Jeremiah

This is what the Lord says: “I will stir up a devastating wind against Babylon and the Chaldeans.

I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and lay her land waste. On the day of her suffering, they will besiege her from all sides.

Let not her archers bend their bows, nor stand in their armor. Do not spare her young men; destroy her army of warriors.

They will fall fatally wounded in the streets of Babylon.

For Israel and Judah have not been forgotten by their God, the Lord Sabaoth, even though their land is guilty before the Holy One of Israel.

Save yourselves, flee from Babylon! Do not partake in her punishment; This is the time for the Lord’s vengeance, a time for his recompense.

Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, a cup that made the whole earth drunken. The nations drank her wine, and they have become mad.

Babylon’s fall will come suddenly. Wail for her, wail! Bring balm for her wounds if she cannot yet be healed.

‘We have tried to heal Babylon, but she is beyond healing. Let us go back, each to his own land, and leave her to her judgment which rises up to heaven.’

The Lord has defended our rights, so, come, let us declare in Zion what the Lord, our God, has done.

Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The Lord has stirred Media’s kings to his purpose of destroying Babylon. This is the Lord’s vengeance, vengeance for his temple.

Raise a flag on the walls of Babylon, and reinforce the watch. Post guards, prepare an ambush! The Lord will carry out his purpose, his words against the people of Babylon.

You who dwell by mighty waters, you who are rich in treasures, this is your end; the time for you to be cut off has come.

The Lord Sabaoth has sworn: Surely I will fill you with troops, thick as a swarm of locusts; they will rejoice over you and raise the vintage shout.

He created the earth by his power, established the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the sky by his understanding.

When he thunders, the sky roars; from the earth, he causes clouds to rise. He sends lightning along with the rain and brings forth the wind from his chambers.

Everyone stands amazed at this; artisans blush, for the idols they made have no life and are a fraud.

They are worthless and ridiculous; when judgment comes, they will perish.

The portion of Jacob is not like them, for he is the Creator of all. The Lord Sabaoth is his name, and his heritage is Israel.

You are my hammer, my weapon of war. With you, I have wrecked nations; with you, I have demolished kingdoms.

With you, I have destroyed horse and rider, chariot and charioteer.

With you, I have destroyed man and woman, young and old, young man and maiden.

With you, I have destroyed shepherd and flock, Farmer and draft animal, rulers and officials.

But now, I will repay Babylon and those who dwell in Chaldea for the wrong they did to Zion.

I am against you, ravaging mountain, Destroyer of the whole earth! This is the Lord’s declaration. I will lay my hands on you, roll you down over the crags, and turn you into a dry, eroded mountain.

No cornerstone or foundation stone will be taken from you; you will be in ruins forever, says the Lord.

Raise a signal on the earth; among the nations, blow the trumpet. Prepare the nations for war; summon the kingdoms to battle Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Gather a great force against her; bring up the cavalry, swarming and bristling.

Prepare the nations to fight her, including the Medes with their kings, governors, and officials, and all the countries they rule.

The earth trembles and writhes as the Lord executes his process of turning Babylon into a desert where no one lives.

Her warriors have stopped fighting; they hide in their strongholds. Their strength is gone, their homes are burned, and their gates are broken.

Couriers run to the king One after another, bringing news that his entire city has fallen:

The fords have been seized, the fortresses are set on fire, and all the warriors are terrified.

The Lord Sabaoth, God of Israel, Says that Babylon is like a threshing floor when it is trodden. Yet a little while, and the time for her grain harvest will come.”

The people of Zion said: ‘Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Has consumed and routed me. He has left me as an empty vessel. Like a dragon, he has swallowed me and filled his belly; he cast me out of my Eden.

May the violence done to my flesh be upon Babylon,’ says the city of Zion. ‘May my blood be upon the Chaldeans,’ says Jerusalem.

The Lord says to his people: “See now, I defend your cause and will avenge you. I will dry up her sea and drain her springs.

Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and mockery, a place where no one lives.

Her people will roar like lions and growl like lion cubs.

But while they are feverish, I will prepare a drink for them and make them drunk until they grow drowsy and fall into eternal sleep, never to wake up again.”

I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like goats and rams.

How has Babylon been seized, the world’s glory taken captive! How has Babylon become a horror among nations!

The sea has risen over Babylon, covering her with its roaring waves.

Her cities have become desolate, a land of drought and a desert, a place where no one lives, a place no one travels through.

I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him vomit out what he has devoured. No longer will nations gather to him. The wall of Babylon has fallen.

My people, come out of her! Run for your lives! Escape from the Lord’s fierce anger.

Do not lose courage or be afraid when rumors are heard, when rumors spread year after year, when there are reports of violence and disaster, and when rulers plot against rulers.

The time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her land will be put to shame when all around her lie slain.

Then heaven, earth, and all that is within will rejoice over Babylon, for the destroyers will come from the north to attack her —this is the Lord speaking.

Babylon must fall because of the slain of Israel, just as the slain from all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.

You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not stay. Remember the Lord from this distant land and think of Jerusalem:

‘We have been ashamed, our faces covered with dishonor because foreigners have entered the holy places of the Lord’s house.’

But days will come, The Lord declares, when I will punish her idols, and the wounded will cry out all over her land.

Though Babylon reaches skyward And fortifies her heights, just the threat of the destroyers I will send is enough to terrify her.

Listen! Hear the loud cries from Babylon, the terrible noise of destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!

This is the Lord bringing ruin to the city, silencing her monstrous noise. May her waves roar and their commotion be heard afar!

The destroyer has come upon Babylon; her warriors are captured, and their bows are broken; for the Lord is a God of recompense, he will repay in full.

I will make her rulers and wise men drunk, Her governors, officers, and soldiers; they will die in their sleep and never wake up,” declares the King—the Lord Sabaoth.

The Lord Sabaoth says this: The vast ramparts of Babylon will be leveled to the ground, her high gates burned down. The people’s labor will be in vain; the nation’s toil will end in fire.

This is Jeremiah’s message to Seraiah, son of Neriah, who is Mahseiah’s son, when he went to Babylon at the command of Zedekiah, who was then in the fourth year of his reign as king of Judah.

Jeremiah had written on a scroll the entire disaster that was to come upon Babylon—all these words recorded here.

Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah: “When you reach Babylon, make sure to read all these words aloud.

Then say: ‘Lord, you yourself have proclaimed that this place will be destroyed, and that neither people nor animals will ever live here again, for it will remain desolate forever.’

When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and toss it into the Euphrates.

Then say: “So will Babylon sink and never rise again because of the disaster I will bring upon her.” Thus far, the words of Jeremiah.