1: The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against
the land of the Chaldeans 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, Merodach 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 restingplace.
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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, and go forth out of the
land of the Chaldeans, 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 Chaldea 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
Nebuchadrezzar 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
Ephraim and Gilead. |
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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 Merathaim, even against it, and
against the inhabitants of Pekod: 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 armoury, 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 Chaldeans. |
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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; 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 throughly 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 Chaldeans, 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, 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 neighbour cities
thereof, 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 shew 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 Chaldeans: 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. |