Jeremiah 40
1The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were carried away captive to Babylon. 2The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God pronounced this evil on this place; 3and the LORD has brought it, and done according as he spoke. Because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing has come on you. 4Now, behold, I release you today from the chains which are on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will take care of you; but if it seems bad to you to come with me into Babylon, don’t. Behold, all the land is before you. Where it seems good and right to you to go, go there.” 5Now while he had not yet gone back, “Go back then,” he said, “to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him food and a present, and let him go. 6Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.
7Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, women, children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon, 8then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men came to Gedaliah to Mizpah. 9Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you. 10As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who will come to us; but you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.”
11Likewise when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, 12then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered very much wine and summer fruits.
13Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, 14and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam didn’t believe them.
15Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, “Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man will know it. Why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?”
16But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing, for you speak falsely of Ishmael.”
Jeremiah 41
1Now in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring and one of the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah. 2Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah arose, and the ten men who were with him, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. 3Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldean men of war who were found there.
4The second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it, 5men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, having their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with meal offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to the LORD’s house. 6Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went, and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” 7It was so, when they came into the middle of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into the middle of the pit, he, and the men who were with him. 8But ten men were found among those who said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us; for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey.” So he stopped, and didn’t kill them among their brothers. 9Now the pit in which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had killed, by the side of Gedaliah (this was that which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel), Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were killed.
10Then Ishmael carried away captive all of the people who were left in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters, and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.
11But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, 12then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon. 13Now when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, then they were glad. 14So all the people who Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 15But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon.
16Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces who were with him took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—the men of war, with the women, the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. 17They departed and lived in Geruth Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt 18because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor over the land.
Jeremiah 42
1Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near, 2and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to the LORD your God, even for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes see us, 3that the LORD your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the things that we should do.”
4Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your words; and it will happen that whatever thing the LORD answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.”
5Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness among us, if we don’t do according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to tell us. 6Whether it is good, or whether it is bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”
7After ten days, the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah. 8Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, 9and said to them, “The LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him, says: 10‘If you will still live in this land, then I will build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I grieve over the distress that I have brought on you. 11Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says the LORD, ‘for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. 12I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land.
13“‘But if you say, “We will not dwell in this land,” so that you don’t obey the LORD your God’s voice, 14saying, “No, but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there we will dwell;”’ 15now therefore hear the LORD’s word, O remnant of Judah! The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there, 16then it will happen that the sword, which you fear, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are afraid, will follow close behind you there in Egypt; and you will die there. 17So will it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there. They will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. None of them will remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.’ 18For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and my wrath has been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you, when you enter into Egypt; and you will be an object of horror, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you will see this place no more.’
19“The LORD has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, ‘Don’t go into Egypt!’ Know certainly that I have testified to you today. 20For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God; and according to all that the LORD our God says, so declare to us, and we will do it.’ 21I have declared it to you today; but you have not obeyed the LORD your God’s voice in anything for which he has sent me to you. 22Now therefore know certainly that you will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.”
Jeremiah 43
1When Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all the words of the LORD their God, with which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words, 2then Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely. The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You shall not go into Egypt to live there;’ 3but Baruch the son of Neriah has turned you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon.”
4So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, didn’t obey the LORD’s voice, to dwell in the land of Judah. 5But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to live in the land of Judah— 6the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, and every person who Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan; and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah. 7They came into the land of Egypt, for they didn’t obey the LORD’s voice; and they came to Tahpanhes.
8Then the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, 9“Take great stones in your hand and hide them in mortar in the brick work which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah. 10Tell them, the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne on these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his royal pavilion over them. 11He will come, and will strike the land of Egypt; such as are for death will be put to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword. 12I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt. He will burn them, and carry them away captive. He will array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment; and he will go out from there in peace. 13He will also break the pillars of Beth Shemesh that is in the land of Egypt; and he will burn the houses of the gods of Egypt with fire.’”
Jeremiah 44
1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who lived in the land of Egypt, who lived at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, and in the country of Pathros, saying, 2“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah. Behold, today they are a desolation, and no man dwells in them, 3because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, to serve other gods that they didn’t know, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4However I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, “Oh, don’t do this abominable thing that I hate.” 5But they didn’t listen and didn’t incline their ear. They didn’t turn from their wickedness, to stop burning incense to other gods. 6Therefore my wrath and my anger was poured out, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is today.’
7“Therefore now the LORD, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Why do you commit great evil against your own souls, to cut off from yourselves man and woman, infant and nursing child out of the middle of Judah, to leave yourselves no one remaining, 8in that you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to live, that you may be cut off, and that you may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? 9Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10They are not humbled even to this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.’
11“Therefore the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah. 12I will take the remnant of Judah that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there, and they will all be consumed. They will fall in the land of Egypt. They will be consumed by the sword and by the famine. They will die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine. They will be an object of horror, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach. 13For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; 14so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will escape or be left to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there; for no one will return except those who will escape.’”
15Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, 16“As for the word that you have spoken to us in the LORD’s name, we will not listen to you. 17But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil. 18But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.”
19The women said, “When we burned incense to the queen of the sky and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?”
20Then Jeremiah said to all the people—to the men and to the women, even to all the people who had given him an answer, saying, 21“The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, didn’t the LORD remember them, and didn’t it come into his mind? 22Thus the LORD could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which you have committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation, an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is today. 23Because you have burned incense and because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the LORD’s voice, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil has happened to you, as it is today.”
24Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the LORD’s word, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt! 25The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, “We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her.” “‘Establish then your vows, and perform your vows.’
26“Therefore hear the LORD’s word, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by my great name,’ says the LORD, ‘that my name will no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord GOD lives.” 27Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until they are all gone. 28Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah few in number. All the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will know whose word will stand, mine or theirs.
29“‘This will be the sign to you,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for evil.’ 30The LORD says, ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.’”
Jeremiah 45
1The message that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, 2“The LORD, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: 3‘You said, “Woe is me now! For the LORD has added sorrow to my pain! I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.”’
4“You shall tell him, the LORD says: ‘Behold, that which I have built, I will break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; and this in the whole land. 5Do you seek great things for yourself? Don’t seek them; for, behold, I will bring evil on all flesh,’ says the LORD, ‘but I will let you escape with your life wherever you go.’”
Jeremiah 46
1The LORD’s word which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
2Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
3“Prepare the buckler and shield,
and draw near to battle!
4Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen,
and stand up with your helmets.
Polish the spears,
put on the coats of mail.
5Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed and are turned backward.
Their mighty ones are beaten down,
have fled in haste,
and don’t look back.
Terror is on every side,”
says the LORD.
6“Don’t let the swift flee away,
nor the mighty man escape.
In the north by the river Euphrates
they have stumbled and fallen.
“Who is this who rises up like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge?
8Egypt rises up like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge.
He says, ‘I will rise up. I will cover the earth.
I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.’
9Go up, you horses!
Rage, you chariots!
Let the mighty men go out:
Cush and Put, who handle the shield;
and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.
10For that day is of the Lord, GOD of Armies,
a day of vengeance,
that he may avenge himself of his adversaries.
The sword will devour and be satiated,
and will drink its fill of their blood;
for the Lord, GOD of Armies, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
11Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt.
You use many medicines in vain.
There is no healing for you.
12The nations have heard of your shame,
and the earth is full of your cry;
for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty,
they both fall together.”
The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt:
14“Declare in Egypt,
publish in Migdol,
and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes;
say, ‘Stand up, and prepare,
for the sword has devoured around you.’
15Why are your strong ones swept away?
They didn’t stand, because the LORD pushed them.
16He made many to stumble.
Yes, they fell on one another.
They said, ‘Arise! Let’s go again to our own people,
and to the land of our birth,
from the oppressing sword.’
17They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise;
he has let the appointed time pass by.’
“As I live,” says the King,
whose name is the LORD of Armies,
“surely like Tabor among the mountains,
and like Carmel by the sea,
so he will come.
19You daughter who dwells in Egypt,
furnish yourself to go into captivity;
for Memphis will become a desolation,
and will be burned up,
without inhabitant.
“Egypt is a very beautiful heifer;
but destruction out of the north has come.
It has come.
21Also her hired men in the middle of her are like calves of the stall,
for they also are turned back.
They have fled away together.
They didn’t stand,
for the day of their calamity has come on them,
the time of their visitation.
22Its sound will go like the serpent,
for they will march with an army,
and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.
23They will cut down her forest,” says the LORD,
“though it can’t be searched;
because they are more than the locusts,
and are innumerable.
24The daughter of Egypt will be disappointed;
she will be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.”
25The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him. 26I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. Afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old,” says the LORD.
27“But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant.
Don’t be dismayed, Israel;
for, behold, I will save you from afar,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob will return,
and will be quiet and at ease.
No one will make him afraid.
28Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says the LORD,
“for I am with you;
for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you,
but I will not make a full end of you,
but I will correct you in measure,
and will in no way leave you unpunished.”
Jeremiah 47
1The LORD’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza.
2The LORD says:
“Behold, waters rise up out of the north,
and will become an overflowing stream,
and will overflow the land and all that is therein,
the city and those who dwell therein.
The men will cry,
and all the inhabitants of the land will wail.
3At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones,
at the rushing of his chariots,
at the rumbling of his wheels,
the fathers don’t look back for their children
because their hands are so feeble,
4because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains;
for the LORD will destroy the Philistines,
the remnant of the isle of Caphtor.
5Baldness has come on Gaza;
Ashkelon is brought to nothing.
You remnant of their valley,
how long will you cut yourself?
“‘You sword of the LORD, how long will it be before you are quiet?
Put yourself back into your scabbard;
rest, and be still.’
“How can you be quiet,
since the LORD has given you a command?
Against Ashkelon, and against the seashore,
there he has appointed it.”
Jeremiah 48
1Of Moab. The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says:
“Woe to Nebo!
For it is laid waste.
Kiriathaim is disappointed.
It is taken.
Misgab is put to shame
and broken down.
2The praise of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon they have devised evil against her:
‘Come! Let’s cut her off from being a nation.’
You also, Madmen, will be brought to silence.
The sword will pursue you.
3The sound of a cry from Horonaim,
desolation and great destruction!
4Moab is destroyed.
Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
5For they will go up by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping.
For at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.
6Flee! Save your lives!
Be like the juniper bush in the wilderness.
7For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures,
you also will be taken.
Chemosh will go out into captivity,
his priests and his princes together.
8The destroyer will come on every city,
and no city will escape;
the valley also will perish,
and the plain will be destroyed, as the LORD has spoken.
9Give wings to Moab,
that she may fly and get herself away:
and her cities will become a desolation,
without anyone to dwell in them.
“Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD negligently;
and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.
“Moab has been at ease from his youth,
and he has settled on his dregs,
and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
neither has he gone into captivity;
therefore his taste remains in him,
and his scent is not changed.
12Therefore behold, the days come,” says the LORD,
“that I will send to him those who pour off,
and they will pour him off;
and they will empty his vessels,
and break their containers in pieces.
13Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
“How do you say, ‘We are mighty men,
and valiant men for the war’?
15Moab is laid waste,
and they have gone up into his cities,
and his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,”
says the King, whose name is the LORD of Armies.
16“The calamity of Moab is near to come,
and his affliction hurries fast.
17All you who are around him, bemoan him;
and all you who know his name, say,
‘How the strong staff is broken,
the beautiful rod!’
“You daughter who dwells in Dibon,
come down from your glory,
and sit in thirst;
for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you.
He has destroyed your strongholds.
19Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch.
Ask him who flees, and her who escapes;
say, ‘What has been done?’
20Moab is disappointed;
for it is broken down.
Wail and cry!
Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.
21Judgment has come on the plain country—
on Holon, on Jahzah, on Mephaath,
22on Dibon, on Nebo, on Beth Diblathaim,
23on Kiriathaim, on Beth Gamul, on Beth Meon,
24on Kerioth, on Bozrah,
and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
25The horn of Moab is cut off,
and his arm is broken,” says the LORD.
“Make him drunk,
for he magnified himself against the LORD.
Moab will wallow in his vomit,
and he also will be in derision.
27For wasn’t Israel a derision to you?
Was he found among thieves?
For as often as you speak of him,
you shake your head.
28You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock.
Be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss.
“We have heard of the pride of Moab.
He is very proud in his loftiness, his pride,
his arrogance, and the arrogance of his heart.
30I know his wrath,” says the LORD, “that it is nothing;
his boastings have done nothing.
31Therefore I will wail for Moab.
Yes, I will cry out for all Moab.
They will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.
32With more than the weeping of Jazer
I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah.
Your branches passed over the sea.
They reached even to the sea of Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruits
and on your vintage.
33Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field
and from the land of Moab.
I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses.
No one will tread with shouting.
The shouting will be no shouting.
34From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh,
even to Jahaz they have uttered their voice,
from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah;
for the waters of Nimrim will also become desolate.
35Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab,” says the LORD,
“him who offers in the high place,
and him who burns incense to his gods.
36Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like flutes,
and my heart sounds like flutes for the men of Kir Heres.
Therefore the abundance that he has gotten has perished.
37For every head is bald,
and every beard clipped.
There are cuttings on all the hands,
and sackcloth on the waist.
38On all the housetops of Moab,
and in its streets, there is lamentation everywhere;
for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which no one delights,” says the LORD.
39“How it is broken down!
How they wail!
How Moab has turned the back with shame!
So will Moab become a derision
and a terror to all who are around him.”
40For the LORD says: “Behold, he will fly as an eagle,
and will spread out his wings against Moab.
41Kerioth is taken,
and the strongholds are seized.
The heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day
will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42Moab will be destroyed from being a people,
because he has magnified himself against the LORD.
43Terror, the pit, and the snare are on you,
inhabitant of Moab,” says the LORD.
44“He who flees from the terror will fall into the pit;
and he who gets up out of the pit will be taken in the snare,
for I will bring on him, even on Moab,
the year of their visitation,” says the LORD.
“Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon;
for a fire has gone out of Heshbon,
and a flame from the middle of Sihon,
and has devoured the corner of Moab,
and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
46Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of Chemosh are undone;
for your sons are taken away captive,
and your daughters into captivity.
“Yet I will reverse the captivity of Moab in the latter days,”
says the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
Jeremiah 49
1Of the children of Ammon. The LORD says:
“Has Israel no sons?
Has he no heir?
Why then does Malcam possess Gad,
and his people dwell in its cities?
2Therefore behold, the days come,”
says the LORD,
“that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon,
and it will become a desolate heap,
and her daughters will be burned with fire;
then Israel will possess those who possessed him,”
says the LORD.
3“Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!
Cry, you daughters of Rabbah!
Clothe yourself in sackcloth.
Lament, and run back and forth among the fences;
for Malcam will go into captivity,
his priests and his princes together.
4Why do you boast in the valleys,
your flowing valley, backsliding daughter?
You trusted in her treasures,
saying, ‘Who will come to me?’
5Behold, I will bring a terror on you,”
says the Lord, GOD of Armies,
“from all who are around you.
All of you will be driven completely out,
and there will be no one to gather together the fugitives.
“But afterward I will reverse the captivity of the children of Ammon,”
says the LORD.
Of Edom, the LORD of Armies says:
“Is wisdom no more in Teman?
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom vanished?
8Flee! Turn back!
Dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan;
for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him when I visit him.
9If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave some gleaning grapes?
If thieves came by night,
wouldn’t they steal until they had enough?
10But I have made Esau bare,
I have uncovered his secret places,
and he will not be able to hide himself.
His offspring is destroyed,
with his brothers and his neighbors;
and he is no more.
11Leave your fatherless children.
I will preserve them alive.
Let your widows trust in me.”
12For the LORD says: “Behold, they to whom it didn’t pertain to drink of the cup will certainly drink; and are you he who will altogether go unpunished? You won’t go unpunished, but you will surely drink. 13For I have sworn by myself,” says the LORD, “that Bozrah will become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. All its cities will be perpetual wastes.”
14I have heard news from the LORD,
and an ambassador is sent among the nations,
saying, “Gather yourselves together!
Come against her!
Rise up to the battle!”
“For, behold, I have made you small among the nations,
and despised among men.
16As for your terror,
the pride of your heart has deceived you,
O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
who hold the height of the hill,
though you should make your nest as high as the eagle,
I will bring you down from there,” says the LORD.
17“Edom will become an astonishment.
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished,
and will hiss at all its plagues.
18As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says the LORD,
“no man will dwell there,
neither will any son of man live therein.
“Behold, he will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation;
for I will suddenly make them run away from it,
and whoever is chosen,
I will appoint him over it.
For who is like me?
Who will appoint me a time?
Who is the shepherd who will stand before me?”
20Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Edom,
and his purposes that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman:
Surely they will drag them away,
the little ones of the flock.
Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them.
21The earth trembles at the noise of their fall;
there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea.
22Behold, he will come up and fly as the eagle,
and spread out his wings against Bozrah.
The heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
Of Damascus:
“Hamath and Arpad are confounded,
for they have heard evil news.
They have melted away.
There is sorrow on the sea.
It can’t be quiet.
24Damascus has grown feeble,
she turns herself to flee,
and trembling has seized her.
Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
as of a woman in travail.
25How is the city of praise not forsaken,
the city of my joy?
26Therefore her young men will fall in her streets,
and all the men of war will be brought to silence in that day,”
says the LORD of Armies.
27“I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,
and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.”
Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck, The LORD says:
“Arise, go up to Kedar,
and destroy the children of the east.
29They will take their tents and their flocks.
they will carry away for themselves their curtains,
all their vessels, and their camels;
and they will cry to them, ‘Terror on every side!’
30Flee!
Wander far off!
Dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor,” says the LORD;
“for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you,
and has conceived a purpose against you.
31Arise! Go up to a nation that is at ease,
that dwells without care,” says the LORD;
“that has neither gates nor bars,
that dwells alone.
32Their camels will be a booty,
and the multitude of their livestock a plunder.
I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their beards cut off;
and I will bring their calamity from every side of them,”
says the LORD.
33Hazor will be a dwelling place of jackals,
a desolation forever.
No man will dwell there,
neither will any son of man live therein.”
The LORD’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, 35“The LORD of Armies says:
‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,
the chief of their might.
36I will bring on Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the sky,
and will scatter them toward all those winds.
There will be no nation where the outcasts of Elam will not come.
37I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies,
and before those who seek their life.
I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger,’ says the LORD;
‘and I will send the sword after them,
until I have consumed them.
38I will set my throne in Elam,
and will destroy from there king and princes,’ says the LORD.
39‘But it will happen in the latter days
that I will reverse the captivity of Elam,’ says the LORD.”
Jeremiah 50
1The word that the LORD spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.
2“Declare among the nations and publish,
and set up a standard;
publish, and don’t conceal;
say, ‘Babylon has been taken,
Bel is disappointed,
Merodach is dismayed!
Her images are disappointed.
Her idols are dismayed.’
3For a nation comes up out of the north against her,
which will make her land desolate,
and no one will dwell in it.
They have fled.
They are gone,
both man and animal.
“In those days, and in that time,” says the LORD,
“the children of Israel will come,
they and the children of Judah together;
they will go on their way weeping,
and will seek the LORD their God.
5They will inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it,
saying, ‘Come, and join yourselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant
that will not be forgotten.’
6My people have 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.
7All who found them have devoured them.
Their adversaries said, ‘We are not guilty,
because they have sinned against the LORD,
the habitation of righteousness,
even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’
“Flee out of the middle of Babylon!
Go out of the land of the Chaldeans,
and be as the male goats before the flocks.
9For, behold, I will stir up
and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country;
and they will set themselves in array against her.
She will be taken from there.
Their arrows will be as of an expert mighty man.
None of them will return in vain.
10Chaldea will be a prey.
All who prey on her will be satisfied,” says the LORD.
“Because you are glad,
because you rejoice,
O you who plunder my heritage,
because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain,
and neigh as strong horses,
12your mother will be utterly disappointed.
She who bore you will be confounded.
Behold, she will be the least of the nations,
a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13Because of the LORD’s wrath she won’t be inhabited,
but she will be wholly desolate.
Everyone who goes by Babylon will be astonished,
and hiss at all her plagues.
14Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around,
all you who bend the bow;
shoot at her.
Spare no arrows,
for she has sinned against the LORD.
15Shout against her all around.
She has submitted herself.
Her bulwarks have fallen.
Her walls have been thrown down,
for it is the vengeance of the LORD.
Take vengeance on her.
As she has done, do to her.
16Cut off the sower from Babylon,
and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest.
For fear of the oppressing sword,
they will each return to their own people,
and they will each flee to their own land.
“Israel is a hunted sheep.
The lions have driven him away.
First, the king of Assyria devoured him,
and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”
18Therefore the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says:
“Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,
as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19I will bring Israel again to his pasture,
and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan.
His soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.
20In those days, and in that time,” says the LORD,
“the iniquity of Israel will be sought for,
and there will be none,
also the sins of Judah,
and they won’t 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.
Kill and utterly destroy after them,” says the LORD,
“and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22A sound of battle is in the land,
and of great destruction.
23How the hammer of the whole earth is cut apart and broken!
How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
24I have laid a snare for you,
and you are also taken, Babylon,
and you weren’t aware.
You are found,
and also caught,
because you have fought against the LORD.
25The LORD has opened his armory,
and has brought out the weapons of his indignation;
for the Lord, GOD of Armies, has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.
26Come against her from the farthest border.
Open her storehouses.
Cast her up as heaps.
Destroy her utterly.
Let nothing of her be left.
27Kill all her bulls.
Let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them! For their day has come,
the time of their visitation.
28Listen to those who 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 those who bend the bow.
Encamp against her all around.
Let none of it escape.
Pay her back according to her work.
According to all that she has done, do to her;
for she has been proud against the LORD,
against the Holy One of Israel.
30Therefore her young men will fall in her streets.
All her men of war will be brought to silence in that day,” says the LORD.
31“Behold, I am against you, you proud one,” says the Lord, GOD of Armies;
“for your day has come,
the time that I will visit you.
32The proud one will stumble and fall,
and no one will raise him up.
I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it will devour all who are around him.”
33The LORD of Armies says: “The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together.
All who took them captive hold them fast.
They refuse to let them go.
34Their Redeemer is strong.
The LORD of Armies 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 on the Chaldeans,” says the LORD,
“and on the inhabitants of Babylon,
on her princes,
and on her wise men.
36A sword is on the boasters,
and they will become fools.
A sword is on her mighty men,
and they will be dismayed.
37A sword is on their horses,
on their chariots,
and on all the mixed people who are in the middle of her;
and they will become as women.
A sword is on her treasures,
and they will be robbed.
38A drought is on her waters,
and they will be dried up;
for it is a land of engraved images,
and they are mad over idols.
39Therefore the wild animals of the desert
with the wolves will dwell there.
The ostriches will dwell therein.
It will be inhabited no more forever,
neither will it be lived in from generation to generation.
40As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says the LORD,
“so no man will dwell there,
neither will any son of man live therein.
“Behold, a people comes from the north.
A great nation and many kings will be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
42They take up bow and spear.
They are cruel, and have no mercy.
Their voice roars like the sea.
They ride on horses,
everyone set in array,
as a man to the battle,
against you, daughter of Babylon.
43The king of Babylon has heard the news of them,
and his hands become feeble.
Anguish has taken hold of him,
pains as of a woman in labor.
44Behold, the enemy will 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.
Whoever is chosen,
I will appoint him over it,
for who is like me?
Who will appoint me a time?
Who is the shepherd who can stand before me?”
45Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD
that he has taken against Babylon;
and his purposes
that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans:
Surely they will drag them away,
even the little ones of the flock.
Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them.
46The earth trembles at the noise of the taking of Babylon.
The cry is heard among the nations.
Jeremiah 51
1The LORD says:
“Behold, I will raise up against Babylon,
and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.
2I will send to Babylon strangers, who will winnow her.
They will empty her land;
for in the day of trouble they will be against her all around.
3Against him who bends, let the archer bend his bow,
also against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail.
Don’t spare her young men!
Utterly destroy all her army!
4They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
and thrust through in her streets.
5For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God,
by the LORD of Armies;
though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
“Flee out of the middle of Babylon!
Everyone save his own life!
Don’t be cut off in her iniquity,
for it is the time of the LORD’s vengeance.
He will give to her a recompense.
7Babylon has been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand,
who made all the earth drunk.
The nations have drunk of her wine;
therefore the nations have gone mad.
8Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed!
Wail for her!
Take balm for her pain.
Perhaps she may be healed.
“We would have healed Babylon,
but she is not healed.
Forsake her,
and let’s each go into his own country;
for her judgment reaches to heaven,
and is lifted up even to the skies.
10‘The LORD has produced our righteousness.
Come, and let’s declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.’
“Make the arrows sharp!
Hold the shields firmly!
The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes,
because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it;
for it is the vengeance of the LORD,
the vengeance of his temple.
12Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon!
Make the watch strong!
Set the watchmen,
and prepare the ambushes;
for the LORD has both purposed and done
that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures,
your end has come, the measure of your covetousness.
14The LORD of Armies has sworn by himself, saying,
‘Surely I will fill you with men,
as with locusts,
and they will lift up a shout against you.’
“He has made the earth by his power.
He has established the world by his wisdom.
By his understanding he has stretched out the heavens.
16When he utters his voice,
there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and brings the wind out of his treasuries.
“Every man has become stupid and without knowledge.
Every goldsmith is disappointed by his image,
for his molten images are falsehood,
and there is no breath in them.
18They are vanity,
a work of delusion.
In the time of their visitation, they will perish.
19The portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he formed all things,
including the tribe of his inheritance.
The LORD of Armies is his name.
“You are my battle ax and weapons of war.
With you I will break the nations into pieces.
With you I will destroy kingdoms.
21With you I will break in pieces
the horse and his rider.
22With you I will break in pieces
the chariot and him who rides therein.
With you I will break in pieces
man and woman.
With you I will break in pieces
the old man and the youth.
With you I will break in pieces
the young man and the virgin.
23With you I will break in pieces
the shepherd and his flock.
With you I will break in pieces
the farmer and his yoke.
With you I will break in pieces
governors and deputies.
24“I will give to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight,” says the LORD.
25“Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain,” says the LORD,
“which destroys all the earth.
I will stretch out my hand on you,
roll you down from the rocks,
and will make you a burned mountain.
26They won’t take a cornerstone from you,
nor a stone for foundations;
but you will be desolate forever,” says the LORD.
“Set up a standard in the land!
Blow the trumpet 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 swarming locusts!
28Prepare against her the nations,
the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion!
29The land trembles and is in pain;
for the purposes of the LORD against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
30The mighty men of Babylon have stopped fighting,
they remain in their strongholds.
Their might has failed.
They have become as women.
Her dwelling places are set on fire.
Her bars are broken.
31One runner will run to meet another,
and one messenger to meet another,
to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter.
32So the passages are seized.
They have burned the reeds with fire.
The men of war are frightened.”
33For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says:
“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 comes for her.”
“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me.
He has crushed me.
He has made me an empty vessel.
He has, like a monster, swallowed me up.
He has filled his mouth with my delicacies.
He has cast me out.
35May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon!”
the inhabitant of Zion will say; and,
“May my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea!”
will Jerusalem say.
Therefore the LORD says:
“Behold, I will plead your cause,
and take vengeance for you.
I will dry up her sea,
and make her fountain dry.
37Babylon will become heaps,
a dwelling place for jackals,
an astonishment, and a hissing,
without inhabitant.
38They will roar together like young lions.
They will growl as lions’ cubs.
39When they are inflamed, I will make their feast,
and I will make them drunk,
that they may rejoice,
and sleep a perpetual sleep,
and not wake up,” says the LORD.
“I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams with male goats.
“How Sheshach is taken!
How the praise of the whole earth is seized!
How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
42The sea has come up on Babylon.
She is covered with the multitude of its waves.
43Her cities have become a desolation,
a dry land, and a desert,
a land in which no man dwells.
No son of man passes by it.
44I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon,
and I will bring out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up.
The nations will not flow any more to him.
Yes, the wall of Babylon will fall.
“My people, go away from the middle of her,
and each of you save yourselves from the LORD’s fierce anger.
46Don’t let your heart faint.
Don’t fear for the news that will be heard in the land.
For news will come one year,
and after that in another year news will come,
and violence in the land,
ruler against ruler.
47Therefore behold, the days come that I will execute judgment on the engraved images of Babylon;
and her whole land will be confounded.
All her slain will fall in the middle of her.
48Then the heavens and the earth,
and all that is therein,
will sing for joy over Babylon;
for the destroyers will come to her from the north,” says the LORD.
“As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall,
so the slain of all the land will fall at Babylon.
50You who have escaped the sword, go!
Don’t stand still!
Remember the LORD from afar,
and let Jerusalem come into your mind.”
“We are confounded
because we have heard reproach.
Confusion has covered our faces,
for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’s house.”
“Therefore behold, the days come,” says the LORD,
“that I will execute judgment on her engraved images;
and through all her land the wounded will groan.
53Though Babylon should mount up to the sky,
and though she should fortify the height of her strength,
yet destroyers will come to her from me,” says the LORD.
“The sound of a cry comes from Babylon,
and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55For the LORD lays Babylon waste,
and destroys out of her the great voice!
Their waves roar like many waters.
The noise of their voice is uttered.
56For the destroyer has come on her,
even on Babylon.
Her mighty men are taken.
Their bows are broken in pieces,
for the LORD is a God of retribution.
He will surely repay.
57I will make her princes, her wise men,
her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men drunk.
They will sleep a perpetual sleep,
and not wake up,”
says the King, whose name is the LORD of Armies.
58The LORD of Armies says:
“The wide walls of Babylon will be utterly overthrown.
Her high gates will be burned with fire.
The peoples will labor for vanity,
and the nations for the fire;
and they will be weary.”
59The 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 chief quartermaster. 60Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words, 62and say, ‘LORD, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that no one will dwell in it, neither man nor animal, but that it will be desolate forever.’ 63It will be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the middle of the Euphrates. 64Then you shall say, ‘Thus will Babylon sink, and will not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they will be weary.’” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.