Study Desk

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

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

"For a nation has come up against her from the ^(C1)north; it will make her land ^(C2)an object of horror, and there will be ^(C3)no inhabitant in it. Whether people or animals, they have wandered off, they have gone!

"In those days and at that time," declares the LORD, "the sons of Israel will come, 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 whom they will seek.

"They will ^(C1)ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces ^(F1)in its direction; ^(F2)they ^(F3)will come so that they may join themselves to the LORD in an ^(C2)everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.

"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 from mountain to hill, They have forgotten their ^(C4)resting place.

-"All who found them have devoured them; And their adversaries have said, '^(C1)We are not guilty, Since they have sinned against the LORD who is the ^(C2)habitation of righteousness, The LORD, the ^(C3)hope of their fathers.'

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

-"For behold, I am going to ^(C1)rouse and bring up against Babylon A contingent 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.

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

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

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 dry land and a desert.

-"Because of the wrath 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.

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

-"Raise your battle cry against her on every side! She has ^(C1)given ^(F1)herself up, her towers 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.

-"Eliminate the ^(C1)sower from Babylon And the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest; From ^(F1)the ^(C2)sword of the oppressor ^(C3)Each of them will turn back to his own people And each of them will flee to his own land.

"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 gnawed his bones is ^(C4)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

"Therefore this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: 'Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I ^(C1)punished the king of Assyria.

'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.

'In those days and at that time,' declares the LORD, 'search will be made for the wrongdoing of Israel, but ^(C1)there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will forgive those ^(C2)whom I leave as a remnant.'

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

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

-"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!

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

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

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

^(C1)Put all her 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.

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.

"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.

-"Therefore her ^(C1)young men will fall in her streets, And all her men of war will ^(C2)perish on that day," declares the LORD.

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

-"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 surroundings."

This is what the LORD of armies says: "The sons of Israel are oppressed, And the sons of Judah as well; And ^(C1)all who took them captive have held them firmly, They have refused to let them go.

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

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

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

-"A sword against ^(F1)their ^(C1)horses, 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!

-"A ^(F1)(C1)drought on her waters, and they will be dried up! For it is a land of ^(C2)idols, And they go insane at frightful images.

"Therefore the ^(C1)desert creatures will live there with the jackals; The ostriches also will live in it. It will ^(C2)never again be inhabited Nor lived in from generation to generation.

-"As when God overthrew ^(C1)Sodom And Gomorrah with its neighbors," declares the LORD, "No one will live there, Nor will ^(F1)anyone of mankind reside in it.

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

-"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)Drawn up like a man for the battle Against you, daughter of Babylon.

-"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.

"^(C1)Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will chase them away from it, and I will appoint over it whoever is ^(C2)chosen. For who is ^(C3)like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can ^(C4)stand against Me?"

Therefore hear the ^(C1)plan of the LORD which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has in mind against the land of the Chaldeans: ^(C2)they will certainly drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; He will certainly make their pasture desolate because of them.

At the ^(F1)shout, "Babylon has been conquered!" the ^(C1)earth quakes, and an ^(C2)outcry is heard among the nations.

This is what the LORD says: "Behold, I am going to stir up ^(F1)The ^(C1)spirit of a destroyer against Babylon And against the inhabitants of ^(F2)Leb-kamai.

-"I will send ^(F1)foreigners to Babylon so that they may ^(C1)winnow her And devastate her land; For they will be opposed to her on every side On the day of her disaster.

-"Let not ^(F1)him who ^(F2)(C1)bends his bow ^(F2)bend it, Nor let him rise up in his ^(C2)coat of armor. Do not spare her young men; Devote all her army to destruction.

-"They will fall down ^(F1)dead in the land of the Chaldeans, And ^(C1)pierced through in their streets."

For ^(C1)neither Israel nor Judah has been ^(F1)forsaken By his God, the LORD of armies, Although their land is ^(C2)full of guilt ^(F2)Before the Holy One of Israel.

^(C1)Flee from the midst of Babylon, And each of you save his life! Do not ^(C2)perish in her ^(F1)punishment, For this is the ^(C3)LORD'S time of vengeance; He is going to ^(C4)repay to her what she deserves.

Babylon has been a golden ^(C1)cup in the hand of the LORD, Intoxicating all the earth. The ^(C2)nations have drunk of her wine; Therefore the nations are ^(C3)going insane.

Suddenly ^(C1)Babylon has fallen and been broken; ^(C2)Wail over her! ^(C3)Bring ^(F1)balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed.

We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; Abandon her and ^(C1)let's each go to his own country, For her judgment has ^(C2)reached to heaven And it rises to the clouds.

The LORD has ^(C1)brought ^(F1)about our vindication; Come and let's ^(C2)recount in Zion The work of the LORD our God!

^(C1)Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, Because His plan is against Babylon to destroy it; For it is the ^(C2)vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for His temple.

^(C1)Lift up a signal flag against the walls of Babylon; Post a strong guard, Station ^(F1)sentries, Set up an ambush! For the LORD has both ^(C2)planned and performed What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

You who ^(C1)live by many waters, Abundant in ^(C2)treasures, Your end has come, The ^(F1)measure of your ^(F2)(C3)end.

The ^(C1)LORD of armies has sworn by Himself: "I will certainly fill you with a ^(F1)population like ^(C2)locusts, And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you."

It is ^(C1)He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, And by His understanding He ^(C2)stretched out the heavens.

When He utters His ^(C1)voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, And He makes the ^(C2)clouds ascend from the end of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain And brings out ^(C3)wind from His storehouses.

^(C1)Every person is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his ^(F1)idols, For his cast metal images are ^(C2)deceitful, And there is no breath in them.

They are ^(C1)worthless, a work of mockery; At the time of their punishment they will perish.

The ^(C1)portion of Jacob is not like these; For He is the ^(F1)Maker of everything, And of the ^(F2)tribe of His inheritance; The ^(C2)LORD of armies is His name.

He says, "You are My ^(F1)(C1)war-club, My weapon of war; And with you I ^(C2)shatter nations, And with you I destroy kingdoms.

-"With you I ^(C1)shatter the horse and his rider, And with you I shatter the ^(C2)chariot and its rider,

And with you I shatter ^(C1)man and woman, And with you I shatter the old man and ^(C2)youth, And with you I shatter the young man and virgin,

And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock, And with you I shatter the farmer and his team, And with you I shatter governors and officials.

"But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of ^(C1)Chaldea for ^(C2)all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes," declares the LORD.

"Behold, ^(C1)I am against you, mountain of ^(C2)destruction That destroys the whole earth," declares the LORD, "And I will stretch out My hand against you, And roll you down from the rocky cliffs, And I will make you a ^(C3)burnt out mountain.

-"They will not take from you even a stone for a corner Nor a stone for foundations, But you will be ^(C1)desolate forever," declares the LORD.

^(C1)Lift up a signal flag in the land, Blow a trumpet among the nations! Consecrate the nations against her, Summon against her the ^(C2)kingdoms of ^(C3)Ararat, Minni, and ^(C4)Ashkenaz; Appoint an officer against her, Bring up the ^(C5)horses like bristly locusts.

Consecrate the nations against her, The kings of the Medes, ^(F1)Their governors and all ^(F1)their officials, And every land ^(F2)under their control.

So the ^(C1)land quakes and writhes, For the plans of the LORD against Babylon stand, To make the land of Babylon ^(F1)A ^(C2)desolation without inhabitants.

The ^(C1)warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting, They stay in the strongholds; ^(C2)Their strength is ^(F1)exhausted, They are becoming ^(C2)like women; Their homes are set on fire, The ^(C3)bars of her gates are broken.

One ^(F1)(C1)courier runs to meet ^(F1)another, And one ^(F2)(C2)messenger to meet ^(F2)another, To tell the king of Babylon That his city has been captured from end to end;

The river crossing places have been seized, And they have burned the marshes with fire, And the men of war are terrified.

For this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: "The daughter of Babylon is like a ^(C1)threshing floor At the time that ^(F1)it is tread down; In just a little while the time of ^(C2)harvest will come for her."

"Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has ^(C1)devoured me, he has crushed me, He has set me down like an ^(C2)empty vessel; He has ^(C3)swallowed me like a monster, He has filled his stomach with my delicacies; He has washed me away.

-"May the ^(C1)violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon," The ^(F1)inhabitant of Zion will say; And, "May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea," Jerusalem will say.

Therefore this is what the LORD says: "Behold, I am going to ^(C1)plead your case And ^(C2)take vengeance for you; And ^(C3)I will dry up her ^(F1)sea And make her fountain dry.

-"^(C1)Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, An ^(C2)object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.

-"They will roar together like ^(C1)young lions, They will growl like lions' cubs.

-"When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet And ^(C1)make them drunk, so that they may rejoice in triumph, And may ^(C2)sleep a perpetual sleep And not wake up," declares the LORD.

"I will bring them down like ^(F1)lambs ^(C1)to the slaughter, Like rams together with male goats.

"How ^(F1)(C1)Sheshak has been captured, And ^(C2)the praise of the whole earth has been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!

-"The ^(F1)(C1)sea has come up over Babylon; She has been engulfed by its roaring waves.

-"Her cities have become an ^(C1)object of horror, A dry land and a desert, A land in which ^(C2)no one lives And through which no ^(F1)one of mankind passes.

-"^(C1)I will punish Bel in Babylon, And I will make what he has swallowed ^(C2)come out of his mouth; And the nations will no longer ^(C3)stream toward him. Even the ^(C4)wall of Babylon has fallen down!

"^(C1)Come out from her midst, My people, And each of you ^(C2)save yourselves From the fierce anger of the LORD.

-"Now, ^(C1)so that your heart does not grow faint, And you are not afraid at the ^(C2)report that will be heard in the land— For the report will come in ^(F1)one year, And after that ^(F1)another report in ^(F1)another year, And violence will be in the land With ^(C3)ruler against ruler—

Therefore behold, days are coming When I will punish the ^(C1)idols of Babylon; And her whole land will be ^(C2)put to shame. And all her slain will fall in her midst.

-"Then ^(C1)heaven and earth and everything that is in them Will shout for joy over Babylon, Because ^(C2)the destroyers will come to her from the north," Declares the LORD.

^(C1)Indeed, Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, As ^(C2)the slain of all the earth have also fallen for Babylon.

You ^(C1)who have escaped the sword, Go! Do not stay! ^(C2)Remember the LORD from far away, And let Jerusalem ^(F1)come to your mind.

^(C1)We are ashamed because we have heard rebuke; Disgrace has covered our faces, Because ^(C2)strangers have entered The holy places of the LORD'S house.

"Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I will punish her ^(C1)idols, And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.

-"Though Babylon ^(C1)ascends to the heavens, And though she fortifies ^(F1)her lofty stronghold, Destroyers will come from ^(C2)Me to her," declares the LORD.

The ^(C1)sound of an outcry from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!

For the LORD is going to destroy Babylon, And He will make her loud ^(F1)noise vanish from her. And their ^(C1)waves will roar like many waters; The clamor of their voices ^(F2)sounds forth.

For the ^(C1)destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, And her warriors will be captured, Their ^(C2)bows shattered; For the LORD is a God of ^(C3)retribution, He will fully repay.

"I will ^(C1)make her leaders and her wise men drunk, Her governors, her officials, and her warriors, So that they will sleep a ^(C2)perpetual sleep and not wake up," ^(C3)Declares the King, whose name is the LORD of armies.

This is what the LORD of armies says: "The broad ^(C1)wall of Babylon will be completely demolished, And her high ^(C2)gates will be set on fire; So the peoples will ^(C3)labor for nothing, And the nations become ^(C4)exhausted only for fire."

The ^(F1)command that Jeremiah the prophet ^(F2)gave Seraiah the son of ^(C1)Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with ^(C2)Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (And Seraiah was quartermaster.)

Jeremiah ^(C1)wrote ^(F1)on a single scroll all the disaster which would come against Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon.

Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "As soon as you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud,

and say, 'You, LORD, have ^(F1)promised concerning this place to ^(C1)cut it off, so that there will be ^(C2)nothing living in it, ^(F2)whether man or animal; but it will be a permanent desolation.'

"And as soon as you finish reading this ^(F1)scroll, you shall tie a stone to it and ^(C1)throw it into the middle of the Euphrates,

and say, 'Just so shall Babylon sink down and ^(C1)not rise again, because of the disaster that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become ^(C2)exhausted.'" ^(C3)To this point are the words of Jeremiah.