1This is what the LORD says:
“See, I will stira up the spirit of a destroyer
against Babylonb and the people of Leb Kamai.1
2I will send foreignersc to Babylon
to winnowd her and to devastate her land;
they will oppose her on every side
in the daye of her disaster.
3Let not the archer string his bow,f
nor let him put on his armor.g
Do not spare her young men;
completely destroy2 her army.
4They will fallh down slain in Babylon,3
fatally wounded in her streets.i
5For Israel and Judah have not been forsakenj
by their God, the LORD Almighty,
though their land4 is full of guiltk
before the Holy One of Israel.
Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of her sins.m
It is timen for the LORD’s vengeance;o
he will repayp her what she deserves.
7Babylon was a gold cupq in the LORD’s hand;
she made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore they have now gone mad.
8Babylon will suddenly fallr and be broken.
Wail over her!
Get balms for her pain;
perhaps she can be healed.
9“ ‘We would have healed Babylon,
but she cannot be healed;
let us leavet her and each go to our own land,
for her judgmentu reaches to the skies,
it rises as high as the heavens.’
10“ ‘The LORD has vindicatedv us;
come, let us tell in Zion
what the LORD our God has done.’w
take up the shields!y
The LORD has stirred up the kingsz of the Medes,a
because his purposeb is to destroy Babylon.
The LORD will take vengeance,c
vengeance for his temple.d
12Lift up a bannere against the walls of Babylon!
Reinforce the guard,
station the watchmen,f
prepare an ambush!g
The LORD will carry out his purpose,h
his decree against the people of Babylon.
13You who live by many watersi
and are rich in treasures,j
your end has come,
the time for you to be destroyed.k
14The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself:l
I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts,m
and they will shoutn in triumph over you.
15“He made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdomo
and stretchedp out the heavens by his understanding.q
16When he thunders,r the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rains
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.t
17“Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;u
they have no breath in them.
18They are worthless,v the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.
19He who is the Portionw of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including the people of his inheritancex—
the LORD Almighty is his name.
my weapon for battle—
with you I destroy kingdoms,
21with you I shatter horse and rider,b
with you I shatter chariotc and driver,
22with you I shatter man and woman,
with you I shatter old man and youth,
with you I shatter young man and young woman,d
23with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
with you I shatter governors and officials.e
24“Before your eyes I will repayf Babylong and all who live in Babylonia5 for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the LORD.
25“I am againsth you, you destroying mountain,
you who destroy the whole earth,”i
declares the LORD.
“I will stretch out my handj against you,
roll you off the cliffs,
and make you a burned-out mountain.k
26No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
nor any stone for a foundation,
for you will be desolatel forever,”
declares the LORD.
27“Lift up a bannerm in the land!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
summon against her these kingdoms:n
Appoint a commander against her;
send up horses like a swarm of locusts.q
28Prepare the nations for battle against her—
the kings of the Medes,r
their governors and all their officials,
and all the countries they rule.s
29The land tremblest and writhes,
for the LORD’s purposesu against Babylon stand—
to lay wastev the land of Babylon
so that no one will live there.w
30Babylon’s warriorsx have stopped fighting;
they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
they have become weaklings.y
Her dwellings are set on fire;z
the barsa of her gates are broken.
31One courierb follows another
and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his entire city is captured,c
32the river crossings seized,
the marshes set on fire,d
and the soldiers terrified.e”
33This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Daughter Babylonf is like a threshing floorg
at the time it is trampled;
the time to harvesth her will soon come.i”
34“Nebuchadnezzarj king of Babylon has devouredk us,l
he has thrown us into confusion,
he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
and then has spewedm us out.
35May the violencen done to our flesh6 be on Babylon,”
say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
says Jerusalem.o
36Therefore this is what the LORD says:
“See, I will defend your causep
and avengeq you;
I will dry upr her sea
and make her springs dry.
37Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
a haunts of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,t
a place where no one lives.u
38Her people all roar like young lions,v
they growl like lion cubs.
39But while they are aroused,
I will set out a feast for them
and make them drunk,w
so that they shout with laughter—
then sleep foreverx and not awake,”
declares the LORD.y
40“I will bring them down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats.z
41“How Sheshak7a will be captured,b
the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolatec Babylon will be
among the nations!
42The sea will rise over Babylon;
its roaring wavesd will cover her.
43Her towns will be desolate,
a dry and deserte land,
a land where no one lives,
through which no one travels.f
44I will punish Belg in Babylon
and make him spew outh what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
And the walli of Babylon will fall.
45“Come outj of her, my people!
Runk for your lives!
Run from the fierce angerl of the LORD.
46Do not lose heartm or be afraidn
when rumorso are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
rumors of violence in the land
and of ruler against ruler.
47For the time will surely come
when I will punish the idolsp of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgracedq
and her slain will all lie fallen within her.r
48Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will shouts for joy over Babylon,
for out of the northt
destroyersu will attack her,”
declares the LORD.
49“Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain,
just as the slain in all the earth
have fallen because of Babylon.v
50You who have escaped the sword,
leavew and do not linger!
Rememberx the LORD in a distant land,y
and call to mind Jerusalem.”
for we have been insulted
and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the LORD’s house.”a
52“But days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will punish her idols,b
and throughout her land
the wounded will groan.c
53Even if Babylon ascends to the heavensd
and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
I will send destroyerse against her,”
declares the LORD.
54“The sound of a cryf comes from Babylon,
the sound of great destructiong
from the land of the Babylonians.8
55The LORD will destroy Babylon;
he will silenceh her noisy din.
Wavesi of enemies will rage like great waters;
the roar of their voices will resound.
56A destroyerj will come against Babylon;
her warriors will be captured,
and their bows will be broken.k
For the LORD is a God of retribution;
he will repayl in full.
57I will make her officialsm and wisen men drunk,o
her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleepp forever and not awake,”
declares the King,q whose name is the LORD Almighty.
58This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“Babylon’s thick wallr will be leveled
and her high gatess set on fire;
the peoplest exhaustu themselves for nothing,
the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”v
59This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah,w the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiahx king of Judah in the fourthy year of his reign. 60Jeremiah had written on a scrollz about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. 61He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62Then say, ‘LORD, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolatea forever.’ 63When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.b 64Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no morec because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her peopled will fall.’ ”e
The words of Jeremiah endf here.
The Fall of Jerusalem
52:1-3pp — 2Ki 24:18–20; 2Ch 36:11–16
52:4-16pp — Jer 39:1–10
52:4-21pp — 2Ki 25:1–21; 2Ch 36:17–20
1Zedekiaha was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.b 2He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as Jehoiakimc had done. 3It was because of the LORD’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah,d and in the end he thrust them from his presence.e
Now Zedekiah rebelledf against the king of Babylon.
4So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenthg day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalemh with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege worksi all around it.j 5The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
6By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.k 7Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled.l They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians1 were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,2 8but the Babylonian3 army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, 9and he was captured.m
He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblahn in the land of Hamath,o where he pronounced sentence on him. 10There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sonsp of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. 11Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.q
12On the tenth day of the fifthr month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradans commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13He set firet to the templeu of the LORD, the royal palace and all the housesv of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 14The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the wallsw around Jerusalem. 15Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exilex some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen4 and those who had desertedy to the king of Babylon. 16But Nebuzaradan left behindz the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
17The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars,a the movable standsb and the bronze Seac that were at the temple of the LORD and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.d 18They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls,e dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.f 19The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers,g sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands,h dishesi and bowls used for drink offeringsj—all that were made of pure gold or silver.k
20The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bullsl under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the LORD, was more than could be weighed.m 21Each pillar was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference5; each was four fingers thick, and hollow.n 22The bronze capitalo on top of one pillar was five cubits6 high and was decorated with a network and pomegranatesp of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. 23There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranatesq above the surrounding network was a hundred.r
24The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiahs the chief priest, Zephaniaht the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers.u 25Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the secretaryv who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land, sixty of whom were found in the city. 26Nebuzaradanw the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27There at Riblah,x in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.
So Judah went into captivity, awayy from her land. 28This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile:z
in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
29in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year,
832 people from Jerusalem;
30in his twenty-third year,
745 Jews taken into exilea by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard.
There were 4,600 people in all.b
Jehoiachin Released
52:31-34pp — 2Ki 25:27–30
31In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachinc king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison. 32He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table.d 34Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowancee as long as he lived, till the day of his death. Photo