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¹ The word which Yahweh spake Against Babylon Against the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:² Tell ye among the nations And let it be heard And lift ye up a standard, Let it be heard do not conceal: Say ye - Captured is Babylon, Confounded is Bel, Broken in pieces is Merodach, Confounded are her images, Broken down her manufactured gods;³ For there hath come up against her - a nation out of the North The same, shall make her land an astonishment, And there shall be none to dwell therein, - Both man and beast, have removed - have gone.⁴ In those days, and at that time, Declareth Yahweh, Shall the sons of Israel come in, They and the sons of Judah together: Weeping as they travel, so shall they journey on, And Yahweh their God, shall they seek;⁵ To Zion, shall they ask the way, Hitherward, their faces, Come and let us join ourselves unto Yahweh, In a covenant age-abiding, which shall not be forgotten.⁶ Wandering sheep, have my people, been, Their own shepherds led them astray, On the mountains, they seduced them, From mountain to hill, have they gone, They have forgotten their couching-place.⁷ All who found them, devoured them, And, their adversaries, said - We shall not be, guilty, - Because they have sinned, Against, Yahweh the pasturage of righteousness, Yea the hope of their fathers - Yahweh.⁸ Remove ye out of the midst of Babylon, And out of the land of the Chaldeans, come ye forth, - And become ye like he-goats before the flock;

⁹ For lo! I am rousing and bringing up against Babylon a gathered host of great nations, out of the land of the North, And they shall array themselves against her, From thence, shall she be captured, - His arrows, are as of a hero making childless, None shall return empty.¹⁰ So shall the Chaldeans become a spoil, - All her spoilers, shall be satisfied, Declareth Yahweh;¹¹ Because they used to be glad Because they used to be uproarious When plundering mine inheritance, - Because they used to caper about as a heifer at grass, And bellow like bulls.¹² Your mother, hath turned very pale, She that bare you, hath turned red, - Lo! the last of nations, is - A desert, A parched land, and A waste plain,¹³ Because of the vexation of Yahweh, she shall not be inhabited, But Shall become a complete desolation, - Every one passing by Babylon, shall be astonished and hiss, over all her plagues.¹⁴ Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about All ye who tread the bow, Shoot at her, do not spare so much as an arrow, - For against Yahweh, hath she sinned.¹⁵ Raise a shout against her round about She hath stretched forth her hand, Fallen are her buttresses, Torn down are her walls, - Because, the avenging of Yahweh it is, Take ye vengeance upon her, As she hath done, do ye, unto her.¹⁶ Cut ye off the sower from Babylon, And him that graspeth the sickle in the time of harvest, From the face of the sword of the oppressor, Each, to his own people will they turn, and Each, to his own land will they flee.¹⁷ A sheep all alone, is Israel Lions, have driven him away, - At the first, the king of Assyria devoured him, And here, at the last, I Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones!¹⁸ Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Behold me! bringing punishment against the king of Babylon, and against his land, - Just as I brought punishment against the king of Assyria.¹⁹ So will I bring back Israel unto his own pasture, And he shall feed upon Carmel and Bashan; And in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead, shall, his soul, he satisfied.²⁰ In those days and in that time, Declareth Yahweh, The iniquity of Israel, shall be sought, and there shall be none, And the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; For I will grant pardon to them whom I suffer to remain.

²¹ Against the land of Merathaim, go thou up against her, And against the inhabitants of Pekod, - Lay waste and devote to destruction after them Declareth Yahweh, And do according to all which I have commanded thee.²² The sound of battle is in the earth, - And a great destruction.²³ How s cut and broken the hammer of all the earth! How hath Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!²⁴ I laid a snare for thee yea and thou wast captured O Babylon, when, thou wast not aware, - Thou wast found out yea and taken, For with Yahweh, hadst thou contended.²⁵ Yahweh opened his armoury, and brought out his weapons of indignation, - For, a work, it is pertaining to My Lord, Yahweh of hosts, in the land of the Chaldeans,²⁶ Come ye against her from farthest parts, Throw open her granaries, Cast her up as heaps, and devote her to destruction, - Do not let her have a remnant.²⁷ Cut up all her bullocks, Let them go down to the slaughter, - Alas for them! For their day, hath come, Their time for punishment.²⁸ The voice Of them who are in flight and Of such as are escaping, out of the land of Babylon, - To tell in Zion The avenging of Yahweh our God, The avenging of his temple.²⁹ Publish against Babylon ye chiefs of all who tread the bow - Encamp against her round about Let there be none to escape, Recompense to her according to her work, According to all which she did, do ye to her, - For Against Yahweh, hath she acted presumptuously, Against the Holy One of Israel.³⁰ Therefore, shall her young men fall in her broadways, - And, all her men of war, be silenced in that day, Declareth Yahweh.³¹ Behold me! against thee most insolent one, Declareth My Lord Yahweh of hosts; For thy day, hath come, Thy time for punishment;³² So shall the most insolent one stumble and fall, And he shall have none to lift him up, - And I will kindle a fire in his cities which shall devour all who are round about him.

³³ Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts - Oppressed were the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah, together, - And, all who took them captive, Held them fast Refused to let them go: - ³⁴ Their Redeemer, can hold fast, Yahweh of hosts, is his name, He will, thoroughly plead, their plea, - That he may quiet the earth, And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.³⁵ A sword, is over the Chaldeans, Declareth Yahweh, - And against the inhabitants of Babylon, And against her princes, And against her wise men:³⁶ A sword, is against the praters, And they shall be shewn to be foolish, A sword, is against her heroes And they shall be dismayed:³⁷ A sword, is against his hopes and against his chariots and, against all the rabble that are in her midst And they shall become women, - A sword, is against her treasures And they shall be made a prey:³⁸ A drought, is against her waters, And they shall be dried up, - For a land of images, it is, And with their shocking things, they act as men who are mad:³⁹ Therefore shall the criers dwell with, the howlers, Yea ostriches, shall dwell therein, - So shall it be dwelt in no more for ever, Neither shall it be inhabited unto generation after generation.⁴⁰ Like the divine overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and her neighbours, Declareth Yahweh, - There shall not dwell there - a man, Nor sojourn therein - a son of the earth-born.⁴¹ Lo! a people coming in from the North, - Yea, a great nation and many kings, shall be round up out of the remote parts of the earth:⁴² Bow and javelin, shall they grasp, Cruel, are they and will not have compassion, Their voice, like the sea, will roar, And, on horses, will they ride, - Set in array, as one man for battle, Against thee, O daughter of Babylon!⁴³ The king of Babylon hath beard the report of them, And unnerved are his hands, - Anguish, hath seized him, Writhing pain, as a woman in child-birth.⁴⁴ Lo! as a lion, shall he come up from the majesty of the Jordan, Unto the pasture perennial, But I will wink - I will make them run away therefrom, Who then shall be the Chosen One whom against it, I may set in charge? For who shall be like unto, me? And who shall appoint me, a time? And who is the Shepherd that shall stand before me?⁴⁵ Therefore hear ye, The counsel of Yahweh, which he hath counselled against Babylon, And his devices which he hath devised against the land a of the Chaldeans, - Surely the little ones of the flock, shall drag them away, Surely he will cause the pasture to be astounded over them.⁴⁶ At the noise of the taking of Babylon, the earth trembled, - And, the outcry, among the nations, was heard.