1The severe judgment of God against Babylon in revenge of Israel. 59Jeremiah delivereth the book of this prophecy to Seraiah, to be cast into Euphrates, in token of the perpetual sinking of Babylon.
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1Thus saith the Lord; Behold, 1I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the amidst of them 2that rise up against me, a 3destroying wind;
2And will send unto Babylon 1fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of 2trouble they shall be against her round about.
3Against him that bendeth 1let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his 2brigandine: and 3spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
4Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are1thrust through in her streets.
5For 1Israel hath not been forsaken, 2nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of hosts; 3though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
61Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is2the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
7Babylon hath been a 1golden cup in the Lord's hand, that 2made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8Babylon is 1suddenly fallen and destroyed: 2howl for her; 3take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9We would have healed Babylon, but she is 1not healed: 2forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for 3her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10The Lord hath brought forth our 1righteousness: come, and 2let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.
111Make abright the arrows; gather the shields: the Lord2hath raised up the spirit of the kings of 3the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because 4it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.
12Set up the standard upon the walls of 1Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the aambushes: for the Lord2hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13O thou that dwellest upon 1many waters, 2abundant in treasures, 3thine end is come, and4the measure of thy covetousness.
14The 1Lord of hosts hath sworn aby himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, 2as with caterpillers; and they shall blift up 3a shout against thee.
15He 1hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his 2understanding.
16When 1he uttereth his voice, there is a amultitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
17Every 1man ais brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18They are1vanity, the work of errors: 2in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19The 1portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: 2and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.
20Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for awith thee will I 1break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
21And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
22With thee also will 1I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
23I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
24And 1I 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.
25Behold, I am against thee, O 1destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which 2destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
26And 1they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor 2a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be adesolate for ever, saith the Lord.
271Set ye up a standard in the land, 2blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, 3call together against her 4the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a 5captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
28Prepare against her the nations with 1the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
29And 1the land shall tremble and sorrow: for 2every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
30The 1mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they 2became as women: 3they have burned her dwellingplaces; 4her bars are broken.
311One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew 2the king of Babylon that his city is taken 3at one end,
32And that the 1passages are stopped, and the 2reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
33For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a 1threshingfloor, ait is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her 2harvest shall come.
341Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like 2a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, 3he hath cast me out.
35aThe 1violence done to me and to 2my bflesh be3upon Babylon, shall the cinhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, 1I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I 2will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
37And 1Babylon shall become 2heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, 3an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
38They 1shall roar together like lions: they shall ayell as 2lions' whelps.
39In 1their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord.
40I 1will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with 2he goats.
41How is 1Sheshach taken! and how is 2the praise of the whole 3earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
42The 1sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
43Her 1cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
44And 1I will punish Bel in Babylon, and 2I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, 3the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45My people, 1go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord.
46And alest your heart faint, and ye fear for the 1rumour that shall be heard in the land; 2a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and 3violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
47Therefore, behold, the days come, that 1I will ado judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and 2her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48Then 1the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for 2the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the Lord.
49aAs 1Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all bthe earth.
501Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the Lord afar off, and let 2Jerusalem come into your mind.
51We 1are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for 2strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's house.
52Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that 1I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the 2wounded shall groan.
531Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet2from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord.
54A 1sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
55Because 1the Lord hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
561Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and 2her mighty men are taken, every one of 3their bows is broken: for 4the Lord God of recompences shall surely requite.
57And 1I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the 2King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
58Thus saith the Lord of hosts; aThe 1broad walls of Babylon shall be butterly broken, and her 2high gates shall 3be burned with fire; and 4the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
59¶ The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of 1Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went awith Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a bquiet prince.
60So Jeremiah 1wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even2all these words that are written against Babylon.
61And Jeremiah said to 1Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt 2read all these words;
62Then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, 1to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be adesolate for ever.
63And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that1thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:
64And thou shalt say, 1Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and 2they shall be weary. 3Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.