Study Desk

So this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: "I will punish the king of Babylon and his country as I punished the king of Assyria.

Babylon, I set a trap for you, and you were caught before you knew it. You fought against the Lord , so you were found and taken prisoner.

So her young men will be killed in her streets. All her soldiers will die on that day," says the Lord .

But God is strong and will buy them back. His name is the Lord All-Powerful. He will surely defend them with power so he can give rest to their land. But he will not give rest to those living in Babylon."

Let a sword kill her horses and chariots and all the soldiers hired from other countries! Then they will be like frightened women. Let a sword attack her treasures, so they will be taken away.

Let a sword attack her waters so they will be dried up. She is a land of idols, and the people go crazy with fear over them.

So listen to what the Lord has planned to do against Babylon. Listen to what he has decided to do to the people in the city of Babylon. He will surely drag away the young ones of Babylon. Their hometowns will surely be shocked at what happens to them.

Babylon was like a gold cup in the Lord 's hand that made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank Babylon's wine, so they went crazy.

"Foreigners in Babylon say, ‘We tried to heal Babylon, but she cannot be healed. So let us leave her and each go to his own country. Babylon's punishment is as high as the sky; it reaches to the clouds.'

The Lord All-Powerful has promised in his own name: ‘Babylon, I will surely fill you with so many enemy soldiers they will be like a swarm of locusts. They will stand over you and shout their victory.'

"People are so stupid and know so little. Goldsmiths are made ashamed by their idols, because those statues are only false gods. They have no breath in them.

"Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Get the nations ready for battle against Babylon. Call these kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz to fight against her. Choose a commander to lead the army against Babylon. Send so many horses that they are like a swarm of locusts.

So this is what the Lord says: "I will soon defend you, Judah, and make sure that Babylon is punished. I will dry up Babylon's sea and make her springs become dry.

So the Lord says, "The time is coming soon when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Wounded people will cry with pain all over that land.

Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "As soon as you come to Babylon, be sure to read this message so all the people can hear you.

Then say, ‘ Lord , you have said that you will destroy this place so that no people or animals will live in it. It will be an empty ruin forever.'

So the Babylonians captured Zedekiah and took him to the king of Babylon at the town of Riblah in the land of Hamath. There he passed sentence on Zedekiah.

There was so much bronze that it could not be weighed: two pillars, the large bronze bowl called the Sea with the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the Temple of the Lord .

There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them killed. So the people of Judah were led away from their country as captives.

So Jehoiachin put away his prison clothes, and for the rest of his life, he ate at the king's table.