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54 The (A)sound of an outcry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon,
And He will make her loud [a]noise vanish from her.
And their (B)waves will roar like many waters;
The tumult of their voices [b]sounds forth.
56 For the (C)destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
And her mighty men will be captured,
Their (D)bows are shattered;
For the Lord is a God of (E)recompense,
He will fully repay.
57 “I will (F)make her princes and her wise men drunk,
Her governors, her prefects and her mighty men,
That they may sleep a (G)perpetual sleep and not wake up,”
(H)Declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
58 Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“The broad (I)wall of Babylon will be completely razed
And her high (J)gates will be set on fire;
So the peoples will (K)toil for nothing,
And the nations become (L)exhausted only for fire.”
59 The [c]message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of (M)Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with (N)Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (Now Seraiah was quartermaster.) 60 So Jeremiah (O)wrote in a single [d]scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon. 61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud, 62 and say, ‘You, O Lord, have [e]promised concerning this place to (P)cut it off, so that there will be (Q)nothing dwelling in it, [f]whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.’ 63 And as soon as you finish reading this [g]scroll, you will tie a stone to it and (R)throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64 and say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and (S)not rise again because of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become (T)exhausted.’” (U)Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
The Fall of Jerusalem
52 (V)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was [h](W)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of (X)Libnah. 2 He did (Y)evil in the sight of the Lord like all that (Z)Jehoiakim had done. 3 For through the (AA)anger of the Lord this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah (AB)rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 (AC)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 (AD)siege wall all around [i]it. 5 (AE)So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6 On the ninth day of the (AF)fourth month the (AG)famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then the city was (AH)broken into, and all the (AI)men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were [j](AJ)all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. 8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and (AK)overtook Zedekiah in the [k]plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 9 Then they captured the king and (AL)brought him up to the king of Babylon at (AM)Riblah in the land of (AN)Hamath, and he [l]passed sentence on him. 10 The king of Babylon (AO)slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the [m]princes of Judah in Riblah. 11 Then he (AP)blinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.
12 (AQ)Now on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the (AR)nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, (AS)Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, [n]who was in the service of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13 He (AT)burned the house of the Lord, the (AU)king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every large house he burned with fire. 14 So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard (AV)broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard (AW)carried away into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, the [o](AX)deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the artisans. 16 But (AY)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and [p]plowmen.
17 Now the bronze (AZ)pillars which belonged to the house of the Lord and the (BA)stands and the bronze (BB)sea, which were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took away the (BC)pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the [q]pans and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service. 19 The captain of the guard also took away the (BD)bowls, the firepans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the [r]pans and the drink offering bowls, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. 20 The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under [s]the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—the bronze of all these vessels was (BE)beyond weight. 21 As for the pillars, the (BF)height of each pillar was eighteen [t]cubits, and [u]it was twelve cubits in (BG)circumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow. 22 Now a (BH)capital of bronze was on it; and the height of each capital was five cubits, with network and (BI)pomegranates upon the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates. 23 There were ninety-six [v]exposed pomegranates; all (BJ)the pomegranates numbered a hundred on the network all around.
24 Then the captain of the guard took (BK)Seraiah the chief priest and (BL)Zephaniah the second priest, with the three [w](BM)officers of the temple. 25 He also took from the city one official who was overseer of the men of war, and seven [x]of the (BN)king’s advisers who were found in the city, and the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. 26 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and (BO)brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 Then the king of Babylon (BP)struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was (BQ)led away into exile from its land.
28 These are the people whom (BR)Nebuchadnezzar carried away into exile: in the [y]seventh year 3,023 Jews; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, (BS)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 persons in all.
31 (BT)Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, that [z]Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, [aa](BU)showed favor to Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. 32 (BV)Then he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So [ab]Jehoiachin (BW)changed his prison clothes, and [ac](BX)had his meals in [ad]the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life. 34 For his allowance, a (BY)regular allowance was given him by the king of Babylon, a daily portion all the days of his life until the day of his death.
Godly Living
3 (A)Remind them (B)to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be (C)ready for every good deed, 2 to malign no one, (D)to be peaceable, (E)gentle, (F)showing every consideration for all men. 3 (G)For we also once were foolish ourselves, (H)disobedient, (I)deceived, (J)enslaved to (K)various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in (L)malice and (M)envy, hateful, hating one another. 4 But when the (N)kindness of (O)God our Savior and His love for mankind (P)appeared, 5 (Q)He saved us, (R)not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but (S)according to His mercy, by the (T)washing of regeneration and (U)renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 (V)whom He poured out upon us (W)richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made (X)heirs [a]according to the hope of eternal life. 8 (Y)This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I (Z)want you to speak confidently, so that those who have (AA)believed God will be careful to (AB)engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. 9 But (AC)avoid (AD)foolish controversies and (AE)genealogies and strife and (AF)disputes about the Law, for they are (AG)unprofitable and worthless. 10 (AH)Reject a (AI)factious man (AJ)after a first and second warning, 11 knowing that such a man is (AK)perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.
Personal Concerns
12 When I send Artemas or (AL)Tychicus to you, (AM)make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to (AN)spend the winter there. 13 Diligently help Zenas the (AO)lawyer and (AP)Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them. 14 (AQ)Our people must also learn to (AR)engage in good [b]deeds to meet (AS)pressing needs, so that they will not be (AT)unfruitful.
15 (AU)All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us (AV)in the faith.
(AW)Grace be with you all.
All Men Exhorted to Praise God.
A Psalm for [a]Thanksgiving.
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