Sermon Central
Jeremiah 46-51
A Message About Egypt 1This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations:
2Concerning Egypt: This is the message against the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
3“Prepare your shields, both large and small, and march out for battle!
4Harness the horses, mount the steeds! Take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears, put on your armor!
5What do I see? They are terrified, they are retreating, their warriors are defeated. They flee in haste without looking back, and there is terror on every side,” declares the LORD .
6“The swift cannot flee nor the strong escape. In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall.
7“Who is this that rises like the Nile, like rivers of surging waters?
8Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers of surging waters. She says, ‘I will rise and cover the earth; I will destroy cities and their people.’
9Charge, you horses! Drive furiously, you charioteers! March on, you warriors—men of Cush
10But that day belongs to the Lord, the LORD Almighty— a day of vengeance, for vengeance on his foes. The sword will devour till it is satisfied, till it has quenched its thirst with blood. For the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will offer sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.
11“Go up to Gilead and get balm, Virgin Daughter Egypt. But you try many medicines in vain; there is no healing for you.
12The nations will hear of your shame; your cries will fill the earth. One warrior will stumble over another; both will fall down together.”
13This is the message the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to attack Egypt:
14“Announce this in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it also in Memphis and Tahpanhes: ‘Take your positions and get ready, for the sword devours those around you.’
15Why will your warriors be laid low? They cannot stand, for the LORD will push them down.
16They will stumble repeatedly; they will fall over each other. They will say, ‘Get up, let us go back to our own people and our native lands, away from the sword of the oppressor.’
17There they will exclaim, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise; he has missed his opportunity.’
18“As surely as I live,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty, “one will come who is like Tabor among the mountains, like Carmel by the sea.
19Pack your belongings for exile, you who live in Egypt, for Memphis will be laid waste and lie in ruins without inhabitant.
20“Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly is coming against her from the north.
21The mercenaries in her ranks are like fattened calves. They too will turn and flee together, they will not stand their ground, for the day of disaster is coming upon them, the time for them to be punished.
22Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent as the enemy advances in force; they will come against her with axes, like men who cut down trees.
23They will chop down her forest,” declares the LORD, “dense though it be. They are more numerous than locusts, they cannot be counted.
24Daughter Egypt will be put to shame, given into the hands of the people of the north.” 25The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to bring punishment on Amon god of Thebes, on Pharaoh, on Egypt and her gods and her kings, and on those who rely on Pharaoh.
26I will give them into the hands of those who want to kill them—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Later, however, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past,” declares the LORD .
27“Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel. I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. 28Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, for I am with you,” declares the LORD . “Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only in due measure; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”
A Message About the Philistines 1This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza:
2This is what the LORD says: “See how the waters are rising in the north; they will become an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and everything in it, the towns and those who live in them. The people will cry out; all who dwell in the land will wail
3at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds, at the noise of enemy chariots and the rumble of their wheels. Parents will not turn to help their children; their hands will hang limp.
4For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines and to remove all survivors who could help Tyre and Sidon. The LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.
5Gaza will shave her head in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. You remnant on the plain, how long will you cut yourselves?
6“ ‘Alas, sword of the LORD, how long till you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still.’ 7But how can it rest when the LORD has commanded it, when he has ordered it to attack Ashkelon and the coast?”
A Message About Moab
1Concerning Moab: This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured; the stronghold
2Moab will be praised no more; in Heshbon
3Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim, cries of great havoc and destruction.
4Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out.
5They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping bitterly as they go; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard.
6Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush
7Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials.
8The destroyer will come against every town, and not a town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, because the LORD has spoken.
9Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste
10“A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the LORD ’s work! A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed!
11“Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another— she has not gone into exile. So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged.
12But days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will send men who pour from pitchers, and they will pour her out; they will empty her pitchers and smash her jars.
13Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.
14“How can you say, ‘We are warriors, men valiant in battle’?
15Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded; her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.
16“The fall of Moab is at hand; her calamity will come quickly.
17Mourn for her, all who live around her, all who know her fame; say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter, how broken the glorious staff!’
18“Come down from your glory and sit on the parched ground, you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon, for the one who destroys Moab will come up against you and ruin your fortified cities.
19Stand by the road and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping, ask them, ‘What has happened?’
20Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered. Wail and cry out! Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.
21Judgment has come to the plateau— to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath,
22to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,
23to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,
24to Kerioth and Bozrah— to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
25Moab’s horn
26“Make her drunk, for she has defied the LORD . Let Moab wallow in her vomit; let her be an object of ridicule.
27Was not Israel the object of your ridicule? Was she caught among thieves, that you shake your head in scorn whenever you speak of her?
28Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks, you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave.
29“We have heard of Moab’s pride— how great is her arrogance!— of her insolence, her pride, her conceit and the haughtiness of her heart.
30I know her insolence but it is futile,” declares the LORD, “and her boasts accomplish nothing.
31Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.
32I weep for you, as Jazer weeps, you vines of Sibmah. Your branches spread as far as the sea
33Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy.
34“The sound of their cry rises from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz, from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
35In Moab I will put an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods,” declares the LORD .
36“So my heart laments for Moab like the music of a pipe; it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they acquired is gone.
37Every head is shaved and every beard cut off; every hand is slashed and every waist is covered with sackcloth.
38On all the roofs in Moab and in the public squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants,” declares the LORD .
39“How shattered she is! How they wail! How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her.”
40This is what the LORD says: “Look! An eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab.
41Kerioth
42Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the LORD .
43Terror and pit and snare await you, you people of Moab,” declares the LORD .
44“Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare; for I will bring on Moab the year of her punishment,” declares the LORD .
45“In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stand helpless, for a fire has gone out from Heshbon, a blaze from the midst of Sihon; it burns the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of the noisy boasters.
46Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh are destroyed; your sons are taken into exile and your daughters into captivity. 47“Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come,” declares the LORD . Here ends the judgment on Moab.
A Message About Ammon
1Concerning the Ammonites: This is what the LORD says: “Has Israel no sons? Has Israel no heir? Why then has Molek
2But the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites; it will become a mound of ruins, and its surrounding villages will be set on fire. Then Israel will drive out those who drove her out,” says the LORD .
3“Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed! Cry out, you inhabitants of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth and mourn; rush here and there inside the walls, for Molek will go into exile, together with his priests and officials.
4Why do you boast of your valleys, boast of your valleys so fruitful? Unfaithful Daughter Ammon, you trust in your riches and say, ‘Who will attack me?’
5I will bring terror on you from all those around you,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty. “Every one of you will be driven away, and no one will gather the fugitives.
6“Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites,” declares the LORD .
A Message About Edom 7Concerning Edom: This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?
8Turn and flee, hide in deep caves, you who live in Dedan, for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time when I punish him.
9If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes? If thieves came during the night, would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
10But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his hiding places, so that he cannot conceal himself. His armed men are destroyed, also his allies and neighbors, so there is no one to say,
11‘Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive. Your widows too can depend on me.’ ” 12This is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, why should you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must drink it.
13I swear by myself,” declares the LORD, “that Bozrah will become a ruin and a curse,
14I have heard a message from the LORD ; an envoy was sent to the nations to say, “Assemble yourselves to attack it! Rise up for battle!”
15“Now I will make you small among the nations, despised by mankind.
16The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks, who occupy the heights of the hill. Though you build your nest as high as the eagle’s, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD .
17“Edom will become an object of horror; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds.
18As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown, along with their neighboring towns,” says the LORD, “so no one will live there; no people will dwell in it.
19“Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Edom from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?”
20Therefore, hear what the LORD has planned against Edom, what he has purposed against those who live in Teman: The young of the flock will be dragged away; their pasture will be appalled at their fate.
21At the sound of their fall the earth will tremble; their cry will resound to the Red Sea.
22Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
A Message About Damascus
23Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are dismayed, for they have heard bad news. They are disheartened, troubled like
24Damascus has become feeble, she has turned to flee and panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her, pain like that of a woman in labor.
25Why has the city of renown not been abandoned, the town in which I delight?
26Surely, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,” declares the LORD Almighty.
27“I will set fire to the walls of Damascus; it will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.”
A Message About Kedar and Hazor 28Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked: This is what the LORD says: “Arise, and attack Kedar and destroy the people of the East.
29Their tents and their flocks will be taken; their shelters will be carried off with all their goods and camels. People will shout to them, ‘Terror on every side!’
30“Flee quickly away! Stay in deep caves, you who live in Hazor,” declares the LORD . “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has plotted against you; he has devised a plan against you.
31“Arise and attack a nation at ease, which lives in confidence,” declares the LORD, “a nation that has neither gates nor bars; its people live far from danger.
32Their camels will become plunder, and their large herds will be spoils of war. I will scatter to the winds those who are in distant places
33“Hazor will become a haunt of jackals, a desolate place forever. No one will live there; no people will dwell in it.”
A Message About Elam 34This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah:
35This is what the LORD Almighty says: “See, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might.
36I will bring against Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven; I will scatter them to the four winds, and there will not be a nation where Elam’s exiles do not go.
37I will shatter Elam before their foes, before those who want to kill them; I will bring disaster on them, even my fierce anger,” declares the LORD . “I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them.
38I will set my throne in Elam and destroy her king and officials,” declares the LORD . 39“Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam in days to come,” declares the LORD .
A Message About Babylon
1This is the word the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians
2“Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back, but say, ‘Babylon will be captured; Bel will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror. Her images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror.’
3A nation from the north will attack her and lay waste her land. No one will live in it; both people and animals will flee away.
4“In those days, at that time,” declares the LORD, “the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the LORD their God.
5They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.
6“My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place.
7Whoever found them devoured them; their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they sinned against the LORD, their verdant pasture, the LORD, the hope of their ancestors.’
8“Flee out of Babylon; leave the land of the Babylonians, and be like the goats that lead the flock.
9For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north. They will take up their positions against her, and from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.
10So Babylonia
11“Because you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my inheritance, because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain and neigh like stallions,
12your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who gave you birth will be disgraced. She will be the least of the nations— a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.
13Because of the LORD ’s anger she will not be inhabited but will be completely desolate. All who pass Babylon will be appalled; they will scoff because of all her wounds.
14“Take up your positions around Babylon, all you who draw the bow. Shoot at her! Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD .
15Shout against her on every side! She surrenders, her towers fall, her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done to others.
16Cut off from Babylon the sower, and the reaper with his sickle at harvest. Because of the sword of the oppressor let everyone return to their own people, let everyone flee to their own land.
17“Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria; the last to crush their bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
18Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.
19But I will bring Israel back to their own pasture, and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan; their appetite will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20In those days, at that time,” declares the LORD, “search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare.
21“Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy
22The noise of battle is in the land, the noise of great destruction!
23How broken and shattered is the hammer of the whole earth! How desolate is Babylon among the nations!
24I set a trap for you, Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it; you were found and captured because you opposed the LORD .
25The LORD has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Sovereign LORD Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians.
26Come against her from afar. Break open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain. Completely destroy her and leave her no remnant.
27Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter! Woe to them! For their day has come, the time for them to be punished.
28Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the LORD our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for his temple.
29“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
30Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,” declares the LORD .
31“See, I am against you, you arrogant one,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty, “for your day has come, the time for you to be punished.
32The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her.”
33This is what the LORD Almighty says: “The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go.
34Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.
35“A sword against the Babylonians!” declares the LORD — “against those who live in Babylon and against her officials and wise men!
36A sword against her false prophets! They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror.
37A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks! They will become weaklings. A sword against her treasures! They will be plundered.
38A drought on
39“So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.
40As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns,” declares the LORD, “so no one will live there; no people will dwell in it.
41“Look! An army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth.
42They are armed with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, Daughter Babylon.
43The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor.
44Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?”
45Therefore, hear what the LORD has planned against Babylon, what he has purposed against the land of the Babylonians: The young of the flock will be dragged away; their pasture will be appalled at their fate. 46At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble; its cry will resound among the nations.
1This is what the LORD says: “See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai.
2I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and to devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster.
3Let not the archer string his bow, nor let him put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy
4They will fall down slain in Babylon,
5For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD Almighty, though their land
6“Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the LORD ’s vengeance; he will repay her what she deserves.
7Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD ’s hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad.
8Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.
9“ ‘We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens.’
10“ ‘The LORD has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has done.’
11“Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The LORD will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple.
12Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon! Reinforce the guard, station the watchmen, prepare an ambush! The LORD will carry out his purpose, his decree against the people of Babylon.
13You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be destroyed.
14The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself: I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.
15“He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
16When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17“Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them.
18They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.
19He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the people of his inheritance— the LORD Almighty is his name.
20“You are my war club, my weapon for battle— with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms,
21with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver,
22with you I shatter man and woman, with you I shatter old man and youth, with you I shatter young man and young woman,
23with you I shatter shepherd and flock, with you I shatter farmer and oxen, with you I shatter governors and officials.
24“Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia
25“I am against you, you destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth,” declares the LORD . “I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain.
26No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone, nor any stone for a foundation, for you will be desolate forever,” declares the LORD .
27“Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts.
28Prepare the nations for battle against her— the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the countries they rule.
29The land trembles and writhes, for the LORD ’s purposes against Babylon stand— to lay waste the land of Babylon so that no one will live there.
30Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting; they remain in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become weaklings. Her dwellings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken.
31One courier follows another and messenger follows messenger to announce to the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured,
32the river crossings seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers terrified.”
33This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; the time to harvest her will soon come.”
34“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us, he has thrown us into confusion, he has made us an empty jar. Like a serpent he has swallowed us and filled his stomach with our delicacies, and then has spewed us out.
35May the violence done to our flesh
36Therefore this is what the LORD says: “See, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.
37Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives.
38Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion cubs.
39But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout with laughter— then sleep forever and not awake,” declares the LORD .
40“I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats.
41“How Sheshak
42The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her.
43Her towns will be desolate, a dry and desert land, a land where no one lives, through which no one travels.
44I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him spew out what he has swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him. And the wall of Babylon will fall.
45“Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the LORD .
46Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler.
47For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her.
48Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her,” declares the LORD .
49“Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.
50You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember the LORD in a distant land, and call to mind Jerusalem.”
51“We are disgraced, for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD ’s house.”
52“But days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan.
53Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her,” declares the LORD .
54“The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.
55The LORD will destroy Babylon; he will silence her noisy din. Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound.
56A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the LORD is a God of retribution; he will repay in full.
57I will make her officials and wise men drunk, her governors, officers and warriors as well; they will sleep forever and not awake,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.
58This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Babylon’s thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing, the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.” 59This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. 60Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. 61He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62Then say, ‘ LORD, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.’ 63When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. 64Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.’ ” The words of Jeremiah end here.