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God’s Judgment on Babylon
51 This is what the Lord says:
I am about to stir up a destructive wind[a] against Babylon(A)
and against the population of Leb-qamai.[b][c]
2 I will send strangers to Babylon
who will scatter her and strip her land bare,(B)
for they will come against her
from every side in the day of disaster.
3 Don’t let the archer string his bow;
don’t let him put on[d] his armor.(C)
Don’t spare her young men;
completely destroy her entire army!
4 Those who were slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans,
those who were pierced through, in her streets.(D)
5 For Israel and Judah are not left widowed
by their God, the Lord of Hosts,
though their land is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.(E)
6 Leave Babylon;(F)
save your lives, each of you!(G)
Don’t perish because of her guilt.
For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance—
He will pay her what she deserves.(H)
7 Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand,(I)
making the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;(J)
therefore, the nations go mad.(K)
8 Suddenly Babylon fell and was shattered.
Wail for her;
get balm(L) for her wound—
perhaps she can be healed.
9 We tried to heal Babylon,
but she could not be healed.
Abandon her!
Let each of us go to his own land,(M)
for her judgment extends to the sky
and reaches as far as the clouds.(N)
10 The Lord has brought about our vindication;(O)
come, let’s tell in Zion
what the Lord our God has accomplished.(P)
11 Sharpen the arrows!
Fill the quivers!
The Lord has put it into the mind
of the kings of the Medes
because His plan is aimed at Babylon
to destroy her,
for it is the Lord’s vengeance,
vengeance for His temple.(Q)
12 Raise up a signal flag(R)
against the walls of Babylon;
fortify the watch post;
set the watchmen in place;
prepare the ambush.
For the Lord has both planned and accomplished
what He has threatened
against those who live in Babylon.
13 You who reside by many waters,(S)
rich in treasures,
your end has come,
your life thread is cut.
14 The Lord of Hosts has sworn by Himself:
I will fill you up with men as with locusts,
and they will sing the victory song over you.
15 He made the earth by His power,
established the world(T) by His wisdom,(U)
and spread out the heavens by His understanding.(V)
16 When He thunders,[e]
the waters in the heavens are in turmoil,(W)
and He causes the clouds
to rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from His storehouses.(X)
17 Everyone is stupid and ignorant.
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image,(Y)
for his cast images are a lie;(Z)
there is no breath in them.(AA)
18 They are worthless,(AB) a work to be mocked.
At the time of their punishment they will be destroyed.(AC)
19 Jacob’s Portion[f] is not like these
because He is the One who formed all things.(AD)
Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;(AE)
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.(AF)
20 You are My battle club,
My weapons of war.
With you I will smash nations;
with you I will bring kingdoms to ruin.
21 With you I will smash the horse and its rider;
with you I will smash the chariot and its rider.
22 With you I will smash man and woman;(AG)
with you I will smash the old man and the youth;
with you I will smash the young man and the young woman.
23 With you I will smash the shepherd and his flock;
with you I will smash the farmer and his ox-team.[g]
With you I will smash governors and officials.
24 “I will repay Babylon and all the residents of Chaldea for all their evil they have done in Zion before your very eyes.”(AH)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
25 Look, I am against you, devastating mountain—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you devastate the whole earth.
I will stretch out My hand against you,(AI)
roll you down from the cliffs,
and turn you into a charred mountain.
26 No one will be able to retrieve a cornerstone
or a foundation stone from you,
because you will become desolate forever.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
27 Raise a signal flag(AJ) in the land;
blow a ram’s horn among the nations;
set apart the nations against her.(AK)
Summon kingdoms against her—
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a marshal against her;
bring up horses like a swarm[h] of locusts.
28 Set apart the nations for battle against her—
the kings of Media,
her governors and all her officials,
and all the lands they rule.
29 The earth quakes(AL) and trembles
because the Lord’s intentions against Babylon stand:
to make the land of Babylon an uninhabited desolation.
30 Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting;(AM)
they sit in their strongholds.
Their might is exhausted;
they have become like women.
Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze,
her gate bars are shattered.(AN)
31 Messenger races to meet messenger,(AO)
and herald to meet herald,
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his city has been captured
from end to end.
32 The fords have been seized,(AP)
the marshes set on fire,
and the soldiers are terrified.
33 For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:
Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trampled.(AQ)
In just a little while her harvest time will come.(AR)
34 “Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me;
he has crushed me.
He has set me aside like an empty dish;
he has swallowed me like a sea monster;(AS)
he filled his belly with my delicacies;
he has vomited me out,”[i]
35 says the inhabitant of Zion;
“Let the violence done to me and my family be done to Babylon.
Let my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
says Jerusalem.
36 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
I am about to plead your case(AT)
and take vengeance on your behalf;
I will dry up her sea(AU)
and make her fountain run dry.
37 Babylon will become a heap of rubble,
a jackals’ den,
a desolation and an object of scorn,(AV)
without inhabitant.
38 They will roar together like young lions;
they will growl like lion cubs.
39 While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast,
and I will make them drunk so that they revel.[j](AW)
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams together with male goats.(AX)
41 How Sheshach has been captured,
the praise(AY) of the whole earth seized.
What a horror Babylon has become
among the nations!(AZ)
42 The sea has risen over Babylon;(BA)
she is covered with its turbulent waves.
43 Her cities have become a desolation,(BB)
a dry and arid land,
a land where no one lives,
where no human being passes through.
44 I will punish Bel(BC) in Babylon.
I will make him vomit what he swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him;
even Babylon’s wall will fall.
45 Come out from among her, My people!(BD)
Save your lives, each of you,
from the Lord’s burning anger.
46 May you not become cowardly and fearful
when the report is proclaimed in the land,
for the report will come one year,
and then another the next year.
There will be violence in the land
with ruler against ruler.
47 Therefore, look, the days are coming
when I will punish Babylon’s carved images.(BE)
Her entire land will suffer shame,
and all her slain will lie fallen within her.(BF)
48 Heaven and earth and everything in them
will shout for joy(BG) over Babylon
because the destroyers from the north
will come against her.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
49 Babylon must fall because of the slain of Israel,
even as the slain of all the earth fell
because of Babylon.
50 You who have escaped the sword,(BH)
go and do not stand still!
Remember the Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come to your mind.
51 We are ashamed
because we have heard insults.(BI)
Humiliation covers our faces
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s temple.(BJ)
52 Therefore, look, the days are coming—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when I will punish her carved images,
and the wounded will groan
throughout her land.
53 Even if Babylon should ascend to the heavens(BK)
and fortify her tall fortresses,
destroyers will come against her from Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Sound Teaching and Christian Living
2 But you must say the things that are consistent with sound teaching.(A) 2 Older men(B) are to be level headed, worthy of respect, sensible, and sound in faith, love,(C) and endurance. 3 In the same way, older women(D) are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not addicted to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 so they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, homemakers, kind, and submissive(E) to their husbands, so that God’s message(F) will not be slandered.
6 In the same way, encourage the young men(G) to be self-controlled 7 in everything. Make yourself an example of good works with integrity and dignity[a] in your teaching. 8 Your message is to be sound beyond reproach,(H) so that the opponent will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us.
9 Slaves are to be submissive to their masters(I) in everything, and to be well-pleasing,(J) not talking back 10 or stealing, but demonstrating utter faithfulness, so that they may adorn the teaching of God our Savior(K) in everything.
11 For the grace of God has appeared with salvation[b] for all people,(L) 12 instructing us to deny godlessness(M) and worldly lusts(N) and to live in a sensible, righteous,(O) and godly(P) way in the present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope(Q) and appearing of the glory(R) of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He gave Himself for us(S) to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for Himself a people for His own possession,(T) eager to do good works.
15 Say these things, and encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard[c] you.
Psalm 99
The King Is Holy
1 The Lord reigns! Let the peoples tremble.
He is enthroned above the cherubim.(A)
Let the earth quake.(B)
2 Yahweh is great in Zion;
He is exalted above all the peoples.(C)
3 Let them praise Your great
and awe-inspiring name.(D)
He is holy.(E)
4 The mighty King loves justice.
You have established fairness;
You have administered justice
and righteousness in Jacob.(F)
5 Exalt the Lord our God;
bow in worship at His footstool.(G)
He is holy.(H)
6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests;(I)
Samuel also was among those calling on His name.
They called to Yahweh and He answered them.(J)
7 He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud;(K)
they kept His decrees and the statutes He gave them.
8 Lord our God, You answered them.
You were a forgiving God to them,(L)
an avenger of their sinful actions.(M)
9 Exalt the Lord our God;
bow in worship at His holy mountain,
for the Lord our God is holy.(N)
17 A person who is passing by and meddles in a quarrel that’s not his
is like one who grabs a dog by the ears.
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