Amplified Bible (AMP)

Prophecy against Ammon

1 Concerning thesons (descendants) of Ammon.

Thus says the Lord:

“Does Israel have no sons [to reclaim Gad from the Ammonites]?

Has he no heir?

Why then hasMalcam taken possession of Gad

And [why do] his people live in the cities [of Gad]?

2 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,

“When I will cause an alarm of war to be heard

Against Rabbah of the Ammonites;

And it [along with the high ground on which it stands] will become a desolate heap,

And its villages will be set on fire.

Then will Israel take possession of his possessors,”

Says the Lord.

3 “Wail, OHeshbon, for Ai [in Ammon] has been destroyed!

Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!

Wrap yourselves with sackcloth and lament (cry out in grief),

And rush back and forth inside the enclosures;

For Malcam [your powerless god] will go into exile

Together with his priests and his princes.

4 “Why do you boast of your valleys?

Your valley is flowing away,

[O Ammon] rebelliousandfaithless daughter

Who trusts in her treasures,saying,

‘Who will come against me?’

5 “Behold, I am going to bring terror on you,”

Says the Lord Godof hosts,

“From all who are around you;

And each of you will be driven out headlong,

And there will be no one to gather the fugitives together.

6 “Butafterward I will reverse

The captivity of the children of Ammonandrestore their fortunes,”

Says the Lord.

Prophecy against Edom

7 Concerning Edom.

Thus says the Lordof hosts,

“Is there no longer any wisdom inTeman?

Has good counsel vanished from the intelligentandprudent?

Has their wisdom decayed?

8 “Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths [of the desert to escape the judgment of Edom],

O inhabitants ofDedan,

For I will bring the destruction ofEsau (Edom) upon him

When I inspectandpunish him.

9 “If grape gatherers came to you,

Would they not leave some ungleaned grapes [on the vines]?

If thieves came by night,

Would they not destroy [only] what is enough [for them]?

10 “But I have stripped Esau (Edom) bare;

I have uncovered his hiding places

And he cannot hide himself.

His descendants have been destroyed along with his brothers (relatives) and his neighbors;

And he is no more.

11 “Leave your orphans behind; I will [do what is needed to] keep them alive.

And let [those who are] your widows trustandconfide in Me.”

12 For thus says the Lord, “Behold, those (Israel) who were not sentenced to drink the cup [of wrath] shall certainly drink it, and are you to remain unpunished? You will not be acquittedandgo unpunished, but you will certainly drink [from the cup of wrath and judgment].

13 For I have sworn [an oath] by Myself,” says the Lord, “thatBozrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin, and a curse; and all its cities will becomeperpetual ruins.”

14 I have heard a report from the Lord,

And a messenger has been sent to the nations, saying,

“Gather together and come against her,

And rise up for the battle.”

15 “For behold, [Edom] I have made you small among the nations

And despised among men.

16 “As for Your terror,

The prideandarrogance of your heart have deceived you,

O you who live in the clefts of the rock (Sela also calledPetra),

Who holdandoccupy the height of the hill.

Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,

I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.

17 “Edom will become an object of horror; everyone who goes by it will be astonished and shall hiss [scornfully] at all its plaguesanddisasters.

18 As [it was] in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah with their neighboring cities,” says the Lord, “no man will live there, nor will a son of man dwell in it.

19 See, one will come like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan against the enduring habitation [of Edom]andits watered pastures; for in an instant I will makehim (Edom) run from his land. I will appoint over him the one whom I choose. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me [into court]andprosecute Me [for this]? Who is the [earthly] shepherd who can stand [defiantly] before Me?”

20 Therefore hear the plan of the Lordwhich He has devised against Edom, and [hear] what He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will be dragged away, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their dwelling place desolate because of them.

21 The earth has quaked at the noise of their downfall. There is an outcry! The sound of its noise has been heard at the Red Sea.

22 Behold, He will mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread His wings against [the city of] Bozrah; and in that day the heart of the mighty warriors of Edom will be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.

Prophecy against Damascus

23 Concerning Damascus [in Syria].

“Hamath and Arpad are perplexedandshamed,

For they have heard bad news;

They are disheartened;

Troubledandanxious like a [storm-tossed] sea

Which cannot be calmed.

24 “Damascus has become helpless;

She has turned away to flee,

Terror (panic) has seized her;

Anguish and distress have gripped her

Like a woman in childbirth.

25 “Why has the renowned city not been deserted,

The city of My joy!

26 “Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets,

And all her men of war will be destroyed in that day,” says the Lordof hosts.

27 “I will set fire to the wall of Damascus,

And it will consume the palaces ofBen-hadad.”

Prophecy against Kedar and Hazor

28 ConcerningKedar and concerning the kingdoms ofHazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. Thus says the Lord,

“Arise, go up against Kedar

And destroy the men of the east.

29 “They (the Babylonians) will take away their tents and their flocks;

They will carry off for themselves

Their tent curtains, all their goods and their camels,

And they will call out to one another, ‘Terror on every side!’

30 “Flee, run far away! Dwell in the depths [of the desert],

O inhabitants of Hazor,” says the Lord,

“For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has planned a course of action against you

And devised a scheme against you.

31 “Arise [Nebuchadnezzar], go up against a nation which is at ease,

Which lives securely,” says the Lord,

“A nation which has neither gates nor bars;

They dwell apartandalone.

32 “Their camels will become plunder,

And their herds of cattle a spoil;

And I will scatter to all the [four] winds those who cut the corners of their hair [as evidence of their idolatry],

And I will bring their disaster from every side,” says the Lord.

33 “Hazor will become a hauntanddwelling place of jackals,

A desolation forever;

No one will live there,

Nor will a son of man reside in it.”

Prophecy against Elam

34 The word of the Lordthat came to Jeremiah the prophet concerningElam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

35 “Thus says the Lordof hosts,

‘Behold (listen carefully), I am going to break the bow of Elam,

The finest [weapon] of their strength.

36 ‘And I will bring upon Elam the four winds

From the four corners of heaven;

And I will scatter them toward all those winds,

And there will be no nation

To which the outcasts of Elam will not go.

37 ‘So I will cause Elam to be shattered (dismayed) before their enemies

And before those who seek their lives;

And I will bring disaster on them,

Even My fierce anger,’ says the Lord.

‘And I will send the sword after them

Until I have consumed them.

38 ‘Then I will set My throne [of judgment] inElam

And I will destroy from there the king and princes,’

Says the Lord.

39 ‘But it will be in the last days (the end of days)

That I will reverse the captivityandrestore the fortunes of Elam,’”

Says the Lord.

Prophecy against Babylon

1 The word that the Lordspoke concerningBabylon and concerning the land of theChaldeans through Jeremiah the prophet:

2 “Declare among the nations.

Lift up a signal [to spread the news]–publishandproclaim it,

Do not conceal it; say,

‘Babylon has been taken,

Bel [the patron god] has been shamed,Marduk (Bel) has been shattered.

Babylon’s images have been shamed, her [worthless] idols have been thrown down.’

3 For out of the north a nation (Media) has come against her which will make her land desolate, and no one will live there. They have fled, they have gone away–both man and animal.

4 “In those days and at that time,” says the Lord, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will come up weeping [in repentance] as they come and seek the Lordtheir God [inquiring for and of Him].

5 They will ask the way to Zion, with their faces in that direction, saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lordin an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.’

6 “My people have become lost sheep;

Their shepherds have led them astray.

They have made them turn aside [to the seductive places of idolatry] on the mountains.

They have gone along [from one sin to another] from mountain to hill;

They have forgotten their [own] resting place.

7 “All who found them have devoured them;

And their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty,

Because they have sinned against the Lord[and are no longer holy to Him], their [true] habitation of righteousnessandjustice,

Even the Lord, the [confident] hope of their fathers.’

8 “Wander away from the midst of Babylon

And go out of the land of the Chaldeans;

Be like the male goats [who serve as leaders] at the head of the flocks.

9 “For behold, I will stir up and bring up against Babylon

An assembly of great nations from the north country.

They will equip themselvesandset up the battle lines against her;

From there she will be taken captive.

Their arrows will be like an expert warrior

Who will not return empty-handed.

10 “Chaldea will become plunder;

All who plunder her will be satisfied,” says the Lord.

11 “Though you are glad, though you rejoice,

O you who plunder My heritage,

Though you are wantonandskip about like a heifer in the grass

And neigh like stallions,

12 Your mother [Babylon] shall be greatly shamed;

She who gave you birth will be ashamed.

Behold,she will bethe least of the nations,

A wilderness, a parched land and a desert.

13 “Because of the wrath of the Lordshe will not be inhabited

But she will be completely desolate;

Everyone who goes by Babylon will be appalled

And will hiss (mock) at all her woundsandplagues.

14 “Set yourselves in battle formation against Babylon on every side,

All you archers.

Shoot at her! Do not spare the arrows,

For she has sinned against the Lord.

15 “Raise the battle cry against her on every side!

She has given her hand [in agreement]andhas surrendered; her pillars have fallen,

Her walls have been torn down.

For this is the vengeance of the Lord:

Take vengeance on her;

As she has done [to others], do to her.

16 “Cut off the sower from Babylon

And the one who handles the sickle at the time of harvest.

For fear of the sword of the oppressor

Everyone will return to his own people

And everyone will flee to his own land.

17 Israel is a huntedandscattered flock [driven here and there as prey]; the lions have chasedthem away. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken (gnawed) his bones.

18 Therefore thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will visit (inspect, examine)andpunish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I visitedandpunished the king of Assyria.

19 ~‘And I will bring Israel [home] again to his pasture and he will graze on [the most fertile lands of] Carmel [in the west] and Bashan [in the east], and his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.

20 ~‘In those days and at that time,’ says the Lord, ‘a search will be made for the wickedness of Israel, but there will be none and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.’

21 “Go against [Babylon] the land of Merathaim (Double Rebellion),

Go up against it and against the people of Pekod (Punishment).

Kill and utterly destroy them,” says the Lord,

“And do everything that I have commanded you.”

22 “The noise of battle is in the land,

And [the noise of] great destruction.

23 “How the hammer of the whole earth

Is crushed and broken!

How Babylon has become

A horror [of desolation] among the nations!

24 “I set a trap for you and you also were caught, O Babylon,

And you did not know it;

You have been found and also seized

Because you have struggled against the Lord.”

25 The Lordhas opened His armory

And has brought out [the nations who unknowingly are] the weapons of His indignation (wrath),

For it is a work of the Lord Godof hosts

In the land of the Chaldeans.

26 Come against her from the farthest border.

Open her storehouses;

Pile it up like heaps of rubbish.

Burnanddestroy her completely;

Let nothing be left of her.

27 Kill all her young bulls [her strength–her young men];

Let them go down to the slaughter!

Woe (judgment is coming) to the Chaldeans, for their day has come,

The time of their punishment.

28 Listen to the voice of the refugees who flee and escape from the land of Babylon,

Proclaiming in Zion the vengeance of the Lordour God,

The vengeance [of the Lordagainst the Chaldeans] for [plundering and destroying] His temple.

29 “Call together many [archers] against Babylon,

All those who bend the bow.

Encamp against her on every side;

Let no one from there escape.

Repay her according to her actions;

Just as she has done, do to her.

For she has been proudly defiantandpresumptuous against the Lord,

Against the Holy One of Israel.

30 “Therefore her young men will fall in her streets,

And all her soldiers will be destroyed on that day,” says the Lord.

31 “Behold, I am against you, [O Babylon, you] arrogant one, [you who are pride and presumption personified],”

Says the Lord Godof hosts,

“For your day has come,

The time when I will punish you.

32 “The arrogant (proud) one will stumble and fall

With no one to raise him up;

And I will set fire to his cities

And it will devour all who are around him.”

33 Thus says the Lordof hosts,

“The children of Israel are oppressed,

And the children of Judah as well;

And all who took them captive have held them tightly,

They have refused to let them go.

34 “Their Redeemer is strong; the Lordof hosts is His name.

He will most certainly plead their caseanddefend their cause

So that He may bring rest to their land,

But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

35 “A sword against the Chaldeans,” says the Lord,

“And against the inhabitants of Babylon

And against her princes (officials, civic rulers) and against her wise men (astrologers, religious rulers)!

36 “A sword against the oracle priests (the babbling liars), and they will become fools!

A sword against her mighty warriors, and they will be shatteredanddestroyed!

37 “A sword against their horses and against their chariots

And against all the foreign troops that are in her midst,

And they will become [as weak and defenseless as] women!

A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!

38 “A drought on her waters, and they will dry up!

For it is a land of [worthless] idols,

And they are mad over fearsome idols [those objects of terror in which they foolishly trust].

39 “Thereforewild beasts of the desert will live there [in Babylon] with the jackals;

The ostriches also will live there,

And it will never again be inhabited [with people]

Or lived in from generation to generation.

40 “As when God overthrew Sodom

And Gomorrah and their neighboring cities,” says the Lord,

“So no man will live there;

Nor shall any son of man live there.”

41 “Behold, a people is coming from the north,

And a great nation and many kings

Will be stirring from the remote parts of the earth.

42 “They seize their bow and spear;

They are cruel and have no compassion.

They sound like the roaring of the sea;

They ride on horses,

Every man equipped like a man [ready] for the battle

Against you, O Daughter of Babylon.

43 “The king of Babylon has heard the report about them,

And his hands fall limpandhelpless;

Anguish has seized him,

And agony like that of a woman in childbirth.

44 “See, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan against the enduring habitation [of Babylon]andits watered pastures; for in an instant I will make Babylon run from his land. I will appoint over Babylon the one whom I choose. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me [into court]andprosecute Me [for this]? Who is the [earthly] shepherd who can stand [defiantly] before Me?”

45 Therefore hear the plan of the Lordwhich He has devised against Babylon, and hear what He has purposed against [the inhabitants of the land of] the Chaldeans: surely they will be dragged away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their habitation desolate because of them.

46 At the shout, “Babylon has been seized!” the earth quakes, and an outcry is heard among the nations.

Babylon Judged for Sins against Israel

1 Thus says the Lord:

“Behold, I am going to stir upandput into action [a fury] against Babylon

And against the [rebellious] people of Leb-kamai (Chaldea)

A destroying windandhostile spirit;

2 “And I will send foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her

And may devastateandempty her land;

For in the day of destruction

They will be against her on every side.

3 “Do not let him (the Chaldean defender) who bends his bow bend it,

Nor let him rise up in his coat of armor.

So do not spare her young men;

Devote her entire army to destruction.

4 “They shall fall down dead in the land of the Chaldeans,

And wounded in her streets.”

5 For neither Israel nor Judah has beenabandoned

By his God, the Lordof hosts,

Though their land is full of sinandguilt

Before the Holy One of Israel.

6 Flee out of Babylon,

Let every one of you save his life!

Do not be destroyed in her punishment,

For this is the time of the Lord’svengeance;

He is going to pay her what she has earned.

7 Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord’shand,

Intoxicating all the earth.

The nations drank her wine;

Therefore the nations have gone mad.

8 Babylon has suddenly fallen and is shattered!

Wail for her [if you care to]!

Get balm for her [incurable] pain;

Perhaps she may be healed.

9 We would have healed Babylon, but she was not to be healed.

Abandon her and let each [captive] return to his own country,

For her guiltandjudgment have reached to heaven

And are lifted up to the very skies.

10 The Lordhas brought about our vindicationandhas revealed the righteousness of our cause;

Come and let us proclaim in Zion

The work of the Lordour God!

11 Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields [and cover yourselves]!

The Lordhas stirred up the spirit of the kings of theMedes,

Because His purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it;

For that is the vengeance of the Lord, vengeance [on Babylon] for [plundering and destroying] His temple.

12 Set up a signal on the walls of Babylon [to spread the news];

Post a strong blockade,

Station the guards,

Prepare the men for ambush!

For the Lordhas both purposed and done

That which He spoke against the people of Babylon.

13 [O Babylon] you who live by many waters,

Rich in treasures,

Your end has come,

And the line measuring your life is cut.

14 The Lordof hosts has sworn [an oath] by Himself, saying,

“Surely I will fill you with men, as with [a swarm of] locusts [who strip the land clean],

And they will lift up a songandshout of victory over you.”

15 He made the earth by His power;

He established the world by His wisdom

And stretched out the heavens by His understanding.

16 When He utters His voice,there isa tumult of waters in the heavens,

And He causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightnings for the rain

And brings out the wind from His storehouses.

17 Every man has become stupidandbrutelike, without knowledge [of God];

Every goldsmith is shamed by the cast images he has made;

For his molten idols are a lie,

And there is no breath [of life]orspirit in them.

18 They are worthless (empty, false, futile), a work of delusionandworthy of derision;

In the time of their inspectionandpunishment they will perish.

19 The Portion of Jacob [the true God of Israel] is not like these [handmade gods];

For He is the Maker of allandthe One who formedandfashioned all things,

And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance–

The Lordof hosts is His name.

20 “You [Cyrus of Persia, soon to conquer Babylon] are My battle-axe and weapon of war–

For with you I shatter nations,

With you I destroy kingdoms.

21 “With you I shatter the horse and his rider,

With you I shatter the chariot and its driver,

22 With you I shatter man and woman,

With you I shatter old man and youth,

With you I shatter young man and virgin,

23 With you I shatter the shepherd and his flock,

With you I shatter the farmer and his yoke of oxen,

And with you I shatter governors and commanders.

24 “And I will [completely] repay Babylon and all the people of Chaldea for all the evil that they have done in Zion–before your very eyes [I will do it],” says the Lord.

25 “Behold, I am against you,

O destroying mountain [conqueror of nations],

Who destroys the whole earth,” declares the Lord,

“I will stretch out My hand against you,

And roll you down from the [rugged] cliffs,

And will make you a burnt mountain (extinct volcano).

26 “They will not take from you [even] a stone for a cornerstone

Nor any rock for a foundation,

But you will bedesolate forever,” says the Lord.

27 Lift up a signal in the land [to spread the news]!

Blow the trumpet among the nations!

Dedicate the nations [for war] against her;

Call against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.

Appoint a marshal against her;

Cause the horses to come up like bristly locusts [with their wings not yet released from their cases].

28 Prepareanddedicate the nations for war against her–

The kings of Media,

With their governors and commanders,

And every land of their dominion.

29 The land trembles and writhes [in pain and sorrow],

For the purposes of the Lordagainst Babylon stand,

To make the land of Babylon

A desolation without inhabitants.

30 The mighty warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight;

They remain in their strongholds.

Their strengthandpower have failed;

They are becoming [weak and helpless] like women.

Their dwelling places are set on fire;

Thebars on hergatesare broken.

31 One courier runs to meet another,

And one messenger to meet another,

To tell theking of Babylon

That his city has been captured from end to end;

32 And that the fords [across the Euphrates] have been blockedand[the ferries] seized,

And they have set the [great] marshes on fire,

And the men of war are terrified.

33 For thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel:

“The Daughter of Babylon is like athreshing floor

At the time it is being trampledandprepared;

Yet in a little while the time of harvest will come for her.”

34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devouredme, he has crushed me,

He has set me down like an empty vessel.

Like a monster he has swallowed me up,

He has filled his belly with my delicacies;

He has spit me outandwashed me away.

35 “May the violence done to me and to my fleshandblood be upon Babylon,”

The inhabitant of Zion will say;

And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”

Jerusalem will say.

36 Therefore thus says the Lord,

“Behold, I will plead your case

And take full vengeance for you;

I will dry up her seaandgreat reservoir

And make her fountain dry.

37 “Babylon will become a heap [of ruins], a hauntanddwelling place of jackals,

An object of horror (an astonishing desolation) and a hissing [of scorn and amazement], without inhabitants.

38 “They (the Chaldean lords) will be roaring together [before their sudden capture] like young lions [roaring over their prey],

They (the princes) will be growling like lions’ cubs.

39 “When they areinflamed [with wine and lust during their drinking bouts], I will prepare them a feast [of My wrath]

And make them drunk, that they may rejoice

And may sleep a perpetual sleep

And not wake up,” declares the Lord.

40 “I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,

Like rams together with male goats.

41 “How Sheshak (Babylon) has been captured,

And the praise of the whole earth been seized!

How Babylon has become an astonishing desolationandan object of horror among the nations!

42 “The sea has come up over Babylon;

She has been engulfed with its tumultuous waves.

43 “Her cities have become an astonishing desolationandan object of horror,

A parched land and a desert,

A land in which no one lives,

And through which no son of man passes.

44 “I will punishandjudge Bel [the handmade god] in Babylon

And take out of his mouth what he has swallowed up [the stolen sacred articles and the captives of Judah and elsewhere].

The nations will no longer flow to him.

Yes, the wall of Babylon has fallen down!

45 “Come out of her midst, My people,

And each of you [escape and] save yourself

From the fierce anger of the Lord.

46 “Nowbewareso that you do not lose heart,

And so that you are not afraid at the rumor that will be heard in the land–

For the rumor shall come one year,

And after that another rumor in another year,

And violenceshall bein the land,

Ruler against ruler–

47 “Therefore behold (listen carefully), the days are coming

When I will judgeandpunish the idols of Babylon;

Her whole land will be perplexedandshamed,

And all her slain will fall in her midst.

48 “Then heaven and earth and all that is in them

Will shoutandsing for joy over Babylon,

For thedestroyers will come against her from the north,”

Says the Lord.

49 Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel,

As also for Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen.

50 You who have escaped the sword,

Go away! Do not stay!

Remember the Lordfrom far away,

And let [desolate] Jerusalem come into your mind.

51 We are perplexedandashamed, for we have heard reproach;

Disgrace has covered our faces,

For foreigners [from Babylon] have come

Into the [most] sacred parts of the sanctuary of the Lord[even those places forbidden to all but the appointed priest].

52 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,

“When I will judgeandpunish the idols [of Babylon],

And throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan.”

53 “Though Babylon should ascend to the heavens,

And though she should fortify her lofty stronghold,

Yet destroyers will come on her from Me,” says the Lord.

54 The sound of an outcry [comes] from Babylon,

And [the sound] of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!

55 For the Lordis going to destroy Babylonandmake her a ruin,

And He will still her great voice [that hums with city life].

And the waves [of her conquerors] roar like great waters,

The noise of their voices is raised up [like the marching of an army].

56 For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon;

And her mighty warriors will be captured,

Their bows are shattered;

For the Lordis a God of [just] restitution;

He will fully repay.

57 “I will make her princes and her wise men drunk,

Her governors and her commanders and her mighty warriors;

They will sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,”

Says the King–the Lordof hosts is His name.

58 Thus says the Lordof hosts,

“Thebroad wall of Babylon will be completely overthrownandthe foundations razed

And her high gates will be set on fire;

The peoples will labor in vain,

And the nations become exhausted [only] for fire [that will destroy their work].”

59 The message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now this Seraiah was chief chamberlainorquartermaster [and brother of Baruch].

60 So Jeremiah wrote in a single scroll all the disaster which would come on Babylon, [that is] all these words which have been written concerning Babylon.

61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you come to Babylon, see to it that you read all these words aloud,

62 and say, ‘You, O Lord, have promised concerning this place to cut it offanddestroy it, so that there shall be nothing living in it, neither man nor animal, but it will be perpetually desolate.’

63 And as soon as you finish reading this scroll, you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates.

64 Then say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink down and not rise because of the disaster that I will bring on her; and the Babylonians will become [hopelessly] exhausted.’” Thus the words of Jeremiah are completed.

The Fall of Jerusalem

1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter ofJeremiah of Libnah.

2 He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lordlike all that Jehoiakim had done.

3 For all this came about in Jerusalem and Judah because of the anger of the Lord, and [in the end] He cast them from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

4 Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem; and they camped against it and built moveable towersandsiege mounds all around it.

5 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

6 In the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

7 Then the city was broken into, and all the soldiers fled. They left the city at night [as Ezekiel prophesied] passing through the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. They fled by way of the Arabah (the Jordan Valley).

8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and his entire army was scattered from him.

9 Then they seized the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the [Syrian] land of Hamath [on the northern border of Israel], where he pronounced sentence on him.

10 The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the princes of Judah at Riblah.

11 Then the king of Babylon blinded Zedekiah, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon and there he put him in prison[in a mill] until the day of his death.

12 Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.

13 He burned down the house of the Lordand the king’s palace and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great houseorimportant structure he set on fire.

14 So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem.

15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took away into exile some of the poorest of the people, those who were left in the city [at the time it was captured], along with those who deserted to join the king of Babylon [during the siege] and the rest of the artisans.

16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

17 Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the pillars of bronze which belonged to the house of the Lord, and the bronze pedestals [which supported the ten basins] and the [enormous] bronze Sea, which were in the house of the Lord, and carried all the bronze to Babylon.

18 They also took away the pots [for carrying away ashes] and the shovels and the snuffers and the bowls and the spoons and all the bronze articles used in thetempleservice.

19 The captain of the guard also took away the [small] bowls and the firepans and the basins and the pots and the lampstands and the incense cups and the bowls for the drink offerings–whatever was made of fine gold and whatever was made of fine silver.

20 The two pillars, the one [enormous] Sea (basin), andthe twelve bronze bulls under the Sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord–the bronze of all these things was beyond weighing.

21 Concerning the pillars, the height of each pillar was eighteen cubits (twenty-seven feet), and a line [an ornamental molding] of twelve cubits (eighteen feet) went around its circumference; it was four fingers thick, and [the pillar was] hollow.

22 A capital of bronze was on [top of] it. The height of each capital was five cubits (seven and one-half feet), with a lattice-work and pomegranates around it, all of bronze. The second pillar also, with its pomegranates, was similar to these.

23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; and a hundred pomegranates were on the lattice-work all around.

24 Then the captain of the guard took [as prisoners] Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three doorkeepers.

25 He also took out of the city one official who was overseer of the soldiers, and seven of the 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 who were still in the city.

26 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

27 Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was led away into exile from its own land.

28 This is the number of people whom Nebuchadnezzar took captiveandexiled: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;

29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, [he took captive] 832 persons from Jerusalem;

30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the [Babylonian] guard took captive 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 persons in all.

31 Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin [also called Coniah and Jeconiah] king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign,showed favor to Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.

32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a throne above the thrones of the kings who were [captives] with him in Babylon.

33 Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table all the days of his life.

34 And his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon, a daily portion [according to his needs] until the day of his death,all the days of his life.