Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For He has rescued the life of the needy one From the hand of evildoers.

‘All your lovers (allies) have forgotten you; They do not seek and long for you. For I have injured you with the wound of an enemy, With the punishment of a cruel and merciless foe, Because your guilt is great And your sins are glaring and innumerable.

‘Why do you cry out over your injury [since it is the natural result of your sin]? Your pain is incurable (deadly). Because your guilt is great And your sins are glaring and innumerable, I have done these things to you.

For thus says the Lord, “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, And shout for the first and foremost of the nations [the chosen people, Israel]; Proclaim, give praise and say, ‘O Lord save Your people, The remnant of Israel!’

“They will come and sing aloud and shout for joy on the height of Zion, And will be radiant [with joy] over the goodness of the Lord— For the grain, for the new wine, for the oil, And for the young of the flock and the herd. And their life will be like a watered garden, And they shall never sorrow or languish again.

And each man will no longer teach his neighbor and his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me [through personal experience], from the least of them to the greatest,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness, and I will no longer remember their sin.”

You who show lovingkindness to thousands, but repay the wickedness (sin, guilt) of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], O great and mighty God; the Lord of hosts is His name;

They built the high places [for worship] of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom) to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to [worship and honor] Molech—which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this repulsive thing, to cause Judah to sin.

I will cleanse them from all their wickedness (guilt) by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon (forgive) all their sins by which they rebelled against Me.

It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster which I plan to bring on them, so that each one will turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their wickedness and their sin.”

Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “In what way have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?

Then all the princes (court officials) came to Jeremiah and asked him [just what King Zedekiah had anticipated they would ask], and he reported to them in accordance with all that the king had commanded. So they stopped questioning him, since the conversation [with the king] had not been overheard.

Now the Lord has brought it about and has done just as He promised. Because you [people of Judah] have sinned against the Lord and did not listen to and honor His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you.

Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, the wickedness of their wives [who served their foreign gods], your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives [who imitated the sin of the queens], which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

They have not become apologetic [for their guilt and sin] even to this day; they have not feared [Me with reverence] nor walked in My law or My statutes, which I have set before you and before your fathers.”’

But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.”

Because you have burned sacrifices [to idols] and because you have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord or walked in His law and in His statutes and in His testimonies, therefore this tragedy has fallen on you, as it has this day.”

For that day belongs to the Lord God of hosts, A day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries. And the sword will devour and be satiated And drink its fill of their blood; For the Lord God of hosts has a sacrifice [like that of a great sin offering] In the north country by the river Euphrates.

“My people have become lost sheep; Their shepherds have led them astray. They have made them turn aside [to the seductive places of idolatry] on the mountains. They have gone along [from one sin to another] from mountain to hill; They have forgotten their [own] resting place.

“All who found them have devoured them; And their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty, Because they have sinned against the Lord [and are no longer holy to Him], their [true] habitation of righteousness and justice, Even the Lord, the [confident] hope of their fathers.’

“Set yourselves in battle formation against Babylon on every side, All you archers. Shoot at her! Do not spare the arrows, For she has sinned against the Lord.

In those days and at that time,’ says the Lord, ‘a search will be made for the wickedness of Israel, but there will be none and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.’

Babylon Judged for Sins against Israel

Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am going to stir up and put into action [a fury] against Babylon And against the [rebellious] people of Leb-kamai (Chaldea) A destroying wind and hostile spirit;

For neither Israel nor Judah has been abandoned By his God, the Lord of hosts, Though their land is full of sin and guilt Before the Holy One of Israel.

“Then heaven and earth and all that is in them Will shout and sing for joy over Babylon, For the destroyers will come against her from the north,” Says the Lord.