Historical
Yahweh Sends Calamity to Babylon
51 Thus says Yahweh:
“Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon
And against the inhabitants of [a]Leb-kamai
[b]The (A)spirit of a destroyer.
2 I will send [c]strangers to Babylon that they may (B)winnow her
And may empty her land to destruction;
For on every side they will be against her
In the day of her calamity.
3 [d]Let not [e]him who [f](C)bends his bow [g]bend it,
[h]Nor let him rise up in his (D)scale-armor;
So do not spare her young men;
Devote all her army to destruction.
4 They will fall down [i]slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
And (E)pierced through in their streets.”
5 For (F)neither Israel nor Judah has been widowed
By his God, by Yahweh of hosts,
Although their land is (G)full of guilt
[j]Before the Holy One of Israel.
6 (H)Flee from the midst of Babylon,
And each of you escape with his life!
Do not be [k](I)silenced in her [l]iniquity,
For this is (J)Yahweh’s time of vengeance;
He is going to (K)render recompense to her.
7 Babylon has been a golden (L)cup in the hand of Yahweh,
Intoxicating all the earth.
The (M)nations have drunk of her wine;
Therefore the nations are (N)going mad.
8 Suddenly (O)Babylon has fallen and been broken;
(P)Wail over her!
(Q)Take [m]balm for her pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.
9 We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed;
Forsake her and (R)let us each go to his own country,
For her judgment has (S)touched heaven
And lifts up to the very skies.
10 Yahweh has (T)brought [n]about our righteousness;
Come and let us (U)recount in Zion
The work of Yahweh our God!
11 (V)Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
Yahweh has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes
Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it;
For it is the (W)vengeance of Yahweh, vengeance for His temple.
12 (X)Lift up a standard against the walls of Babylon;
Make strong the watch;
Raise up [o]watchmen;
Establish men in ambush!
For Yahweh has both (Y)purposed and performed
What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O you who (Z)dwell by abundant waters,
Abundant in (AA)treasures,
Your end has come,
The [p]measure of your [q](AB)end.
14 (AC)Yahweh of hosts has sworn by Himself:
“Surely I will fill you with a [r]population like (AD)locusts,
And they will cry out with [s]shouts of victory over you.”
15 It is (AE)He who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom,
And by His understanding He (AF)stretched out the heavens.
16 When He gives forth His (AG)voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
And He causes the (AH)clouds to ascend from the end of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain
And brings forth the (AI)wind from His storehouses.
17 (AJ)All mankind is senseless, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image,
For his molten images are (AK)a lie,
And there is no breath in them.
18 They are (AL)vanity, a work of mockery;
In the time of their punishment they will perish.
19 The (AM)portion of Jacob is not like these;
For the [t]Maker of all is He,
And of the [u]tribe of His inheritance;
(AN)Yahweh of hosts is His name.
20 He says, “You are My (AO)instrument of shattering, My weapon of war;
And with you I (AP)shatter nations,
And with you I destroy kingdoms.
21 With you I (AQ)shatter the horse and his rider,
And with you I shatter the (AR)chariot and its rider,
22 And with you I shatter (AS)man and woman,
And with you I shatter old man and (AT)youth,
And with you I shatter choice man and virgin,
23 And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock,
And with you I shatter the farmer and his pair of oxen,
And with you I shatter governors and prefects.
24 “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of (AU)Chaldea for (AV)all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares Yahweh.
25 “Behold, (AW)I am against you, (AX)O destroying mountain,
Who destroys the whole earth,” declares Yahweh,
“And I will stretch out My hand against you
And roll you down from the crags,
And I will make you a (AY)burnt out mountain.
26 They will not take from you even a stone for a corner
Nor a stone for foundations,
But you will be a perpetual (AZ)desolation,” declares Yahweh.
27 (BA)Lift up a standard in the land,
Blow a trumpet among the nations!
Set apart the nations against her;
Summon against her the (BB)kingdoms of (BC)Ararat, Minni, and (BD)Ashkenaz;
Appoint a marshal against her;
Bring up the (BE)horses like bristly locusts.
28 Set apart the nations against her,
The kings of the Medes,
[v]Their governors and all [w]their [x]prefects
And every land of [y]their rule.
29 So the (BF)land quakes and writhes,
For the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon stand,
To make the land of Babylon
[z]A (BG)desolation without inhabitants.
30 The (BH)mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting;
They inhabit the strongholds;
(BI)Their might is dried up;
They are becoming (BJ)like women;
Their dwelling places are set on fire;
The (BK)bars of her gates are broken.
31 One (BL)runner runs to meet [aa]another,
And one (BM)messenger to meet [ab]another,
To give a message to the king of Babylon
That his city has been captured from end to end;
32 The fords also have been seized,
And they have burned the marshes with fire,
And the men of war are terrified.
33 For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel:
“The daughter of Babylon is like a (BN)threshing floor
At the time [ac]it is stamped firm;
Yet in a little while the time of (BO)harvest will come for her.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has (BP)devoured me and brought me into confusion;
He has set me down like an (BQ)empty vessel;
He has (BR)swallowed me like a sea monster;
He has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
He has rinsed me away.
35 May the (BS)violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,”
The [ad]inhabitant of Zion will say;
And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
Jerusalem will say.
36 Therefore thus says Yahweh,
“Behold, I am going to (BT)plead your case
And (BU)exact full vengeance for you;
And (BV)I will dry up her [ae]sea
And make her fountain dry.
37 (BW)Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals,
An (BX)object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.
38 They will roar together like (BY)young lions;
They will growl like lions’ cubs.
39 When they become heated up, I will set before them their feast
And (BZ)make them drunk, that they may exult
And may (CA)sleep a perpetual sleep
And not wake up,” declares Yahweh.
40 “I will bring them down like [af]lambs (CB)to the slaughter,
Like rams together with male goats.
41 “How [ag](CC)Sheshak has been captured,
And (CD)the praise of the whole earth been seized!
How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!
42 The [ah](CE)sea has come up over Babylon;
She has been covered with its tumultuous waves.
43 Her cities have become an (CF)object of horror,
A parched land, and a desert,
A land in which (CG)no man lives
And through which no son of man passes.
44 (CH)I will punish Bel in Babylon,
And I will make what he has swallowed (CI)come out of his mouth;
And the nations will no longer (CJ)stream to him.
Even the (CK)wall of Babylon has fallen down!
45 “(CL)Come forth from her midst, My people,
And each of you (CM)escape with his life
From the burning anger of Yahweh.
46 Now (CN)lest your heart grow faint,
And you fear the (CO)report that will be heard in the land—
For the report will come [ai]one year,
And after that [aj]another report in [ak]another year,
And violence will be in the land
With (CP)ruler against ruler—
47 Therefore behold, days are coming
When I will punish the (CQ)graven images of Babylon;
And her whole land will be (CR)put to shame,
And all her slain will fall in her midst.
48 Then (CS)heaven and earth and all that is in them
Will shout for joy over Babylon,
For (CT)the destroyers will come to her from the north,”
Declares Yahweh.
49 (CU)Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel,
As also for Babylon (CV)the slain of all the earth have fallen.
50 You (CW)who have escaped the sword,
Go! Do not stand around!
(CX)Remember Yahweh from afar,
And let Jerusalem come upon your heart.
51 (CY)We are ashamed because we have heard reproach;
Dishonor has covered our faces,
For (CZ)strangers have entered
The holy places of the house of Yahweh.
52 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh,
“When I will punish her (DA)graven images,
And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.
53 Though Babylon should (DB)ascend to the heavens,
And though she should fortify [al]her lofty stronghold,
From (DC)Me destroyers will come to her,” declares Yahweh.
54 The (DD)sound of an outcry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For Yahweh is going to destroy Babylon,
And He will make her loud [am]noise [an]vanish from her.
And their (DE)waves will roar like many waters;
The rumbling of their voices [ao]sounds forth.
56 For the (DF)destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
And her mighty men will be captured;
Their (DG)bows are shattered;
For Yahweh is a God of (DH)recompense,
He will fully repay.
57 “I will (DI)make her princes and her wise men drunk,
Her governors, her prefects, and her mighty men,
That they may sleep a (DJ)perpetual sleep and not wake up,”
(DK)Declares the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts.
58 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“The broad (DL)wall of Babylon will be completely razed,
And her high (DM)gates will be set on fire;
So the peoples will (DN)toil for nothing,
And the nations become (DO)weary only for fire.”
59 The [ap]message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of (DP)Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with (DQ)Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (Now Seraiah was quartermaster.) 60 So Jeremiah (DR)wrote in a single [aq]scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon. 61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud, 62 and then you will say, ‘You, O Yahweh, have [ar]promised concerning this place to (DS)cut it off, so that there will be (DT)nothing inhabiting it, [as]whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.’ 63 And as soon as you finish reading this [at]scroll, you will tie a stone to it and (DU)throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64 and then you will say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and (DV)not rise again because of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become (DW)utterly weary.’” (DX)Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
The Anger of Yahweh Towards Judah
52 (DY)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was [au](DZ)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of (EA)Libnah. 2 And he did (EB)what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that (EC)Jehoiakim had done. 3 For through the (ED)anger of Yahweh this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah (EE)rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 (EF)Now it happened in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his military force, against Jerusalem, and they camped against it and built a (EG)siege wall all around [av]it. 5 (EH)So the city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6 On the ninth day of the (EI)fourth month, the (EJ)famine was so strong in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then the city was (EK)breached, and all the (EL)men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were [aw](EM)all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. 8 But the military force of the Chaldeans pursued the king and (EN)overtook Zedekiah in the [ax]plains of Jericho, and all his military force was scattered from him. 9 Then they seized the king and (EO)brought him up to the king of Babylon at (EP)Riblah in the land of (EQ)Hamath, and he [ay]spoke his judgment on him. 10 Then the king of Babylon (ER)slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the [az]princes of Judah in Riblah. 11 Then he (ES)blinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.
12 (ET)Now on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the (EU)nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, (EV)Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who stood before the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13 And he (EW)burned the house of Yahweh, the (EX)king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every large house he burned with fire. 14 So all the military force of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard (EY)tore down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard (EZ)took away into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the [ba](FA)defectors who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the artisans. 16 But (FB)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had some of the poorest of the land remain to be vinedressers and [bb]plowmen.
17 Now the bronze (FC)pillars which belonged to the house of Yahweh and the (FD)stands and the bronze (FE)sea, which were in the house of Yahweh, the Chaldeans shattered and carried all their bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took away the (FF)pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the bowls, the [bc]pans, and all the bronze vessels which were used to minister. 19 And the captain of the guard also took away the (FG)cups, the firepans, the bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the [bd]pans, and the offering bowls, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. 20 The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under [be]the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh—the bronze of all these vessels was (FH)beyond weight. 21 As for the pillars, the (FI)height of each pillar was [bf]eighteen cubits, and [bg]it was twelve cubits in (FJ)circumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow. 22 Now a (FK)capital of bronze was on it; and the height of each capital was five cubits, with network and (FL)pomegranates upon the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates. 23 There were ninety-six [bh]exposed pomegranates; all (FM)the pomegranates numbered one hundred on the network all around.
24 Then the captain of the guard took (FN)Seraiah the chief priest and (FO)Zephaniah the second priest, with the three [bi](FP)doorkeepers of the temple. 25 And from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war, and seven [bj]of the (FQ)king’s advisers who were found in the city, and the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. 26 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and (FR)led them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 Then the king of Babylon (FS)struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah (FT)went into exile from its land.
28 These are the people whom (FU)Nebuchadnezzar took away into exile: in the [bk]seventh year 3,023 Jews; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, (FV)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took away into exile 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 persons in all.
31 (FW)Now it happened in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, that [bl]Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, (FX)lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison; 32 (FY)and he spoke to him good words, and he set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So [bm]Jehoiachin (FZ)changed his prison clothes and [bn](GA)had his meals in [bo]the king’s presence continually all the days of his life. 34 For his allowance, a (GB)continual allowance was given him by the king of Babylon, a daily portion all the days of his life until the day of his death.
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