Bible in 90 Days
A Message Concerning Moab
48 Concerning Moab, thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Woe to Nebo,
for it is devastated.
It is ashamed,
Kiriathaim is captured.
Misgab is ashamed,
and it is filled with terror.
2 The glory of Moab is no longer.
In Heshbon they planned evil against her.
Come and let us cut her off from being a nation.
Also, Madmen, you will be silent.
After you will go the sword.
3 The sound of a cry of distress arises from Horonaim,
devastation and great destruction.
4 Moab is broken,
her little ones make heard[a] a cry for help.
5 For the ascent of Luhith,
in weeping they go weeping,
For on the slope of Horonaim they have heard
the distresses of the cry of distress of the destruction.
6 Flee! Save your life!
For[b] you must not be like the juniper tree in the desert.
7 For because of your trusting in your works and in your treasures,
even you yourselves will be taken,
and Chemosh will go out into the exile,
his priests and his officials together.
8 And the destroyer will come to every town,
and a town will not escape.
And the valley will be destroyed,
and the plain will be destroyed, as Yahweh has spoken.
9 Give salt for Moab,
for certainly she will go to ruin,
and her towns will become as a desolation,
without[c] an inhabitant in them.
10 The one who does the work of Yahweh with slackness is cursed,
and the one who keeps away blood from his sword is cursed.
11 Moab has been at ease from his youth,
and he has been quiet on his dregs,
and he has not been poured out from vessel to vessel,
and he has not gone into exile.
Therefore[d] his taste has remained unchanged,
and his fragrance has not changed.
12 Therefore[e] look, days are coming,” declares[f] Yahweh,
“and I will send to him decanters,[g]
and they will decant him,
and his vessels they will empty out,
and their jars they will smash.
13 Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
just as the house of Israel were ashamed of Bethel, their trust.
14 How can you say, ‘we are warriors,
and men of might for the battle.’
15 Moab is destroyed,
and his towns have gone up,
and the choice of his young men have gone down to the slaughtering,”
declares[h] the King, Yahweh of hosts is his name.
16 “The disaster of Moab is near to come,
and his disaster approaches very quickly.[i]
17 Mourn for him, all his surroundings,
and all those who knew his name.
Say, ‘How the staff of might is broken,
the staff of glory.’
18 Come down from glory and sit on the parched ground,
O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon,
for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you,
he has destroyed your fortifications.
19 Stand by the road and watch,
O inhabitant of Aroer.
Ask the man who is fleeing and the woman who is escaping,
say, ‘What has happened?’
20 Moab is ashamed,
for it is filled with terror.
Wail and cry out,
tell it by Arnon that Moab is devastated.
21 Judgment has also come to the land of the plain, to Holon, and to Jahaz, and on Mephaath, 22 and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth-diblathaim, 23 and on Kiriathaim, and on Beth-gamul, and on Beth-meon, 24 and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the towns of the land of Moab, the far and the near. 25 The horn of Moab is cut off and his arm is broken,” declares[j] Yahweh.
26 “Make him drunk,
because he magnified himself against Yahweh,
and let Moab wallow in his vomit.
And he also will become a laughingstock.
27 Now was not Israel the laughingstock to you?
Or was he found among thieves?
For as often as[k] you spoke over him
you shook your head.
28 Leave the towns and dwell on the rock,
O inhabitants of Moab,
and be like the dove,
it nests on the sides of the mouth of a ravine.
29 We have heard of the pride of Moab
—he is very proud—
his height, and his pride, and his arrogance,
and the haughtiness of his heart.
30 I know his insolence,” declares[l] Yahweh,
“and his boastings are false;[m]
they act falsely.[n]
31 Therefore[o] over Moab I wail,
and for all of Moab I cry out,
for the people[p] of Kir-heres I moan.
32 More than the weeping of Jazer
I weep for you, O vine Sibmah.
Your branches cross over the sea,
up to the sea of Jazer they reach.
Upon your summer fruit and upon your vintage
the destroyer has fallen.
33 And joy and rejoicing have been taken away from the fruitful land,
even from the land of Moab.
And the wine from the wine presses
I have caused to disappear.
He will not tread with exuberant shouts.[q]
Exuberant shouts[r] will not be exuberant shouts.[s]
34 From the cry for help of Heshbon, up to Elealeh,
up to Jahaz, they give their voice,
from Zoar up to Horonaim, up to Eglath-shelishiyah,
for even the waters of Nimrim have become as a desolation.
35 And I will cause to disappear for Moab,” declares[t] Yahweh,
“the one who presents a sacrifice at a high place,
and the one who burns a smoke offering to his gods.
36 Therefore[u] my heart moans for Moab like the flute.[v]
It moans for the people[w] of Kir-heres like the flute.[x]
Therefore[y] the wealth they gained has perished.
37 For on every head is baldness,
and every beard is trimmed.
On all the hands, slashes,
and on the loins, sackcloth.
38 On all the roofs of Moab, and in its public squares,
there is wailing everywhere.
For I have broken Moab like a vessel,
there is no delight in it,” declares[z] Yahweh.
39 “How it is filled with terror! How they wail!
How Moab has turned his back! He is disgraced!
So Moab has become as a derision,
and as a terror for all his surrounding peoples.”
40 For thus says Yahweh,
“Look, like an eagle he will swoop down,
and he will spread out his wings against Moab.
41 Kerioth will be taken,
and the strongholds will be conquered,
and the hearts[aa] of the warriors of Moab will be on that day
like the heart of a woman who is in labor.
42 And Moab will be destroyed from being a people,
because against Yahweh he magnified himself.
43 Dread, and pit, and a trapping net are against you,
O inhabitant of Moab,” declares[ab] Yahweh.
44 “He who flees before[ac] the dread
will fall into the pit,
and the one who climbs up from the pit
will be caught in the trapping net,
for I will bring on Moab
the year of their punishment,” declares[ad] Yahweh.
45 “In the shadow of Heshbon
fugitives stand without strength,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
and a flame from Sihon.
And it has eaten the forehead of Moab,
and the skulls[ae] of the people[af] of tumult.
46 Woe to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh have perished.
For your sons have been taken into captivity,
and your daughters into captivity.
47 Yet I will restore the fortunes[ag] of Moab
in the last of the days,” declares[ah] Yahweh.
Thus far[ai] is the judgment of Moab.
A Message Concerning Ammon
49 Concerning the Ammonites:[aj] Thus says Yahweh,
“Are there no sons for Israel?
Or is there no heir for him?
Why has Milcom taken possession of Gad,
and his people dwelled in its towns?
2 Therefore[ak] look, days are coming,” declares[al] Yahweh,
“and I will sound against Rabbah, the Ammonites,[am]
the alarm of the war,
and it will become as a mound of desolation,
and its daughters will burn in the fire.
Then Israel will dispossess his dispossessors,” says Yahweh.
3 “Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated.
Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, put on sackcloth.
Lament and run back and forth among the walls.
For Milcom will go into exile,
his priests and his officials together.
4 Why do you boast in your valleys?
Your valleys[an] are ebbing.
O unfaithful daughter, who trusted in her treasures,
who said, ‘Who will come against me?’
5 Look, I am going to bring dread on you,”
declares[ao] Lord Yahweh of hosts,
“from all your surrounding neighbors.
And you will be scattered,
each one before it,[ap]
and there is no one who gathers the fugitives.[aq]
6 Yet afterward[ar] I will restore
the fortunes[as] of the Ammonites,”[at] declares[au] Yahweh.
A Message Concerning Edom
7 Concerning Edom, thus says Yahweh of hosts:
“Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?
Has counsel become lost from those who understand?
Is their wisdom rotting?
8 Flee! Turn back! Get down low![av]
O inhabitants of Dedan.
For I will bring upon him the disaster of Esau
at the time when I will punish him.
9 If grape-gatherers come to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
If thieves in the night,
they destroy only enough for them.[aw]
10 But I have stripped Esau bare.
I have uncovered his hiding places,
and he is not able to hide himself.
His offspring are devastated, along with[ax] his brothers,
and his neighbors, and he is no more.[ay]
11 Leave your orphans. I will let them[az] live.
And your widows, let them trust in me.”
12 For thus says Yahweh, “Look, those who are not condemned[ba] to drink the cup must certainly drink it.[bb] And are you the one who will go entirely unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must certainly drink it.[bc] 13 For I have sworn by myself,” declares[bd] Yahweh, “that Bozrah will become as a horror, as a disgrace, as a waste, and as a curse. And all her towns will be everlasting sites of ruins.”[be]
14 I have heard a message from Yahweh,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations.
“Gather and come against her,
and rise for the battle.”
15 “For look, I will make you small among the nations,
despised by the humankind.
16 Your terror has deceived you,
the pride of your heart,
O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
you who seize the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest high like the eagle,
from there I will bring you down,” declares[bf] Yahweh.
17 “And Edom will become as a horror,
everyone who passes by it[bg] will be appalled,
and will hiss because of all its blows.
18 As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighbors,” says Yahweh,
“no one[bh] will live there,
and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in it.
19 Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets of the Jordan
to a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream.[bi]
So I will chase him away hurriedly[bj] from it.
And whoever is chosen I will appoint over it.
For who is like me, and who can summon me?
And who is this, the shepherd who can stand before me?”[bk]
20 Therefore[bl] hear the plan of Yahweh that he has planned against Edom,
and his plans that he has planned against the inhabitants of Teman.
Surely[bm] they will drag them away,
the little ones of the flock.
Surely[bn] he will cause to be desolated over them
their grazing place.
21 The earth will quake from the sound of their falling.
A cry of distress! Their voice will be heard at the Red Sea.[bo]
22 Look, like an eagle he will go up and he will swoop down,
and he will spread out his wings against Bozrah.
And the heart of the warriors of Edom will be in that day
like the heart of a woman who is in labor.
A Message Concerning Damascus
23 Concerning Damascus:
“Hamath and Arpad are ashamed,
for they have heard bad news;
they melt.
There is concern in the sea.
It is not able to keep quiet.
24 Damascus has grown slack.
She has turned away to flee and panic.
Anxiety has seized her,
and labor pains have grasped her,
like a woman in labor.
25 How the city of praise has not been abandoned!
The city of my joy!
26 Therefore[bp] her young men will fall in her public squares,
and all the soldiers[bq] will perish in that day,” declares[br] Yahweh of hosts.
27 “And I will kindle a fire at the wall of Damascus,
and it will devour the citadel fortresses of Ben-hadad.”
A Message Concerning Kedar and the Kingdoms of Hazor
28 Concerning Kedar and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon defeated. Thus says Yahweh:
“Rise up, go up against Kedar
and destroy the people[bs] of the east.
29 They will take their tents, and their flocks,
their tent curtains, and all their equipment,
and their camels they will carry away for themselves,
and they will call to them, ‘Terror is from all around.’
30 Flee! Wander far away! Get down low![bt]
O inhabitants of Hazor,” declares[bu] Yahweh.
“For Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has planned a plan against you.
And he has schemed[bv] a scheme[bw] against you.
31 Rise up, go up against a nation which is at ease,
living securely,”[bx] declares[by] Yahweh.
“There are no gates and there are no bars[bz] for them,
they dwell alone.
32 And their camels will become as plunder,
and the multitude of their livestock as spoil.
And I will scatter to every wind those who are trimmed to the side,
and from every side[ca] I will bring their disaster,” declares[cb] Yahweh.
33 “And Hazor will become as a lair of jackals,
a waste forever;
no one will live there,
and no son of humankind will dwell as an alien in it.”
A Message Concerning Elam
34 The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the king of Judah, saying,[cc] 35 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
‘Look, I am going to break the bow of Elam,
the first and best of their might.
36 And I will bring to Elam four winds,
from the four corners of heaven,
and I will scatter them to all these winds,
and there will not be a nation
where the scattered people of Elam will not go.
37 So I will shatter Elam before[cd] their enemies,
and before[ce] the seekers of their life.
And I will bring disaster upon them,
my burning anger,[cf]’ declares[cg] Yahweh.
‘And I will send after them the sword
until I have destroyed them.
38 And I will set my throne in Elam
and I will destroy from there king and officials,’ declares[ch] Yahweh.
39 ‘And then[ci] in the last of the days
I will restore the fortunes[cj] of Elam,’ declares[ck] Yahweh.”
A Message Concerning Babylon
50 The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet:
2 “Declare among the nations and proclaim,
and lift up a banner.
Proclaim, you must not conceal it.
Say, ‘Babylon is captured,
Bel is ashamed,
Merodach is filled with terror,
her idols are ashamed,
her idols are filled with terror.
3 For a nation will come up against her from the north.
It will make her land as a horror,
and an inhabitant will not be in her.
From humans[cl] to animals[cm] they all will wander off.
They will go away.
4 In those days and in that time,’” declares[cn] Yahweh,
“the people[co] of Israel will come,
they and the people[cp] of Judah together.
Weeping as they go,[cq] they will go,
and Yahweh their God they will seek.
5 They will ask the way to Zion,
turning their faces there.
They will come and join themselves to Yahweh
by an everlasting covenant[cr] that will not be forgotten.
6 My people have become lost sheep,
their shepherds have caused them to go astray.
They led them away to the mountains.
From mountain to hill they have gone,
they have forgotten their resting place.
7 All those who found them have devoured them.
And their foes have said, ‘We are not guilty,
because[cs] they have sinned against Yahweh, the true pasture,[ct]
even Yahweh, the hope of their ancestors.’[cu]
8 Flee from the midst of Babylon,
and from the land of the Chaldeans.
Go out and be like he-goats
before[cv] the flock.
9 For look, I am going to stir up,
and I am going to bring against Babylon
a contingent of great nations
from the land of the north.
And they will draw up a battle formation against her,
from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like a warrior who has achieved success,
he does not return without success.
10 And Chaldea will be as booty,
all those who plunder her will be satisfied,” declares[cw] Yahweh.
11 “Though you rejoice, though you exult,
O plunderers of my inheritance,
though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass,
and you neigh like the powerful stallions,
12 your mother will be very ashamed.
She who gave birth to you will be humiliated.[cx]
Look, she will be the least of the nations,
a desert,[cy] dry land, and wilderness.[cz]
13 Because of the anger of Yahweh she will not be inhabited,
but she will be a wasteland, all of her.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled
and will hiss because of all her wounds.
14 Draw up a battle formation at Babylon all around,
all those who bend the bow, shoot at her.
You must not spare arrows,[da]
for she has sinned against Yahweh.
15 Raise a war cry against her on all sides.
She has surrendered.[db]
Her towers have fallen,
her walls are ruined.
For this is the vengeance of Yahweh.
Take revenge on her.
As she has done to others,
so do to her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon,
and the one who uses the sickle in the time of harvest.
Because of[dc] the sword of the oppressor
each one will turn to their people,
and each one will flee to their land.
17 Israel is a sheep scattered,
lions drove them away.
The first who devoured it was the king of Assyria,
and now at the end Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, gnawed its bones.”
18 Therefore[dd] thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Look, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land
just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will restore Israel to its pasture,
and it will feed on Carmel, and in Bashan,
and on the hills[de] of Ephraim, and in Gilead
its hunger will be satisfied.
20 In those days and at that time,” declares[df] Yahweh,
“the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there is none,
and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found,
for I will forgive those I left behind.
21 To the land of Merathaim,
go up against her,
and against the inhabitants of Pekod,
massacre and destroy them,” declares[dg] Yahweh,
“and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 The sound of battle is in the land,
and great destruction.
23 How the blacksmith’s hammer of all the earth is cut down and broken!
How Babylon has become as a horror among the nations!
24 I laid a bird snare for you, and you were caught, O Babylon.
But you yourself did not know.
You were discovered and seized,
because with Yahweh you measured yourself.
25 Yahweh has opened his armory,
and he has brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for it is a word for my Lord Yahweh of hosts
in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the end,
open her granaries.
Pile her up like heaps and destroy her.
Let there be no remnant for her.
27 Massacre all her bulls,
let them go down to the slaughtering.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
the time of their punishment.
28 There is the sound of fugitives and survivors
from the land of Babylon,
to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God,
the vengeance for his temple.
29 Summon archers against Babylon,
all those who bend the bow.
Encamp all around her,
there must not be for her an escape.
Take revenge on her according to her deeds.
According to all that she has done, so do to her.
For against Yahweh she has behaved insolently,
against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore[dh] her young men will fall in her public squares,
and all her soldiers[di] will perish on that day,” declares[dj] Yahweh.
31 “Look, I am against you, O arrogant one,”
declares[dk] Lord Yahweh of hosts,
“for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
32 And the arrogant one will stumble and fall,
and there is no one who raises him up.
And I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it will devour everything around him.”
33 Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
“The people[dl] of Israel are oppressed,
and the people[dm] of Judah likewise,
for[dn] all their captors have seized them,
they refuse to let them go free.
34 Their redeemer is strong,
his name is Yahweh of hosts.
Surely he will plead their case,
in order to make peace for the earth,
but to cause unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares[do] Yahweh,
“and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
and against her officials,
and against her wise men.
36 A sword against the oracle priests,
and they will become foolish.
A sword against her warriors,
and they will be filled with terror.
37 A sword against his horses,
and against his chariots,[dp]
and against all the foreign troops who are in the midst of her,
so that they may become as women.
A sword against her treasures,
so that they may be plundered.
38 A drought will come against her waters,
and they will dry up,
for it is a land of images,
and because of the frightful objects, they act like madmen.
39 Therefore[dq] desert creatures will live there[dr] with jackals,
and daughters of ostriches[ds] will inhabit her.
And she will not be inhabited again forever,[dt]
and she will not be dwelt in for all generations.[du]
40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighbors,” declares[dv] Yahweh,
“no one will live there,
and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in her.
41 Look, a people is about to come
from the north,
and a great nation and many kings are woken up
from the remotest part of the earth.
42 They keep hold of bow and short sword.
They are cruel and they have no mercy.
Their sound is like the sea, it roars,
and upon horses they ride.
Drawn up for battle as a man for the battle,
against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon heard their report
and his hands grew slack.
Anxiety has seized him,
fear and pain like the woman who gives birth.
44 Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets[dw] of the Jordan
against a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream,[dx]
so I will chase them away quickly[dy] from her,
and I will appoint whoever is chosen over her.
For who is like me, and who can summon me,
and who is this shepherd who can stand before me?[dz]
45 Therefore[ea] hear the plan of Yahweh
that he has planned against Babylon,
and his plans
that he has planned against the land of the Chaldeans.
Surely[eb] they will drag them away,
the little ones of the flock.
Surely[ec] he will cause their grazing place
to be desolate over them.
46 At the sound, ‘Babylon has been captured,’
the earth will quake,
and a cry for help among the nations
will be heard.”
51 Thus says Yahweh:
“Look, I am going to stir up against Babylon
and against the inhabitants of Leb-qamai a destructive wind.
2 And I will send winnowers to Babylon,
and they will winnow her,
and they will lay waste her land,
for they will be against her from all sides on the day of disaster.
3 Let not him who bends the bow shoot his bow,
and let him not rise high in his body armor.
And you must not spare her young men;
destroy her whole army.
4 And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
and pierced through in her streets.
5 For neither Israel nor Judah is a widower from their God,
from Yahweh of hosts,
though their land is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.”
6 Flee from the midst of Babylon and save each one his life.
You must not perish because of her guilt.
For this is the time of vengeance for Yahweh,
he will repay her what is deserved.
7 Babylon was a cup of gold in the hand of Yahweh,
making drunk all the earth.
The nations drank of her wine.
Therefore[ed] the nations acted like madmen.
8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and she is shattered.
Wail over her!
Take balm for her wounds,
perhaps she may be healed.
9 We tried to heal Babylon, and she was not healed.
Forsake her and let us go each one to his country,
for her judgment has reached to the heavens,
and it has been lifted up to the skies.
10 Yahweh has brought forth our vindication.
Come and let us make known in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.
11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes.
Because his plan concerning Babylon is to destroy it,
for that is the vengeance of Yahweh,
the vengeance for his temple.
12 Against the walls of Babylon raise a banner;
post a strong watch,[ee] post watchmen, prepare the ambushes,
for Yahweh has both planned as well as performed
what he has spoken concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O you who live by mighty waters, rich in treasures,
your end has come, the measure of your life.[ef]
14 Yahweh of hosts has sworn by himself,
“Surely I will fill you with troops like the creeping locusts,[eg]
and they will sing over you a war cry.”
15 He is the one who made the earth by his power,
the one who created the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens.
16 At the giving of his voice
there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
and he causes the patches of mist
to go up from the end of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17 All humankind turns out to be stupid,
without knowledge.
Every goldsmith is put to shame
by the divine image.
For his cast image is a lie,
and there is no breath in them.
18 They are worthless,
a work of mockery.
At the time of their punishment,
they will perish.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the creator of everything,[eh]
and the tribe of his inheritance.
Yahweh of hosts is his name.
20 He says, “You are a war club for me,
a weapon of battle,
and I smash nations with you,
and I destroy kingdoms with you.
21 And I smash the horse with you,
and its rider,
and I smash the chariot with you,
and its rider.
22 And I smash man and woman with you,
and I smash the old man and the boy with you,
and I smash the young man and the young woman with you.
23 And I smash the shepherd and his flock with you,
and I smash the farmer and his team with you,
and I smash the governors and the officials with you.
24 And I will repay Babylon,
and all the inhabitants of Chaldea,
all their wickedness that they have done in Zion
before your eyes,” declares[ei] Yahweh.
25 “Look, I am against you,
O mountain of the destruction,” declares[ej] Yahweh,
“the one that destroys the whole earth.
And I will stretch out my hand against you,
and I will roll you down from the cliffs,
and I will make you as a mountain burned away.
26 They will not take from you
a stone for a corner,
and a stone for a foundation,
for you will be an everlasting desolation,”[ek] declares[el] Yahweh.
27 Raise a banner in the land;
blow a horn among the nations;
prepare for holy war against her;
summon the nations against her,
the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz;
summon against her an official;
bring up horses[em] like bristling creeping locusts.[en]
28 Prepare the nations for holy war against her,
the kings of the Medes,
with their governors and all their officials,
and every land of their dominion.
29 And the land quakes and writhes,
for the plans of Yahweh against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon as a horror,
without[eo] inhabitant.
30 The warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight,
they remain in the strongholds,
their power has dried up,
they have become as women.
Her dwelling places are set on fire,
her bars are broken.
31 one runner runs to meet another runner,
and one messenger to meet another messenger,
to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been captured,
from end to end.[ep]
32 And the fords have been seized,
and the reed marshes have been burned with fire,
and the soldiers[eq] are horrified.
33 For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,
“The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trodden down,
just a little while[er]
and the time of the harvest will come for her.”
34 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon
has devoured me and sucked me dry;
he has made me an empty vessel;
he has swallowed me like the sea monster;
he has filled his belly with my delicacies;
he has rinsed me.
35 “May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon,”
the inhabitants[es] of Zion will say;
and “My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
Jerusalem will say.
36 Therefore[et] thus says Yahweh,
“Look, I am going to contend your case,
and I will avenge your vengeance,
and I will cause her sea to dry up,
and I will cause her fountain to dry up.
37 And Babylon will become as a heap of stones,
a lair of jackals,
an object of horror, and an object of hissing,
without[eu] inhabitants.
38 They will roar together like the young lions,
they will growl like the cubs of lions.
39 At their becoming hot I will set their banquets,
and I will make them drunk,
so that they will fall into a swoon,
and they will sleep an everlasting sleep,[ev]
and they will not wake up,” declares[ew] Yahweh.
40 “I will bring them down like young rams to slaughter,
like rams and goats.
41 How Sheshach is captured,
and the glory of all the earth is seized!
How Babylon has become as an object of horror
among the nations!
42 The sea has risen over Babylon,
she has been covered by the roar of its waves.
43 Her cities have become as an object of horror,
a dry land and a wilderness,[ex]
a land in which no person lives,
nor does a son of humankind pass through it.
44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon,
and I will wrench out from his mouth what he has swallowed.[ey]
And the nations will not stream towards him any longer
what’s worse,[ez] the wall of Babylon has fallen.
45 Come out from her midst, my people,
and save each one his life
from the burning anger of[fa] Yahweh.
46 Now so that you are not fainthearted,[fb]
and you are afraid at the rumors[fc] that are heard in the land—
and in the year the rumor comes,
and in the year after it the rumor,
and violence is in the land,
with ruler against ruler—
47 therefore[fd] look, days are coming,
and I will punish the images of Babylon,
and all her land will be put to shame,
and all her slain ones will fall in the midst of her.
48 Then the heaven and the earth and all that is in them
will shout for joy over Babylon,
for from the north
the destroyers will come to it,” declares[fe] Yahweh.
49 Babylon must fall not only because of the slain ones of Israel,
but also because of Babylon the slain ones of all the earth have fallen.
50 Survivors of the sword, go!
You must not linger!
Remember Yahweh from far away,
and let Jerusalem come to your mind.[ff]
51 We are ashamed,
for we have heard taunts,[fg]
disgrace covers our faces,
for strangers have come to the holy places of the house of Yahweh.
52 “Therefore[fh] look, days are coming,” declares[fi] Yahweh,
“and I will punish her images,
and the fatally wounded will sigh through all her land.
53 Though Babylon goes up to the heavens,
and though she fortifies the high place of her strength,
from me destroyers will come to her,” declares[fj] Yahweh.
54 The sound of a cry for help from Babylon,
and a great collapse from the land of the Chaldeans.
55 For Yahweh is devastating Babylon,
and he obliterates her loud noise[fk] from her.
Their waves roar like mighty waters,
the roar of their voices[fl] resounds.
56 For a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
and her warriors are captured.
Their bows are broken;
for Yahweh is a God of recompense,
certainly he will repay.
57 “And I will make drunk her officials, and her wise men,
her governors, and her officials, and her warriors,
and they will sleep an everlasting sleep,[fm]
and they will not wake up,”
declares[fn] the King, Yahweh of hosts is his name.
58 Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
“The broad walls of Babylon will be utterly demolished,
and her high gates will burn with fire,
and the peoples will labor for nothing,[fo]
and the nations for fire,[fp]
and they will grow weary.”
The Scroll Concerning Babylon is Thrown into the Euphrates
59 The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, at his going with Zedekiah, the king of Judah, to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was the quartermaster.[fq] 60 And Jeremiah wrote all the disasters[fr] that would come on Babylon in one scroll, all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “At your coming to Babylon, then you must see that you read aloud all these words. 62 And you must say, ‘Yahweh, you yourself spoke against this place, to destroy it, so that there will not be in it anything living, from humankind to animals,[fs] for it will be an everlasting desolation.’[ft] 63 And then[fu] when you finish reading aloud this scroll, you must tie a stone on it, and you must throw it into the middle of the Euphrates. 64 And you must say, ‘Babylon will sink, and she will not rise, because of[fv] the face of the disasters[fw] that I am bringing on her, and they will grow weary.’” Thus far[fx] the words of Jeremiah.
The Fall of Jerusalem
52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old[fy] at his beginning to reign, and he reigned eleven years[fz] in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh like all that Jehoiakim had done. 3 For because of the anger[ga] of Yahweh this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until his casting them from his presence.[gb] And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 And then[gc] in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came against Jerusalem, he and all his army. And they laid siege to it, and built siege works[gd] against it all around. 5 So the city came under siege[ge] until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
6 In the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine in the city became severe and there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then the city was breached, and all the soldiers[gf] fled and went out from the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls that are at the garden of the king, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went in the direction of the Jordan Valley.[gg] 8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king and they 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.[gh] 10 And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah. 11 Then he made blind the eyes of Zedekiah, and they tied him up with bronze fetters, and the king of Babylon brought him to Babylon. And he put him in prison[gi] until the day of his death.
12 Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard,[gj] who stood before[gk] the king of Babylon, entered into Jerusalem. 13 And he burned the temple[gl] of Yahweh, and the palace[gm] of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house he burned with fire. 14 And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard[gn] broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around. 15 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard[go] deported some of the poor of the people, and the rest of the people who were left in the city, and the deserters who deserted to the king of Babylon, along with the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard[gp] left some of the poor of the land to serve as vinedressers and farmers.
17 And the Chaldeans broke the pillars of bronze that were in the temple[gq] of Yahweh, and the kettle stands and the sea of bronze that were in the temple[gr] of Yahweh, and they carried all their bronze to Babylon. 18 And they took with them the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the sprinkling bowls, and the pans, and all the vessels of bronze which were used in temple service. 19 And the captain of the guard[gs] took the bowls, and the firepans, and the sprinkling bowls, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the pans, and the libation bowls, those made of solid gold[gt] and those made of solid silver.[gu] 20 The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze oxen that were under the kettle stands which King Solomon had made for the temple[gv] of Yahweh—there was not a weight for the bronze of all these vessels! 21 Now the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits,[gw] and a thread of twelve cubits[gx] surrounded it, and its thickness was four fingers, hollowed out. 22 And a capital upon it was bronze and the height of the one capital was five cubits, and latticework and pomegranates were on the capital on all sides, all of bronze. And like these was the second pillar with pomegranates. 23 And there were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides;[gy] all the pomegranates on the latticework on all sides were a hundred.
24 Then the captain of the guard[gz] took Seraiah the chief priest,[ha] and Zephaniah the second priest,[hb] and three keepers of the threshold. 25 And from the city he took one high official who was chief officer over the soldiers,[hc] and seven men of the king’s advisors[hd] who were found in the city, and the secretary of the commander of the army who levied for military service the people of the land, and sixty men[he] of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. 26 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard[hf] took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 And the king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah left from its land.
28 This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar deported: in the seventh year, three thousand twenty-three Judeans; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, eight hundred and thirty-two persons[hg] from Jerusalem; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,[hh] deported seven hundred and forty-five Judean persons;[hi] there were four thousand six hundred persons[hj] in all.
An Allowance for Jehoiachin
31 And then[hk] in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach, the king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, and brought him out from prison.[hl] 32 Then he spoke with him kindly and gave his seat above the seats[hm] of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So he changed the garments of his imprisonment and he ate food before him[hn] continually all the days of his life. 34 And his allowance, a continual allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon on a daily basis[ho] all the days of his life up to the day of his death.
The Desolate City
1 How desolate the city sits
that was full of people!
She has become like a widow,
once great among the nations!
Like a woman of nobility in the provinces,
she has become a forced laborer.
2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
her tears are on her cheeks;
she has no comforter
among all her lovers.
All her friends have been unfaithful to her;
they have become her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into exile with misery
and under hard servitude;
she lives among the nations,
she has not found a resting place;
all her pursuers have overtaken her
amidst her distress.
4 The roads of Zion are mourning
because no one comes to the festival.
All her gates are desolate,
her priests groan;
her young women are worried,
and she herself suffers bitterly.
5 Her foes have become her master,[hp]
her enemies are at ease;
Yahweh has made her suffer
because of the greatness of her transgressions.
Her children have gone away,
captive before the foe.
6 All her majesty has gone away
from the daughter of Zion;
her princes have become like young stags
that have not found pasture;
they have gone away without strength,
before the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembers
the days of her misery and wanderings,
all her treasures
that were from the days of long ago.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy,
there was no one helping her;
the enemies saw her, they mocked
at her destruction.
8 Jerusalem sinned grievously,
thus she became an objection of derision;
all those who honored her despise her
because they have seen her nakedness.
She herself groans
and turns away.
9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she did not remember her future,
she has descended beyond understanding,
there is no comforter for her.
See, O Yahweh, my persecution!
My enemy has been made great!
10 The enemy has stretched out his hand
over all her treasures;
for she has seen the nations,
they entered her sanctuary,
those whom you commanded not to enter
in your assembly.
11 All her people groan,
they are searching for bread.
They give their treasures for food,
to bring back life.
See, O Yahweh, and look,
how I am despised.
12 Is it nothing to you, all who pass by?[hq]
Look and see
if there is sorrow like my sorrow,[hr]
which was dealt to me,
which Yahweh inflicted
on the day of his wrath.[hs]
13 From heaven he sent fire,
into my bones he let it descend.
He spread out a net for my feet;
he turned me back,
he gave me devastation,
fainting all day.
14 My rebellion was bound as a yoke,
with his hand it was fastened together;
it was put on my neck
and caused my strength to fail.
The Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.
15 The Lord has rejected
all my mighty ones in my midst.
He called an assembly against me,
to crush my young men;
like in a wine press,
the Lord has trodden on
the virgin daughter of Judah.
16 For these things, I am weeping,
my eyes flow with tears;[ht]
because a comforter is far from me,
one to restore my life.
My sons are desolate
because the enemy has prevailed.
17 Zion stretches out her hands;
there is no one to comfort her.
Yahweh has commanded against Jacob,
that those surrounding him[hu] should be his enemies;
Jerusalem has become
a defilement among them.
18 Yahweh is righteous;
I have rebelled against his word.[hv]
Please hear, all the nations,
And see my pain;
My young women[hw] and young men
went into captivity.
19 I have called to my lovers,
they themselves deceived me;
my priests and elders perished in the city
when they sought food for themselves
to revive their life.[hx]
20 See, O Yahweh, that I am in distress;[hy]
my stomach[hz] is in torment,
my heart has turned inside me
because I have certainly rebelled.
From outside a sword brings bereavement,
inside the house it is like death.
21 They hear that I was groaning;
there is no comforter for me.
All my enemies have heard my misery,
they are pleased that you have done it.
Bring that day that you have proclaimed,[ia]
And let them be like me.
22 Let all their evil come before you;
and deal with them
just as you have dealt with me
because of all my crimes;
for my groaning is much and my heart is faint.
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