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SCRIPTURE REFERENCES FOR THIS SERMON:
Jeremiah 46:1-51:64
46:1 This was the Lord’s message to the prophet Jeremiah about the nations.
2 He spoke about Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, which was encamped along the Euphrates River at Carchemish. Now this was the army that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah:
3 “Fall into ranks with your shields ready!
Prepare to march into battle!
4 Harness the horses to the chariots;
mount your horses!
Take your positions with helmets on;
ready your spears!
Put on the armor!
5 “What do I see?
The soldiers are frightened.
They are retreating.
They are being scattered.
They have fled for refuge
without looking back.
Terror is all around them,” says the Lord.
6 “But even the swiftest cannot get away.
Even the strongest cannot escape.
There in the north by the Euphrates River
they have stumbled and fallen in defeat.
7 Who is this that rises like the Nile,
like its streams turbulent at flood stage?
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,
like its streams turbulent at flood stage.
Egypt said, ‘I will arise and cover the earth.
I will destroy cities and the people who inhabit them.’
9 Go ahead and charge into battle, you horsemen!
Drive furiously, you charioteers!
Let the soldiers march out into battle,
those from Ethiopia and Libya who carry shields,
and those from Lydia who are armed with the bow.
10 But that day belongs to the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
It is a day of reckoning when he will pay back his adversaries.
His sword will devour them until its appetite is satisfied.
It will drink its fill from their blood!
Indeed it will be a sacrifice for the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies
in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.
11 Go up to Gilead and get medicinal ointment,
you dear poor people of Egypt.
But it will prove useless no matter how much medicine you use;
there will be no healing for you.
12 The nations have heard of your shameful defeat.
Your cries of distress fill the earth.
One soldier has stumbled over another,
and both of them have fallen down defeated.”
13 The Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about Nebuchadnezzar coming to attack the land of Egypt:
14 “Make an announcement throughout Egypt.
Proclaim it in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes.
‘Take your positions and prepare to do battle.
For the enemy army is destroying all the nations around you.’
15 Why will your soldiers be defeated?
They will not stand because I, the Lord, will thrust them down.
16 I will make many stumble.
They will fall over one another in their hurry to flee.
They will say, ‘Get up!
Let’s go back to our own people.
Let’s go back to our homelands
because the enemy is coming to destroy us.’
17 There at home they will say, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is just a big noise!
He has let the most opportune moment pass by.’
18 I the King, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, swear this:
‘I swear as surely as I live that a conqueror is coming.
He will be as imposing as Mount Tabor is among the mountains,
as Mount Carmel is against the backdrop of the sea.
19 Pack your bags for exile,
you inhabitants of poor dear Egypt.
For Memphis will be laid waste.
It will lie in ruins and be uninhabited.
20 Egypt is like a beautiful young cow.
But northern armies will attack her like swarms of stinging flies.
21 Even her mercenaries
will prove to be like pampered, well-fed calves.
For they too will turn and run away.
They will not stand their ground
when the time for them to be destroyed comes,
the time for them to be punished.
22 Egypt will run away, hissing like a snake,
as the enemy comes marching up in force.
They will come against her with axes
as if they were woodsmen chopping down trees.
23 The population of Egypt is like a vast, impenetrable forest.
But I, the Lord, affirm that the enemy will cut them down.
For those who chop them down will be more numerous than locusts.
They will be too numerous to count.
24 Poor dear Egypt will be put to shame.
She will be handed over to the people from the north.’”
25 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says, “I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes. I will punish Egypt, its gods, and its kings. I will punish Pharaoh and all who trust in him. 26 I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar and his troops, who want to kill them. But later on, people will live in Egypt again as they did in former times. I, the Lord, affirm it!”
27 “You descendants of Jacob, my servants, do not be afraid;
do not be terrified, people of Israel.
For I will rescue you and your descendants
from the faraway lands where you are captives.
The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.
They will be secure, and no one will terrify them.
28 I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid,
you descendants of Jacob, my servant,
for I am with you.
Though I completely destroy all the nations where I scatter you,
I will not completely destroy you.
I will indeed discipline you but only in due measure.
I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.”
47:1 This was the Lord’s message to the prophet Jeremiah about the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza:
2 “Look! Enemies are gathering in the north like water rising in a river.
They will be like an overflowing stream.
They will overwhelm the whole country and everything in it like a flood.
They will overwhelm the cities and their inhabitants.
People will cry out in alarm.
Everyone living in the country will cry out in pain.
3 Fathers will hear the hoofbeats of the enemies’ horses,
the clatter of their chariots and the rumbling of their wheels.
They will not turn back to save their children
because they will be paralyzed with fear.
4 For the time has come
to destroy all the Philistines.
The time has come to destroy all the help
that remains for Tyre and Sidon.
For I, the Lord, will destroy the Philistines,
that remnant that came from the island of Crete.
5 The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning.
The people of Ashkelon will be struck dumb.
How long will you gash yourselves to show your sorrow,
you who remain of Philistia’s power?
6 How long will you cry out, ‘Oh, sword of the Lord,
how long will it be before you stop killing?
Go back into your sheath;
stay there and rest!’
7 But how can it rest
when I, the Lord, have given it orders?
I have ordered it to attack
the people of Ashkelon and the seacoast.”
48:1 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, spoke about Moab:
“Sure to be judged is Nebo! Indeed, it will be destroyed.
Kiriathaim will suffer disgrace. It will be captured!
Its fortress will suffer disgrace. It will be torn down!
2 People will not praise Moab anymore.
The enemy will capture Heshbon and plot how to destroy Moab,
saying, ‘Come, let’s put an end to that nation!’
City of Madmen, you will also be destroyed.
A destructive army will march against you.
3 Cries of anguish will arise in Horonaim,
‘Oh, the ruin and great destruction!’
4 “Moab will be crushed.
Her children will cry out in distress.
5 Indeed they will climb the slopes of Luhith,
weeping continually as they go.
For on the road down to Horonaim
they will hear the cries of distress over the destruction.
6 They will hear, ‘Run! Save yourselves;
even if you must be like a lonely shrub in the wilderness!’
7 “Moab, you trust in the things you do and in your riches.
So you too will be conquered.
Your god Chemosh will go into exile
along with his priests and his officials.
8 The destroyer will come against every town.
Not one town will escape.
The towns in the valley will be destroyed.
The cities on the high plain will be laid waste.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
9 Set up a gravestone for Moab,
for it will certainly be laid in ruins!
Its cities will be laid waste
and become uninhabited.
10 A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!
A curse on anyone who keeps from carrying out his destruction!
11 “From its earliest days Moab has lived undisturbed.
It has never been taken into exile.
Its people are like wine allowed to settle undisturbed on its dregs,
never poured out from one jar to another.
They are like wine that tastes like it always did,
whose aroma has remained unchanged.
12 But the time is coming when I will send
men against Moab who will empty it out.
They will empty the towns of their people,
then will lay those towns in ruins.
I, the Lord, affirm it!
13 The people of Moab will be disappointed by their god Chemosh.
They will be as disappointed as the people of Israel were
when they put their trust in the calf god at Bethel.
14 How can you men of Moab say, ‘We are heroes,
men who are mighty in battle?’
15 Moab will be destroyed. Its towns will be invaded.
Its finest young men will be slaughtered.
I, the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, affirm it!
16 Moab’s destruction is at hand.
Disaster will come on it quickly.
17 Mourn for that nation, all you nations living around it,
all you nations that know of its fame.
Mourn and say, ‘Alas, its powerful influence has been broken!
Its glory and power have been done away with!’
18 Come down from your place of honor;
sit on the dry ground, you who live in Dibon.
For the one who will destroy Moab will attack you;
he will destroy your fortifications.
19 You who live in Aroer,
stand by the road and watch.
Question the man who is fleeing and the woman who is escaping.
Ask them, ‘What has happened?’
20 They will answer, ‘Moab is disgraced, for it has fallen!
Wail and cry out in mourning!
Announce along the Arnon River
that Moab has been destroyed.’
21 “Judgment will come on the cities on the high plain: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath; 22 on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim; 23 on Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon; 24 on Kerioth and Bozrah. It will come on all the towns of Moab, both far and near. 25 Moab’s might will be crushed. Its power will be broken. I, the Lord, affirm it!
26 “Moab has vaunted itself against me.
So make him drunk with the wine of my wrath
until he splashes around in his own vomit,
until others treat him as a laughingstock.
27 For did not you people of Moab laugh at the people of Israel?
Did you think that they were nothing but thieves,
that you shook your head in contempt
every time you talked about them?
28 Leave your towns, you inhabitants of Moab.
Go and live in the cliffs.
Be like a dove that makes its nest
high on the sides of a ravine.
29 I have heard how proud the people of Moab are,
I know how haughty they are.
I have heard how arrogant, proud, and haughty they are,
what a high opinion they have of themselves.
30 I, the Lord, affirm that I know how arrogant they are.
But their pride is ill founded.
Their boastings will prove to be false.
31 So I will weep with sorrow for Moab.
I will cry out in sadness for all Moab.
I will moan for the people of Kir Heres.
32 I will weep for the grapevines of Sibmah
just like the town of Jazer weeps over them.
Their branches once spread as far as the Dead Sea.
They reached as far as the town of Jazer.
The destroyer will ravage
her fig, date, and grape crops.
33 Joy and gladness will disappear
from the fruitful land of Moab.
I will stop the flow of wine from the winepresses.
No one will stomp on the grapes there and shout for joy.
The shouts there will be shouts of soldiers,
not the shouts of those making wine.
34 Cries of anguish raised from Heshbon and Elealeh
will be sounded as far as Jahaz.
They will be sounded from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah.
For even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up.
35 I will put an end in Moab
to those who make offerings at her places of worship.
I will put an end to those who sacrifice to other gods.
I, the Lord, affirm it!
36 So my heart moans for Moab
like a flute playing a funeral song.
Yes, like a flute playing a funeral song,
my heart moans for the people of Kir Heres.
For the wealth they have gained will perish.
37 For all of them will shave their heads in mourning.
They will all cut off their beards to show their sorrow.
They will all make gashes in their hands.
They will all put on sackcloth.
38 On all the housetops in Moab
and in all its public squares,
there will be nothing but mourning.
For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar.
I, the Lord, affirm it!
39 Oh, how shattered Moab will be!
Oh, how her people will wail!
Oh, how she will turn away in shame!
Moab will become an object of ridicule,
a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her.”
40 For the Lord says,
“Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings
a nation will swoop down on Moab.
41 Her towns will be captured;
her fortresses will be taken.
At that time the soldiers of Moab will be frightened
like a woman in labor.
42 Moab will be destroyed and no longer be a nation
because she has vaunted herself against the Lord.
43 Terror, pits, and traps are in store
for the people who live in Moab.
I, the Lord, affirm it!
44 Anyone who flees at the sound of terror
will fall into a pit.
Anyone who climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a trap.
For the time is coming
when I will punish the people of Moab.
I, the Lord, affirm it!
45 In the shadows of the walls of Heshbon
those trying to escape will stand helpless.
For a fire will burst forth from Heshbon.
Flames will shoot out from the former territory of Sihon.
They will burn the foreheads of the people of Moab,
the skulls of those war-loving people.
46 Moab, you are doomed!
You people who worship Chemosh will be destroyed.
Your sons will be taken away captive.
Your daughters will be carried away into exile.
47 Yet in future days
I will reverse Moab’s ill fortune,”
says the Lord.
The judgment against Moab ends here.
49:1 The Lord spoke about the Ammonites:
“Do you think there are not any people of the nation of Israel remaining?
Do you think there are not any of them remaining to reinherit their land?
Is that why you people who worship the god Milcom
have taken possession of the territory of Gad and live in his cities?
2 Because you did that,
I, the Lord, affirm that a time is coming
when I will make Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon,
hear the sound of the battle cry.
It will become a mound covered with ruins.
Its villages will be burned to the ground.
Then Israel will take back its land
from those who took their land from them.
I, the Lord, affirm it!
3 Wail, you people in Heshbon, because Ai in Ammon is destroyed.
Cry out in anguish, you people in the villages surrounding Rabbah.
Put on sackcloth and cry out in mourning.
Run about covered with gashes.
For your god Milcom will go into exile
along with his priests and officials.
4 Why do you brag about your great power?
Your power is ebbing away, you rebellious people of Ammon,
who trust in your riches and say,
‘Who would dare to attack us?’
5 I will bring terror on you from every side,”
says the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“You will be scattered in every direction.
No one will gather the fugitives back together.
6 Yet in days to come
I will reverse Ammon’s ill fortune.”
says the Lord.
7 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies spoke about Edom:
“Is wisdom no longer to be found in Teman?
Can Edom’s counselors not give her any good advice?
Has all their wisdom turned bad?
8 Turn and flee! Take up refuge in remote places,
you people who live in Dedan.
For I will bring disaster on the descendants of Esau.
I have decided it is time for me to punish them.
9 If grape pickers came to pick your grapes,
would they not leave a few grapes behind?
If robbers came at night,
would they not pillage only what they needed?
10 But I will strip everything away from Esau’s descendants.
I will uncover their hiding places so they cannot hide.
Their children, relatives, and neighbors will all be destroyed.
Not one of them will be left!
11 Leave your orphans behind, and I will keep them alive.
Your widows, too, can depend on me.”
12 For the Lord says, “If even those who did not deserve to drink from the cup of my wrath must drink from it, do you think you will go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must certainly drink from the cup of my wrath. 13 For I solemnly swear,” says the Lord, “that Bozrah will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example to be used in curses. All the towns around it will lie in ruins forever.”
14 I said, “I have heard a message from the Lord.
A messenger has been sent among the nations to say,
‘Gather your armies and march out against her!
Prepare to do battle with her!’”
15 The Lord says to Edom,
“I will certainly make you small among nations.
I will make you despised by all humankind.
16 The terror you inspire in others
and the arrogance of your heart have deceived you.
You may make your home in the clefts of the rocks;
you may occupy the highest places in the hills.
But even if you made your home where the eagles nest,
I would bring you down from there,”
says the Lord.
17 “Edom will become an object of horror.
All who pass by it will be filled with horror;
they will hiss out their scorn
because of all the disasters that have happened to it.
18 Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah
and the towns that were around them.
No one will live there.
No human being will settle in it,”
says the Lord.
19 “A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan
scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it.
So too I will chase the Edomites off their land.
Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose.
For there is no one like me, and there is no one who can call me to account.
There is no ruler who can stand up against me.
20 So listen to what I, the Lord, have planned against Edom,
what I intend to do to the people who live in Teman.
Their little ones will be dragged off.
I will completely destroy their land because of what they have done.
21 The people of the earth will quake when they hear of their downfall.
Their cries of anguish will be heard all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba.
22 Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings,
a nation will soar up and swoop down on Bozrah.
At that time the soldiers of Edom will be as fearful
as a woman in labor.”
23 The Lord spoke about Damascus:
“The people of Hamath and Arpad will be dismayed
because they have heard bad news.
Their courage will melt away because of worry.
Their hearts will not be able to rest.
24 The people of Damascus will lose heart and turn to flee.
Panic will grip them.
Pain and anguish will seize them
like a woman in labor.
25 How deserted will that once-famous city be,
that city that was once filled with joy!
26 For her young men will fall in her city squares.
All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
27 “I will set fire to the walls of Damascus;
it will burn up the palaces of Ben Hadad.”
28 The Lord spoke about Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered:
“Army of Babylon, go and attack Kedar.
Lay waste those who live in the eastern desert.
29 Their tents and their flocks will be taken away.
Their tent curtains, equipment, and camels will be carried off.
People will shout to them,
‘Terror is all around you!’”
30 The Lord says, “Flee quickly, you who live in Hazor.
Take up refuge in remote places.
For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has laid out plans to attack you.
He has formed his strategy on how to defeat you.”
31 The Lord says, “Army of Babylon, go and attack
a nation that lives in peace and security.
They have no gates or walls to protect them.
They live all alone.
32 Their camels will be taken as plunder.
Their vast herds will be taken as spoil.
I will scatter to the four winds
those desert peoples who cut their hair short at the temples.
I will bring disaster against them
from every direction,” says the Lord.
33 “Hazor will become a permanent wasteland,
a place where only jackals live.
No one will live there.
No human being will settle in it.”
34 This was the Lord’s message to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam, which came early in the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah.
35 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies said:
“I will kill all the archers of Elam,
who are the chief source of her military might.
36 I will cause enemies to blow through Elam from every direction
like the winds blowing in from the four quarters of heaven.
I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds.
There will not be any nation where the refugees of Elam will not go.
37 I will make the people of Elam terrified of their enemies,
who are seeking to kill them.
I will vent my fierce anger
and bring disaster upon them,” says the Lord.
“I will send armies chasing after them
until I have completely destroyed them.
38 I will establish my sovereignty over Elam.
I will destroy their king and their leaders,” says the Lord.
39 “Yet in future days
I will reverse Elam’s ill fortune,”
says the Lord.
50:1 The Lord spoke concerning Babylon and the land of Babylonia through the prophet Jeremiah.
2 “Announce the news among the nations! Proclaim it!
Signal for people to pay attention.
Declare the news! Do not hide it! Say:
‘Babylon will be captured.
Bel will be put to shame.
Marduk will be dismayed.
Babylon’s idols will be put to shame;
her disgusting images will be dismayed.
3 For a nation from the north will attack Babylon;
it will lay her land waste.
People and animals will flee out of it.
No one will inhabit it.’
4 “When that time comes,” says the Lord,
“the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together.
They will come back with tears of repentance
as they seek the Lord their God.
5 They will ask the way to Zion;
they will turn their faces toward it.
They will come and bind themselves to the Lord
in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
6 “My people have been lost sheep.
Their shepherds have allowed them to go astray.
They have wandered around in the mountains.
They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another.
They have forgotten their resting place.
7 All who encountered them devoured them.
Their enemies who did this said, ‘We are not liable for punishment!
For those people have sinned against the Lord, their true pasture.
They have sinned against the Lord in whom their ancestors trusted.’
8 “People of Judah, get out of Babylon quickly!
Leave the land of Babylonia!
Be the first to depart.
Be like the male goats that lead the herd.
9 For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon
a host of mighty nations from the land of the north.
They will set up their battle lines against her.
They will come from the north and capture her.
Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier
who does not return from the battle empty-handed.
10 Babylonia will be plundered.
Those who plunder it will take all they want,”
says the Lord.
11 “People of Babylonia, you plundered my people.
That made you happy and glad.
You frolic about like calves in a pasture.
Your joyous sounds are like the neighs of a stallion.
12 But Babylonia will be put to great shame.
The land where you were born will be disgraced.
Indeed, Babylonia will become the least important of all nations.
It will become a dry and barren desert.
13 After I vent my wrath on it, Babylon will be uninhabited.
It will be totally desolate.
All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn
because of all the disasters that have happened to it.
14 “Take up your battle positions all around Babylon,
all you soldiers who are armed with bows.
Shoot all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back!
For she has sinned against the Lord.
15 Shout the battle cry from all around the city.
She will throw up her hands in surrender;
her towers will fall.
Her walls will be torn down.
Because I, the Lord, am wreaking revenge,
take out your vengeance on her!
Do to her as she has done!
16 Kill all the farmers who sow the seed in the land of Babylon;
kill all those who wield the sickle at harvest time.
Let all the foreigners return to their own people.
Let them hurry back to their own lands
to escape destruction by that enemy army.
17 “The people of Israel are like scattered sheep
that lions have chased away.
First the king of Assyria devoured them.
Now, last of all, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones.
18 So I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, say:
‘I will punish the king of Babylon and his land
just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 But I will restore the flock of Israel to their own pasture.
They will graze on Mount Carmel and the land of Bashan.
They will eat until they are full
on the hills of Ephraim and the land of Gilead.
20 When that time comes,
no guilt will be found in Israel.
No sin will be found in Judah.
For I will forgive those of them I have allowed to survive.
I, the Lord, affirm it!’”
21 The Lord says,
“Attack the land of Merathaim
and the people who live in Pekod.
Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them!
Do just as I have commanded you!
22 The noise of battle can be heard in the land of Babylonia.
There is the sound of great destruction.
23 Babylon hammered the whole world to pieces.
But see how that ‘hammer’ has been broken and shattered!
See what an object of horror
Babylon has become among the nations!
24 I set a trap for you, Babylon;
you were caught before you knew it.
You fought against me;
so you were found and captured.
25 I have opened up the place where my weapons are stored.
I have brought out the weapons for carrying out my wrath.
For I, the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
have work to carry out in the land of Babylonia.
26 Come from far away and attack Babylonia!
Open up the places where she stores her grain.
Pile her up in ruins. Destroy her completely!
Do not leave anyone alive!
27 Kill all her soldiers.
Let them be slaughtered.
They are doomed, for their day of reckoning has come,
the time for them to be punished.
28 Listen! Fugitives and refugees are coming from the land of Babylon.
They are coming to Zion to declare there
how the Lord our God is getting revenge,
getting revenge for what they have done to his temple.
29 “Call for archers to come against Babylon!
Summon against her all who draw the bow.
Set up camp all around the city.
Do not allow anyone to escape!
Pay her back for what she has done.
Do to her what she has done to others.
For she has proudly defied me,
the Holy One of Israel.
30 So her young men will fall in her city squares.
All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,”
says the Lord.
31 “Listen! I am opposed to you, you proud city,”
says the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“Indeed, your day of reckoning has come,
the time when I will punish you.
32 You will stumble and fall, you proud city;
no one will help you get up.
I will set fire to your towns;
it will burn up everything that surrounds you.”
33 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says,
“The people of Israel are oppressed.
So too are the people of Judah.
All those who took them captive are holding them prisoners.
They refuse to set them free.
34 But the one who will rescue them is strong.
His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
He will strongly champion their cause.
As a result he will bring peace and rest to the earth,
but trouble and turmoil to the people who inhabit Babylonia.
35 “Destructive forces will come against the Babylonians,” says the Lord.
“They will come against the people who inhabit Babylonia,
against her leaders and her men of wisdom.
36 Destructive forces will come against her false prophets;
they will be shown to be fools!
Destructive forces will come against her soldiers;
they will be filled with terror!
37 Destructive forces will come against her horses and her chariots.
Destructive forces will come against all the foreign troops within her;
they will be as frightened as women!
Destructive forces will come against her treasures;
they will be taken away as plunder!
38 A drought will come upon her land;
her rivers and canals will be dried up.
All this will happen because her land is filled with idols.
Her people act like madmen because of those idols they fear.
39 Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there;
ostriches too will dwell in it.
But no people will ever live there again;
no one will dwell there for all time to come.
40 I will destroy Babylonia just as I did
Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns.
No one will live there;
no human being will settle in it,”
says the Lord.
41 “Look! An army is about to come from the north.
A mighty nation and many kings are stirring into action
in faraway parts of the earth.
42 Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride forth on their horses.
Lined up in formation like men going into battle,
they are coming against you, fair Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear
when he hears news of their coming.
Anguish will grip him,
agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.
44 “A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan
scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it.
So too I will chase the Babylonians off their land;
then I will appoint over it whomever I choose.
For there is no one like me.
There is no one who can call me to account.
There is no ruler that can stand up against me.
45 So listen to what I, the Lord, have planned against Babylon,
what I intend to do to the people who inhabit the land of Babylonia.
Their little ones will be dragged off like sheep.
I will completely destroy their land because of what they have done.
46 The people of the earth will quake when they hear Babylon has been captured.
Her cries of anguish will be heard by the other nations.”
51:1 The Lord says:
“I will cause a destructive wind to blow
against Babylon and the people who inhabit Babylonia.
2 I will send people to winnow Babylonia like a wind blowing away chaff.
They will winnow her and strip her land bare.
This will happen when they come against her from every direction,
when it is time to destroy her.
3 Do not give her archers time to string their bows
or to put on their coats of armor.
Do not spare any of her young men.
Completely destroy her whole army.
4 Let them fall slain in the land of Babylonia,
mortally wounded in the streets of her cities.
5 “For Israel and Judah will not be forsaken
by their God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
For the land of Babylonia is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.
6 Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people.
Flee to save your lives.
Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins,
for it is time for the Lord to wreak his revenge.
He will pay Babylonia back for what she has done.
7 Babylonia had been a gold cup in the Lord’s hand;
she had made the whole world drunk.
The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath,
so they have all gone mad.
8 But suddenly Babylonia will fall and be destroyed.
Cry out in mourning over it!
Get medicine for her wounds;
perhaps she can be healed!
9 Foreigners living there will say,
‘We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed.
Let’s leave Babylonia and each go back to his own country.
For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions.
It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.’
10 The exiles from Judah will say,
‘The Lord has brought about a great deliverance for us!
Come on, let’s go and proclaim in Zion
what the Lord our God has done!’
11 “Sharpen your arrows!
Fill your quivers!
The Lord will arouse a spirit of hostility in the kings of Media,
for he intends to destroy Babylonia.
For that is how the Lord will get his revenge—
how he will get his revenge for the Babylonians’ destruction of his temple.
12 Give the signal to attack Babylon’s wall!
Bring more guards;
post them all around the city.
Put men in ambush,
for the Lord will do what he has planned.
He will do what he said he would do to the people of Babylon.
13 “You who live along the rivers of Babylon,
the time of your end has come.
You who are rich in plundered treasure,
it is time for your lives to be cut off.
14 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has solemnly sworn,
‘I will fill your land with enemy soldiers.
They will swarm over it like locusts.
They will raise up shouts of victory over it.’
15 He is the one who by his power made the earth.
He is the one who by his wisdom fixed the world in place;
by his understanding, he spread out the heavens.
16 When his voice thunders, the waters in the heavens roar.
He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons;
he makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain.
He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it;
17 all idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant.
Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.
For the image he forges is merely a sham;
there is no breath in any of those idols.
18 They are worthless, objects to be ridiculed.
When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.
19 The Lord, who is the portion of the descendants of Jacob, is not like them.
For he is the one who created everything,
including the people of Israel whom he claims as his own.
His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
20 “Babylon, you are my war club,
my weapon for battle.
I used you to smash nations.
I used you to destroy kingdoms.
21 I used you to smash horses and their riders.
I used you to smash chariots and their drivers.
22 I used you to smash men and women.
I used you to smash old men and young men.
I used you to smash young men and young women.
23 I used you to smash shepherds and their flocks.
I used you to smash farmers and their teams of oxen.
I used you to smash governors and leaders.
24 “But I will repay Babylon
and all who live in Babylonia
for all the wicked things they did in Zion
right before the eyes of you Judeans,”
says the Lord.
25 The Lord says, “Beware! I am opposed to you, Babylon!
You are like a destructive mountain that destroys all the earth.
I will unleash my power against you;
I will roll you off the cliffs and make you like a burned-out mountain.
26 No one will use any of your stones as a cornerstone;
no one will use any of them in the foundation of his house.
For you will lie desolate forever,”
says the Lord.
27 “Raise up battle flags throughout the lands.
Sound the trumpets calling the nations to do battle.
Prepare the nations to do battle against Babylonia.
Call for these kingdoms to attack her:
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a commander to lead the attack.
Send horses against her like a swarm of locusts.
28 Prepare the nations to do battle against her.
Prepare the kings of the Medes.
Prepare their governors and all their leaders.
Prepare all the countries they rule to do battle against her.
29 The earth will tremble and writhe in agony;
for the Lord will carry out his plan.
He plans to make the land of Babylonia
a wasteland where no one lives.
30 The soldiers of Babylonia will stop fighting.
They will remain in their fortified cities.
They will lose their strength to do battle.
They will be as frightened as women.
The houses in her cities will be set on fire.
The gates of her cities will be broken down.
31 One runner after another will come to the king of Babylon;
one messenger after another will come bringing news.
They will bring news to the king of Babylon
that his whole city has been captured.
32 They will report that the fords have been captured,
the reed marshes have been burned,
the soldiers are terrified.
33 For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says,
‘Fair Babylon will be like a threshing floor
that has been trampled flat for harvest.
The time for her to be cut down and harvested
will come very soon.’
34 “King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
devoured me and drove my people out.
Like a monster from the deep he swallowed me.
He filled his belly with my riches;
he made me an empty dish.
He completely cleaned me out.”
35 The person who lives in Zion says,
“May Babylon pay for the violence done to me and to my relatives.”
Jerusalem says,
“May those living in Babylonia pay for the bloodshed of my people.”
36 Therefore the Lord says,
“I will stand up for your cause.
I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done to you.
I will dry up their sea;
I will make their springs run dry.
37 Babylon will become a heap of ruins.
Jackals will make their home there.
It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn,
a place where no one lives.
38 The Babylonians are all like lions roaring for prey;
they are like lion cubs growling for something to eat.
39 When their appetites are all stirred up,
I will set out a banquet for them.
I will make them drunk
so that they will pass out,
they will fall asleep forever,
they will never wake up,”
says the Lord.
40 “I will lead them off to be slaughtered
like lambs, rams, and male goats.
41 “See how Babylon has been captured!
See how the pride of the whole earth has been taken!
See what an object of horror
Babylon has become among the nations!
42 The sea has swept over Babylon.
She has been covered by a multitude of its waves.
43 The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins.
She has become a dry and barren desert.
No one lives in those towns any more;
no one even passes through them.
44 I will punish the god Bel in Babylon.
I will make him spit out what he has swallowed.
The nations will not come streaming to him any longer.
Indeed, the walls of Babylon will fall.
45 “Get out of Babylon, my people!
Flee to save your lives
from the fierce anger of the Lord!
46 Do not lose your courage or become afraid
because of the reports that are heard in the land.
For a report will come in one year.
Another report will follow it in the next.
There will be violence in the land
with ruler fighting against ruler.
47 “So the time will certainly come
when I will punish the idols of Babylon.
Her whole land will be put to shame.
All her mortally wounded will collapse in her midst.
48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will sing for joy over Babylon.
For destroyers from the north will attack it,”
says the Lord.
49 “Babylon must fall
because of the Israelites she has killed,
just as the earth’s mortally wounded fell
because of Babylon.
50 You who have escaped the sword,
go, do not delay.
Remember the Lord in a faraway land.
Think about Jerusalem.
51 ‘We are ashamed because we have been insulted.
Our faces show our disgrace.
For foreigners have invaded
the holy rooms in the Lord’s temple.’
52 Yes, but the time will certainly come,” says the Lord,
“when I will punish her idols.
Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan.
53 Even if Babylon climbs high into the sky
and fortifies her elevated stronghold,
I will send destroyers against her,”
says the Lord.
54 Cries of anguish will come from Babylon,
the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.
55 For the Lord is ready to destroy Babylon,
and put an end to her loud noise.
Their waves will roar like turbulent waters.
They will make a deafening noise.
56 For a destroyer is attacking Babylon.
Her warriors will be captured;
their bows will be broken.
For the Lord is a God who punishes;
he pays back in full.
57 “I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
along with her governors, leaders, and warriors.
They will fall asleep forever and never wake up,”
says the King whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
58 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says,
“Babylon’s thick wall will be completely demolished.
Her high gates will be set on fire.
The peoples strive for what does not satisfy.
The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed.”
59 This is the order Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went to King Zedekiah of Judah in Babylon during the fourth year of his reign. (Seraiah was a quartermaster.) 60 Jeremiah recorded on one scroll all the judgments that would come upon Babylon—all these prophecies written about Babylon. 61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, make sure you read aloud all these prophecies. 62 Then say, ‘O Lord, you have announced that you will destroy this place so that no people or animals live in it any longer. Certainly it will lie desolate forever!’ 63 When you finish reading this scroll aloud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River. 64 Then say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the disaster I am ready to bring upon her; they will grow faint.’”
The prophecies of Jeremiah end here.