Bible in 90 Days
A Message to Moab
48 This message is to the country of Moab.
This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says:
“How terrible it will be for the city of Nebo,
because it will be ruined.
The town of Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured;
the strong city will be disgraced and shattered.
2 Moab will not be praised again.
Men in the town of Heshbon plan Moab’s defeat.
They say, ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation!’
Town of Madmen,[a] you will also be silenced.
The sword will chase you.
3 Listen to the cries from the town of Horonaim,
cries of much confusion and destruction.
4 Moab will be broken up.
Her little children will cry for help.
5 Moab’s people go up the path to the town of Luhith,
crying loudly as they go.
On the road down to Horonaim,
cries of pain and suffering can be heard.
6 Run! Run for your lives!
Go like a bush being blown through the desert.
7 You trust in the things you do and in your wealth,
so you also will be captured.
The god Chemosh will go into captivity
and his priests and officers with him.
8 The destroyer will come against every town;
not one town will escape.
The valley will be ruined,
and the high plain will be destroyed,
as the Lord has said.
9 Give wings to Moab,
because she will surely leave her land.
Moab’s towns will become empty,
with no one to live in them.
10 A curse will be on anyone who doesn’t do what the Lord says,
and a curse will be on anyone who holds back his sword from killing.
11 “The people of Moab have never known trouble.
They are like wine left to settle;
they have never been poured from one jar to another.
They have not been taken into captivity.
So they taste as they did before,
and their smell has not changed.
12 A time is coming,” says the Lord,
“When I will send people to pour you from your jars.
They will empty Moab’s jars
and smash her jugs.
13 The people of Israel trusted that god in the town of Bethel,
and they were ashamed when there was no help.
In the same way Moab will be ashamed of their god Chemosh.
14 “You cannot say, ‘We are warriors!
We are brave men in battle!’
15 The destroyer of Moab and her towns has arrived.
Her best young men will be killed!” says the King,
whose name is the Lord All-Powerful.
16 “The end of Moab is near,
and she will soon be destroyed.
17 All you who live around Moab,
all you who know her, cry for her.
Say, ‘The ruler’s power is broken;
Moab’s power and glory are gone.’
18 “You people living in the town of Dibon, come down from your place of honor
and sit on the dry ground,
because the destroyer of Moab has come against you.
And he has destroyed your strong, walled cities.
19 You people living in the town of Aroer,
stand next to the road and watch.
See the man running away and the woman escaping.
Ask them, ‘What happened?’
20 Moab is filled with shame, because she is ruined.
Cry, Moab, cry out!
Announce at the Arnon River
that Moab is destroyed.
21 People on the high plain have been punished.
Judgment has come to these towns:
Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath;
22 Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim;
23 Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon;
24 Kerioth and Bozrah.
Judgment has come to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
25 Moab’s strength has been cut off,
and its arm broken!” says the Lord.
26 “The people of Moab thought they were greater than the Lord,
so punish them until they act as if they are drunk.
Moab will fall and roll around in its own vomit,
and people will even make fun of it.
27 Moab, you made fun of Israel.
Israel was caught in the middle of a gang of thieves.
When you spoke about Israel,
you shook your head and acted as if you were better than it.
28 People in Moab, leave your towns empty
and go live among the rocks.
Be like a dove that makes its nest
at the entrance of a cave.
29 “We have heard that the people of Moab are proud,
very proud.
They are proud, very proud,
and in their hearts they think they are important.”
30 The Lord says,
“I know Moab’s great pride, but it is useless.
Moab’s bragging accomplishes nothing.
31 So I cry sadly for Moab,
for everyone in Moab.
I moan for the people from the town of Kir Hareseth.
32 I cry with the people of the town of Jazer
for you, the grapevines of the town of Sibmah.
In the past your vines spread all the way to the sea,
as far as the sea of Jazer.
But the destroyer has taken over
your fruit and grapes.
33 Joy and happiness are gone
from the large, rich fields of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses.
No one walks on the grapes with shouts of joy.
There are shouts,
but not shouts of joy.
34 “Their crying can be heard from Moabite towns,
from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz.
It can be heard from Zoar as far away as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah.
Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
35 I will stop Moab
from making burnt offerings at the places of worship
and from burning incense to their gods,” says the Lord.
36 “My heart cries sadly for Moab like a flute playing a funeral song.
It cries like a flute for the people from Kir Hareseth.
The money they made has all been taken away.
37 Every head has been shaved
and every beard cut off.
Everyone’s hands are cut,
and everyone wears rough cloth around his waist.[b]
38 People are crying on every roof[c] in Moab
and in every public square.
There is nothing but sadness,
because I have broken Moab
like a jar no one wants,” says the Lord.
39 “Moab is shattered! The people are crying!
Moab turns away in shame!
People all around her make fun of her.
The things that happened fill them with great fear.”
40 This is what the Lord says:
“Look! Someone is coming, like an eagle diving down from the sky
and spreading its wings over Moab.
41 The towns of Moab will be captured,
and the strong, walled cities will be defeated.
At that time Moab’s warriors will be frightened,
like a woman who is having a baby.
42 The nation of Moab will be destroyed,
because they thought they were greater than the Lord.
43 Fear, deep pits, and traps wait for you,
people of Moab,” says the Lord.
44 “People will run from fear,
but they will fall into the pits.
Anyone who climbs out of the pits
will be caught in the traps.
I will bring the year of punishment to Moab,” says the Lord.
45 “People have run from the powerful enemy
and have gone to Heshbon for safety.
But fire started in Heshbon;
a blaze has spread from the hometown of Sihon king of Moab.
It burned up the leaders of Moab
and destroyed those proud people.
46 How terrible it is for you, Moab!
The people who worship Chemosh have been destroyed.
Your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters have been taken away.
47 “But in days to come,
I will make good things happen again to Moab,” says the Lord.
This ends the judgment on Moab.
A Message to Ammon
49 This message is to the Ammonite people.
This is what the Lord says:
“Do you think that Israel has no children?
Do you think there is no one to take the land when the parents die?
If that were true, why did Molech take Gad’s land
and why did Molech’s people settle in Gad’s towns?”
2 The Lord says,
“The time will come when I will make Rabbah,
the capital city of the Ammonites, hear the battle cry.
It will become a hill covered with ruins,
and the towns around it will be burned.
Those people forced Israel out of that land,
but now Israel will force them out!” says the Lord.
3 “People in the town of Heshbon, cry sadly because the town of Ai is destroyed!
Those who live in Rabbah, cry out!
Put on your rough cloth to show your sadness, and cry loudly.
Run here and there for safety inside the walls,
because Molech will be taken captive
and his priests and officers with him.
4 You brag about your valleys
and about the fruit in your valleys.
You are like an unfaithful child
who believes his treasures will save him.
You think, ‘Who would attack me?’
5 I will soon bring terror on you
from everyone around you,”
says the Lord God All-Powerful.
“You will all be forced to run away,
and no one will be able to gather you.
6 “But the time will come
when I will make good things happen to the Ammonites again,”
says the Lord.
A Message to Edom
7 This message is to Edom. This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:
“Is there no more wisdom in the town of Teman?
Can the wise men of Edom no longer give good advice?
Have they lost their wisdom?
8 You people living in the town of Dedan,
run away and hide in deep caves,
because I will bring disaster on the people of Esau.
It is time for me to punish them.
9 If workers came and picked the grapes from your vines,
they would leave a few grapes behind.
If robbers came at night,
they would steal only enough for themselves.
10 But I will strip Edom bare.
I will find all their hiding places,
so they will not be able to hide from me.
The children, relatives, and neighbors will die,
and Edom will be no more.
11 Leave the orphans, and I will take care of them.
Your widows also can trust in me.”
12 This is what the Lord says: “Some people did not deserve to be punished, but they had to drink from the cup of suffering anyway. People of Edom, you deserve to be punished, so you will not escape punishment. You must certainly drink from the cup of suffering.” 13 The Lord says, “I swear by my own name that the city of Bozrah will become a pile of ruins! People will be shocked by what happened there. They will insult that city and speak evil of it. And all the towns around it will become ruins forever.”
14 I have heard a message from the Lord.
A messenger has been sent among the nations, saying,
“Gather your armies to attack it!
Get ready for battle!”
15 “Soon I will make you the smallest of nations,
and you will be greatly hated by everyone.
16 Edom, you frightened other nations,
but your pride has fooled you.
You live in the hollow places of the cliff
and control the high places of the hills.
Even if you build your home as high as an eagle’s nest,
I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.
17 “Edom will be destroyed.
People who pass by will be shocked to see the destroyed cities,
and they will be amazed at all her injuries.
18 Edom will be destroyed like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
and the towns around them,” says the Lord.
“No one will live there!
No one will stay in Edom.
19 “Like a lion coming up from the thick bushes near the Jordan River
to attack a strong pen for sheep,
I will suddenly chase Edom from its land.
Who is the one I have chosen to do this?
There is no one like me,
no one who can take me to court.
None of their leaders can stand up against me.”
20 So listen to what the Lord has planned to do against Edom.
Listen to what he has decided to do to the people in the town of Teman.
He will surely drag away the young ones of Edom.
Their hometowns will surely be shocked at what happens to them.
21 At the sound of Edom’s fall, the earth will shake.
Their cry will be heard all the way to the Red Sea.
22 The Lord is like an eagle swooping down
and spreading its wings over the city of Bozrah.
At that time Edom’s soldiers will become very frightened,
like a woman having a baby.
A Message to Damascus
23 This message is to the city of Damascus:
“The towns of Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,
because they have heard bad news.
They are discouraged.
They are troubled like the tossing sea.
24 The city of Damascus has become weak.
The people want to run away;
they are ready to panic.
The people feel pain and suffering,
like a woman giving birth to a baby.
25 Damascus was a city of my joy.
Why have the people not left that famous city yet?
26 Surely the young men will die in the city squares,
and all her soldiers will be killed at that time,” says the Lord All-Powerful.
27 “I will set fire to the walls of Damascus,
and it will completely burn the strong cities of King Ben-Hadad.”
A Message to Kedar and Hazor
28 This message is to the tribe of Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. This is what the Lord says:
“Go and attack the people of Kedar,
and destroy the people of the East.
29 Their tents and flocks will be taken away.
Their belongings will be carried off—
their tents, all their goods, and their camels.
Men will shout to them,
‘Terror on every side!’
30 “Run away quickly!
People in Hazor, find a good place to hide!” says the Lord.
“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has made plans against you
and wants to defeat you.
31 “Get up! Attack the nation that is comfortable,
that is sure no one will defeat it,” says the Lord.
“It does not have gates or fences to protect it.
Its people live alone.
32 The enemy will steal their camels
and their large herds of cattle as war prizes.
I will scatter the people who cut their hair short to every part of the earth,
and I will bring disaster on them from everywhere,” says the Lord.
33 “The city of Hazor will become a home for wild dogs;
it will be an empty desert forever.
No one will live there,
and no one will stay in it.”
A Message to Elam
34 Soon after Zedekiah became king of Judah, the Lord spoke this word to Jeremiah the prophet. This message is to the nation of Elam.
35 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:
“I will soon break Elam’s bow,
its greatest strength.
36 I will bring the four winds against Elam
from the four corners of the skies.
I will scatter its people everywhere the four winds blow;
its captives will go to every nation.
37 I will terrify Elam in front of their enemies,
who want to destroy them.
I will bring disaster to Elam
and show them how angry I am!” says the Lord.
“I will send a sword to chase Elam
until I have killed them all.
38 I will set up my throne in Elam to show that I am king,
and I will destroy its king and its officers!” says the Lord.
39 “But I will make good things happen to Elam again
in the future,” says the Lord.
A Message to Babylon
50 This is the message the Lord spoke to Babylon and the Babylonian people through Jeremiah the prophet.
2 “Announce this to the nations.
Lift up a banner and tell them.
Speak the whole message and say:
‘Babylon will be captured.
The god Bel will be put to shame,
and the god Marduk will be afraid.
Babylon’s gods will be put to shame,
and her idols will be afraid!’
3 A nation from the north will attack Babylon
and make it like an empty desert.
No one will live there;
both people and animals will run away.”
4 The Lord says, “At that time
the people of Israel and Judah will come together.
They will cry and look for the Lord their God.
5 Those people will ask how to go to Jerusalem
and will start in that direction.
They will come and join themselves to the Lord.
They will make an agreement with him that will last forever,
an agreement that will never be forgotten.
6 “My people have been like lost sheep.
Their leaders have led them in the wrong way
and made them wander around in the mountains and hills.
They forgot where their resting place was.
7 Whoever saw my people hurt them.
And those enemies said, ‘We did nothing wrong.
Those people sinned against the Lord, their true resting place,
the God their fathers trusted.’
8 “Run away from Babylon,
and leave the land of the Babylonians.
Be like the goats that lead the flock.
9 I will soon bring against Babylon
many great nations from the north.
They will take their places for war against it,
and it will be captured by people from the north.
Their arrows are like trained soldiers
who do not return from war with empty hands.
10 The enemy will take all the wealth from the Babylonians.
Those enemy soldiers will get all they want,” says the Lord.
11 “Babylon, you are excited and happy,
because you took my land.
You dance around like a young cow in the grain.
Your laughter is like the neighing of male horses.
12 Your mother will be very ashamed;
the woman who gave birth to you will be disgraced.
Soon Babylonia will be the least important of all the nations.
She will be an empty, dry desert.
13 Because of the Lord’s anger,
no one will live there.
She will be completely empty.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be shocked.
They will shake their heads when they see all her injuries.
14 “Take your positions for war against Babylon,
all you soldiers with bows.
Shoot your arrows at Babylon! Do not save any of them,
because Babylon has sinned against the Lord.
15 Soldiers around Babylon, shout the war cry!
Babylon has surrendered, her towers have fallen,
and her walls have been torn down.
The Lord is giving her people the punishment they deserve.
You nations should give her what she deserves;
do to her what she has done to others.
16 Don’t let the people from Babylon plant their crops
or gather the harvest.
The soldiers treated their captives cruelly.
Now, let everyone go back home.
Let everyone run to his own country.
17 “The people of Israel are like a flock of sheep that are scattered
from being chased by lions.
The first lion to eat them up
was the king of Assyria.
The last lion to crush their bones
was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
18 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.
19 But I will bring the people of Israel back to their own pasture.
They will eat on Mount Carmel and in Bashan.
They will eat and be full
on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.”
20 The Lord says,
“At that time people will try to find Israel’s guilt,
but there will be no guilt.
People will try to find Judah’s sins,
but no sins will be found,
because I will leave a few people alive from Israel and Judah,
and I will forgive their sins.
21 “Attack the land of Merathaim.
Attack the people who live in Pekod.
Chase them, kill them, and completely destroy them.
Do everything I commanded you!” says the Lord.
22 “The noise of battle can be heard all over the country;
it is the noise of much destruction.
23 Babylon was the hammer of the whole earth,
but how broken and shattered that hammer is now.
It is truly the most ruined
of all the nations.
24 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.
25 The Lord has opened up his storeroom
and brought out the weapons of his anger,
because the Lord God All-Powerful has work to do
in the land of the Babylonians.
26 Come against Babylon from far away.
Break open her storehouses of grain.
Pile up her dead bodies like heaps of grain.
Completely destroy Babylon
and do not leave anyone alive.
27 Kill all the young men in Babylon;
let them be killed like animals.
How terrible it will be for them, because the time has come for their defeat;
it is time for them to be punished.
28 Listen to the people running to escape the country of Babylon!
They are telling Jerusalem
how the Lord our God is punishing Babylon as it deserves
for destroying his Temple.
29 “Call for the archers
to come against Babylon.
Tell them to surround the city,
and let no one escape.
Pay her back for what she has done;
do to her what she has done to other nations.
Babylon acted with pride against the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.
30 So her young men will be killed in her streets.
All her soldiers will die on that day,” says the Lord.
31 “Babylon, you are too proud, and I am against you,”
says the Lord God All-Powerful.
“The time has come
for you to be punished.
32 Proud Babylon will stumble and fall,
and no one will help her get up.
I will start a fire in her towns,
and it will burn up everything around her.”
33 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:
“The people of Israel
and Judah are slaves.
The enemy took them as prisoners
and won’t let them go.
34 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.”
35 The Lord says,
“Let a sword kill the people living in Babylon
and her officers and wise men!
36 Let a sword kill her false prophets,
and they will become fools.
Let a sword kill her warriors,
and they will be full of terror.
37 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.
38 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.
39 “Desert animals and hyenas will live there,
and owls will live there,
but no people will ever live there again.
She will never be filled with people again.
40 God completely destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
and the towns around them,” says the Lord.
“In the same way no people will live in Babylon,
and no human being will stay there.
41 “Look! An army is coming from the north.
A powerful nation and many kings
are coming together from all around the world.
42 Their armies have bows and spears.
The soldiers are cruel and have no mercy.
As the soldiers come riding on their horses,
the sound is loud like the roaring sea.
They stand in their places, ready for battle.
They are ready to attack you, city of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon heard about those armies,
and he became helpless with fear.
Distress has gripped him.
His pain is like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.
44 “Like a lion coming up from the thick bushes near the Jordan River
to attack a strong pen for sheep,
I will suddenly chase the people of Babylon from their land.
Who is the one I have chosen to do this?
There is no one like me,
no one who can take me to court.
None of their leaders can stand up against me.”
45 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.
46 At the sound of Babylon’s capture, the earth will shake.
People in all nations will hear Babylon’s cry of distress.
51 This is what the Lord says:
“I will soon cause a destroying wind to blow
against Babylon and the Babylonian people.
2 I will send foreign people to destroy Babylon
like a wind that blows chaff away.
They will destroy the land.
Armies will surround the city
when the day of disaster comes upon her.
3 Don’t let the Babylonian soldiers prepare their bows to shoot.
Don’t even let them put on their armor.
Don’t feel sorry for the young men of Babylon,
but completely destroy her army.
4 They will be killed in the land of the Babylonians
and will die in her streets.
5 The Lord God All-Powerful
did not leave Israel and Judah,
even though they were completely guilty
in the presence of the Holy One of Israel.
6 “Run away from Babylon
and save your lives!
Don’t stay and be killed because of Babylon’s sins.
It is time for the Lord to punish Babylon;
he will give Babylon the punishment she deserves.
7 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.
8 Babylon has suddenly fallen and been broken.
Cry for her!
Get balm for her pain,
and maybe she can be healed.
9 “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.’
10 “The people of Judah say, ‘The Lord has shown us to be right.
Come, let us tell in Jerusalem
what the Lord our God has done.’
11 “Sharpen the arrows!
Pick up your shields!
The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes,
because he wants to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will punish them as they deserve
for destroying his Temple.
12 Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon!
Bring more guards.
Put the watchmen in their places,
and get ready for a secret attack!
The Lord will certainly do what he has planned
and what he said he would do against the people of Babylon.
13 People of Babylon, you live near much water
and are rich with many treasures,
but your end as a nation has come.
It is time to stop you from robbing other nations.
14 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.’
15 “The Lord made the earth by his power.
He used his wisdom to build the world
and his understanding to stretch out the skies.
16 When he thunders, the waters in the skies roar.
He makes clouds rise in the sky all over the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17 “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.
18 They are worth nothing; people make fun of them.
When they are judged, they will be destroyed.
19 But God, who is Jacob’s Portion, is not like the idols.
He made everything,
and he chose Israel to be his special people.
The Lord All-Powerful is his name.
20 “You are my war club,
my battle weapon.
I use you to smash nations.
I use you to destroy kingdoms.
21 I use you to smash horses and riders.
I use you to smash chariots and drivers.
22 I use you to smash men and women.
I use you to smash old people and young people.
I use you to smash young men and young women.
23 I use you to smash shepherds and flocks.
I use you to smash farmers and oxen.
I use you to smash governors and officers.
24 “But I will pay back Babylon and all the Babylonians for all the evil things they did to Jerusalem in your sight,” says the Lord.
25 The Lord says,
“Babylon, you are a destroying mountain,
and I am against you.
You have destroyed the whole land.
I will put my hand out against you.
I will roll you off the cliffs,
and I will make you a burned-out mountain.
26 People will not find any rocks in Babylon big enough for cornerstones.
People will not take any rocks from Babylon to use for the foundation of a building,
because your city will be just a pile of ruins forever,” says the Lord.
27 “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.
28 Get the nations ready for battle against Babylon—
the kings of the Medes,
their governors and all their officers,
and all the countries they rule.
29 The land shakes and moves in pain,
because the Lord will do what he has planned to Babylon.
He will make Babylon an empty desert,
where no one will live.
30 Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting.
They stay in their protected cities.
Their strength is gone,
and they have become like frightened women.
Babylon’s houses are burning.
The bars of her gates are broken.
31 One messenger follows another;
messenger follows messenger.
They announce to the king of Babylon
that his whole city has been captured.
32 The river crossings have been captured,
and the swamplands are burning.
All of Babylon’s soldiers are terribly afraid.”
33 This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says:
“The city of Babylon is like a threshing floor,
where people crush the grain at harvest time.
The time to harvest Babylon is coming soon.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has defeated and destroyed us.
In the past he took our people away,
and we became like an empty jar.
He was like a giant snake that swallowed us.
He filled his stomach with our best things.
Then he spit us out.
35 Babylon did terrible things to hurt us.
Now let those things happen to Babylon,”
say the people of Jerusalem.
“The people of Babylon killed our people.
Now let them be punished for what they did,” says Jerusalem.
36 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.
37 Babylon will become a pile of ruins,
a home for wild dogs.
People will be shocked by what happened there.
No one will live there anymore.
38 Babylon’s people roar like young lions;
they growl like baby lions.
39 While they are stirred up,
I will give a feast for them
and make them drunk.
They will shout and laugh.
And they will sleep forever and never wake up!” says the Lord.
40 “I will take the people of Babylon to be killed.
They will be like lambs,
like sheep and goats waiting to be killed.
41 “How Babylon has been defeated!
The pride of the whole earth has been taken captive.
People from other nations are shocked at what happened to Babylon,
and the things they see make them afraid.
42 The sea has risen over Babylon;
its roaring waves cover her.
43 Babylon’s towns are ruined and empty.
It has become a dry, desert land,
a land where no one lives.
People do not even travel through Babylon.
44 I will punish the god Bel in Babylon.
I will make him spit out what he has swallowed.
Nations will no longer come to Babylon;
even the wall around the city will fall.
45 “Come out of Babylon, my people!
Run for your lives!
Run from the Lord’s great anger.
46 Don’t lose courage;
rumors will spread through the land, but don’t be afraid.
One rumor comes this year, and another comes the next year.
There will be rumors of terrible fighting in the country,
of rulers fighting against rulers.
47 The time will surely come
when I will punish the idols of Babylon,
and the whole land will be disgraced.
There will be many dead people lying all around.
48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will shout for joy about Babylon.
They will shout because the army comes from the north
to destroy Babylon,” says the Lord.
49 “Babylon must fall, because she killed people from Israel.
She killed people from everywhere on earth.
50 You who have escaped being killed with swords,
leave Babylon! Don’t wait!
Remember the Lord in the faraway land
and think about Jerusalem.”
51 “We people of Judah are disgraced,
because we have been insulted.
We have been shamed,
because strangers have gone into
the holy places of the Lord’s Temple!”
52 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.
53 Even if Babylon grows until she touches the sky,
and even if she makes her highest cities strong,
I will send people to destroy her,” says the Lord.
54 “Sounds of people crying are heard in Babylon.
Sounds of people destroying things
are heard in the land of the Babylonians.
55 The Lord is destroying Babylon
and making the loud sounds of the city become silent.
Enemies come roaring in like ocean waves.
The roar of their voices is heard all around.
56 The army has come to destroy Babylon.
Her soldiers have been captured,
and their bows are broken,
because the Lord is a God who punishes people for the evil they do.
He gives them the full punishment they deserve.
57 I will make Babylon’s rulers and wise men drunk,
and her governors, officers, and soldiers, too.
Then they will sleep forever and never wake up,” says the King,
whose name is the Lord All-Powerful.
58 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:
“Babylon’s thick wall will be completely pulled down
and her high gates burned.
The people will work hard, but it won’t help;
their work will only become fuel for the flames!”
A Message to Babylon
59 This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to the officer Seraiah son of Neriah, who was the son of Mahseiah. Seraiah went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year Zedekiah was king of Judah. His duty was to arrange the king’s food and housing on the trip. 60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll all the terrible things that would happen to Babylon, all these words about Babylon. 61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, be sure to read this message so all the people can hear you. 62 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.’ 63 After you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates River. 64 Then say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and will not rise again because of the terrible things I will make happen here. Her people will fall.’”
The words of Jeremiah end here.
The Fall of Jerusalem
52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah,[d] and she was from Libnah. 2 Zedekiah did what the Lord said was wrong, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3 All this happened in Jerusalem and Judah because the Lord was angry with them. Finally, he threw them out of his presence.
Zedekiah turned against the king of Babylon. 4 Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. They made a camp around the city and built devices all around the city walls to attack it. This happened on Zedekiah’s ninth year, tenth month, and tenth day as king. 5 And the city was under attack until Zedekiah’s eleventh year as king.
6 By the ninth day of the fourth month, the hunger was terrible in the city; there was no food for the people to eat. 7 Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army of Judah ran away at night. They left the city through the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden. Even though the Babylonians were surrounding the city, Zedekiah and his men headed toward the Jordan Valley.
8 But the Babylonian army chased King Zedekiah and caught him in the plains of Jericho. All of his army was scattered from him. 9 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. 10 At Riblah the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons as he watched. The king also killed all the officers of Judah. 11 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and put bronze chains on him, and took him to Babylon. And the king kept Zedekiah in prison there until the day he died.
12 Nebuzaradan, commander of the king’s special guards and servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem on the tenth day of the fifth month. This was in Nebuchadnezzar’s nineteenth year as king of Babylon. 13 Nebuzaradan set fire to the Temple of the Lord, the palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem; every important building was burned. 14 The whole Babylonian army, led by the commander of the king’s special guards, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Nebuzaradan, the commander of the king’s special guards, took captive some of the poorest people, those who were left in Jerusalem, those who had surrendered to the king of Babylon, and the skilled craftsmen who were left in Jerusalem. 16 But Nebuzaradan left behind some of the poorest people of the land to take care of the vineyards and fields.
17 The Babylonians broke into pieces the bronze pillars, the bronze stands, and the large bronze bowl, called the Sea, which were in the Temple of the Lord. Then they carried all the bronze pieces to Babylon. 18 They also took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, bowls, dishes, and all the bronze objects used to serve in the Temple. 19 The commander of the king’s special guards took away bowls, pans for carrying hot coals, large bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and bowls used for drink offerings. He took everything that was made of pure gold or silver.
20 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.
21 Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet high, eighteen feet around, and hollow inside. The wall of each pillar was three inches thick. 22 The bronze capital on top of the one pillar was about seven and one-half feet high. It was decorated with a net design and bronze pomegranates all around it. The other pillar also had pomegranates and was like the first pillar. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides of the pillars. There was a total of a hundred pomegranates above the net design.
24 The commander of the king’s special guards took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three doorkeepers. 25 He also took from the city the officer in charge of the soldiers, seven people who advised the king, the royal secretary who selected people for the army, and sixty other men from Judah who were in the city when it fell. 26 Nebuzaradan, the commander, took these people and brought them to the king of Babylon at the town of Riblah. 27 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. 28 This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar took away as captives: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; 29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; 30 in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan, commander of the king’s special guards, took 745 Jews as captives.
In all 4,600 people were taken captive.
Jehoiachin Is Set Free
31 Jehoiachin king of Judah was in prison in Babylon for thirty-seven years. The year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon he let Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison. He set Jehoiachin free on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month. 32 Evil-Merodach spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a seat of honor above the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So Jehoiachin put away his prison clothes, and for the rest of his life, he ate at the king’s table. 34 Every day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin an allowance. This lasted as long as he lived, until the day Jehoiachin died.
Jerusalem Cries over Her Loss
1 Jerusalem once was full of people,
but now the city is empty.
Jerusalem once was a great city among the nations,
but now she[e] is like a widow.
She was like a queen of all the other cities,
but now she is a slave.
2 She cries loudly at night,
and tears are on her cheeks.
There is no one to comfort her;
all who loved her are gone.
All her friends have turned against her
and are now her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into captivity
where she suffers and works hard.
She lives among other nations,
but she has found no rest.
Those who chased her caught her
when she was in trouble.
4 The roads to Jerusalem are sad,
because no one comes for the feasts.
No one passes through her gates.
Her priests groan,
her young women are suffering,
and Jerusalem suffers terribly.
5 Her foes are now her masters.
Her enemies enjoy the wealth they have taken.
The Lord is punishing her
for her many sins.
Her children have gone away
as captives of the enemy.
6 The beauty of Jerusalem
has gone away.
Her rulers are like deer
that cannot find food.
They are weak
and run from the hunters.
7 Jerusalem is suffering and homeless.
She remembers all the good things
from the past.
But her people were defeated by the enemy,
and there was no one to help her.
When her enemies saw her,
they laughed to see her ruined.
8 Jerusalem sinned terribly,
so she has become unclean.
Those who honored her now hate her,
because they have seen her nakedness.
She groans
and turns away.
9 She made herself dirty by her sins
and did not think about what would happen to her.
Her defeat was surprising,
and no one could comfort her.
She says, “Lord, see how I suffer,
because the enemy has won.”
10 The enemy reached out and took
all her precious things.
She even saw foreigners
enter her Temple.
The Lord had commanded foreigners
never to enter the meeting place of his people.
11 All of Jerusalem’s people groan,
looking for bread.
They are trading their precious things for food
so they can stay alive.
The city says, “Look, Lord, and see.
I am hated.”
12 Jerusalem says, “You who pass by on the road don’t seem to care.
Come, look at me and see:
Is there any pain like mine?
Is there any pain like that he has caused me?
The Lord has punished me
on the day of his great anger.
13 “He sent fire from above
that went down into my bones.
He stretched out a net for my feet
and turned me back.
He made me so sad and lonely
that I am weak all day.
14 “He has noticed my sins;
they are tied together by his hands;
they hang around my neck.
He has turned my strength into weakness.
The Lord has handed me over
to those who are stronger than I.
15 “The Lord has rejected
all my mighty men inside my walls.
He brought an army against me
to destroy my young men.
As if in a winepress, the Lord has crushed
the capital city of Judah.
16 “I cry about these things;
my eyes overflow with tears.
There is no one near to comfort me,
no one who can give me strength again.
My children are left sad and lonely,
because the enemy has won.”
17 Jerusalem reaches out her hands,
but there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord commanded the people of Jacob
to be surrounded by their enemies.
Jerusalem is now unclean
like those around her.
18 Jerusalem says, “The Lord is right,
but I refused to obey him.
Listen, all you people,
and look at my pain.
My young women and men
have gone into captivity.
19 “I called out to my friends,
but they turned against me.
My priests and my elders
have died in the city
while looking for food
to stay alive.
20 “Look at me, Lord. I am upset
and greatly troubled.
My heart is troubled,
because I have been so stubborn.
Out in the streets, the sword kills;
inside the houses, death destroys.
21 “People have heard my groaning,
and there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble,
and they are happy you have done this to me.
Now bring that day you have announced
so that my enemies will be like me.
22 “Look at all their evil.
Do to them what you have done to me
because of all my sins.
I groan over and over again,
and I am afraid.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.