50THE WORD that the Lord spoke concerning {and} against Babylon and concerning {and} against the land of the Chaldeans through Jeremiah the prophet:H1697H3068H1696H894H776H3778H3027H3414H50302Declare it among the nations and publish it and set up a signal [to spread the news]--publish and conceal it not; say, Babylon has been taken; Bel [the patron god] is put to shame, Merodach (Bel) is dismayed {and} broken down. [Babylon's] images are put to shame, her [senseless] idols are thrown down!H5046H1471H8085H5375H5251H8085H3582H559H894H3920H1078H3001H4781H2865H6091H3001H1544H28653For out of the north there has come up a nation [Media] against her which will make her land desolate, and none will dwell there. They will have fled, they will be gone--from man even to beast.H6828H5927H1471H7896H776H8047H3427H5110H1980H120H9294In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall come up weeping as they come and seek the Lord their God [inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him, both by right of necessity and of the promises of God's Word].H3117H6256H5002H3068H1121H3478H935H1121H3063H3162H1980H1058H3212H1245H3068H4305They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces in that direction, saying, Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.H7592H1870H6726H6440H2008H935H3867H3068H5769H1285H79116My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray [to favorite places of idolatry] on mountains [that seduce]. They have gone from [one sin to another] mountain to hill; they have forgotten their [own] resting-place.H5971H6H6629H7462H8582H7725H7726H2022H1980H2022H1389H7911H72587All who found them devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the Lord [and are no longer holy to Him], their true habitation of righteousness {and} justice, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.H4672H398H6862H559H816H2398H3068H5116H6664H3068H4723H18Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans; and be as the he-goats [who serve as examples and as leaders in the flight] before the flocks.H5110H8432H894H3318H3318H776H3778H6260H6440H66299For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country. They will equip {and} set themselves against her; from there she will be taken. Their arrows will be like [both] an expert, mighty warrior {and} like his arrows--none [of them] will return in vain.H5782H5927H894H6951H1419H1471H6828H776H6186H3920H2671H1368H7919H7921H7725H738710And Chaldea shall become plunder; all who plunder her shall be satisfied, says the Lord.H3778H7998H7997H7646H5002H306811Though you are glad, though you rejoice, O you who plunder My heritage, though you are wanton {and} skip about like a heifer at grass and neigh like strong stallions,H8055H5937H8154H5159H6335H5697H1877H1758H6670H4712Your mother [Babylon] shall be put to great shame; she who bore you shall blush {and} be disgraced. Behold, she shall be at the rear of the nations [least of the nations]--a wilderness, waste, and desert.H517H3966H954H3205H2659H319H1471H4057H6723H616013Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited but shall be wholly desolate; everyone who goes by Babylon shall be appalled and hiss {and} mock at all her wounds {and} plagues.H7110H3068H3427H8077H5674H894H8074H8319H434714Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all you archers. Shoot at her! Spare not the arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord.H6186H894H5439H1869H7198H3034H2550H2671H2398H306815Raise the battle cry against her round about! She gives her hand [in agreement] {and} surrenders; her supports {and} battlements fall, her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance on her; as she has done [to others], do to her.H7321H5439H5414H3027H803H5307H2346H2040H5360H3068H5358H6213H621316Exterminate the sower from Babylon, and the one who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the sword of the oppressor everyone shall return to his people, and everyone shall flee to his own land.H3772H2232H894H8610H4038H6256H7105H6440H3238H2719H6437H376H5971H5127H376H77617Israel is a hunted {and} scattered sheep [driven hither and thither and preyed upon by savage beasts]; the lions have chased him. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has broken {and} gnawed his bones.H3478H6340H7716H738H5080H7223H4428H804H398H314H5019H4428H894H610518Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will visit {and} punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I visited {and} punished the king of Assyria.H559H3068H6635H430H3478H6485H4428H894H776H6485H4428H80419And I will bring Israel [home] again to his fold {and} pasturage, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan [in the most fertile districts both west and east], and his soul will be satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.H7725H3478H7725H5116H7462H3760H1316H5315H7646H2022H669H156820In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel will be sought, but there will be none, and the sins of Judah [will be sought], but none will be found, for I will pardon those whom I cause to remain as a remnant (the preserved ones who come forth after a long tribulation).H3117H6256H5002H3068H5771H3478H1245H2403H3063H4672H5545H760421Go up against [Babylon] the land of Merathaim [two rebellions, double or intense defiance], even against it and against the inhabitants of Pekod [visitation and punishment]. Slay and utterly destroy them, says the Lord, and do according to all that I have commanded you.H5927H776H4850H3427H6489H2717H2763H310H5002H3068H6213H668022The cry {and} noise of battle is in the land, and [the noise] of great destruction.H6963H4421H776H1419H766723How the hammer of the whole earth is crushed and broken! How Babylon has become a horror of desolation among the nations!H6360H776H1438H7665H894H8047H147124I set a trap for you, and you also were taken, O Babylon, and you did not know it; you were found and also caught because you have struggled {and} contended against the Lord.H3369H3920H894H3045H4672H8610H1624H306825The Lord has opened His armory and has brought forth [the nations who unknowingly are] the weapons of His indignation {and} wrath, for the Lord God of hosts has work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.H3068H6605H214H3318H3627H2195H4399H136H3069H6635H776H377826Come against her from every quarter {and} from the utmost border. Open her granaries {and} storehouses; pile up [their contents] like heaps of rubbish. Burn {and} destroy her utterly; let nothing be left of her.H935H7093H6605H3965H5549H6194H2763H761127Slay all her bullocks (her choice youths, the strength of her army); let them go down to the slaughter! Woe to [the Chaldeans]! For their day has come, the time of their visitation (their inspection and punishment).H2717H6499H3381H2874H1945H3117H935H6256H648628Listen! The voice of those [Jews] who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon proclaiming in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance [of the Lord upon the Chaldeans] for [the plundering and destruction of] His temple.H6963H5127H6405H776H894H5046H6726H5360H3068H430H5360H196429Call together [many] archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp against her round about; let none from there escape. Recompense her according to her deeds; just as she has done, do to her. For against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel, has she been proudly defiant {and} presumptuous.H8085H7228H894H1869H7198H2583H5439H6413H7999H6467H6213H6213H2102H3068H6918H347830Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets {and} squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, says the Lord.H970H5307H7339H582H4421H1826H3117H5002H306831Behold, I am against you, O Babylon [you who are pride and presumption personified], says the Lord, the Lord of hosts, for your day has come, the time when I will visit {and} punish you.H2087H5002H136H3069H6635H3117H935H6256H648532And Pride (the arrogant one) shall stumble (totter) and fall, and none shall raise him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are round about him.H2087H3782H5307H6965H3341H784H5892H398H543933Thus says the Lord of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; all who took them captive have held them fast; they refuse to let them go.H559H3068H6635H1121H3478H1121H3063H6231H3162H7617H2388H3985H797134Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is His name. He will surely {and} thoroughly plead their case {and} defend their cause, that He may give rest to [the land of Israel and to the Babylonian-enslaved nations of] the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.H1350H2389H3068H6635H8034H7378H7378H7379H7280H776H7264H3427H89435A sword upon the Chaldeans, says the Lord--upon the inhabitants of Babylon and upon her princes (rulers in civic matters) and upon her wise men (the astrologers and rulers in religious affairs)!H2719H3778H5002H3068H3427H894H8269H245036A sword upon the babbling liars (the diviners), that they may become fools! A sword upon her mighty warriors, that they may be dismayed {and} destroyed!H2719H907H2973H2719H1368H286537A sword upon their horses and upon their chariots and upon all the mixed foreign troops that are in the midst of her, that they may become [as weak and defenseless as] women! A sword upon her treasures, that they may be plundered!H2719H5483H7393H6153H8432H802H2719H214H96238A sword {and} a drought upon her waters, that they may be dried up! For it is a land of images, and they are mad over idols (objects of terror in which they foolishly trust).H2721H4325H3001H776H6456H1984H36739Therefore wild beasts of the desert shall dwell [in Babylon] with the jackals, and ostriches shall dwell there. And it shall never again be inhabited with people, even from generation to generation.H6728H338H3427H1323H3284H3427H3427H5331H7931H1755H175540As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, says the Lord, so no man shall dwell there; neither shall any son of man live there temporarily.H430H4114H5467H6017H7934H5002H3068H376H3427H1121H120H148141Behold, a people is coming from the north; and a great nation and many kings are stirring from the uttermost parts of the earth.H5971H935H6828H1419H1471H7227H4428H5782H3411H77642They lay hold of bow, lance, {and} spear; they are cruel {and} have no mercy {or} compassion. They sound like the roaring of the sea; they ride upon horses, every man equipped like a man [ready] for the battle against you, O Daughter of Babylon!H2388H7198H3591H394H7355H6963H1993H3220H7392H5483H6186H376H4421H1323H89443The king of Babylon has heard the news about them, and his hands fall feeble {and} helpless; anguish has seized him, and pangs like that of a woman in childbirth.H4428H894H8085H8088H3027H7503H6869H2388H2427H320544See, there comes up one like a lion from the jungles (the pride) of the Jordan against the strong habitation [of Babylon] {and} into the permanent pasturage {and} sheepfold; for in a twinkling I will drive him [Babylon] from there. And I will appoint over him the one whom I choose. For who is like Me? And who will challenge Me {and} prosecute Me for this proceeding? And what [earthly, national] shepherd can stand before Me {and} defy Me?H5927H738H1347H3383H5116H386H7323H7280H7323H7323H977H6485H3259H7462H5975H644045Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has made against Babylon, and His purposes which He has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall be dragged away, even the little ones of the flock; surely He shall make their habitation desolate because of them {and} their fold amazed {and} appalled at their fate.H8085H6098H3068H3289H894H4284H2803H776H3778H6810H6629H5498H5116H807446At the cry, Babylon has been taken! the earth shall tremble, and the cry shall be heard among the nations.H6963H8610H894H776H7493H2201H8085H1471
Dublin, OH
