Jeremiah 51:24-44

New International Version

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

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

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

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

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

³⁴“Nebuchadnezzar^(AE) king of Babylon has devoured^(AF) us,^(AG)
    he has thrown us into confusion,
    he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
    and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
    and then has spewed^(AH) us out.
³⁵May the violence^(AI) done to our flesh^[b] be on Babylon,”
    say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
    says Jerusalem.^(AJ)

³⁶Therefore this is what the Lord says:

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

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

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Footnotes

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

Hebrews 13:1-16

New International Version

Concluding Exhortations

13 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.^(A) ²Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers,^(B) for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.^(C) ³Continue to remember those in prison^(D) as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

⁴Marriage should be honored by all,^(E) and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.^(F) ⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money^(G) and be content with what you have,^(H) because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”^[a]^(I)

⁶So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?”^[b]^(J)

⁷Remember your leaders,^(K) who spoke the word of God^(L) to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate^(M) their faith. ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.^(N)

⁹Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.^(O) It is good for our hearts to be strengthened^(P) by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods,^(Q) which is of no benefit to those who do so.^(R) ¹⁰We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle^(S) have no right to eat.^(T)

¹¹The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering,^(U) but the bodies are burned outside the camp.^(V) ¹²And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate^(W) to make the people holy^(X) through his own blood.^(Y) ¹³Let us, then, go to him^(Z) outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.^(AA) ¹⁴For here we do not have an enduring city,^(AB) but we are looking for the city that is to come.^(AC)

¹⁵Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice^(AD) of praise—the fruit of lips^(AE) that openly profess his name. ¹⁶And do not forget to do good and to share with others,^(AF) for with such sacrifices^(AG) God is pleased.