Bible in 90 Days
The Lord's message about Moab
48 The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, spoke this message about Moab:[a]
‘Nebo city is in terrible trouble!
It will soon become a heap of stones.
The people of Kiriathaim city will be ashamed.
Its enemies will take it for themselves.
They will knock down its strong buildings,
and its people will be ashamed.
2 People will no longer praise Moab.
In Heshbon, Moab's enemies will decide how to destroy the nation.
They will say, “We must completely destroy Moab!”
The town of Madmen will become silent,
as a great army chases out the people.
3 The people of Horonaim will shout for help,
because a strong army is destroying them.
4 Moab will come to an end!
Its children will cry loudly.
5 They will go up the hill to Luhith.
They will weep as they go.
As they go down the road towards Horonaim,
they will cry about their town that the enemy is destroying.
6 People say, “Run away to save your lives!
Go and live in the desert.”
7 People of Moab, you trusted your riches and your skills to save you.
Because of that, your enemies will catch you.
They will even take your god Chemosh away as prisoner,
together with his priests and officers.
8 Your cruel enemy will attack every town.
No town or city will escape.
The enemy will destroy every place in the valley,
and every place on the high ground.
They will become heaps of stones.
I, the Lord, tell you this!
9 Dig a grave to bury Moab![b]
Its land will become like a desert.
Its cities will become heaps of stones.
Nobody will live in them.’
10 The Lord will curse anyone who refuses to do his work! He will punish anyone who does not use his sword to kill his enemies!
Moab's peace will come to an end
11 The Lord said, ‘Moab's people have lived in peace since they first became a nation. No enemy has taken them away to a foreign land as their prisoners. They have been like the wine in a bottle that nobody has moved. Nobody has poured it into another bottle, so its taste and smell have never changed. Moab has always been the same.
12 But the time will soon come when I will send people to attack Moab. They will pour out Moab's people like somebody pours wine out of a bottle. They will pour out all the wine so that the bottles are empty. And they will break the bottles into pieces!
13 Then Moab's people will be ashamed because their god Chemosh has not saved them. They will be like the Israelites who trusted in their idol at Bethel and they became ashamed.
14 Men of Moab, you should no longer say,
“We are brave soldiers who know how to fight.”
15 I am the King, the Lord Almighty, and I tell you this:
The enemy will soon destroy Moab and its cities.
They will kill its strongest young men.
16 Moab will soon come to an end.
Terrible trouble will quickly destroy it.
17 You nations that live around Moab,
you know how famous it has been.
But now you must weep for it.
Say, “Moab's royal power is finished!
They no longer have great power to rule!”
18 You people who live in Dibon must stop being proud.
Come down from the places where people give you honour.
Sit on the ground in the dirt.
Moab's cruel enemy has arrived.
They will cause your strong buildings to become heaps of stones.
19 You people who live in Aroer,
stand beside the road and watch.
Ask the people who are running away what has happened.
20 They will reply, “The enemy has won against Moab
and its people are ashamed.
So weep and cry out!
Stand beside the Arnon river and tell the news.
Tell people that the enemy has destroyed Moab.”
21 The Lord has judged the cities on the high ground and he will soon punish them:
Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath,
22 Dibon, Nebo and Beth-Diblathaim,
23 Kiriathaim, Beth-Gamul and Beth-Meon,
24 Kerioth and Bozrah.
He will punish all the towns of Moab, near or far away. 25 Moab has lost its power. Its strength has finished.’
That is what the Lord says.
26 ‘Moab has turned against me.
So my anger will make him like a person who is drunk.
He will lie down in the place where he has been sick.
People will laugh at him.
27 You people of Moab laughed at my people, the Israelites.
Why did you insult them?
You said that they were no better than a group of robbers.
28 Now you must all leave your towns.
Go and live among the rocks.
Live like doves that make their nests high up among the rocks.
29 We have heard that Moab's people are very proud.
They think that they are better than everyone else.
We know how much they boast.’
30 The Lord says,
‘I know about Moab's proud thoughts.
But their pride is false.
Whatever they do, it will be useless.
31 So I am sad for Moab. I am crying for all their people.
I weep for the people of Kir-Heres.[c]
32 I weep for the vines of Sibmah, more than Jazer weeps.
The branches of those vines reached across the sea as far as Jazer.[d]
But the cruel enemy will destroy all the fruit that grows on your vines and trees.
33 People will no longer be happy in the land where this fruit grows.
I will stop them making wine from their grapes.
They will not stamp on their grapes and shout with joy.
Instead, the shouts will be shouts about trouble.
34 In Heshbon and Elealeh people cry out because of their pain.
The noise reaches as far as Jahaz.
It reaches from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-Shelishiyah.
Even the Nimrim river has become dry.’
35 The Lord says this:
‘I will remove the people of Moab who worship other gods.
They offer sacrifices to them
and they burn incense at their altars.
36 So I am very sad for the people of Moab.
I weep like a flute that plays a funeral song.
I am sad for the people of Kir-Heres,
because all their riches will disappear.
37 All the men will be very upset.
They will cut the hair off their heads and their faces.
They will use knives to cut their hands.
They will wear sackcloth as their clothes.
38 People are standing on the roofs of their houses.
They are standing in the streets.
They are all crying and weeping.
They are sad because I have destroyed Moab.
I have broken it in pieces, like a jar that I no longer want.’
That is what the Lord says.
39 ‘Yes, Moab will be like a broken jar.
Its people will weep with loud voices.
They will turn away because they are ashamed.
All the nations around there will laugh at Moab.
They will see the terrible trouble that it has received.’
40 The Lord says,
‘Look at the enemy that suddenly arrives!
It comes like an eagle that flies down to catch its food.
41 The enemy will take Moab's towns and its strong buildings.
Moab's soldiers will be afraid,
like a woman who will soon give birth.
42 Moab has been proud and it has turned against the Lord.
So they will no longer be a nation.’
43 The Lord says this:
‘People of Moab, there will be danger, deep holes and traps that are ready to catch you!
44 Anyone who runs away from danger, will fall into a deep hole.
And a trap will catch anyone who climbs out of the deep hole.
Yes, the time will soon come when I will punish Moab's people.
45 People will run away to Heshbon to be safe.
They will be helpless as they stand outside its walls.
Flames of fire will come out from Heshbon,
the city where King Sihon once ruled.
It will burn as far as Moab's borders.
It will destroy those proud people who love to fight.
46 It will be very bad for you, you people of Moab!
The enemy will destroy you people who worship Chemosh.
They will take away your sons and your daughters.
They will take them as prisoners to a foreign land.
47 But one day I will cause Moab to be strong again.’
That is what the Lord says.
That is the end of the Lord's message against Moab.
A message about Ammon
49 The Lord gave this message about the people of Ammon:
‘There are plenty of Israel's descendants who are still alive.
They are strong enough to live in the land that is their home.
So why have people who worship the god Molech moved in to the land of Gad's tribe?
They should not be living in towns that belong to Gad's people.’[e]
2 The Lord says,
‘A time will come when an army attacks Rabbah, Ammon's capital city.
Its people will hear the noise of a battle.
The city will become a big heap of stones.
Fire will destroy the villages around it.
Then the Israelites will chase out the people who had taken their land from them.’
That is what the Lord says.
3 ‘You people in Heshbon, cry aloud,
because the enemy has destroyed Ai.
Weep, you people who live in Rabbah.
Dress yourselves in sackcloth, because you are so sad.
Run around inside the city.
The enemy will take away your idol of Molech.
They will take Molech's priests and their officers to a foreign land.
4 You people of Ammon boast about your power.
But that will soon come to an end!
You have not been faithful.
You have trusted in your riches and you say,
“Nobody will be able to attack us!” ’
5 But the Lord God Almighty says,
‘I will bring terror all around you.[f]
Your enemy will chase you away in all directions.
Nobody will be able to bring you together again.
6 But in future days, I will make Ammon's people strong again.’
That is what the Lord says.
A message about Edom
7 The Lord Almighty gave this message about Edom:
‘It seems that wisdom has disappeared from Teman.
Edom's clever men have no good advice.
Their great ideas have gone away.
8 You people who live in Dedan, run away and escape!
Go and find somewhere safe to hide!
The time has come for me to punish Esau's descendants.
I will cause them to have terrible trouble.
9 If people came to pick your grapes,
they would leave a few grapes on the vines.
If robbers came at night to take your things,
they would only take the things that they needed.
10 But I will take everything from Esau's descendants,
so that they have nothing.
I will open their secret places,
so that they have nowhere to hide.
The enemy will destroy them and their children, family and friends.
None of them will remain alive.
11 But I will take care of your widows and the children who have no family.
You can trust me to keep them safe.’
12 The Lord says, ‘I had to punish even those people who did not deserve my great punishment. So you will certainly not escape my punishment! You will have to drink my anger from the cup that I give to you.[g] 13 I, the Lord, promise you this, with the authority of my own name: Bozrah city will become a heap of stones. The people of other nations will think that it is disgusting. They will laugh at it. They will use its name as a curse. All the towns and villages around it will be heaps of stones for ever.’
14 I have heard a message from the Lord. He has sent someone with this message to the nations:
‘Prepare your armies to attack Edom.
Prepare to fight a battle against Edom!’
15 The Lord says to Edom's people,
‘I will make you a weak nation that nobody respects.
16 You are proud people.
You boast that you cause other people to be afraid of you.
But your thoughts have deceived you.
You live high up among the rocks,
and on the tops of mountains.
But I will bring you down from there,
even if you are as high as an eagle's nest.’
That is what the Lord says.
17 ‘People will see how disgusting Edom is. Everybody who goes there will be very surprised. They will see all the terrible trouble that has happened to the nation, and they will insult it.
18 Edom will become a heap of stones where nobody lives.
The same thing happened to Sodom and Gomorrah,
and the towns that were near them.
Edom will be as empty as a desert.’
That is what the Lord says.
19 ‘I will attack the people of Edom
and I will chase them out of their land.
I will be like a lion that has been hiding in the forest.
It attacks the sheep in the fields beside the Jordan River.
Like that lion, I will suddenly chase Edom's people out of their country.
Then I will choose a leader to rule that nation.
There is nobody who is like me.
Nobody can accuse me of anything.
No ruler can stand against me.
20 So listen to me, the Lord!
This is what I have decided to do to Edom.
Yes, this is the trouble that I will bring to the people who live in Teman.
Soldiers will catch their children and take them away,
like little lambs that they take from their mothers.
I will completely destroy their homes.
21 When Edom's people fall,
the noise will cause the whole earth to shake.
The sound of their sad voices will reach as far as the Red Sea.
22 A nation will rise up high, like an eagle in the sky.
It will fly down to catch its food in Bozrah!
When the brave soldiers of Edom see that, they will become very afraid.
They will be afraid, like a woman who will soon give birth.’
A message about Damascus
23 The Lord gave this message about Damascus:[h]
‘The people of Hamath and Arpad will hear bad news.
It will cause them to be upset.
They will no longer feel brave.
They will not be able to rest because they are afraid.
24 The people of Damascus will become weak.
They will try to run away.
They will become confused because of their fear.
They will feel pain like a woman who is giving birth.
25 Damascus was a famous city.
The people who lived in it were very happy.
But now it will become empty.
26 Its young men will die in its streets.
All its soldiers will be dead.
27 I will burn down the city walls of Damascus.
Fire will destroy the palaces of King Ben-Hadad.’
That is what the Lord Almighty says.
Punishment for Kedar and Hazor
28 The Lord gave this message about Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked:
‘March to Kedar and attack the city![i]
Destroy those people who live east of Judah.
29 Take away their tents and their sheep.
Take their curtains and the other things in their tents.
Carry those things away with their camels.
Cause the people to shout,
“Terror is everywhere around us!” ’[j]
30 The Lord says,
‘You people who live in Hazor, run away quickly!
Go and find somewhere safe to hide!
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has decided to attack you.
He knows how he will destroy you.’
31 The Lord says to King Nebuchadnezzar,
‘Go and attack that nation.
They think that they are strong and safe.
But their city has no gates or walls to protect them.
They live far away from other people.
32 Take their camels and their farm animals for yourselves.
I will chase away those people who live in the desert and who cut their hair short.
I will send them away in every direction.
And I will bring terrible trouble from every direction to hurt them.
33 Hazor will become as empty as a desert.
Only wild animals will live there.
It will always be a place where no people live.’
Punishment for Elam
34 Soon after Zedekiah became king of Judah, the Lord gave this message about Elam to the prophet Jeremiah. 35 The Lord Almighty said,
‘Listen to me! Elam's army makes them a strong nation.
They have soldiers who can shoot arrows well.
But I will destroy those soldiers.
36 I will cause enemies to attack Elam,
like winds that blow from every direction.
I will chase Elam's people away in every direction.
They will run away to live in every other nation of the world.
37 I will make them very afraid of their enemies who want to kill them.
I will cause them to have terrible trouble,
because I am very angry with them.’
That is what the Lord says.
‘I will send soldiers to attack them,
until I have completely destroyed them.
38 I will destroy their kings and their leaders.
I will be the king who rules over Elam.’
That is what the Lord says.
39 ‘But at a future time,
I will make Elam strong again.’
That is what the Lord says.
Punishment for Babylon
50 The Lord gave this message to the prophet Jeremiah about Babylon city and the people of Babylonia:
2 ‘Tell this news to the nations!
Wave a flag to make sure that people listen!
Do not try to hide anything. Say this:
“Enemies will take Babylon.
Bel will become ashamed.
Yes, Marduk will be afraid.[k]
All Babylon's disgusting idols will be ashamed.”
3 A nation from the north will attack Babylon.
They will destroy the whole land.
People and animals will all run away,
so that nobody lives there.’
4 The Lord says, ‘When that happens,
the people of Israel and Judah will return to their land.
They will weep because of their sins.
They will want to worship the Lord their God.
5 They will ask people to show them the way to Zion.
They will travel in that direction.
They will promise to serve the Lord.
They will make a covenant with him that will continue for ever.
Nobody will ever forget that covenant.[l]
6 My people have been like sheep that are lost.
Their leaders should have taken care of them like shepherds.
Instead, they have let my people become lost,
like sheep that have gone into the mountains.
They go from one hill to another hill,
and they have forgotten where their home is.
7 Anyone who found them killed them.
Their enemies said, “We are not guilty for their death.
They deserved to die because they turned against the Lord.
He is their true home where they are safe.
But they turned against the Lord,
the God that their ancestors trusted.” ’
8 ‘People of Judah, escape quickly from Babylon!
Leave the land of Babylonia!
Be the first people to leave.
Lead the other people away,
like a male goat that leads the other goats.
9 I will call a group of strong nations from the north.
They will join together to fight against Babylon.
They will get ready to attack.
They will come from the north
and they will take power over Babylon.
Their arrows will be like brave soldiers.
They will kill everyone that they want to kill.
10 The people of Babylonia will lose all their things.
Enemy soldiers will take everything that they want for themselves.’
That is what the Lord says.
11 ‘You people of Babylon are very happy,
because you have robbed my people.
You dance like young cows that have fresh grass to eat.
You make a happy noise, like a strong male horse.
12 Babylon is like your mother who gave you life,
but she will become ashamed.
Yes, she will become the least important of all nations.
The country will be dry and empty, like a desert.
13 Nobody will live in Babylon,
because I, the Lord, am very angry with it.
It will be only a heap of stones.
Everyone who goes that way will see that it is a disgusting place.
They will insult Babylon,
because of the terrible troubles that have happened to it.’
14 ‘Get ready to fight, all you soldiers who have bows and arrows.
Stand in your places around Babylon.
Shoot your arrows into the city! Shoot all of them!
Punish Babylon, because its people have turned against the Lord.
15 Shout as you attack the city from all sides.
Its people are ready to stop fighting.
Its strong towers will fall down.
You will knock down its walls.
The Lord is punishing Babylon,
so punish the people for their sins!
Do the same thing to them that they have done to other people.
16 Remove from Babylon all the farmers who plant crops.
Remove all the people who cut the crops at harvest time.
The foreigners must return to their own homes.
They must run away to escape from the enemy army.’
17 ‘Israel's enemies have chased them away to many different places.
They are like sheep that hungry lions have chased away.
The first to catch them was the king of Assyria.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed them,
like a lion that broke their bones.’[m]
18 So the Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this:
‘I will punish the king of Babylon and his country,
as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 But I will bring Israel's people back to their own land.
They will grow their crops on Carmel and in Bashan.
They will have plenty of food to eat
on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.
20 At that time, I will forgive the sins of my people.
I have let a few people of Israel and Judah remain.
And they will no longer be guilty of any sins.’
That is what the Lord says.
21 The Lord says,
‘Attack the land of Merathaim.
Attack the people who live in Pekod.[n]
Run after them! Kill them! Completely destroy them!
Do everything that I have commanded you to do.
22 There is a noise of war in the land of Babylonia.
The enemy is destroying everything!
23 Babylon attacked other nations of the world,
like a hammer that breaks things into pieces.
But now that hammer has broken into pieces.
Now the other nations see that Babylon is a disgusting place.
24 Babylon, I put a trap to catch you,
and you did not know about it.
Now I have caught you in my trap,
because you fought against me.
25 I have taken out my weapons from the place where I had stored them.
I will use those weapons to punish the people of Babylonia,
because I am very angry with them.[o]
I am the Lord God Almighty.
I have work to do in the land of Babylonia.
26 Now come from far away to attack Babylonia!
Break open the store rooms and take out the grain.
Knock down their buildings and break them into pieces.
Completely destroy everything.
Do not let anything remain!
27 Kill all their strong soldiers.
Let them go to their place of death!
Terrible trouble has come to the people of Babylon.
The time of their punishment has arrived!’
28 Listen! People have run away from the war in Babylon. Now they are arriving in Jerusalem. They will tell the news in Zion about how the Lord is punishing Babylon. He is punishing the people of Babylon because they destroyed his temple.
29 ‘Bring all the soldiers with bows and arrows to attack Babylon.
They must make their camp all around the city.
Do not let anyone escape.
Punish the people for the things that they have done.
Do the same thing to them that they have done to others.
Those people have insulted me, Israel's holy God.
30 So Babylon's young men will die in its streets.
All its soldiers will die in battle on that day.’
That is what the Lord says.
31 The Lord God Almighty says this:
‘You people of Babylon are very proud,
so I will fight against you.
Now the day has come
when I will punish you for your sins.
32 You are proud but you will fall to the ground.
Nobody will help you to get up.
I will burn Babylonia's towns with fire,
and it will destroy everything that is around them.’
33 The Lord Almighty says,
‘People have been cruel to the people of Israel and Judah.
Enemies have taken them away as prisoners.
They have refused to let my people go free.
34 But my name is the Lord Almighty.
I am strong and I will rescue my people.
I will fight hard to save them.
I will bring peace to their land.
But the people of Babylonia will only have trouble.’
35 The Lord says,
‘I am sending an army to fight against Babylon.
They will attack the people of Babylonia,
its leaders and its wise men.
36 They will attack its false prophets,
and people will see that the prophets are fools.
They will attack the soldiers of Babylonia,
and those soldiers will be very afraid.
37 They will attack Babylonia's horses and chariots,
and the foreign soldiers who belong to its army.
They will become as weak as women.
The enemy soldiers will take Babylon's valuable things.
They will take them away for themselves.
38 There will be no rain on the land
so that the rivers and streams become dry.
I will send all this trouble because
their whole land is full of idols.
The people become crazy
because they are afraid of their idols.
39 Hyenas and other wild animals will live there.
Ostriches will live there, too.
But people will never live there again.
It will remain as empty as a desert.
40 Babylonia will become a heap of stones where nobody lives.
The same thing happened to Sodom and Gomorrah
and the towns near to them.
Nobody will live there any more.’
That is what the Lord says.
41 ‘Look! An army is coming from the north.
A great nation and many kings are preparing to attack.
They are coming from a place that is far away.
42 Its soldiers carry bows and spears as their weapons.
They are always cruel and they are never kind.
They ride into the battle on their horses,
and it sounds like the noise of the sea.
They are ready to attack you, people of Babylon!
43 The king of Babylon has heard news about them,
and he is very afraid.
He feels too weak to fight.
He feels pain like a woman who is giving birth.
44 I will attack the people of Babylonia,
and I will chase them out of their land.
I will do that like a lion that has been hiding in the forest.
It attacks the sheep in the fields beside the Jordan River.
Like that lion, I will suddenly chase Babylonia's people out of their country.
Then I will choose a leader to rule that nation.
There is nobody who is like me.
Nobody can accuse me of anything.
No ruler can stand against me.
45 So listen to me, the Lord!
This is what I have decided to do to Babylon.
Yes, this is the trouble that I will bring to the people of Babylonia.
Soldiers will catch their children and take them away,
like little lambs that they take from their mothers.
I will completely destroy their homes.
46 When the enemy takes power over Babylon,
the noise will cause the whole earth to shake.
The other nations will hear Babylon's people shout with pain.’
51 The Lord says this:
‘I will send an enemy to destroy Babylon and the people of Babylonia.
It will come like a strong wind that blows them away.
2 I will send foreign soldiers to remove them from their land,
like a wind that blows chaff away.
They will make the land become empty.
On the day of that great trouble,
they will attack Babylonia from all directions.
3 Do not give Babylon's soldiers time to pick up their weapons!
Do not give them time to put on their armour!
Kill all their young men.
Completely destroy their whole army.
4 Their dead bodies will lie on the ground
all over Babylonia and in the streets of the city.
5 The Lord Almighty, Israel's God,
will not leave Israel and Judah on their own.
Those people are guilty of many bad things
that they have done against Israel's holy God.[p]
6 Run away from Babylonia!
Run quickly to escape from there!
Do not stay there to die along with Babylonia's people.
The time has come for the Lord to pay them back for their sins.
He will punish them as they deserve.
7 Babylon has been like a gold cup of wine in the Lord's hand.
The nations of the world had to drink that wine.[q]
It made everyone become drunk,
and so they all became crazy.
8 But now Babylon will quickly fall.
An enemy will destroy it, so weep for it!
Find some medicine that will make its wounds better.
Perhaps it will become well again.
9 The foreign people in Babylon say,
“We tried to make its wounds better,
but it was not possible to do it.
Now we must leave it.
We must each go back to our own country.
Its punishment will have no end.
It will reach as high as the sky!”
10 The people from Judah who are in Babylon say,
“The Lord has shown that we are his people.
Now we must go to Jerusalem.
We must tell people in Zion
about how the Lord our God has helped us.” ’
11 ‘Make your arrows sharp!
Prepare your weapons!
The Lord has caused Media's kings to prepare for war.
He will use them to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will punish the people of Babylonia
because they destroyed his temple.
12 Wave a flag and prepare to attack Babylon's city walls!
Bring plenty of guards to watch all around the city.
Put soldiers to catch anyone who tries to escape.
Yes, the Lord will now do everything that he has decided.
He will punish Babylon's people, as he said he would do.
13 You people of Babylon, who live beside many rivers,
it is now time for you to die.
You have become rich with many valuable things,
but now your lives will finish.’[r]
14 The Lord Almighty has made this strong promise
with the authority of his own name:
‘I will cause the enemy's soldiers to fill your cities.
They will come like a big crowd of locusts.
They will shout loudly when they take your city for themselves.’
A song to praise the Lord[s]
15 The Lord used his power to make the earth.
He used his wisdom to make it strong.
He knew how to put the sky to cover the earth.
16 When he shouts like thunder,
the water in the sky roars.
He brings the clouds from the far places of the earth.
He causes bright lightning to show in the storms.
He opens his rooms so that the wind comes out
and it blows everywhere.
17 People who worship idols are stupid.
They do not understand what they are doing.
The men who make idols will be ashamed.
They make images of gods that are false.
None of their idols have the breath of life in them.
18 They are useless things that people should laugh at.
When the time for their punishment arrives,
God will destroy them.
19 The God that Jacob's descendants worship
is not like those idols.
He created everything.
He chose Israel's people to belong to him.
His name is the Lord Almighty.
20 ‘You are the weapon that I use to fight my battles.[t]
I have used you to punish nations.
I have used you to destroy kingdoms.
21 I have used you to destroy whole armies,
with their horses, chariots and riders.
22 I have used you to destroy men and women,
old men, young men, boys and girls.
23 I have used you to destroy shepherds and their sheep,
as well as farmers and their oxen.
I have used you to destroy rulers and their officers.
24 But now I will punish Babylon
and all the people who live in Babylonia.
I will pay them back for all the evil things that they did in Jerusalem.
And you will see me do that.’
That is what the Lord says.
25 The Lord says,
‘Listen to me, Babylon! I am your enemy!
You are like a strong mountain that destroys the whole earth.
I will punish you with all my strength.
I will push you down from your high place.
I will make you a heap of ashes.
26 Nobody will be able to use any of your stones
as a foundation for a new building.
You will remain as empty as a desert for ever.’
That is what the Lord says.
27 ‘Call the nations to come and fight a battle against Babylonia.
Wave a flag and make a noise with trumpets,
so that these kingdoms prepare their armies to attack:
Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz.
Choose a captain to lead them into battle.
Send an army of soldiers on horses to attack,
like a large crowd of locusts.
28 Tell the nations to prepare their armies for war against Babylonia.
Tell the kings of Media to get ready,
as well as their leaders and officers.
The armies of the countries that they rule must also be ready to fight.
29 The whole earth will shake with pain
as the Lord punishes Babylonia.
He will certainly do what he has decided to do.
He will make the land of Babylonia as empty as a desert.
Nobody will live there.
30 The brave soldiers of Babylonia are no longer fighting!
They remain inside their strong buildings.
Their strength has gone! They are as weak as women.
In their cities, enemy soldiers are burning their houses.
They have broken down the city gates.
31 Now people run to send the news to the king of Babylon.
They pass this message along the line:
“The enemy has taken power over the whole city!
32 They have guards to stop people escaping across the rivers.
They have burned the reeds in the wet fields.
All our soldiers are afraid.”
33 The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this:
Babylon is like a threshing floor
that is ready for people to stamp on wheat.
The harvest time will soon come!
Then the enemy will cut down Babylon,
and they will stamp all over it!’
34 ‘King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has destroyed us with his army.
He has made us weak and confused.
He has eaten us like a hungry monster.
He has filled himself with all our good things.
Then he spat us out of his mouth.’
35 Zion's people then say to the Lord,
‘Please punish the people of Babylonia,
because they did cruel things to us.’
Jerusalem's people say,
‘Pay back the people of Babylonia,
because they killed our relatives.’
36 So the Lord says,
‘I will help you to win.
I will punish the people of Babylonia for what they have done to you.
I will cause all their rivers and their springs to become dry.
37 Babylon will become a heap of stones.
Wild animals will live there.
People will see that it is a disgusting place,
and they will laugh at it.
Nobody will live there.
38 Its people shout loudly, like lions that roar.
They make a noise like baby lions that are hungry.
39 While they are feeling so hungry,
I will prepare a feast for them.
I will cause them to become drunk,
and they will become helpless.
They will sleep for ever
and they will never wake up again.’
That is what the Lord says.
40 ‘I will take them down to the place of death.
People will kill them as if they are lambs, sheep and goats.’
41 ‘Now an enemy will take power over Babylon!
Everyone in the world praised it as a great nation.
But now all the nations will see that it is a disgusting place.
42 The sea will pour over it.
Many waves of water will cover it.
43 Babylonia's towns will become heaps of stones.
The land will be dry and empty, like a desert.
Nobody will live there any more.
Nobody will even travel through the land.
44 I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon.
I will cause him to give back everything that he has taken.
Nations will never go to worship him again.
Yes, the walls of Babylon will fall down!’
45 ‘Escape from Babylon, my people!
Run away to save your lives!
The Lord is very angry with that place,
so run away from there!
46 You must be brave!
When you hear news in Babylon of what is happening,
do not be afraid.
People will report one thing this year,
and next year they will report a different thing.
They will speak about violence in the land,
and about rulers who are fighting against each other.
47 So the time will soon come when I will punish Babylon's idols.
The whole country will become ashamed.
Its people will die and their dead bodies will lie everywhere.
48 Then everyone in heaven and everyone on the earth
will shout with joy because of what happens to Babylon.
They will be happy because an army will come from the north to destroy it.’
That is what the Lord says.
49 ‘Babylon's people have caused the death of people everywhere.
They have killed many Israelites.
So now Babylon must lose its power.
50 You Israelites who are still alive,
leave Babylon now! Do not wait!
You are far away from your homes.
But remember that the Lord is with you.
Think about Jerusalem.
51 You say, “We are ashamed. People have insulted us.
We hide our faces in shame
because foreigners have gone into the holy places of the Lord's temple.” ’
52 But the Lord says this:
‘The time will soon come when I will punish Babylon's idols.
People everywhere in that land will cry with pain,
because their wounds are causing them to die.
53 Babylon's people may build their city very high.
They may make its walls very strong.
But I will send an army to destroy it.’
That is what the Lord says.
54 ‘Listen to the noise that comes from Babylon!
People are crying in pain.
Listen to the noise of the enemy army
as it destroys Babylonia.
55 The Lord is preparing to destroy Babylon.
No noise will come from there any more.
The enemy soldiers will attack like great waves of water.
There will be a loud noise of battle.
56 An army is coming to destroy Babylon.
They will take hold of its brave soldiers.
They will break their weapons.
The Lord is a God who punishes people as they deserve.
He always pays them back for their sins.
57 I will make Babylon's officers and its wise men drunk,
as well as its rulers, its leaders and its soldiers.
They will sleep for ever
and they will never wake up again.’
That is what the King says. His name is the Lord Almighty.
58 The Lord Almighty says this:
‘The enemy will completely knock down the strong walls of Babylon.
They will burn its high gates with fire.
The nations work very hard,
but their work is useless.
They make themselves tired,
but fire destroys all their work.’
Jeremiah sends God's message to Babylon
59 This is the command that the prophet Jeremiah gave to the king's officer Seraiah. Seraiah was the son of Neriah and the grandson of Mahseiah. He took the message when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah. That happened in the fourth year that Zedekiah had ruled Judah as king. 60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll a list of all the terrible troubles that would happen to Babylon. Those were all the messages that he had written about Babylon. 61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah, ‘When you arrive in Babylon, you must read aloud all these messages. 62 Then say, “Lord, you have said that you will destroy this place. Then no people or animals will live in it any longer. It will be empty for ever.” 63 When you have finished reading aloud all the words on the scroll, tie a big stone to it. Throw it all into the middle of the Euphrates river. 64 Then say, “That is how Babylon will sink! It will go down and it will never rise up again. The Lord is ready to cause all these terrible troubles to happen to Babylon. Its people will be too weak to stop it.” ’
That is the end of Jeremiah's messages.
Nebuchadnezzar gets power over Jerusalem
52 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother's name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah, who came from Libnah.[u] 2 Zedekiah did things that the Lord said were evil, as Jehoiakim had done.
3 All this trouble happened to Jerusalem and to Judah because the Lord was very angry with them. In the end, the Lord sent them away from himself. This is what happened when King Zedekiah turned against the king of Babylon.
4 Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, marched with his army to attack Jerusalem. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month, in the ninth year when Zedekiah had ruled Judah. His soldiers made their camp all around the city. They built heaps of earth all around Jerusalem's walls. 5 Babylon's army stayed around the city until the 11th year that Zedekiah had been king.
6 By the ninth day of the fourth month there was a very bad famine in the city. There was no food for the people to eat. 7 Then Babylon's army broke down Jerusalem's wall so that they could go into the city. Their soldiers were all around the city. So the king of Judah and all his army tried to escape in the night. They went through the gate that was near the king's garden. The path went between the two walls of the city. They ran towards the Jordan Valley. 8 But the soldiers of Babylon's army chased after King Zedekiah. They caught him on the flat land near Jericho. All King Zedekiah's soldiers ran away from him in many directions.
9 Babylon's soldiers took hold of Zedekiah. They took him to King Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, in Hamath region. Nebuchadnezzar decided how to punish Zedekiah. 10 He told his soldiers to kill all Zedekiah's sons, while Zedekiah watched. He also punished all the officers of Judah with death there at Riblah. 11 Then they cut out Zedekiah's eyes to make him blind. They tied him with chains and they took him to Babylon as their prisoner. They kept him in prison until the day that he died.
12 King Nebuchadnezzar had an officer whose name was Nebuzaradan. He was the captain of the king's royal guards. Nebuzaradan came to Jerusalem when Nebuchadnezzar had ruled Babylon for 19 years. It was on the tenth day of the fifth month. 13 Nebuzaradan destroyed the Lord's temple, the king's palace and all the other houses in Jerusalem. He burned them all with fire, so that he destroyed every important building in the city. 14 Then Nebuzaradan commanded his whole army to knock down the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Captain Nebuzaradan sent away as prisoners some of the poor people and the rest of the people who remained in Jerusalem. He also sent away those people who had agreed to serve the king of Babylon, and the workers who had special skills. 16 But he let some of the poorest people stay there. He gave them vineyards and fields to work in.
17 The soldiers from Babylon broke the two bronze pillars that were in the Lord's temple. They also broke the carts which carried the buckets for water and the large bath called ‘the Sea’. They carried all the bronze pieces away to Babylon. 18 They also took away the pots, the bowls, the spades, the small tools for the lamps, and the dishes. They took all the bronze tools that the priests used in the temple. 19 Captain Nebuzaradan also took away everything that was made from gold or silver. He took the dishes, the baskets that carried hot coals, the bowls for water, the pots, the lampstands and other bowls.
20 The bronze from the things that King Solomon had made for the Lord's temple was very heavy. They included the two bronze pillars, the large bath called ‘the Sea’, the 12 bronze bulls under the bath and the carts which carried the buckets for water. The bronze from all these things was more than they could weigh. 21 Each pillar was 8 metres high and 5 metres around. The bronze was 8 centimetres thick and each pillar was empty inside. 22 The bronze piece on the top of one pillar was more than a metre high. It had rows of chains with images of pomegranates made from bronze all around it. The other pillar, with its rows of chains and pomegranates, was the same. 23 There were 96 images of pomegranates around the sides of the pillars. There were 100 images of pomegranates on the chains at the top.
24 Captain Nebuzaradan took hold of these people:
Seraiah, the leader of the priests.
Zephaniah, the next most important priest.
The three temple guards.
25 He also took hold of these people who remained in Jerusalem:
The palace officer with authority over the soldiers.
Seven of the king's advisors.
The army secretary who took men to join the army.
60 other people of Judah who were inside the city.
26 Captain Nebuzaradan took hold of all those people. He brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 There, at Riblah in the Hamath region, the king of Babylon commanded his soldiers to punish them all with death.
That was how Judah's people went into exile, away from their own land.
28 This is a list of the number of people that Nebuchadnezzar took away as prisoners to Babylon:
He took 3,023 people from Judah in his seventh year as king.
29 He took 832 people from Jerusalem in his 18th year.
30 Captain Nebuzaradan took 745 people from Judah in Nebuchadnezzar's 23rd year as king.
So Nebuchadnezzar took 4,600 people away as his prisoners.
Jehoiachin lives in Babylon[v]
31 37 years after King Jehoiachin of Judah had gone as a prisoner to Babylon, Evil-Merodach became the king of Babylon. On the 25th day of the 12th month, he took Jehoiachin out from his prison so that he became free. 32 King Evil-Merodach spoke in a kind way to Jehoiachin. He gave him more honour than the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 Jehoiachin no longer had to wear the clothes of a prisoner. Every day for the rest of his life, he ate a meal at the king's table in Babylon. 34 The king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin everything that he needed each day of his life until he died.
The prophet speaks
1 The city that was full of people is lonely now.
The city is like the wife of a dead husband.
Once she was great.
She was like a queen among the other places in the country.
Now she is a slave.[w]
2 She weeps in the night
and there are tears on her face.
Not one of her lovers comforts her.
All her friends have left her.
They have gone against her and they are now her enemies.[x]
3 The enemies have taken Judah's people away as slaves.
The slaves have only trouble and difficult work.
They now live among strangers.
They have no rest, and they live far away from home.
They cannot go away from those who do cruel things to them.
4 Zion's streets are sad places now.[y]
Nobody comes to worship God there any longer.
There is nothing to hear at the city gates.[z]
The priests are sad.
Strangers are cruel to the young women.
The people in Zion are very sad.
5 The people's enemies rule them now.
Those who hate them have plenty.
The Lord has caused trouble for the people
because they did so many wrong things.[aa]
The enemies took the children away to work as slaves.
6 Zion is not beautiful any longer.
Her leaders are like animals without food.
They are too weak to run from their enemies.
7 Jerusalem's people are in trouble and they are away from their homes now.
So they remember the good things
that they had a long time ago.
When their enemies came, nobody was there with them.
Nobody helped them.
Their enemies laughed when they destroyed Jerusalem.
8 Jerusalem's people have sinned very much.
That is why this city is not clean any longer.
People thought that this city was the best.
Now they think that it is not important.
They see it as it is.
Jerusalem's people make sad noises and they want to hide themselves away.
9 Jerusalem seemed dirty because the people were so bad.
They never thought that the end would be like this.
But their enemies destroyed the city.
They do not have anyone who can comfort them.
God did not listen any longer when they asked for his help.
‘Lord, see our troubles.
See how happy our enemies are,’ the people pray.
10 The enemies have taken away all Jerusalem's valuable things.
Foreign people have walked into God's holy house.
But God had said that people like that must not go in there.
They are not his people.
11 Jerusalem's people are making sad noises.
They are sad as they look for food.
They sell things that they love.
They use them to buy food.
That way, they can keep themselves alive.[ab]
‘Lord, see what is happening.
Think about me,
because nobody else does,’ the people pray.
12 ‘Come and really look at me!
All you people who pass me do not show any interest in me.
But you have never seen anything as sad as I am.
The Lord was very angry with me.
So it was the Lord who did this to me.[ac]
13 It is like God has sent fire down into our bones to hurt us.
He wants us to turn towards him again,
so he has caused things to be very difficult for us.
All day he causes us to feel lonely and weak.
14 He has caused our sins to seem like something very heavy that lies on our necks.
It makes us weak.
He has let the enemy be very strong.
He let them win against us.
So we cannot beat them.
15 The Lord has let the enemy beat all our strong men.
He brought a big army to fight our young men, and the enemy won that fight.
The Lord God has punished us, like people walk on grapes to break them.[ad]
He has let the enemy destroy the people of Judah.
16 We weep because of these things.
Tears run down our faces because God is not with us.
Nobody will help us.
We are the children of this city
and we have nothing now.
The enemy has won.’[ae]
17 Zion's people ask for help,
but nobody is their friend.
They are Jacob's children.[af]
But the Lord has said that he will cause their enemies
to come from every country near them.
Those other people think about Jerusalem as they would think about something dirty.[ag]
18 ‘The Lord is right to punish us.
We have not obeyed him.[ah]
Listen, all people everywhere, and look at us.
We are in very bad trouble.
The enemy has taken away our young women
and our young men to be slaves.’
19 ‘We shouted to our friends.
They had said that they would help us.
But they did not help us.
Our priests and our leaders died in the city.
They were looking for food to keep themselves alive.
20 Look, Lord, we are in a lot of trouble.
We are very sad.
We are weak deep inside ourselves
because we have done so many bad things.
They are killing our people in the streets.
People are dying in the houses.’[ai]
21 ‘Everybody knows that we are very sad.
Nobody wants to help us.
All our enemies know about our trouble.
They are happy, God, that you caused that trouble.
Please cause trouble for those enemies too, as you promised.
22 You know that they have done many bad things.
Punish them as you have punished us.
You punished us because we did many bad things.
Now we are ashamed and we are very sad.’
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