Jeremiah 25

¹In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

¹During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded. So Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, until he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.

²And the Lord sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the Lord had spoken through His servants the prophets.

²concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:

¹In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

¹¹Now therefore, tell the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem that this is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am planning a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways, and correct your ways and deeds.’

²“This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the house of the Lord and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all the cities of Judah who come to worship there. Do not omit a word.

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world,

²both low and high, rich and poor alike.

¹Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard that Jeremiah had been telling all the people:

²“This is what the Lord says: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war, and he will live.

¹³“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem: ‘Will you not accept discipline and obey My words?’ declares the Lord.

¹⁴Once again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “All of you, listen to Me and understand:

¹⁵Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.”

⁵and if you do not listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have sent you again and again even though you did not listen,

⁷For from the time I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt until today, I strongly warned them again and again, saying, ‘Obey My voice.’

²The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah,

¹³And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer,

¹⁹I will do this because they have not listened to My words, declares the Lord, which I sent to them again and again through My servants the prophets. And neither have you exiles listened, declares the Lord.”

³In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images.

³“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.

⁵and if you do not listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have sent you again and again even though you did not listen,

³³They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.

¹⁵Again and again the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.

¹⁶But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.

²¹I warned you when you were secure. You said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from youth, that you have not obeyed My voice.

⁴Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.’

⁵But they did not listen or incline their ears; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods.

⁷then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.

⁸And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”

⁶Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.

⁷Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

²⁵then kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses with their officials, along with the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.

⁸Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands.

⁹Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”

⁴Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the Lord.

⁵Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever?

¹⁹If you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.

²²And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and by the sins they committed they provoked Him to jealous anger more than all their fathers had done.

³⁵For the Lord had made a covenant with the Israelites and commanded them, “Do not worship other gods or bow down to them; do not serve them or sacrifice to them.

¹⁴Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.

¹⁵Again and again I have sent you all My servants the prophets, proclaiming: ‘Turn now, each of you, from your wicked ways, and correct your actions. Do not go after other gods to serve them. Live in the land that I have given to you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me.

⁶if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,

¹⁵because they have done evil in My sight and have provoked Me to anger from the day their fathers came out of Egypt until this day.’”

³⁶But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”

²¹They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.

¹⁷They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.

¹⁸The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger.

¹⁹But am I the One they are provoking? declares the Lord. Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?

³⁰For the children of Israel and of Judah have done nothing but evil in My sight from their youth; indeed, they have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the Lord.

³¹For this city has aroused My wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. Therefore I will remove it from My presence

¹⁵For I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north,” declares the Lord. “Their kings will come and set up their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all her surrounding walls and all the other cities of Judah.

¹⁶They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.

³I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.

⁶For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.

⁷They are dreaded and feared; from themselves they derive justice and sovereignty.

¹⁸“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the labor they expended on it.

¹⁹Therefore this is what the Lord God says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and remove its plunder. This will be the wages for his army.

¹⁰Then tell them that this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones that I have embedded, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them.

³⁴I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”

⁹For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom.

¹³So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the music of your lyres will no longer be heard.

²²And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound of a millstone be heard in you again.

²³The light of a lamp will never shine in you again, and the voices of a bride and bridegroom will never call out in you again. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.”

¹⁰This is what the Lord says: In this place you say is a wasteland without man or beast, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted—inhabited by neither man nor beast—there will be heard again

¹¹the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those bringing thank offerings into the house of the Lord, saying: ‘Give thanks to the Lord of Hosts, for the Lord is good; His loving devotion endures forever.’ For I will restore the land from captivity as in former times, says the Lord.

¹¹I will put an end to all her exultation: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts.

²in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.

¹²Then the angel of the Lord said, “How long, O Lord of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”

¹²But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the Lord, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.

²¹So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah.

²²In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

⁵“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted?

¹⁵At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years—the span of a king’s life. But at the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:

¹⁶“Take up your harp, stroll through the city, O forgotten harlot. Make sweet melody, sing many a song, so you will be remembered.”

¹⁹And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.

²in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.

¹⁰For this is what the Lord says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.

⁶²and say, ‘O Lord, You have promised to cut off this place so that no one will remain—neither man nor beast. Indeed, it will be desolate forever.’

⁶³When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates.

¹This is the word that the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans:

²“Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced, her idols are broken in pieces.’

²³“I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of Hosts.

¹⁰See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”

⁵“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

²⁸PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”

¹¹And they told me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

³¹and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

⁶Flee from Babylon! Escape with your lives! Do not be destroyed in her punishment. For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves.

⁷All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.

⁹For behold, I stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north. They will line up against her; from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.

⁴¹Behold, an army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are stirred up from the ends of the earth.

⁶Hear the uproar from the city; listen to the voice from the temple! It is the voice of the Lord, repaying His enemies what they deserve!

¹This is what the Lord says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:

²“I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

⁸For a cup is in the hand of the Lord, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.

¹⁷Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger.

²⁰Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.

¹⁰he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

⁷Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the Lord, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.

²²Thus says your Lord, the Lord, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again.

⁷Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the Lord, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.

¹¹You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy.

³All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury.”

²⁷“Then you are to tell them that this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, because of the sword I will send among you.’

¹⁰he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

³²This is what the Lord God says: ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, a cup deep and wide. It will bring scorn and derision, for it holds so much.

³³You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, with a cup of devastation and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria.

¹⁰See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”

²⁸If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, you are to tell them that this is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘You most certainly must drink it!

¹This is the word of the Lord about the nations—the word that came to Jeremiah the prophet

²concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:

³The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell facedown,

³Send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

⁹I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them.

²²So the Lord could no longer endure the evil deeds and detestable acts you committed, and your land became a desolation, a horror, and an object of cursing, without inhabitant, as it is this day.

³You have shown Your people hardship; we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.

¹⁷Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger.

¹⁸Among all the sons she bore, there is no one to guide her; among all the sons she brought up, there is no one to take her hand.

¹⁹because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its people, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the Lord.

⁵So I will send fire upon Judah to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.”

²concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:

⁸Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water?

⁹Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies.

¹³This is the word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

¹⁴“Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it in Memphis and Tahpanhes: ‘Take your positions and prepare yourself, for the sword devours those around you.’

¹In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.

⁹“In the sight of the Jews, pick up some large stones and bury them in the clay of the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes.

¹⁰Then tell them that this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones that I have embedded, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them.

¹There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.

⁵Cush, Put, and Lud, and all the various peoples, as well as Libya and the men of the covenant land, will fall with Egypt by the sword.

²¹So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.

³⁷A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered.

¹Before the year that the chief commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it,

²⁴all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert;

¹Concerning Moab, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be devastated. Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced; the fortress will be shattered and dismantled.

²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

⁷Remember, O Lord, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”

¹¹This is what the Lord says: “For three transgressions of Edom, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and stifled all compassion; his anger raged continually, and his fury flamed incessantly.

²⁹Edom is there, and all her kings and princes, who despite their might are laid among those slain by the sword. They lie down with the uncircumcised, with those who descend to the Pit.

¹Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it,

⁴For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally. Indeed, the Lord is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.

¹This is the burden of the word of the Lord against the land of Hadrach and Damascus its resting place—for the eyes of men and of all the tribes of Israel are upon the Lord—

²and also against Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd.

⁴Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads.

⁵For you took My silver and gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples.

¹⁰Hear, O nations, the word of the Lord, and proclaim it in distant coastlands: “The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock.

³Send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

³⁰All the leaders of the north and all the Sidonians are there; they went down in disgrace with the slain, despite the terror of their might. They lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bear their shame with those who descend to the Pit.

²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

⁸Turn and run! Lie low, O dwellers of Dedan, for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time I punish him.

³²Their camels will become plunder, and their large herds will be spoil. I will scatter to the wind in every direction those who shave their temples; I will bring calamity on them from all sides,” declares the Lord.

¹⁹The caravans of Tema look for water; the travelers of Sheba hope to find it.

²¹Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram),

¹⁵Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

¹⁴not including the revenue from the merchants and traders. And all the Arabian kings and governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.

²⁰all the mixed tribes; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines: Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;

⁵Cush, Put, and Lud, and all the various peoples, as well as Libya and the men of the covenant land, will fall with Egypt by the sword.

³⁷A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered.

²⁸Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated, this is what the Lord says: “Rise up, advance against Kedar, and destroy the people of the east!

²⁹They will take their tents and flocks, their tent curtains and all their goods. They will take their camels for themselves. They will shout to them: ‘Terror is on every side!’

²and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

³Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites, and the Leummites.

²²The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

¹¹On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

¹⁷Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes, who have no regard for silver and no desire for gold.

³⁴This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.

³⁵This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Behold, I will shatter Elam’s bow, the mainstay of their might.

¹¹Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The Lord has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the Lord—vengeance for His temple.

²⁸Prepare the nations for battle against her—the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the lands they rule.

⁴¹How Sheshach has been captured! The praise of all the earth has been seized. What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!

⁹behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the Lord, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.

¹This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:

²Raise a banner on a barren hilltop; call aloud to them. Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.

¹Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.

²Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

¹This is the word that the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans:

²“Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced, her idols are broken in pieces.’

¹²But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the Lord, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.

¹⁶And they will drink and stagger and go out of their minds, because of the sword that I will send among them.”

¹⁶You will be filled with shame instead of glory. You too must drink and expose your uncircumcision! The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will cover your glory.

²¹Therefore now hear this, you afflicted one, drunken, but not with wine.

²¹So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.

⁴Because I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north.

⁵Then all flesh will know that I, the Lord, have taken My sword from its sheath, not to return it again.’

¹⁴“Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it in Memphis and Tahpanhes: ‘Take your positions and prepare yourself, for the sword devours those around you.’

³³Should God repay you on your own terms when you have disavowed Him? You must choose, not I; so tell me what you know.

²⁴The Lord of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.

²⁵I will break Assyria in My land; I will trample him on My mountain. His yoke will be taken off My people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.”

¹²For this is what the Lord says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must drink it too.

³⁵All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

²⁸They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen.

¹¹In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,

¹⁷For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?

²¹And I will summon a sword against Gog on all My mountains, declares the Lord God, and every man’s sword will be against his brother.

³¹If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!

⁴³then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You. Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and they will know that this house I have built is called by Your Name.

¹⁶For as you drank on My holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and gulp it down; they will be as if they had never existed.

⁶Slaughter the old men, the young men and maidens, the women and children; but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

²He said: “The Lord roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers.”

¹³The Lord goes forth like a mighty one; He stirs up His zeal like a warrior. He shouts; yes, He roars in triumph over His enemies:

¹⁶The Lord will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

⁹So I weep with Jazer for the vines of Sibmah; I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Triumphant shouts have fallen silent over your summer fruit and your harvest.

⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.

¹¹The Lord raises His voice in the presence of His army. Indeed, His camp is very large, for mighty are those who obey His command. For the Day of the Lord is great and very dreadful. Who can endure it?

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”

¹Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land!

²I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations as they divided up My land.

¹⁶For by fire and by His sword, the Lord will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the Lord.

²Hear, O mountains, the Lord’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:

³⁵And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

³⁶Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord God.

⁸For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

²The Lord is angry with all the nations and furious with all their armies. He will devote them to destruction; He will give them over to slaughter.

¹⁹Behold, the storm of the Lord has gone out with fury, a whirlwind swirling down upon the heads of the wicked.

⁶Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God afflicted them with all kinds of adversity.

²³Behold, the storm of the Lord has gone out with fury, a whirlwind swirling down upon the heads of the wicked.

³⁰And the Lord will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.

⁸Therefore wait for Me,” declares the Lord, “until the day I rise to testify. For My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them My indignation—all My burning anger. For all the earth will be consumed by the fire of My jealousy.

¹⁶For by fire and by His sword, the Lord will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the Lord.

²They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.

³They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.

²⁵Therefore the anger of the Lord burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lie like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.

⁴“They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.”

⁵Indeed, this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal. Do not go to mourn or show sympathy, for I have removed from this people My peace, My loving devotion, and My compassion,” declares the Lord.

⁹For three and a half days all peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will view their bodies and will not permit them to be laid in a tomb.

²⁶O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

⁷All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.

²¹So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.

²³Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair;

¹⁶I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’

¹⁷This is what the Lord God says to you, My flock: ‘I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the goats.

¹⁶against every ship of Tarshish, and against every stately vessel.

²⁰But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”

¹⁴Escape will fail the swift, the strong will not prevail by his strength, and the mighty will not save his life.

¹⁸But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape their grasp.’”

²⁴The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.

²⁵Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as seven trusted royal advisers. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city.

²³All your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans. And you yourself will not escape their grasp, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned down.”

⁸but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and his whole army deserted him.

⁹The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on Zedekiah.

⁸So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us.”

³⁴Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For the days of your slaughter have come; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery.

¹⁰For the fortified city lies deserted—a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.

¹¹When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.

¹⁴For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever—the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks—

⁷A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.

⁷So like a lion I will pounce on them; like a leopard I will lurk by the path.

⁸Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast tearing them apart.

⁶Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.

¹⁴For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them off where no one can rescue them.

³Then the angel who was speaking with me went forth, and another angel came forward to meet him

¹⁰They will walk after the Lord; He will roar like a lion. When He roars, His children will come trembling from the west.