Jeremiah 50

50^*The word that the Lord spake ^aagainst Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans ^†by Jeremiah the prophet.

²Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and ^†bset up a standard;

Publish, and conceal not:

Say, ^cBabylon is taken, ^dBel is confounded, ^eMerodach is broken in pieces;

^fHer idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.

³For ^gout of the north there cometh up a nation against her,

^hWhich shall make her land desolate,

And ⁱnone shall dwell therein:

They shall remove, they shall depart, ^kboth man and beast.

⁴In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord,

The children of Israel shall come,

^lThey and the children of Judah together,

^mGoing and weeping: they shall go,

And ⁿseek the Lord their God.

^5oThey shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, ^psaying,

Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord

In ^qa perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

^6rMy people hath been ^slost sheep:

Their shepherds have caused them to go astray, ^tthey have turned them away ^uon the mountains:

^uThey have gone from mountain to hill,

They have forgotten their ^†vrestingplace.

⁷All that found them ^whave devoured them:

And ^xtheir adversaries said, ^yWe offend not,

Because they have sinned against the Lord, ^zthe habitation of justice,

Even the Lord, ^athe hope of their fathers.

^8bRemove ^cout of the midst of Babylon,

And ^cgo forth out of the land of the Chaldeans,

And be as ^dthe he goats before the flocks.

⁹For, lo, ^eI will raise and cause to come up against Babylon

^fAn assembly of great nations ^fgfrom the north country:

And ^hthey shall set themselves in array against her;

From thence she shall be taken:

ⁱTheir arrows shall be as ^kof a mighty ^||lexpert man;

^mNone shall return in vain.

¹⁰And Chaldea shall be a spoil:

All that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord.

¹¹ⁿBecause ye were glad, because ye rejoiced,

O ye destroyers of ^omine heritage,

Because ye are grown ^†fat ^pas the heifer ^qat grass,

And ^||bellow as ^tbulls;

¹²Your mother shall be sore confounded;

She that bare you shall be ashamed:

Behold, the hindermost of the nations

Shall be ^ua wilderness, ^ua dry land, and ^ua desert.

¹³Because of the wrath of the Lord ^vit shall not be inhabited,

^wBut it shall be wholly desolate: ^xevery one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished,

^xAnd hiss at all her plagues.

^14yPut yourselves in array against Babylon ^zround about:

^aAll ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows:

For ^bshe hath sinned against the Lord.

^15cShout against her ^zround about:

^dShe hath given her hand:

^ddHer foundations are fallen, ^eher walls are thrown down:

^fFor it is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance upon her;

^gAs she hath done, do unto her.

¹⁶Cut off the sower from Babylon,

And him that handleth the ^||hsickle in the time of harvest:

ⁱFor fear of the oppressing sword

^kThey shall turn every one to his people,

And ^kthey shall flee every one to his own land.

¹⁷Israel is ^la scattered sheep;

^mThe lions have driven him away:

ⁿFirst the king of Assyria ⁿⁿhath devoured him;

And ^olast this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon ^oohath broken his bones.

¹⁸Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel;

Behold, I will ^ppunish the king of Babylon and his land,

^qAs I have ^ppunished the king of Assyria.

¹⁹And ^rI will bring Israel again to his habitation,

And ^rhe shall feed on ^stCarmel and ^suBashan,

And his soul shall be satisfied upon ^vmount Ephraim and ^swGilead.

²⁰In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord,

^xzThe iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, ^yand there shall be none;

And the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found:

For ^zI will pardon them ^awhom I reserve.

²¹Go up against the land ^||of ^bMerathaim, even against it,

And against the inhabitants of ^||bcPekod:

Waste and ^dutterly destroy after them, saith the Lord,

And do ^eaccording to all that I have commanded thee.

^22fA sound of battle is in the land,

And of great destruction.

²³How is ^gthe hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken!

^hHow is Babylon ⁱbecome a desolation among the nations!

^24kI have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,

And ^lthou wast not aware:

Thou art found, and also caught,

Because thou hast ^mstriven against the Lord.

²⁵The Lord hath opened his armoury,

And hath brought forth ⁿthe weapons of his indignation:

For this is the work of the Lord God of hosts

In the land of the Chaldeans.

²⁶Come against her ^†from the utmost border,

Open her storehouses:

^||oCast her up as ^pheaps, and ^ddestroy her utterly:

^ppLet nothing of her be left.

²⁷Slay all her ^qbullocks; ^qqlet them go down to the slaughter:

Woe unto them! for ^rtheir day is come,

^sThe time of their visitation.

²⁸The voice of ^tthem that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon,

To ^ttdeclare in Zion ^uvthe vengeance of the Lord our God,

^uThe vengeance of ^whis temple.

²⁹Call together ^xthe archers against Babylon:

^yAll ye that bend the bow, camp against it ^yround about;

^ppLet none thereof escape:

^zRecompense her according to her work;

According to all that she hath done, do unto her:

^aFor she hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.

^30bTherefore shall her young men fall in the streets,

^bAnd all her men of war ^cshall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord.

³¹Behold, I am against thee, O thou ^†most proud,

Saith the Lord God of hosts:

^dFor thy day is come, ^dethe time that I will visit thee.

³²And ^†the most proud shall stumble and fall,

And none shall raise him up:

^fAnd ^gI will kindle a fire in his cities,

^fAnd it shall devour all round about him.

³³Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

^hThe children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together:

And all that took them captives held them fast;

ⁱThey refused to let them go.

^34jTheir Redeemer is ^kstrong;

^lThe Lord of hosts is his name:

^mHe shall throughly plead their cause,

That he may give rest to the land,

And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord,

And upon the inhabitants of Babylon,

And ^noupon her princes, and upon ^opher wise men.

³⁶A sword is upon the ^||†qliars; and they shall ^rdote:

A sword is upon ^oher mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.

³⁷A sword is upon ^stheir horses, and upon ^stheir chariots,

And upon all ^tthe mingled people that are in the midst of her;

And ^uthey shall become as women:

A sword is upon ^vher treasures; and they shall be robbed.

³⁸A ^wdrought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up:

For it is the land of ^xgraven images,

And ^ythey are mad upon their idols.

³⁹Therefore ^zthe wild beasts of the desert

With ^zthe wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there,

And ^zthe owls shall dwell therein:

And it ^ashall be no more inhabited for ever;

^aNeither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.

^40bAs God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah

^bAnd the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord;

^bSo shall no man abide there,

Neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

^41cBehold, a people shall come ^dfrom the north,

And ^ea great nation, and many kings

Shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

⁴²They shall hold the bow and the lance:

They are cruel, and will not shew mercy:

Their voice shall roar like the sea,

And they shall ride upon horses,

Every one put in array, like a man to the battle,

Against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

⁴³The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them,

And his hands waxed feeble:

^fAnguish took hold of him,

And pangs as of a woman in travail.

^44gBehold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan

Unto the habitation of the strong:

But I will make them suddenly run away from her:

And who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her?

For who is like me? and who will ^||appoint me the time?

And who is ^hthat shepherd that will stand before me?

⁴⁵Therefore hear ye ⁱthe counsel of the Lord,

That he hath taken against Babylon;

And ⁱhis purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans:

Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out:

Surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.

^46kAt the noise of the taking of Babylon ^lthe earth is moved,

And ^mthe cry is heard among the nations.