15 t“It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
16 When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
17 Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
and there is no breath in them.
18 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
19 Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
20 “You are my hammer and weapon of war:
with you I ubreak nations in pieces;
with you I destroy kingdoms;
21 with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer;
22 with you I break in pieces man and woman;
with you I break in pieces vthe old man and the youth;
with you I break in pieces vthe young man and the young woman;
23 with you I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;
with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team;
with you I break in pieces wgovernors and commanders.
24 x“I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the Lord.
25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,
declares the Lord,
which destroys the whole earth;
I will stretch out my hand against you,
and roll you down from the crags,
yand make you a burnt mountain.
26 No zstone shall be taken from you for a corner
and no stone for a foundation,
but you shall be aa perpetual waste,
declares the Lord.
27 b“Set up a standard on the earth;
cblow the trumpet among the nations;
dprepare ethe nations for war against her;
summon against her fthe kingdoms,
gArarat, Minni, and hAshkenaz;
appoint a imarshal against her;
jbring up horses like bristling locusts.
28 dPrepare ethe nations for war against her,
the kings of kthe Medes, lwith their governors land deputies,
and every mland under their dominion.
29 nThe land trembles and writhes in pain,
ofor the Lord’s purposes against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon a desolation,
without inhabitant.
30 The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting;
they remain in their strongholds;
their strength has failed;
pthey have become women;
qher dwellings are on fire;
rher bars are broken.
31 One srunner runs to meet another,
and one messenger to meet another,
to tell the king of Babylon
that his city is taken on every side;
32 the fords have been tseized,
the marshes are burned with fire,
and the soldiers are in panic.
33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
uThe daughter of Babylon is like ua threshing floor
at the time when it is trodden;
yet a little while
and vthe time of her harvest will come.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon whas devoured me;
he has crushed me;
he has made me an empty vessel;
xhe has swallowed me like ya monster;
he has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
he has rinsed me out.1
35 The violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon,”
let the inhabitant of Zion say.
“My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
let Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, zI will plead your cause
and take vengeance for you.
aI will dry up her sea
and bmake her fountain dry,
37 and Babylon shall become ca heap of ruins,
dthe haunt of jackals,
without inhabitant.
38 f“They shall roar together glike lions;
they shall growl like lions’ cubs.
39 hWhile they are inflamed hI will prepare them a feast
and imake them drunk, that they may become merry,
ithen sleep a perpetual sleep
and not wake, declares the Lord.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and male goats.
kthe praise of the whole earth lseized!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations!
42 mThe sea has come up on Babylon;
she is covered with its tumultuous waves.
43 Her cities have become a horror,
na land of drought and a desert,
oa land in which no one dwells,
and through which no son of man passes.
44 And I will punish pBel in Babylon,
and qtake out of his mouth rwhat he has swallowed.
sThe nations shall no longer flow to him;
tthe wall of Babylon has fallen.
45 “Go out of the midst of her, umy people!
Let every one save his life
from vthe fierce anger of the Lord!
46 Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful
wat the report heard in the land,
xwhen a report comes in one year
and afterward a report in another year,
and violence is in the land,
xand ruler is against ruler.
47 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming
when yI will punish the images of Babylon;
zher whole land shall be put to shame,
and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 aThen the heavens and the earth,
and all that is in them,
shall sing for joy over Babylon,
bfor the destroyers shall come against them out of the north,
declares the Lord.
49 Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel,
cjust as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.
50 d“You who have escaped from the sword,
go, do not stand still!
Remember the Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come into your mind:
51 e‘We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach;
edishonor has covered our face,
ffor foreigners have come
into the holy places of the Lord’s house.’
52 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when yI will execute judgment upon her images,
gand through all her land
the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should hmount up to heaven,
and though she should ifortify her strong height,
yet destroyers would come from me against her,
declares the Lord.
54 j“A voice! A cry from Babylon!
The noise of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For the Lord is laying Babylon waste
and stilling her mighty voice.
kTheir waves roar like many waters;
the noise of their voice is raised,
56 for a destroyer has come upon her,
upon Babylon;
her warriors are taken;
their bows are broken in pieces,
lfor the Lord is a God of recompense;
he will surely repay.
57 mI will make drunk her officials and her wise men,
nher governors, her commanders, and her warriors;
they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake,
declares othe King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
58 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
The broad pwall of Babylon
shall be leveled to the ground,
qand her high gates
shall be burned with fire.
rThe peoples labor for nothing,
and sthe nations weary themselves only for fire.”
The Fall of Jerusalem Recounted
1 cZedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, daccording to all that Jehoiakim had done. 3 For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.
And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah
1 uZedekiah the son of Josiah, vwhom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of wConiah the son of Jehoiakim. 2 xBut neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.
3 King Zedekiah sent yJehucal the son of zShelemiah, and aZephaniah the priest, the son of bMaaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please cpray for us to the Lord our God.” 4 dNow Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, efor he had not yet been put in prison. 5 fThe army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when gthe Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, hthey withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 “Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who isent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, jPharaoh’s army that came to help you is about to kreturn to Egypt, to its own land. 8 And lthe Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. lThey shall capture it and burn it with fire. 9 Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. 10 mFor even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and lburn this city with fire.’”
Jerusalem Captured
10 At that time the servants of yNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And yNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12 zand Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. aThe king of Babylon took him prisoner bin the eighth year of his reign 13 and carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord cand the treasures of the king’s house, dand cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, ewhich Solomon king of Israel had made, fas the Lord had foretold. 14 gHe carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, h10,000 captives, iand all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, jexcept the poorest people of the land. 15 kAnd he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, l7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. 17 mAnd the king of Babylon nmade Mattaniah, oJehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, pand changed his name to Zedekiah.
Zedekiah Reigns in Judah
18 qZedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was rHamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, saccording to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.
tAnd Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
10 In vthe spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, wwith the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made his brother xZedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 yZedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before zJeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. 13 aHe also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. bHe stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem.
10 The son of Solomon was yRehoboam, zAbijah his son, aAsa his son, bJehoshaphat his son, 11 cJoram his son, dAhaziah his son, eJoash his son, 12 fAmaziah his son, gAzariah his son, hJotham his son, 13 iAhaz his son, jHezekiah his son, kManasseh his son, 14 lAmon his son, mJosiah his son. 15 The sons of Josiah: nJohanan the firstborn, the second oJehoiakim, the third pZedekiah, the fourth Shallum. 16 The descendants of qJehoiakim: rJeconiah his son, sZedekiah his son;
