Psalm 137

⁹ I will summon^(A) all the peoples of the north^(B) and my servant^(C) Nebuchadnezzar^(D) king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy^[a](E) them and make them an object of horror and scorn,^(F) and an everlasting ruin.^(G)

⁵ With my great power and outstretched arm^(A) I made^(B) the earth and its people and the animals^(C) that are on it, and I give^(D) it to anyone I please. ⁶ Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my servant^(E) Nebuchadnezzar^(F) king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him.^{(G) 7} All nations will serve^(H) him and his son and his grandson until the time^(I) for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate^(J) him.

⁸ “‘“If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish^(K) that nation with the sword,^(L) famine^(M) and plague,^(N) declares the Lord, until I destroy it by his hand.

² “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke^(A) of the king of Babylon. ³ Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles^(B) of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. ⁴ I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin^[a](C) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”^(D)

⁵ Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah before the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. ⁶ He said, “Amen! May the Lord do so! May the Lord fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the articles of the Lord’s house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon.^{(E) 7} Nevertheless, listen to what I have to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: ⁸ From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have prophesied war, disaster and plague^(F) against many countries and great kingdoms. ⁹ But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true.^(G)”

¹⁰ Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke^(H) off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it, ¹¹ and he said^(I) before all the people, “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations within two years.’” At this, the prophet Jeremiah went on his way.

¹² After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³ “Go and tell Hananiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. ¹⁴ This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will put an iron yoke^(J) on the necks of all these nations to make them serve^(K) Nebuchadnezzar^(L) king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.^(M)’”

¹⁵ Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent^(N) you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies.^{(O) 16} Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth.^(P) This very year you are going to die,^(Q) because you have preached rebellion^(R) against the Lord.’”

¹⁷ In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died.^(S)

A Letter to the Exiles

29 This is the text of the letter^(A) that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.^{(B) 2} (This was after King Jehoiachin^[a](C) and the queen mother,^(D) the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) ³ He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:

Message to Shemaiah

²⁴ Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, ²⁵ “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah^(P) son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah, ²⁶ ‘The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the Lord; you should put any maniac^(Q) who acts like a prophet into the stocks^(R) and neck-irons. ²⁷ So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? ²⁸ He has sent this message^(S) to us in Babylon: It will be a long time.^(T) Therefore build^(U) houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’”

²⁹ Zephaniah^(V) the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ³¹ “Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah^(W) the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send^(X) him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, ³² this is what the Lord says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants.^(Y) He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good^(Z) things I will do for my people, declares the Lord, because he has preached rebellion^(AA) against me.’”

¹² This made the king so angry and furious^(A) that he ordered the execution^(B) of all the wise men of Babylon. ¹³ So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.^(C)

¹⁴ When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. ¹⁵ He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. ¹⁶ At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.

¹⁷ Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.^{(D) 18} He urged them to plead for mercy^(E) from the God of heaven^(F) concerning this mystery,^(G) so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹ During the night the mystery^(H) was revealed to Daniel in a vision.^(I) Then Daniel praised the God of heaven^{(J) 20} and said:

Daniel Interprets the Dream

²⁴ Then Daniel went to Arioch,^(X) whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”

²⁵ Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles^(Y) from Judah^(Z) who can tell the king what his dream means.”

²⁶ The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar),^(AA) “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”

²⁷ Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about,^{(AB) 28} but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.^(AC) He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.^(AD) Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind^(AE) as you were lying in bed^(AF) are these:^(AG)

²⁹ “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.^{(AH) 30} As for me, this mystery has been revealed^(AI) to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.

³¹ “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue,^(AJ) awesome^(AK) in appearance. ³² The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. ³⁴ While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands.^(AL) It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed^(AM) them.^{(AN) 35} Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away^(AO) without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain^(AP) and filled the whole earth.^(AQ)

³⁶ “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king.^{(AR) 37} Your Majesty, you are the king of kings.^(AS) The God of heaven has given you dominion^(AT) and power and might and glory; ³⁸ in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all.^(AU) You are that head of gold.

³⁹ “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.^{(AV) 40} Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.^{(AW) 41} Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. ⁴² As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

⁴⁴ “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush^(AX) all those kingdoms^(AY) and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.^{(AZ) 45} This is the meaning of the vision of the rock^(BA) cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands^(BB)—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future.^(BC) The dream is true^(BD) and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate^(BE) before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering^(BF) and incense be presented to him. ⁴⁷ The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods^(BG) and the Lord of kings^(BH) and a revealer of mysteries,^(BI) for you were able to reveal this mystery.^(BJ)”

⁴⁸ Then the king placed Daniel in a high^(BK) position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men.^{(BL) 49} Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon,^(BM) while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.^(BN)

³⁸ in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all.^(A) You are that head of gold.