Jeremiah 50
The Prophecy
concerning Babylon |
1 |
The word that the LORD spake against Babylon Is. 13.1--14.23 ; 47.1-15 and against the land of the Chalde'ans by Jeremiah the
prophet.
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2 |
Declare ye among the nations, and
publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not:
say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Mer'odach is broken in
pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in
pieces.
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3 |
For out of the north there cometh up a
nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none
shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man
and beast.
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4 |
In those days, and in that time, saith
the LORD, the children of Israel shall come,
they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they
shall go, and seek the LORD their
God.
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5 |
They shall ask the way to Zion with their
faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to
the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
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6 |
My people hath been lost sheep: their
shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they
have forgotten their resting place.
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7 |
All that found them have devoured them:
and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned
against the LORD, the habitation of justice,
even the LORD, the hope of their
fathers.
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8 |
Remove out of the midst of Babylon, Rev.
18.4 and go forth out of the land of the Chalde'ans, and
be as the he goats before the flocks.
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9 |
For, lo, I will raise and cause to come
up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north
country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from
thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a
mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.
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10 |
And Chalde'a shall be a spoil: all that
spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD.
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11 |
Because ye were glad, because ye
rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat
as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;
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12 |
your mother shall be sore confounded; she
that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the
nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a
desert.
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13 |
Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly
desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and
hiss at all her plagues.
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14 |
Put yourselves in array against Babylon
round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no
arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.
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15 |
Shout against her round about: she hath
given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown
down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do
unto her.
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16 |
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him
that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the
oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they
shall flee every one to his own land.
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17 |
Israel is a scattered sheep; the
lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath
devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon hath
broken his bones.
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18 |
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will
punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king
of Assyria.
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19 |
And I will bring Israel again to his
habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul
shall be satisfied upon mount E'phra-im and Gil'e-ad.
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20 |
In those days, and in that time, saith
the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be
sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah,
and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I
reserve.
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21 |
Go up against the land of Meratha'im, 3 even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: 4 waste
and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD,
and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
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22 |
A sound of battle is in the land,
and of great destruction.
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23 |
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut
asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the
nations!
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24 |
I have laid a snare for thee, and thou
art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found,
and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.
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25 |
The LORD hath opened
his armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation:
for this is the work of the Lord GOD of
hosts in the land of the Chalde'ans.
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26 |
Come against her from the utmost border,
open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly:
let nothing of her be left.
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27 |
Slay all her bullocks; let them go down
to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of
their visitation.
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28 |
The voice of them that flee and escape
out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the
LORD our God, the vengeance of his
temple.
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29 |
Call together the archers against
Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let
none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; Rev.
18.6 according to all that she hath done, do unto her:
for she hath been proud against the LORD,
against the Holy One of Israel.
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30 |
Therefore shall her young men fall in the
streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith
the LORD.
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31 |
Behold, I am against thee, O
thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of
hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit
thee.
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32 |
And the most proud shall stumble and
fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his
cities, and it shall devour all round about him.
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33 |
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children
of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them
captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.
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34 |
Their Redeemer is strong; The
LORD of hosts is his name: he shall
thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and
disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
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35 |
A sword is upon the Chalde'ans,
saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of
Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
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36 |
A sword is upon the liars; and
they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they
shall be dismayed.
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37 |
A sword is upon their horses, and
upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
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38 |
A drought is upon her waters; and
they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images,
and they are mad upon their idols.
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39 |
Therefore the wild beasts of the desert
with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, Rev.
18.2 and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no
more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from
generation to generation.
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40 |
As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and
the neighbor cities thereof, Gen. 19.24, 25 saith
the LORD; so shall no man abide there,
neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
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41 |
Behold, a people shall come from the
north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from
the coasts of the earth.
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42 |
They shall hold the bow and the lance:
they are cruel, and will not show 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.
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43 |
The king of Babylon hath heard the report
of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
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44 |
Behold, 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 that shepherd
that will stand before me?
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45 |
Therefore hear ye the counsel of the
LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and
his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the
Chalde'ans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out:
surely he shall make their habitation desolate with
them.
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46 |
At the noise of the taking of Babylon the
earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the
nations.
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