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¹ Thus hath the LORDE sayde: Beholde, I will rayse vp a perlous wynde agaynst Babilon & hir citesens, yt beare euell will agaynst me.² I wil sende also in to Babilo fanners, to fanne her out, & to destroye hir londe: for in the daye of hir trouble they shalbe aboute her on euery syde.³ Morouer, the LORDE hath sayde vnto the bowe men, & to them yt clymme ouer the walles in brest plates: Ye shal not spare hir yongeme, kyll downe all hir hoost.⁴ Thus the slayne shal fall downe in the londe of the Caldees, and the wounded in the stretes.⁵ As for Israel & Iuda, they shall not be forsake of their God, of the LORDE of hoostes, of the holyone of Israel: no, though they haue fylled all their londe full of synne.⁶ Fle awaye from Babilon, euery man saue his life. Let no man holde his tunge to hir wickednes, for the tyme of the LORDES vengeaunce is come, yee he shal rewarde her agayne.⁷ Babilon hath bene in the LORDES honde a golden cuppe, yt maketh all londes droncken. Of hir wyne haue all people droncken, therfore are they out of their wittes.⁸ But sodenly is Babilon fallen, and destroyed. Mourne for her, brynge plasters for hir woundes, yf she maye peraduenture be healed agayne.⁹ We wolde haue made Babilon whole (saye they) but she is not recouered. Therfore wil we let her alone, & go euery ma in to his owne countre. For hir iudgmet is come in to heauen, & is gone vp to the cloudes.¹⁰ And therfore come on, we will shewe Sion the worke of the LORDE oure God.¹¹ Make sharpe the arowes, and fyll the quyuers: for the LORDE shall rayse vp the sprete of the kynge of the Meedes, which hath allready a desyre to destroye Babilon. This shalbe the vengeaunce of the LORDES, and the vengeaunce of his temple.¹² Set vp tokens vpon the walles of Babilon, make youre watch stronge, set yor watch men in araye, yee holde preuye watches: & yet for all that shall the LORDE go forth with the deuyce, which he hath taken vpon them that dwell in Babilon.¹³ O thou that dwellest by the greate waters, o thou that hast so greate treasure and riches, thyne ende is come: & the rekenynge of thy wynnynges.¹⁴ The LORDE of hoostes hath sworne by himself, that he wil ouer whelme the with men like greshoppers in nombre, which with a corage shall crie Alarum Alarum agaynst the.¹⁵ Yee euen the LORDE of hoostes, that with his power made the earth, with his wi?dome prepayred ye rounde worlde, & with his discrecion spred out the heauens.¹⁶ As soone as he letteth his voyce be herde, the waters in the ayre waxe fearce: He draweth vp the cloudes from the endes of the earth. He turneth ye lightenynges to rayne, he bringeth the wyndes out of their secrete places¹⁷ By the reason of wy?dome, all men are become fooles. Confounded be all the casters of ymages: for ye thinge that they make, is but disceate, & hath no breath.¹⁸ Vayne is it, & worthy to be laughed at: & in the tyme of visitacion it shal perish.¹⁹ Neuertheles, the porcion of Iacob is none soch: but he that made all thinges, whose name is the LORDE of hoostes, he is the rodde of his enheritaunce.²⁰ Thou breakest my weapens of warre, & yet thorow the I haue scatred the nacions & kyngdomes:²¹ Thorow the haue I scatred horse & horseman, yee the charettes, & soch as sat vpon them:²² Thorow the I haue scatred man & woman, olde and yonge, bacheler & mayden.²³ Thorow the I haue scatred the shepherde & his flocke, the husbond man & his catell, the prynces & the rulers.²⁴ Therfore wil I rewarde the cite of Babilon & all his citesyns the Caldees, with all the euell which they haue done vnto Sion: Yee that ye youre selues shall se it, saieth the LORDE.²⁵ Beholde, I come vpon the (thou noysome hill) saieth the LORDE, thou that destroyest all londes. I wil stretch out my honde ouer the, & cast the downe from the stony rockes: & wil make the a brente hill,²⁶ so that nether corner stones, ner pinnacles, ner foundacion stones shalbe taken enymore out of the but waist & desolate shalt thou lie for euermore, saieth the LORDE.²⁷ Set vp a toke in the londe: blowe the trompettes amonge the Heithen, prouoke the nacions agaynst her, call the kyngdomes, of Ararat, Menni & Ascanes agaynst her: nombre out Taphsar agaynst her, bringe as greate a sorte of horses agaynst her, as yf they were greshoppers.²⁸ Prepare agaynst them ye people of the Meedes wt their kynges, prynces & all their chefe rulers, yee and the whole londe that is vnder them.²⁹ The londe also shal shake & be afrayed, when the deuyce of the LORDE shall come forth agaynst Babilon: to make the londe of Babilon so waist, that no ma shal dwell eny more therin.³⁰ The Worthies of Babilon shal leaue the batell, & kepe themselues in stronge holdes, their strength hath fayled them, they shalbe like women. Their dwellinge places shal be brent vp, their barres shalbe broken.³¹ One purseuaunt shal mete another, yee one poste shal come by another, to bringe the kinge of Babilon tydinges: that his cite is taken in on euery syde,³² the foordes occupyde, the fennes brent vp, and the souldyers sore afrayed.³³ For thus saieth the LORDE of hoostes the God of Israel: The doughter of Babilon hath bene in hir tyme like as a thre?shinge floore, but shortly shal hir haruest come.³⁴ Nabuchodonosor the kinge of Babilon hath deuoured and distroyed me, he hath made me an emptie vessell. He swalowed me vp like a Dragon, and fylled his bely with my delicates: he hath cast me out,³⁵ he hath take my substaunce awaye, & the thinge that was left me hath he caried vnto Babilon, saieth the doughter, that dwelleth in Sion: Yee & my bloude also, vnto the Caldees, saieth Ierusalem.³⁶ Therfore thus saieth the LORDE: Beholde, I wil defende thy cause, & avenge the: I will drynke vp hir see, & drye vp hir water sprynges.³⁷ Babilon shal become an heape of stones, a dwellinge place for dragons, a fearfulnes & wondringe, because no man dwelleth there.³⁸ They shall roare together like lyons, & as the yonge lyons when they be angrie, so shal they bede them selues.³⁹ In their heate I shal set drynke before the, & they shalbe droncken for ioye: Then shal they slepe an euerlastinge slepe, & neuer wake, saieth the LORDE.⁴⁰ I shal carie them downe to be slayne like shepe, like wethers & gootes.⁴¹ O, how was Sesah wonne? O, how was the glory of ye whole londe taken? how happeneth it, that Babilon is so wondred at amonge the Heithe?⁴² The see is rysen ouer Babilon, & hath couered her with his greate wawes.⁴³ Hir cities are layed waist, the londe lieth vnbuylded and voyde: it is a londe, where no man dwelleth, & where no ma traueleth thorow.⁴⁴ Morouer, I wil vyset Bel at Babilo: & the thinge that he hath swalowed vp, that same shal I plucke out of his mouth. The Gentiles also shall runne nomore vnto him, yee and the walles of Babilon shal fall.⁴⁵ O my people, come out of Babilon, that euery man maye saue his life, from the fearfull wrath of the LORDE.⁴⁶ Be not faynte herted, & feare not at euery rumoure that shalbe herde in the londe: for euery yeare bringeth new tydinges, yee straunge wickednes and lordshipe.⁴⁷ And lo, the tyme commeth that I wil vyset the ymages of Babilo, and the whole londe shalbe confounded, yee and hir slayne shal lie in the myddest of her.⁴⁸ Heauen and earth with all that is therin, shall reioyce ouer Babilon, when the destroyers shal come vpon her from the north, saieth ye LORDE.⁴⁹ Like as Babilo hath beaten downe and slayne many out of Israel, so shal there fall many, and be slayne in all hir kyngdome.⁵⁰ Ye that haue escaped the swearde, haist you, stode not still, remembre the LORDE afarre of: and thinke vpon Ierusalem,⁵¹ for we were ashamed to heare the blasphemies: oure faces were couered with shame, because the straunge aleauntes came in to the Sanctuary of the LORDE.⁵² Wherfore beholde (saieth the LORDE) the tyme commeth, that I wil vyset the ymages of Babilon, and thorow the whole lode they shal mourne and fall.⁵³ Though Babilon clymmed vp in to heaue, and kepte her power an hie: yet shal I sende her destroyers saieth the LORDE.⁵⁴ A piteous crie shall be herde from Babilon, and a greate mysery from the londe of the Caldees:⁵⁵ when the LORDE destroyeth them, and when he dryueth out the hie stomack & proude boostinge, where with they haue bene as furious, as the wawes of greate water floudes, and made greate crakes with their wordes⁵⁶ For the destroyers shall come vpon her (euen vpon Babilon) which shal take hir worthies, and brake their bowes: for God is disposed to avenge him self vpon them, & sufficiently to recompence the.⁵⁷ Yee (saieth the LORDE) I will make their prynces, their wyse men, their chefe rulers & all their worthies, droncke: so that they shal slepe an euerlastinge slepe, and neuer wake: Thus saieth the kinge, whose name is ye LORDE of hoostes.⁵⁸ Morouer, thus saieth the LORDE of hoostes: The thicke wall of Babilon shalbe broken, and hir proude gates shalbe brente vp. And the thinge that the Getiles and the people haue wrought with greate trauayle and laboure, shal come to naught, and be consumed in the fyre.

⁵⁹ This is the charge that Ieremy gaue vnto Sarias the sonne of Nerias, the sonne of Maasia, when he wente towarde Babilon with Sedechias the kinge of Iuda, in the fourth yeare of his reigne. Now this Sarias was a peaceable prynce.⁶⁰ Ieremy wrote in a boke, all the misery that shulde come vpon Babilon, yee and all these sermons that be written agaynst Babilon,⁶¹ and gaue Sarias this charge: When thou commest vnto Babilon, se that thou rede all these wordes,⁶² and saye: O LORDE, thou art determed to rote out this place, so that nether people ner catell shal dwell there eny more, but to lie waist for euer:⁶³ and when thou hast redde out the boke, bynde a stone to it, and cast it in the myddest of Euphrates,⁶⁴ and saye: Euethus shal Babilon syncke, & be thrust downe with the burthen of trouble, that I will bringe vpon her: so that she shal neuer come vp agayne. Thus farre are ye preachinges of Ieremy.