Study Desk

"Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, An object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.

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

"Her cities have become an object of horror, A dry land and a desert, A land in which no one lives And through which no one of mankind passes.

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

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

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

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

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

Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it, and built a bulwark all around it.

Also, a capital of bronze was on top of it; and the height of each capital was five cubits, with latticework and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates.

There were ninety-six exposed pomegranates; all the pomegranates numbered a hundred on the latticework all around.

And as his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day, all the days of his life until the day of his death.

How lonely sits the city That once had many people! She has become like a widow Who was once great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces Has become a forced laborer!

Judah has gone into exile out of affliction And harsh servitude; She lives among the nations, But she has not found a resting place; All those who pursued her have overtaken her In the midst of distress.

"From the height He sent fire into my bones, And it dominated them. He has spread a net for my feet; He has turned me back; He has made me desolate, Faint all day long.

"The Lord has thrown away all my strong men In my midst; He has called an appointed time against me To crush my young men; The Lord has trodden as in a wine press The virgin daughter of Judah.

"For these things I weep; My eyes run down with water; Because far from me is a comforter, One to restore my soul. My children are desolate Because the enemy has prevailed."

Zion stretches out with her hands; There is no one to comfort her; The LORD has commanded regarding Jacob That those around him become his adversaries; Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.

How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion With a cloud in His anger! He has hurled The glory of Israel from heaven to earth, And has not remembered His footstool In the day of His anger.

In fierce anger He has cut off All the strength of Israel; He has pulled back His right hand From the enemy. And He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire Consuming on all sides.