rsv Jeremiah:50:21-46 SEEK
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Go up against the land of Meratha '
im ,
and against the inhabitants of Pekod .
Slay ,
and utterly destroy after them ,
says the LORD ,
and do all that I have commanded you .
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The noise of battle is in the land ,
and great destruction !
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How the hammer of the whole earth is cut down and broken !
How Babylon has become a horror among the nations !
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I set a snare for you and you were taken ,
O Babylon ,
and you did not know it ;
you were found and caught ,
because you strove against the LORD .
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The LORD has opened his armory ,
and brought out the weapons of his wrath ,
for the Lord GOD of hosts has a work to do in the land of the Chalde '
ans .
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Come against her from every quarter ;
open her granaries ;
pile her up like heaps of grain ,
and destroy her utterly ;
let nothing be left of her .
*
Slay all her bulls ,
let them go down to the slaughter .
Woe to them ,
for their day has come ,
the time of their punishment .
* "
Hark !
they flee and escape from the land of Babylon ,
to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God ,
vengeance for his temple .
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Summon archers against Babylon ,
all those who bend the bow .
Encamp round about her ;
let no one escape .
Requite her according to her deeds ,
do to her according to all that she has done ;
for she has proudly defied the LORD ,
the Holy One of Israel .
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Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares ,
and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day ,
says the LORD .
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Behold ,
I am against you ,
O proud one ,
says the Lord GOD of hosts ;
for your day has come ,
the time when I will punish you .
*
The proud one shall stumble and fall ,
with none to raise him up ,
and I will kindle a fire in his cities ,
and it will devour all that is round about him .
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Thus says the LORD of hosts :
The people of Israel are oppressed ,
and the people of Judah with them ;
all who took them captive have held them fast ,
they refuse to let them go .
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Their Redeemer is strong ;
the LORD of hosts is his name .
He will surely plead their cause ,
that he may give rest to the earth ,
but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon .
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A sword upon the Chalde '
ans ,
says the LORD ,
and upon the inhabitants of Babylon ,
and upon her princes and her wise men !
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A sword upon the diviners ,
that they may become fools !
A sword upon her warriors ,
that they may be destroyed !
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A sword upon her horses and upon her chariots ,
and upon all the foreign troops in her midst ,
that they may become women !
A sword upon all her treasures ,
that they may be plundered !
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A drought upon her waters ,
that they may be dried up !
For it is a land of images ,
and they are mad over idols .
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Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon ,
and ostriches shall dwell in her ;
she shall be peopled no more for ever ,
nor inhabited for all generations .
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As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomor '
rah and their neighbor cities ,
says the LORD ,
so no man shall dwell there ,
and no son of man shall sojourn in her .
* "
Behold ,
a people comes from the north ;
a mighty nation and many kings are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth .
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They lay hold of bow and spear ;
they are cruel ,
and have no mercy .
The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea ;
they ride upon horses ,
arrayed as a man for battle against you ,
O daughter of Babylon !
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The king of Babylon heard the report of them ,
and his hands fell helpless ;
anguish seized him ,
pain as of a woman in travail .
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Behold ,
like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a strong sheepfold ,
I will suddenly make them run away from her ;
and I will appoint over her whomever I choose .
For who is like me ?
Who will summon me ?
What shepherd can stand before me ?
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Therefore hear the plan which the LORD has made against Babylon ,
and the purposes which he has formed against the land of the Chalde '
ans :
Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away ;
surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate .
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At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble ,
and her cry shall be heard among the nations ."