Jeremiah 27

1The word of the Lord He spoke against Babylon.

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2'Declare among the Gentiles and cause it to be heard. Do not conceal what is spoken. Say, 'Babylon is conquered; Bel the fearless one has been put to shame; Merodach the luxurious one is handed over.'

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3For a nation comes against her from the north. He shall destine her land for destruction, and nothing from man to animal shall dwell in it.

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4In those days and at that time, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together. They shall proceed, walking and weeping and seeking the Lord their God.

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5They shall ask the way until they come to Zion, for they shall set their face toward this place. They shall come and flee for refuge to the Lord their God, for the everlasting covenant shall not be forgotten.

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6'My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds drove them out to wander on the mountains. They went from mountain to hill and forgot their marriage bed.

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7All who found them devoured them. Their adversaries said, 'Let us not leave them alone, because they sinned against the Lord, who gathered together their fathers in a pasture of righteousness.'

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8'Be alienated from the midst of Babylon and from the land of the Chaldeans. Be like serpents in the presence of sheep.

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9For behold, I raise up assemblies of nations against Babylon from the land of the north. They will array themselves against her, and from there she shall be conquered, as the javelin of an expert warrior shall not be returned empty.

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10Chaldea shall be for plundering, and all who plunder her shall be satisfied,

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11because you celebrated and exulted while plundering My inheritance, and because you skipped like calves in pasture and butted horns like bulls.

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12'Your mother is very ashamed, she who bore you for good things. She is the last of the nations, and a desert.

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13Because of the Lord's wrath, she will not be inhabited, but shall be for destruction. All who travel through Babylon shall be sullen, and they shall hiss at all her calamity.

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14All you who bend the bow, set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, and shoot at her. Do not spare your arrows.

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15Applaud excessively, for her hands are paralyzed. Her means of defense has fallen, and her wall is demolished; for it is vengeance from God. Take vengeance on her, for as she did, so do to her.

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16Utterly destroy the seed of Babylon, and hold fast the sickle in the time of harvest. Because of the Greek sword, each shall return to his people, and each shall flee to his land.

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17'Israel is a wandering sheep, for the lions drove him out. First, the king of Assyria devoured him, then the king of Babylon devoured his bones.'

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18Therefore thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will take vengeance on the king of Babylon and upon his land, as I took vengeance upon the king of Assyria.

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19But I shall restore Israel to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel, on Mount Ephraim and in Gilead. His soul shall be satisfied.

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20In those days and at that time, they will seek for the wrongdoing of Israel, but it shall not exist; and they will look for the sins of Judah, but these shall not be found; for I shall be merciful to those left in the land,' says the Lord.

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21'Embark against this land bitterly, and against those who dwell therein. Avenge with the sword and destroy it,' says the Lord, 'and do according to all I command you.

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22A sound of war and great destruction is in the land of the Chaldeans.

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23How was the hammer of all the earth broken and crushed? How did Babylon become a desolation among the nations?

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24They will attack you, and you will be conquered, O Babylon. You will not even know you are found and taken, because you opposed the Lord.

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25The Lord opened His treasure and brought out the vessels of His wrath, because the work of the Lord God is in the land of the Chaldeans.

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26For her time has come. Open her storehouses, search her like a cave, and utterly destroy her. Let nothing of her remain.

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27Dry up all her fruits and let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, and the time of their retribution.

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28'The voice of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon declares in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God.

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29Summon many against Babylon, even all who bend the bow. Encamp against it round about; let no one be saved from her. Repay her according to her works, and whatever she did, so do to her, for she opposed the Lord, the Holy God of Israel.

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30Her young men shall fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cast down,' says the Lord.

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31'Behold, I am against you, the haughty one,' says the Lord, 'because the day and the time of your retribution has come.

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32Your insolence shall fail, and you will fall. There shall be no one to cause it to arise. I will kindle a fire in its thicket, and it shall devour everything around her.'

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33Thus says the Lord: 'The sons of Israel have been oppressed along with the sons of Judah, for all who took them captive oppressed them. They were unwilling to let them go.

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34He who redeemed them is strong; the Lord Almighty is His name. He shall enter into judgment against His adversaries so as to take away their land and to provoke those who dwell in Babylon.

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35He will bring a sword against the Chaldeans and those inhabiting Babylon, and against her nobles and wise men,

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36and against her warriors; and they shall be weakened.

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37He will bring a sword against their horses and chariots, and against the warriors and irregular troops in her midst. They shall be like women. He will also bring a sword against its treasures, and they will be scattered over the water she trusted.

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38They will be put to shame in the islands in which they boasted, for it is a land of graven images.

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39'Therefore apparitions shall dwell in the islands, and the daughters of sirens shall dwell therein. It shall not be inhabited anymore forever.

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40As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities bordering them,' says the Lord, 'no man shall dwell there, and no son of man will sojourn there.

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41Behold, a people comes from the north, and a great nation and many kings shall be raised up from the ends of the earth, holding bow and dagger.

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42He is reckless and will show no mercy at all. Their voice shall roar like the sea on the horses they ride, prepared for war like fire against you, O daughter of Babylon.

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43'The king of Babylon heard their sound, and his hands grew feeble. Anguish took hold of him, like the pangs of a woman in childbirth.

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44Behold, he shall go up like a lion from the Jordan River into the place of Aitham; for I will banish them quickly from it and set every young man against it. For who is like Me? Who opposes Me? Who is this shepherd who will stand against My presence?'

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45Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord which He has resolved against Babylon, and the thoughts which He has reckoned against those inhabiting Chaldea. Surely the lambs of their sheep are utterly destroyed; surely the pasture is cut off from them;

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46for at the sound of the capturing of Babylon, the earth shall quake, and clamor will be heard among the nations.

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