Jeremiah 28

1Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I raise up against Babylon and the inhabitants of the Chaldeans a scorching heat, a wind to destroy utterly.

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2I will send violent men into Babylon, and they shall insult and ravage her land. Woe to Babylon all round in the day of her calamity.

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3Against her let the archer bend his bow, and let him who has armor put it on. Do not spare her young men; utterly destroy all her power.

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4The wounded men shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and those pierced through shall fall outside her.

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5For Israel and Judah were not bereaved of their God, the Lord Almighty, for the land was filled with their wrongdoings against the holy things of Israel.'

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6Flee from the midst of Babylon, and everyone save his life. Do not be made to perish in her wrongdoing. For it is the time of her retribution from the Lord. He shall render repayment to her.

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7Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand, causing all the earth to be drunk. The nations drank from her wine; therefore, they were shaken.

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8Babylon fell suddenly and was broken in pieces. Sing a dirge for her; take resin for her corruption, if somehow she may be healed.

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9We treated Babylon medically, but she would not heal. Let us forsake her, and let each move to his country. For her judgment draws near to heaven and is taken to the stars.

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10The Lord brought forth His judgment. Come and let us declare in Zion the works of the Lord our God.

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11Prepare the arrows; fill the quivers. The Lord has raised up the spirit of the king of the Medes. For His wrath is against Babylon to destroy it utterly, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of His people.

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12Lift up a banner on the walls of Babylon, prepare the quivers, rouse guards, and prepare the weapons. For the Lord has taken in hand and will do what He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon, who dwell near many waters, and amidst the abundance of her treasures.

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13Truly, your end is come into your bowels.

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14For the Lord has sworn by His arm, saying, 'Therefore I will fill you with men as with locusts, and they will go down and speak against you.'

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15He made the land by His might, prepared the inhabited world by His wisdom, and by His understanding He stretched out heaven.

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16By His voice, He makes the sound of water in the sky and brings up the clouds from the end of the earth. He makes lightnings for rain and brings light out of His storehouses.

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17Every man is made foolish without knowledge, and every goldsmith is dishonored by his carved images; because they cast false gods, but there is no spirit of life in them.

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18It is a worthless work to be ridiculed, and in their time of visitation they shall perish.

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19Jacob's portion is not such, because He who created all things is his inheritance. The Lord is His name.

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20'You scatter the weapons of war by Me, and by you I will scatter nations and drive away kings from you.

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21By you I will scatter the horse and its rider, and by you I will scatter the chariots and their mounted riders.

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22By you I will scatter young man and virgin, and by you I will scatter man and woman.

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23By you I will scatter the shepherd and his flock, and by you I will scatter the farmer and his farming. By you I will scatter rulers and commanders.

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24I will make Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea pay for all their vices performed against Zion, according to what you saw,' says the Lord.

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25'Behold, I am against you, the corrupted mountain that corrupts everything in the land. I will stretch forth My hand against you and roll you down from the rocks. I will cause you to be a burnt mountain.

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26They will not take a stone from you for a corner or for a foundation. For you shall be a place of desolation forever,' says the Lord.

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27'Lift up a banner in the land; sound a trumpet among the nations; set apart the nations against her; direct against her from Me the kingdoms of Ararat and the people of Ashkenaz to stand against her. Set siege engines against her, and bring horses like a multitude of locusts.

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28Set apart the nations against her, the king of the Medes, and all of the land, its governors, and all its generals.

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29'The earth shook and suffered toil, for the purpose of the Lord is risen up against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation and uninhabitable.

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30The warriors of Babylon ceased to wage war. They shall sit there in the siege. Their might has been broken, and they became like women. Her tents are burnt, and the bars of their gates are shattered into pieces.

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31One will pursue to meet another pursuer, one messenger to meet another messenger, to bring word to the king of Babylon that his city is taken.

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32At the end of the crossing point they were taken, their garrisons were burned with fire, and their warriors ran away.'

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33For thus says the Lord: 'The houses of the king of Babylon shall be like a threshing floor in the season for threshing. In a short while her harvest will come.

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34King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon devoured me. He divided and overtook me, a small vessel. He swallowed me up, like a dragon who filled his belly with my delicacies, and drove me out.

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35She that dwells in Zion shall say, 'My hardships and my miseries banished me to Babylon.' Jerusalem shall say, 'My blood shall be upon those inhabiting Chaldea.' '

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36Therefore, thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will judge your adversary and exact vengeance for you. I shall lay waste her sea and dry up her springs.

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37Babylon shall be as a desolation, and it shall not be inhabited.

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38For they rose up together as lions and as cubs of lions.

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39In their heat, I shall give them a wine-cup. I will make them drunk so they may be intoxicated, and sleep an unending sleep, and not wake up,' says the Lord.

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40'I will bring them down like lambs for slaughter, like rams with young.

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41How has the boast of the whole earth been caught and captured? How has Babylon become as a desolation among the nations?

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42The sea came up against Babylon with the sound of her waves, and she was covered.

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43Her cities became a waterless and impassable land. Not even one man shall dwell in it, nor shall a son of man lodge in it.

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44I will take vengeance on Babylon, and bring out from her mouth what she swallowed. The nations will no longer be gathered to her.

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45In Babylon, all the wounded men of the earth shall fall.

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46You who escape, go from the land, and do not stay. You who are afar off, remember the Lord, and let Jerusalem enter your heart.'

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47We are ashamed because we heard our disgrace. Dishonor covers our face, for strangers entered the house of the Lord among our holy things.

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48'Therefore, behold the days are coming,' says the Lord, 'when I will take vengeance upon her carved images, and wounded men shall fall in all her land.

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49For even if Babylon ascended like heaven and she fortified the strength of her walls, yet from Me the plunderers shall come to destroy her,' says the Lord.

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50'There is the sound of a cry in Babylon, and great destruction is in the land of the Chaldeans;

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51for the Lord utterly cut off Babylon, and destroyed from her the great voice ringing out as many waters. He appointed her voice for ruin, for misery came against Babylon.

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52Her warriors are conquered, and their bow is useless; for God repays them. The Lord renders repayment to her.

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53He will make her princes, her wise men, and her commanders completely drunk,' says the King. 'The Lord Almighty is His name.'

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54Thus says the Lord: 'The wall of Babylon was made broad, but it shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall burn with fire. The peoples shall not labor in vain, nor will the nations fail in their rule.'

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55This is the word the Lord commanded Jeremiah the prophet to say to Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was the quartermaster.

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56So Jeremiah wrote in one book all the calamities that would come upon Babylon. Indeed he wrote all these words against Babylon.

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57Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, 'When you arrive in Babylon and see it, you shall read all these words.

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58You shall say, 'O Lord and Master, You spoke against this place to destroy it, and so none should dwell in it, neither man nor animal, because it shall be desolate forever.'

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59Then it shall come to pass, when you finish reading this book, you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates.

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60After this, you shall say, 'Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise, because of the calamities I bring upon her.' '

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