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Prophecy against Babylon

¹ The word which the LORD spoke concerning ^(C1)Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:

² "^(C1)Declare and proclaim among the nations.
Proclaim it and ^(C2)lift up a standard.
Do not conceal it but say,
'^(C3)Babylon has been captured,
^(C4)Bel has been put to shame, ^(F1)Marduk has been ^(F2)shattered;
Her ^(C5)images have been put to shame, her idols have been shattered.'

⁴ "In those days and at that time," declares the LORD, "the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah ^(C1)as well; they will go along ^(C2)weeping as they go, and it will be ^(C3)the LORD their God they will seek.⁵ "They will ^(C1)ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces ^(F1)in its direction; ^(F2)they ^(F3)will come that they may join themselves to the LORD in an ^(C2)everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.

⁶ "My people have become ^(C1)lost sheep;
^(C2)Their shepherds have led them astray.
They have made them turn aside on the ^(C3)mountains;
They have gone along from mountain to hill
And have forgotten their ^(C4)resting place.

⁷ "All who came upon them have devoured them;
And their adversaries have said, '^(C1)We are not guilty,
Inasmuch as they have sinned against the LORD who is the ^(C2)habitation of righteousness,
Even the LORD, the ^(C3)hope of their fathers.'

⁸ "Wander away from the ^(C1)midst of Babylon
And ^(F1)go forth from the land of the Chaldeans;
Be also like male goats ^(F2)at the head of the flock.

⁹ "For behold, I am going to ^(C1)arouse and bring up against Babylon
A horde of great nations from the land of the north,
And they will draw up their battle lines against her;
From there she will be taken captive.
Their arrows will be like ^(F1)an expert warrior
Who does not return empty-handed.

¹⁰ "^(F1)(C1)Chaldea will become plunder;
All who plunder her will have enough," declares the LORD.

¹¹ "Because you are glad, because you are jubilant,
O you who ^(C1)pillage My heritage,
Because you skip about ^(F1)like a threshing ^(C2)heifer
And neigh like ^(F2)stallions,

¹² Your ^(C1)mother ^(F1)will be greatly ashamed,
She who gave you birth ^(F1)will be humiliated.
Behold, she will be the least of the nations,
A ^(C2)wilderness, a parched land and a desert.

¹³ "Because of the indignation of the LORD she will ^(C1)not be inhabited,
But she will be ^(C2)completely desolate;
Everyone who passes by Babylon ^(C3)will be horrified
And will hiss because of all her wounds.

¹⁴ "Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side,
All you who ^(F1)bend the bow;
Shoot at her, do not be sparing with your arrows,
For she has ^(C1)sinned against the LORD.

¹⁵ "Raise your battle cry against her on every side!
She has ^(C1)given ^(F1)herself up, her pillars have fallen,
Her ^(C2)walls have been torn down.
For this is the ^(C3)vengeance of the LORD:
Take vengeance on her;
^(C4)As she has done to others, so do to her.

¹⁶ "Cut off the ^(C1)sower from Babylon
And the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest;
From before ^(F1)the ^(C2)sword of the oppressor
^(C3)They will each turn back to his own people
And they will each flee to his own land.

¹⁷ "Israel is a ^(C1)scattered ^(F1)flock, the ^(C2)lions have driven them away. The first one who devoured him was the ^(C3)king of Assyria, and this last one who has broken his bones is ^(C4)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.¹⁸ "Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I ^(C1)punished the king of Assyria.¹⁹ 'And I will ^(C1)bring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his ^(F1)desire will be satisfied in the ^(C2)hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.²⁰ 'In those days and at that time,' declares the LORD, 'search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but ^(C1)there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those ^(C2)whom I leave as a remnant.'

²¹ "Against the land of ^(F1)Merathaim, go up against it,
And against the inhabitants of ^(F2)(C1)Pekod.
Slay and ^(F3)utterly destroy them," declares the LORD,
"And do according to all that I have commanded you.

²² "The ^(C1)noise of battle is in the land,
And great destruction.

²³ "How the ^(C1)hammer of the whole earth
Has been cut off and broken!
How Babylon has become
An object of horror among the nations!

²⁴ "I ^(C1)set a snare for you and you were also ^(C2)caught, O Babylon,
While you yourself were not aware;
You have been found and also seized
Because you have engaged in ^(C3)conflict with the LORD."

²⁵ The LORD has opened His armory
And has brought forth the ^(C1)weapons of His indignation,
For it is a ^(C2)work of the Lord ^(F1)GOD of hosts
In the land of the Chaldeans.

²⁶ Come to her from the ^(F1)farthest border;
^(C1)Open up her barns,
Pile her up like heaps
And ^(F2)(C2)utterly destroy her,
Let nothing be left to her.

^27 (C1)Put all her young bulls to the sword;
Let them ^(C2)go down to the slaughter!
Woe be upon them, for their ^(C3)day has come,
The time of their punishment.

²⁸ There is a ^(C1)sound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon,
To declare in Zion the ^(C2)vengeance of the LORD our God,
Vengeance for His ^(C3)temple.

²⁹ "Summon ^(F1)many against Babylon,
All those who ^(F2)bend the bow:
Encamp against her on every side,
Let there be no escape^(F3).
Repay her according to her work;
^(C1)According to all that she has done, so do to her;
For she has become ^(C2)arrogant against the LORD,
Against the Holy One of Israel.

³⁰ "Therefore her ^(C1)young men will fall in her streets,
And all her men of war will be ^(F1)(C2)silenced in that day," declares the LORD.

³¹ "Behold, ^(C1)I am against you, O ^(F1)arrogant one,"
Declares the Lord ^(F2)GOD of hosts,
"For your day has come,
The time ^(F3)when I will punish you.

³² "The ^(F1)(C1)arrogant one will stumble and fall
With no one to raise him up;
And I will ^(C2)set fire to his cities
And it will devour all his environs."

³³ Thus says the LORD of hosts,
"The sons of Israel are oppressed,
And the sons of Judah as well;
And ^(C1)all who took them captive have held them fast,
They have refused to let them go.

³⁴ "Their ^(C1)Redeemer is strong, ^(C2)the LORD of hosts is His name;
He will vigorously ^(C3)plead their case
So that He may ^(C4)bring rest to ^(F1)the earth,
But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵ "A ^(C1)sword against the Chaldeans," declares the LORD,
"And against the inhabitants of Babylon
And against her ^(C2)officials and her ^(C3)wise men!

³⁶ "A sword against the ^(C1)oracle priests, and they will become fools!
A sword against her ^(C2)mighty men, and they will be ^(F1)(C3)shattered!

³⁷ "A sword against ^(F1)their ^(C1)horses and against ^(F1)their chariots
And against all the ^(F2)(C2)foreigners who are in the midst of her,
And they will become ^(C3)women!
A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!

³⁸ "A ^(F1)(C1)drought on her waters, and they will be dried up!
For it is a land of ^(C2)idols,
And they are mad over fearsome idols.

³⁹ "Therefore the ^(C1)desert creatures will live there along with the jackals;
The ostriches also will live in it,
And it will ^(C2)never again be inhabited
Or dwelt in from generation to generation.

⁴⁰ "As when God overthrew ^(C1)Sodom
And Gomorrah with its neighbors," declares the LORD,
"No man will live there,
Nor will any son of man reside in it.

⁴¹ "Behold, a people is coming ^(C1)from the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.

⁴² "They ^(C1)seize their bow and javelin;
They are ^(C2)cruel and have no mercy.
Their ^(C3)voice roars like the sea;
And they ride on ^(C4)horses,
^(C5)Marshalled like a man for the battle
Against you, O daughter of Babylon.

⁴³ "The ^(C1)king of Babylon has heard the report about them,
And his hands hang limp;
^(C2)Distress has gripped him,
Agony like a woman in childbirth.

⁴⁴ "^(C1)Behold, one will come up like a lion from the ^(F1)thicket of the Jordan to ^(F2)a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make them run away from it, and whoever is ^(C2)chosen I will appoint over it. For who is ^(C3)like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can ^(C4)stand before Me?"⁴⁵ Therefore hear the ^(C1)plan of the LORD which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: ^(C2)surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their ^(F1)pasture desolate because of them.⁴⁶ At the ^(F1)shout, "Babylon has been seized!" the ^(C1)earth is shaken, and an ^(C2)outcry is heard among the nations.