Jeremiah:50-52

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* The word that the LORD spoke concerning Babylon , concerning the land of the Chaldeans , by Jeremiah the prophet . * Declare ye among the nations and announce , and set up a standard ; announce , and conceal not ; say : 'Babylon is taken , Bel is put to shame , Merodach is dismayed ; her images are put to shame , her idols are dismayed .' * For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her , which shall make her land desolate , and none shall dwell therein ; they are fled , they are gone , both man and beast . * In those days , and in that time , saith the LORD , the children of Israel shall come , they and the children of Judah together ; they shall go on their way weeping , and shall seek the LORD their God . * They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces hitherward : 'Come ye , and join yourselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten .' * My people hath been lost sheep ; their shepherds have caused them to go astray , they have turned them away on the mountains ; they have gone from mountain to hill , they have forgotten their resting-place . * All that found them have devoured them ; and their adversaries said : 'We are not guilty '; because they have sinned against the LORD , the habitation of justice , even the LORD , the hope of their fathers . * Flee out of the midst of Babylon , and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans , and be as the he-goats before the flocks . * For , lo , I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country ; and they shall set themselves in array against her , from thence she shall be taken ; their arrows shall be as of a mighty man that maketh childless ; none shall return in vain . * And Chaldea shall be a spoil ; all that spoil her shall be satisfied , saith the LORD . * Because ye are glad , because ye rejoice , O ye that plunder My heritage , because ye gambol as a heifer at grass , and neigh as strong horses ; * Your mother shall be sore ashamed , she that bore you shall be confounded ; behold , the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness , a dry land , and a desert . * Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited , but it shall be wholly desolate ; every one that goeth by Babylon shall be appalled and hiss at all her plagues . * Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about , all ye that bend the bow , shoot at her , spare no arrows ; for she hath sinned against the LORD . * Shout against her round about , she hath submitted herself ; her buttresses are fallen , her walls are thrown down ; for it is the vengeance of the LORD , take vengeance upon her ; as she hath done , do unto her . * Cut off the sower from Babylon , and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest ; For fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people , and they shall flee every one to his own land . * Israel is a scattered sheep , the lions have driven him away ; first the king of Assyria hath devoured him , and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones . * Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel : Behold , I will punish the king of Babylon and his land , as I have punished the king of Assyria . * And I will bring Israel back to his pasture , and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan , and his soul shall be satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead . * In those days , and in that time , saith the LORD , the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for , and there shall be none , and the sins of Judah , and they shall not be found ; for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant . * Go up against the land of Merathaim , even against it , and against the inhabitants of Pekod ; waste and utterly destroy after them , saith the LORD , and do according to all that I have commanded thee . * Hark ! battle is in the land , and great destruction . * How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken ! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations ! * I have laid a snare for thee , and thou art also taken , O Babylon , and thou wast not aware ; thou art found , and also caught , because thou hast striven against the LORD . * The LORD hath opened His armoury , and hath brought forth the weapons of His indignation ; for it is a work that the Lord GOD of hosts hath to do in the land of the Chaldeans . * Come against her from every quarter , open her granaries , cast her up as heaps , and destroy her utterly ; let nothing of her be left . * Slay all her bullocks , let them go down to the slaughter ; woe unto them ! for their day is come , the time of their visitation . * Hark ! they flee and escape out of the land of Babylon , to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God , the vengeance of His temple . * Call together the archers against Babylon , all them that bend the bow ; encamp against her round about , let none thereof escape ; recompense her according to her work , according to all that she hath done , do unto her : for she hath been arrogant against the LORD , against the Holy One of Israel . * Therefore shall her young men fall in her broad places , and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day , saith the LORD . * Behold , I am against thee , O thou most arrogant , saith the Lord GOD of hosts ; for thy day is come , the time that I will punish thee . * And the most arrogant shall stumble and fall , and none shall raise him up ; and I will kindle a fire in his cities , and it shall devour all that are round about him . * Thus saith the LORD of hosts : The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together ; and all that took them captives hold them fast ; they refuse to let them go . * Their Redeemer is strong , the LORD of hosts is His name ; He will thoroughly plead their cause , that He may give rest to the earth , and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon . * A sword is upon the Chaldeans , saith the LORD , and upon the inhabitants of Babylon , and upon her princes , and upon her wise men . * A sword is upon the boasters , and they shall become fools ; a sword is upon her mighty men , and they shall be dismayed . * A sword is upon their horses , and upon their chariots , and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her , and they shall become as women ; a sword is upon her treasures , and they shall be robbed . * A drought is upon her waters , and they shall be dried up ; for it is a land of graven images , and they are mad upon things of horror . * Therefore the wild-cats with the jackals shall dwell there , and the ostriches shall dwell therein ; and it shall be no more inhabited for ever , neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation . * As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof , saith the LORD ; so shall no man abide there , neither shall any son of man dwell therein . * Behold , a people cometh from the north , and a great nation , and many kings shall be roused from the uttermost parts of the earth . * They lay hold on bow and spear , they are cruel , and have no compassion ; their voice is like the roaring sea , and they ride upon horses ; set in array , as a man for war , against thee , O daughter of Babylon . * The king of Babylon hath heard the fame of them , and his hands wax feeble ; anguish hath taken hold of him , and pain , as of a woman in travail . * Behold , he shall come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against the strong habitation ; for I will suddenly make them run away from it , and whoso is chosen , him will I appoint over it ; for who is like Me ? and who will appoint Me a time ? and who is that shepherd that will stand before Me ? * Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD , that He hath taken against Babylon , and His purposes , that He hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans : surely the least of the flock shall drag them away , surely their habitation shall be appalled at them . * At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth quaketh , and the cry is heard among the nations . * Thus saith the LORD : Behold , I will raise up against Babylon , and against them that dwell in Leb-kamai , a destroying wind . * And I will send unto Babylon strangers , that shall fan her , and they shall empty her land ; for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about . * Let the archer bend his bow against her , and let him lift himself up against her in his coat of mail ; and spare ye not her young men , destroy ye utterly all her host . * And they shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans , and thrust through in her streets . * For Israel is not widowed , nor Judah , of his God , of the LORD of hosts ; for their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel . * Flee out of the midst of Babylon , and save every man his life , be not cut off in her iniquity ; for it is the time of the LORD 'S vengeance ; He will render unto her a recompense . * Babylon hath been a golden cup in LORD 'S hand , that made all the earth drunken ; the nations have drunk of her wine , therefore the nations are mad . * Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed , wail for her ; take balm for her pain , if so be she may be healed . * We would have healed Babylon , but she is not healed ; forsake her , and let us go every one into his own country ; for her judgment reacheth unto heaven , and is lifted up even to the skies . * The LORD hath brought forth our victory ; come , and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God . * Make bright the arrows , fill the quivers , the LORD hath roused the spirit of the kings of the Medes ; because His device is against Babylon , to destroy it ; for it is the vengeance of the LORD , the vengeance of His temple . * Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon , make the watch strong , set the watchmen , prepare the ambushes ; for the LORD hath both devised and done that which He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon . * O thou that dwellest upon many waters , abundant in treasures , thine end is come , the measure of thy covetousness . * The LORD of hosts hath sworn by Himself : Surely I will fill thee with men , as with the canker-worm , and they shall lift up a shout against thee . * He that hath made the earth by His power , that hath established the world by His wisdom , and hath stretched out the heavens by His discernment ; * At the sound of His giving a multitude of waters in the heavens , He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth ; He maketh lightnings at the time of the rain , and bringeth forth the wind out of His treasuries ; * Every man is proved to be brutish , for the knowledge--every goldsmith is put to shame by the graven image--that his molten image is falsehood , and there is no breath in them . * They are vanity , a work of delusion ; in the time of their visitation they shall perish , * The portion of Jacob is not like these ; for He is the former of all things , and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance ; the LORD of hosts is His name . * Thou art My maul and weapons of war , and with thee will I shatter the nations , and with thee will I destroy kingdoms ; * And with thee will I shatter the horse and his rider , and with thee will I shatter the chariot and him that rideth therein ; * And with thee will I shatter man and woman , and with thee will I shatter the old man and the youth , and with thee will I shatter the young man and the maid ; * And with thee will I shatter the shepherd and his flock , and with thee will I shatter the husbandman and his yoke of oxen , and with thee will I shatter governors and deputies . * And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion , in your sight ; saith the LORD . * Behold , I am against thee , O destroying mountain , saith the LORD , which destroyest all the earth ; and I will stretch out My hand upon thee , and roll thee down from the rocks , and will make thee a burnt mountain . * And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner , nor a stone for foundations ; but thou shalt be desolate for ever , saith the LORD . * Set ye up a standard in the land , blow the horn among the nations , prepare the nations against her , call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat , Minni , and Ashkenaz ; appoint a marshal against her ; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker - worm . * Prepare against her the nations , the kings of the Medes , the governors thereof , and all the deputies thereof , and all the land of his dominion . * And the land quaketh and is in pain ; for the purposes of the LORD are performed against Babylon , to make the land of Babylon a desolation , without inhabitant . * The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight , they remain in their strongholds ; their might hath failed , they are become as women ; her dwelling-places are set on fire ; her bars are broken . * One post runneth to meet another , and one messenger to meet an other , to tell the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter ; * And the fords are seized , and the castles they have burned with fire , and the men of war are affrighted . * For thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel : The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor at the time when it is trodden ; yet a little while , and the time of harvest shall come for her . * Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me , he hath crushed me , he hath set me down as an empty vessel , he hath swallowed me up like a dragon , he hath filled his maw with my delicacies ; he hath washed me clean . * 'The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon ', shall the inhabitant of Zion say ; and : 'My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea ', shall Jerusalem say . * Therefore thus saith the LORD : Behold , I will plead thy cause , and take vengeance for thee ; and I will dry up her sea , and make her fountain dry . * And Babylon shall become heaps , a dwelling-place for jackals , an astonishment , and a hissing , without inhabitant . * They shall roar together like young lions ; they shall growl as lions ' whelps . * With their poison I will prepare their feast , and I will make them drunken , that they may be convulsed , and sleep a perpetual sleep , and not wake , saith the LORD . * I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter , like rams with he-goats . * How is Sheshach taken ! and the praise of the whole earth seized ! How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations ! * The sea is come up upon Babylon ; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof . * Her cities are become a desolation , a dry land , and a desert , a land wherein no man dwelleth , neither doth any son of man pass thereby . * And I will punish Bel in Babylon , and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up , and the nations shall not flow any more unto him ; yea , the wall of Babylon shall fall . * My people , go ye out of the midst of her , and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of the LORD . * And let not your heart faint , neither fear ye , for the rumour that shall be heard in the land ; for a rumour shall come one year , and after that in another year a rumour , and violence in the land , ruler against ruler . * Therefore behold , the days come , that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon , and her whole land shall be ashamed ; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her . * Then the heaven and the earth , and all that is therein , shall sing for joy over Babylon ; for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north , saith the LORD . * As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall , so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land . * Ye that have escaped the sword , go ye , stand not still ; remember the LORD from afar , and let Jerusalem come into your mind . * 'We are ashamed , because we have heard reproach , confusion hath covered our faces ; for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD 'S house .' * Wherefore , behold , the days come , saith the LORD , that I will do judgment upon her graven images ; and through all her land the wounded shall groan . * Though Babylon should mount up to heaven , and though she should fortify the height of her strength , yet from Me shall spoilers come unto her , saith the LORD . * Hark ! a cry from Babylon , and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans ! * For the LORD spoileth Babylon , and destroyeth out of her the great voice ; and their waves roar like many waters , the noise of their voice is uttered ; * For the spoiler is come upon her , even upon Babylon , and her mighty men are taken , their bows are shattered ; for the LORD is a God of recompenses , He will surely requite . * And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men , her governors and her deputies , and her mighty men ; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep , and not wake , saith the King , whose name is the LORD of hosts . * Thus saith the LORD of hosts : The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown , and her high gates shall be burned with fire ; and the peoples shall labour for vanity , and the nations for the fire ; and they shall be weary . * The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah , the son of Mahseiah , when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign . Now Seraiah was quartermaster . * And Jeremiah wrote in one book all the evil that should come upon Babylon , even all these words that are written concerning Babylon . * And Jeremiah said to Seraiah : 'When thou comest to Babylon , then see that thou read all these words , * and say : O LORD , Thou hast spoken concerning this place , to cut it off , that none shall dwell therein , neither man nor beast , but that it shall be desolate for ever . * And it shall be , when thou hast made an end of reading this book , that thou shalt bind a stone to it , and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates ; * and thou shalt say : Thus shall Babylon sink , and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her ; and they shall be weary .' Thus far are the words of Jeremiah . * Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign ; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem ; and his mother 's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah . * And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD , according to all that Jehoiakim had done . * For through the anger of the LORD did it come to pass in Jerusalem and Judah , until He had cast them out from His presence . And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon . * And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign , in the tenth month , in the tenth day of the month , that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came , he and all his army , against Jerusalem , and encamped against it ; and they built forts against it round about . * So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah . * In the fourth month , in the ninth day of the month , the famine was sore in the city , so that there was no bread for the people of the land . * Then a breach was made in the city , and all the men of war fled , and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls , which was by the king 's garden--now the Chaldeans were against the city round about--and they went by the way of the Arabah . * But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king , and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho ; and all his army was scattered from him . * Then they took the king , and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath ; and he gave judgment upon him . * And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes ; he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah . * And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah ; and the king of Babylon bound him in fetters , and carried him to Babylon , and put him in prison till the day of his death . * Now in the fifth month , in the tenth day of the month , which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadrezzar , king of Babylon , came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard , who stood before the king of Babylon , into Jerusalem ; * and he burned the house of the LORD , and the king 's house ; and all the houses of Jerusalem , even every great man 's house , burned he with fire . * And all the army of the Chaldeans , that were with the captain of the guard , broke down all the walls of Jerusalem round about . * Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the poorest sort of the people , and the residue of the people that remained in the city , and those that fell away , that fell to the king of Babylon , and the residue of the multitude . * But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen . * And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD , and the bases and the brazen sea that were in the house of the LORD , did the Chaldeans break in pieces , and carried all the brass of them to Babylon . * The pots also , and the shovels , and the snuffers , and the basins , and the pans , and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered , took they away . * And the cups , and the fire-pans , and the basins , and the pots , and the candlesticks , and the pans , and the bowls--that which was of gold , in gold , and that which was of silver , in silver--the captain of the guard took away . * The two pillars , the one sea , and the twelve brazen bulls that were under the bases , which king Solomon had made for the house of the LORD--the brass of all these vessels was without weight . * And as for the pillars , the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits ; and a line of twelve cubits did compass it ; and the thickness thereof was four fingers ; it was hollow . * And a capital of brass was upon it ; and the height of the one capital was five cubits , with network and pomegranates upon the capital round about , all of brass ; and the second pillar also had like unto these , and pomegranates . * And there were ninety and six pomegranates on the outside ; all the pomegranates were a hundred upon the network round about . * And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest , and Zephaniah the second priest , and the three keepers of the door ; * and out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war ; and seven men of them that saw the king 's face , who were found in the city ; and the scribe of the captain of the host , who mustered the people of the land ; and threescore men of the people of the land , that were found in the midst of the city . * And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them , and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah . * And the king of Babylon smote them , and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath . So Judah was carried away captive out of his land . * This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive : in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty ; * in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar , from Jerusalem , eight hundred thirty and two persons ; * in the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons ; all the persons were four thousand and six hundred . * And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah , in the twelfth month , in the five and twentieth day of the month , that Evil-merodach king of Babylon , in the first year of his reign , lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah , and brought him forth out of prison . * And he spoke kindly to him , and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon . * And he changed his prison garments , and did eat bread before him continually all the days of his life . * And for his allowance , there was a continual allowance given him of the king of Babylon , every day a portion until the day of his death , all the days of his life . * in the first year of his reign I Daniel meditated in the books , over the number of the years , whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet , that He would accomplish for the desolations of Jerusalem seventy years .

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