage
—Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name.

“The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor
at treading time.
A little longer,
and the time of harvest for her will come.”