Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Then all the commanders of the forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the small to the great approached

²and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our pleading come before you, and pray for us to the LORD your God for all this remnant—since we have been left only a few out of many, just as your own eyes now see us—

³that the LORD your God will tell us the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do.”

⁴Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I am going to pray to the LORD your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole message which the LORD gives you as an answer. I will not withhold a word from you.”

⁵Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the LORD your God will send you to us.

⁶Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well for us when we listen to the voice of the LORD our God.”

⁷Now at the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.

⁸Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and for all the people from the small to the great,

⁹and said to them, “This is what the LORD says, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea before Him:

¹⁰‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent of the disaster that I have inflicted on you.

¹¹Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand.

¹²I will also show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil.

¹³But if you are going to say, “We will not stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of the LORD your God,

¹⁴saying, “No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, or hear the sound of a trumpet, or hunger for bread, and we will stay there”;

¹⁵then in that case listen to the word of the LORD, you remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “If you really set your minds to enter Egypt and go in to reside there,

¹⁶then the sword, of which you are afraid, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there.

¹⁷So all the people who set their minds to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the sword, by famine, or by plague; and they will have no refugees or survivors from the disaster that I am going to bring on them.” ’ ”

¹⁸For this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “As My anger and wrath have gushed out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will gush out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation, and a disgrace; and you will not see this place again.”

¹⁹The LORD has spoken to you, you remnant of Judah, “Do not go to Egypt!” You know for certain that I have admonished you today.

²⁰For you have only deceived yourselves; for it is you who sent me to the LORD your God, saying, “Pray for us to the LORD our God; and whatever the LORD our God says, tell us so, and we will do it.”

²¹So I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the LORD your God in whatever He has sent me to tell you.

²²And now you shall know for certain that you will die by the sword, by famine, or by plague in the place where you desire to go to reside.

¹But as soon as Jeremiah, whom the LORD their God had sent to them, had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God—that is, all these words—

²Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to reside there’;

³but Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us in order to hand us over to the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon!”

⁴So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces, and all the people, did not obey the voice of the LORD to stay in the land of Judah.

⁵Instead, Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the entire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been scattered, in order to reside in the land of Judah—

⁶the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, together with Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah—

⁷and they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not obey the voice of the LORD) and went in as far as Tahpanhes.

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,

⁹“Take some large stones in your hands and hide them in the mortar in the brick terrace which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of some of the Jews;

¹⁰and say to them, ‘This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to send men and get My servant Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and I am going to set his throne over these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his canopy over them.

¹¹He will also come and strike the land of Egypt; those who are meant for death will be given over to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and those for the sword to the sword.

¹²And I shall set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment, and he will depart from there safely.

¹³He will also smash to pieces the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.” ’ ”

¹The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those who were living in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and the land of Pathros, saying,

²“This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘You yourselves have seen all the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are in ruins and no one lives in them,

³because of their wickedness which they committed to provoke Me to anger by continuing to burn sacrifices and to serve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers.

⁴Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate.”

⁵But they did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn sacrifices to other gods.

⁶Therefore My wrath and My anger gushed out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become ruins and a desolation as it is this day.

⁷Now then, this is what the LORD God of armies, the God of Israel says: “Why are you doing great harm to yourselves, to eliminate from yourselves man and woman, child and infant from among Judah, leaving yourselves without a remnant,

⁸provoking Me to anger with the works of your hands, burning sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt where you are entering to reside, so that you may be eliminated and become a curse and a disgrace among all the nations of the earth?

⁹Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah and the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁰Yet they have not become contrite even to this day, nor have they feared, nor walked in My Law or My statutes, which I placed before you and before your fathers.” ’

¹¹“Therefore this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am going to set My face against you for a disaster, even to eliminate all Judah.

¹²And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have set their minds on entering the land of Egypt to reside there, and they will all meet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword or meet their end by famine. From the small to the great, they will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation, and a disgrace.

¹³And I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, just as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with plague.

¹⁴So there will be no survivor or refugee for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to reside there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are longing to return to live; for none will return except a few refugees.’ ”

¹⁵Then all the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying,

¹⁶“As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you!

¹⁷But we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings, and our leaders did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune.

¹⁸But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything, and have met our end by the sword and by famine.”

¹⁹“And,” said the women, “when we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image, and poured out drink offerings to her?”

²⁰Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who were giving him such an answer—saying,

²¹“As for the smoking sacrifices that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your forefathers, your kings and your leaders, and the people of the land, did the LORD not remember them, and did all of this not come into His mind?

²²So the LORD was no longer able to endure it, because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed; so your land has become a place of ruins, an object of horror, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day.

²³Since you have burned sacrifices and have sinned against the LORD and not obeyed the voice of the LORD nor walked in His Law, His statutes, or His testimonies, therefore this disaster has happened to you, as it has this day.”

²⁴Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt!

²⁵This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” By all means fulfill your vows, and be sure to perform your vows!’

²⁶In return, hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great name,’ says the LORD, ‘that My name shall never be invoked again by the mouth of anyone of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord GOD lives.”

²⁷Behold, I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and all the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will meet their end by the sword or by famine until they are completely gone.

²⁸Those who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs.

²⁹And this will be the sign to you,’ declares the LORD, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will assuredly stand against you for harm.’

³⁰This is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies, to those who seek his life, just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’ ”

¹This is the message which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at Jeremiah’s dictation, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying:

²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says to you, Baruch:

³‘You said, “Oh, woe to me! For the LORD has added grief to my pain; I am weary with my groaning and have found no rest.” ’

⁴This is what you are to say to him: ‘This is what the LORD says: “Behold, what I have built I am going to tear down, and what I have planted I am going to uproot, that is, all the people of the land.”

⁵But as for you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to bring disaster on all flesh,’ declares the LORD, ‘but I will give your life to you as plunder in all the places where you may go.’ ”

¹That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

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

³“Set up the buckler and shield, And advance to the battle!

⁴Harness the horses, And mount the steeds, Take your stand with helmets on! Polish the spears, Put on the coats of armor!

⁵Why have I seen it? They are terrified, They are retreating, And their warriors are defeated And have taken refuge in flight, Without facing back. Terror is on every side!” Declares the LORD.

⁶Let not the swift man flee, Nor the warrior escape. In the north beside the river Euphrates They have stumbled and fallen.

⁷Who is this that rises like the Nile, Like the rivers whose waters surge?

⁸Egypt rises like the Nile, And like the rivers whose waters surge; And He has said, “I will rise and cover that land; I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.”

⁹Go up, you horses, and drive wildly, you chariots, So that the warriors may march forward: Cush and Put, who handle the shield, And the Lydians, who handle and bend the bow.

¹⁰For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of armies, A day of vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His foes; And the sword will devour and be satisfied, And drink its fill of their blood; For there will be a slaughter for the Lord GOD of armies, In the land of the north at the river Euphrates.

¹¹Go up to Gilead and obtain balm, Virgin daughter of Egypt! You have used many remedies in vain; There is no healing for you.

¹²The nations have heard of your shame, And the earth is full of your cry of distress; For one warrior has stumbled over another, And both of them have fallen down together.

¹³This is the message which the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

¹⁴“Declare in Egypt and proclaim in Migdol, Proclaim also in Memphis and Tahpanhes; Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready, For the sword has devoured those around you.’

¹⁵Why have your powerful ones been cut down? They do not stand because the LORD has thrust them away.

¹⁶They have repeatedly stumbled; Indeed, they have fallen, one against another. Then they said, ‘Get up, and let’s go back To our own people and our native land, Away from the sword of the oppressor!’

¹⁷They shouted there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is nothing but a big noise; He has let the appointed time pass by!’

¹⁸As I live,” declares the King, Whose name is the LORD of armies, “One certainly shall come who is like Tabor among the mountains, Or like Carmel by the sea.

¹⁹Make your baggage ready for exile, Daughter living in Egypt, For Memphis will become a desolation; It will be destroyed and deprived of inhabitants.

²⁰Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north—it is coming!

²¹Also her mercenaries in her midst Are like fattened calves, For they too have turned away and have fled together; They did not stand their ground. For the day of their disaster has come upon them, The time of their punishment.

²²Its sound moves along like a serpent; For they move on like an army And come to her as woodcutters with axes.

²³They have cut down her forest,” declares the LORD; “Certainly it will no longer be found, Even though they are more numerous than locusts And are without number.

²⁴The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame, Turned over to the power of the people of the north.”

²⁵The LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings, indeed, Pharaoh and those who trust in him.

²⁶I shall hand them over to those who are seeking their lives, that is, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to his officers. Afterward, however, it will be inhabited as in the days of old,” declares the LORD.

²⁷“But as for you, Jacob My servant, do not fear, Nor be dismayed, Israel! For, see, I am going to save you from far away, And your descendants from the land of their captivity; And Jacob will return and be undisturbed And secure, with no one making him afraid.

²⁸Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares the LORD, “For I am with you. For I will make a complete destruction of all the nations Where I have driven you, Yet I will not make a complete destruction of you; But I will correct you properly And by no means leave you unpunished.”

¹The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza.

²This is what the LORD says: “Behold, waters are going to rise from the north And become an overflowing torrent, And overflow the land and everything that is in it, The city and those who live in it; And the people will cry out, And every inhabitant of the land will wail.

³Because of the noise of the galloping hoofs of his stallions, The roar of his chariots, and the rumbling of his wheels, The fathers have not turned back for their children, Because of the debility of their hands,

⁴Because of the day that is coming To destroy all the Philistines, To eliminate from Tyre and Sidon Every surviving ally; For the LORD is going to destroy the Philistines, The remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.

⁵Baldness has come upon Gaza; Ashkelon has been destroyed. Remnant of their valley, How long will you gash yourself?

⁶Ah, sword of the LORD, How long will you not be quiet? Withdraw into your sheath; Rest and stay still.

⁷How can it be quiet, When the LORD has given it an order? Against Ashkelon and against the sea shore— There He has summoned it.”

¹Concerning Moab. This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Woe to Nebo, for it has been destroyed; Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured; The high stronghold has been put to shame and shattered.

²There is no longer praise for Moab; In Heshbon they have devised disaster against her: ‘Come and let’s cut her off from being a nation!’ You too, Madmen, will be silenced; The sword will follow you.

³The sound of an outcry from Horonaim, ‘Devastation and great destruction!’

⁴Moab is broken, Her little ones have sounded out a cry of distress.

⁵For they will go up by the ascent of Luhith With continual weeping; For at the descent of Horonaim They have heard the anguished cry of destruction.

⁶Flee, save yourselves, So that you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.

⁷For because of your trust in your own achievements and treasures, You yourself will also be captured; And Chemosh will go off into exile Together with his priests and his leaders.

⁸A destroyer will come to every city, So that no city will escape; The valley also will be ruined And the plateau will be destroyed, As the LORD has said.

⁹Give wings to Moab, For she will flee away; And her cities will become a desolation, Without inhabitants in them.

¹⁰Cursed is the one who does the LORD’S work negligently, And cursed is the one who restrains his sword from blood.

¹¹“Moab has been at ease since his youth; He has also been peaceful, like wine on its dregs, And he has not been poured from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, And his aroma has not changed.

¹²Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will pour out his vessels and smash his jars.

¹³And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

¹⁴How can you say, ‘We are warriors, And men competent for battle’?

¹⁵Moab has been destroyed and men have gone up to his cities; His choicest young men have also gone down to the slaughter,” Declares the King, whose name is the LORD of armies.

¹⁶“The disaster of Moab will soon come, And his catastrophe has hurried quickly.

¹⁷Mourn for him, all you who live around him, And all of you who know his name; Say, ‘How the mighty scepter has been broken, A staff of splendor!’

¹⁸Come down from your glory And sit on the parched ground, O daughter living in Dibon, For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, He has ruined your strongholds.

¹⁹Stand by the road and keep watch, You inhabitant of Aroer; Ask him who flees and her who escapes And say, ‘What has happened?’

²⁰Moab has been put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out; Declare by the Arnon That Moab has been destroyed.

²¹“Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, Jahzah, and against Mephaath,

²²against Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,

²³against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,

²⁴against Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.

²⁵The horn of Moab has been cut off, and his arm broken,” declares the LORD.

²⁶“Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant toward the LORD; so Moab will vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock.

²⁷Now was Israel not a laughingstock to you? Or was he caught among thieves? For whenever you speak about him you shake your head in scorn.

²⁸Leave the cities and live among the rocky cliffs, You inhabitants of Moab, And be like a dove that nests Beyond the mouth of the chasm.

²⁹We have heard of the pride of Moab—he is very proud— Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance, and his self-exaltation.

³⁰I know his fury,” declares the LORD, “But it is futile; His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.

³¹Therefore I will wail for Moab, For all of Moab I will cry out; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.

³²More than the weeping for Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your tendrils stretched across the sea, They reached to the sea of Jazer; Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest The destroyer has fallen.

³³So joy and rejoicing are removed From the fruitful field, and from the land of Moab. And I have eliminated the wine from the wine presses; No one will tread them with shouting, The shouting will not be shouts of joy.

³⁴From the outcry at Heshbon to Elealeh, to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim, and to Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate.

³⁵And I will put an end to Moab,” declares the LORD, “the one who offers sacrifice on the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods.

³⁶“Therefore My heart makes a sound like flutes for Moab; My heart also makes a sound like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have lost the abundance it produced.

³⁷For every head is shaved bald, and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands, and sackcloth around the waists.

³⁸On all the housetops of Moab and in its public squares there is mourning everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable vessel,” declares the LORD.

³⁹“How shattered it is! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back—he is ashamed! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an object of terror to all around him.”

⁴⁰For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, one will fly swiftly like an eagle And spread out his wings against Moab.

⁴¹Kerioth has been captured And the strongholds have been seized, So the hearts of the warriors of Moab on that day Will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

⁴²Moab will be destroyed from being a people Because he has become arrogant toward the LORD.

⁴³Terror, pit, and snare are coming upon you, Inhabitant of Moab,” declares the LORD.

⁴⁴“The one who flees from the terror Will fall into the pit, And the one who climbs up out of the pit Will be caught in the snare; For I will bring upon her, upon Moab, The year of their punishment,” declares the LORD.

⁴⁵“In the shadow of Heshbon The fugitives stand without strength; For a fire has spread out from Heshbon And a flame from the midst of Sihon, And it has devoured the forehead of Moab And the scalps of the loud revelers.

⁴⁶Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; For your sons have been taken away captive, And your daughters into captivity.

⁴⁷Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab In the latter days,” declares the LORD. This is the extent of the judgment on Moab.

¹Concerning the sons of Ammon. This is what the LORD says: “Does Israel have no sons? Or has he no heirs? Why then has Malcam taken possession of Gad, And his people settled in its cities?

²Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will cause an alarm of war to be heard Against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon; And it will become a desolate heap, And her towns will be set on fire. Then Israel will take possession of his possessors,” Says the LORD.

³“Wail, Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed! Cry out, daughters of Rabbah, Put on sackcloth and mourn, And move about inside the walls; For Malcam will go into exile Together with his priests and his leaders.

⁴How you boast about the valleys! Your valley is flowing away, You backsliding daughter Who trusts in her treasures, saying, ‘Who can come against me?’

⁵Behold, I am going to bring terror upon you,” Declares the Lord GOD of armies, “From all directions around you; And you will be driven away one after another, With no one to gather the fugitives together.

⁶But afterward I will restore The fortunes of the sons of Ammon,” Declares the LORD.

⁷Concerning Edom. This is what the LORD of armies says: “Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman? Has good advice been lost by the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?

⁸Flee away, turn back, dwell in the depths, You inhabitants of Dedan, For I will bring the disaster of Esau upon him At the time I punish him.

⁹If grape pickers came to you, Would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came by night, They would destroy only what was sufficient for them.

¹⁰But I have stripped Esau bare, I have uncovered his hiding places So that he will not be able to conceal himself; His offspring have been destroyed along with his brothers And his neighbors, and he no longer exists.

¹¹Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive; And let your widows trust in Me.”

¹²For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, those who were not sentenced to drink the cup will certainly drink it, so are you the one who will be held completely blameless? You will not be held blameless, but you will certainly drink it.

¹³For I have sworn by Myself,” declares the LORD, “that Bozrah will become an object of horror, a disgrace, a wasteland, and a curse; and all its cities will become permanent ruins.”

¹⁴I have heard a message from the LORD, And a messenger is being sent among the nations, saying, “Gather yourselves together and come against her, And rise up for battle!”

¹⁵“For behold, I have made you small among the nations, Despised among people.

¹⁶As for the terror you cause, The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, You who live in the clefts of the rock, Who occupy the height of the hill. Though you make your nest as high as an eagle’s, I will bring you down from there,” declares the LORD.

¹⁷“Edom will become an object of horror; everyone who passes by it will be appalled and will hiss at all its wounds.

¹⁸Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah with its neighbors,” says the LORD, “no one will live there, nor will anyone of mankind reside in it.

¹⁹Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will chase him away from it, and I will appoint over it whoever is chosen. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand against Me?”

²⁰Therefore hear the plan of the LORD which He has planned against Edom, and His purposes which He has in mind against the inhabitants of Teman: they will certainly drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; He will certainly make their pasture desolate because of them.

²¹The earth has quaked at the noise of their downfall. There is an outcry! The noise of it has been heard at the Red Sea.

²²Behold, He will mount up and swoop like an eagle, and spread out His wings against Bozrah; and the hearts of the warriors of Edom on that day will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

²³Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, For they have heard bad news; They despair. There is anxiety at the sea, It cannot be calmed.

²⁴Damascus has become helpless; She has turned away to flee, And panic has gripped her; Distress and labor pains have seized her Like a woman in childbirth.

²⁵How the city of praise has not been deserted, The town of My joy!

²⁶Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets, And all the men of war will perish on that day,” declares the LORD of armies.

²⁷“I will set fire to the wall of Damascus, And it will devour the fortified palace of Ben-hadad.”

²⁸Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. This is what the LORD says: “Arise, go up to Kedar And devastate the people of the east.

²⁹They will take away their tents and their flocks; They will carry off for themselves Their tent curtains, all their goods and their camels, And they will call out to one another, ‘Horror on every side!’

³⁰Run away, flee! Dwell in the depths, You inhabitants of Hazor,” declares the LORD; “For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has formed a plan against you And devised a scheme against you.

³¹Arise, go up against a nation which is at ease, Which lives securely,” declares the LORD. “It has no gates or bars; They dwell alone.

³²Their camels will become plunder, And their many livestock for spoils, And I will scatter to all the winds those who cut the corners of their hair; And I will bring their disaster from every side,” declares the LORD.

³³“Hazor will become a haunt of jackals, A desolation forever; No one will live there, Nor will anyone of mankind reside in it.”

³⁴The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

³⁵“This is what the LORD of armies says: ‘Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam, The finest of their might.

³⁶I will bring upon Elam the four winds From the four ends of heaven, And will scatter them to all these winds; And there will be no nation To which the outcasts of Elam will not go.

³⁷So I will shatter Elam before their enemies And before those who seek their lives; And I will bring disaster upon them, Even My fierce anger,’ declares the LORD, ‘And I will send the sword after them Until I have consumed them.

³⁸Then I will set My throne in Elam, And eliminate from there the king and officials,’ Declares the LORD.

³⁹‘But it will come about in the last days That I will restore the fortunes of Elam,’ ” Declares the LORD.

¹The word which the LORD spoke concerning Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:

²“Declare and proclaim among the nations. Proclaim it and lift up a flag, Do not conceal it. Say, ‘Babylon has been captured, Bel has been put to shame, Marduk has been shattered; Her idols have been put to shame, her images have been shattered.’

³For a nation has come up against her from the north; it will make her land an object of horror, and there will be no inhabitant in it. Whether people or animals, they have wandered off, they have gone!

⁴“In those days and at that time,” declares the LORD, “the sons of Israel will come, they and the sons of Judah as well; they will go along weeping as they go, and it will be the LORD their God whom they will seek.

⁵They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction; they will come so that they may join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.

⁶“My people have become lost sheep; Their shepherds have led them astray. They have made them turn aside on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill, They have forgotten their resting place.

⁷All who found them have devoured them; And their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty, Since they have sinned against the LORD who is the habitation of righteousness, The LORD, the hope of their fathers.’

⁸“Wander away from the midst of Babylon And go out from the land of the Chaldeans; Be like male goats at the head of the flock.

⁹For behold, I am going to rouse and bring up against Babylon A contingent of great nations from the land of the north, And they will draw up their battle lines against her; From there she will be taken captive. Their arrows will be like an expert warrior Who does not return empty-handed.

¹⁰Chaldea will become plunder; All who plunder her will have enough,” declares the LORD.

¹¹“Because you are glad, because you are jubilant, You who pillage My heritage, Because you skip about like a threshing heifer And neigh like stallions,

¹²Your mother will be greatly ashamed, She who gave you birth will be humiliated. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, A wilderness, a dry land and a desert.

¹³Because of the wrath of the LORD she will not be inhabited, But she will be completely desolate; Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified And will hiss because of all her wounds.

¹⁴Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side, All of you who bend the bow; Shoot at her, do not spare your arrows, For she has sinned against the LORD.

¹⁵Raise your battle cry against her on every side! She has given herself up, her towers have fallen, Her walls have been torn down. For this is the vengeance of the LORD: Take vengeance on her; As she has done to others, so do to her.

¹⁶Eliminate the sower from Babylon And the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest; From the sword of the oppressor Each of them will turn back to his own people And each of them will flee to his own land.

¹⁷“Israel is a scattered flock, the lions have driven them away. The first one who devoured him was the king of Assyria, and this last one who has gnawed his bones is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

¹⁸Therefore this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria.

¹⁹And I will bring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.

²⁰In those days and at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘search will be made for the wrongdoing of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will forgive those whom I leave as a remnant.’

²¹“Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and completely destroy them,” declares the LORD, “And do according to everything that I have commanded you.

²²The noise of battle is in the land, And great destruction.

²³How the hammer of the whole earth Has been cut off and broken! How Babylon has become An object of horror among the nations!

²⁴I set a trap for you and you were also caught, Babylon, While you yourself were not aware; You have been found and also seized Because you have engaged in conflict with the LORD.”

²⁵The LORD has opened His armory And has brought out the weapons of His indignation, For it is a work of the Lord GOD of armies In the land of the Chaldeans.

²⁶Come to her from the farthest border; Open up her barns, Pile her up like heaps of grain And completely destroy her, Let nothing be left to her.

²⁷Put all her bulls to the sword; Let them go down to the slaughter! Woe be upon them, for their day has come, The time of their punishment.

²⁸There is a sound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon, To declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, Vengeance for His temple.

²⁹“Summon many against Babylon, All those who bend the bow: Encamp against her on every side, Let there be no escape. Repay her according to her work; According to all that she has done, so do to her; For she has become arrogant against the LORD, Against the Holy One of Israel.

³⁰Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, And all her men of war will perish on that day,” declares the LORD.

³¹“Behold, I am against you, arrogant one,” Declares the Lord GOD of armies, “For your day has come, The time when I will punish you.

³²The arrogant one will stumble and fall With no one to raise him up; And I will set fire to his cities, And it will devour all his surroundings.”

³³This is what the LORD of armies says: “The sons of Israel are oppressed, And the sons of Judah as well; And all who took them captive have held them firmly, They have refused to let them go.

³⁴Their Redeemer is strong, the LORD of armies is His name; He will vigorously plead their case So that He may bring rest to their land, But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares the LORD, “And against the inhabitants of Babylon And against her leaders and her wise men!

³⁶A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become fools! A sword against her warriors, and they will be shattered!

³⁷A sword against their horses, against their chariots, And against all the foreigners who are in the midst of her, And they will become women! A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!

³⁸A drought on her waters, and they will be dried up! For it is a land of idols, And they go insane at frightful images.

³⁹“Therefore the desert creatures will live there with the jackals; The ostriches also will live in it. It will never again be inhabited Nor lived in from generation to generation.

⁴⁰As when God overthrew Sodom And Gomorrah with its neighbors,” declares the LORD, “No one will live there, Nor will anyone of mankind reside in it.

⁴¹“Behold, a people is coming from the north, And a great nation and many kings Will be roused from the remote parts of the earth.

⁴²They seize their bow and javelin; They are cruel and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea; And they ride on horses, Drawn up like a man for the battle Against you, daughter of Babylon.

⁴³The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, And his hands hang limp; Distress has gripped him, Agony like a woman in childbirth.

⁴⁴“Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will chase them away from it, and I will appoint over it whoever is chosen. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand against Me?”

⁴⁵Therefore hear the plan of the LORD which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has in mind against the land of the Chaldeans: they will certainly drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; He will certainly make their pasture desolate because of them.

⁴⁶At the shout, “Babylon has been conquered!” the earth quakes, and an outcry is heard among the nations.

¹This is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am going to stir up The spirit of a destroyer against Babylon And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai.

²I will send foreigners to Babylon so that they may winnow her And devastate her land; For they will be opposed to her on every side On the day of her disaster.

³Let not him who bends his bow bend it, Nor let him rise up in his coat of armor. Do not spare her young men; Devote all her army to destruction.

⁴They will fall down dead in the land of the Chaldeans, And pierced through in their streets.”

⁵For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken By his God, the LORD of armies, Although their land is full of guilt Before the Holy One of Israel.

⁶Flee from the midst of Babylon, And each of you save his life! Do not perish in her punishment, For this is the LORD’S time of vengeance; He is going to repay to her what she deserves.

⁷Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the LORD, Intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; Therefore the nations are going insane.

⁸Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; Wail over her! Bring balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed.

⁹We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; Abandon her and let’s each go to his own country, For her judgment has reached to heaven And it rises to the clouds.

¹⁰The LORD has brought about our vindication; Come and let’s recount in Zion The work of the LORD our God!

¹¹Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, Because His plan is against Babylon to destroy it; For it is the vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for His temple.

¹²Lift up a signal flag against the walls of Babylon; Post a strong guard, Station sentries, Set up an ambush! For the LORD has both planned and performed What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

¹³You who live by many waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your end.

¹⁴The LORD of armies has sworn by Himself: “I will certainly fill you with a population like locusts, And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you.”

¹⁵It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, And by His understanding He stretched out the heavens.

¹⁶When He utters His voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, And He makes the clouds ascend from the end of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain And brings out wind from His storehouses.

¹⁷Every person is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, For his cast metal images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them.

¹⁸They are worthless, a work of mockery; At the time of their punishment they will perish.

¹⁹The portion of Jacob is not like these; For He is the Maker of everything, And of the tribe of His inheritance; The LORD of armies is His name.

²⁰He says, “You are My war-club, My weapon of war; And with you I shatter nations, And with you I destroy kingdoms.

²¹With you I shatter the horse and his rider, And with you I shatter the chariot and its rider,

²²And with you I shatter man and woman, And with you I shatter the old man and youth, And with you I shatter the young man and virgin,

²³And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock, And with you I shatter the farmer and his team, And with you I shatter governors and officials.

²⁴“But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares the LORD.

²⁵“Behold, I am against you, mountain of destruction That destroys the whole earth,” declares the LORD, “And I will stretch out My hand against you, And roll you down from the rocky cliffs, And I will make you a burnt out mountain.

²⁶They will not take from you even a stone for a corner Nor a stone for foundations, But you will be desolate forever,” declares the LORD.

²⁷Lift up a signal flag in the land, Blow a trumpet among the nations! Consecrate the nations against her, Summon against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; Appoint an officer against her, Bring up the horses like bristly locusts.

²⁸Consecrate the nations against her, The kings of the Medes, Their governors and all their officials, And every land under their control.

²⁹So the land quakes and writhes, For the plans of the LORD against Babylon stand, To make the land of Babylon A desolation without inhabitants.

³⁰The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting, They stay in the strongholds; Their strength is exhausted, They are becoming like women; Their homes are set on fire, The bars of her gates are broken.

³¹One courier runs to meet another, And one messenger to meet another, To tell the king of Babylon That his city has been captured from end to end;

³²The river crossing places have been seized, And they have burned the marshes with fire, And the men of war are terrified.

³³For this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor At the time that it is tread down; In just a little while the time of harvest will come for her.”

³⁴“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, He has set me down like an empty vessel; He has swallowed me like a monster, He has filled his stomach with my delicacies; He has washed me away.

³⁵May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,” The inhabitant of Zion will say; And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,” Jerusalem will say.

³⁶Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am going to plead your case And take vengeance for you; And I will dry up her sea And make her fountain dry.

³⁷Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, An object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.

³⁸They will roar together like young lions, They will growl like lions’ cubs.

³⁹When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet And make them drunk, so that they may rejoice in triumph, And may sleep a perpetual sleep And not wake up,” declares the LORD.

⁴⁰“I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, Like rams together with male goats.

⁴¹“How Sheshak has been captured, And the praise of the whole earth has been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!

⁴²The sea has come up over Babylon; She has been engulfed by its roaring waves.

⁴³Her cities have become an object of horror, A dry land and a desert, A land in which no one lives And through which no one of mankind passes.

⁴⁴I will punish Bel in Babylon, And I will make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth; And the nations will no longer stream toward him. Even the wall of Babylon has fallen down!

⁴⁵“Come out from her midst, My people, And each of you save yourselves From the fierce anger of the LORD.

⁴⁶Now, so that your heart does not grow faint, And you are not afraid at the report that will be heard in the land— For the report will come in one year, And after that another report in another year, And violence will be in the land With ruler against ruler—

⁴⁷Therefore behold, days are coming When I will punish the idols of Babylon; And her whole land will be put to shame. And all her slain will fall in her midst.

⁴⁸Then heaven and earth and everything that is in them Will shout for joy over Babylon, Because the destroyers will come to her from the north,” Declares the LORD.

⁴⁹Indeed, Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, As the slain of all the earth have also fallen for Babylon.

⁵⁰You who have escaped the sword, Go! Do not stay! Remember the LORD from far away, And let Jerusalem come to your mind.

⁵¹We are ashamed because we have heard rebuke; Disgrace has covered our faces, Because strangers have entered The holy places of the LORD’S house.

⁵²“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will punish her idols, And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.

⁵³Though Babylon ascends to the heavens, And though she fortifies her lofty stronghold, Destroyers will come from Me to her,” declares the LORD.

⁵⁴The sound of an outcry from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!

⁵⁵For the LORD is going to destroy Babylon, And He will make her loud noise vanish from her. And their waves will roar like many waters; The clamor of their voices sounds forth.

⁵⁶For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, And her warriors will be captured, Their bows shattered; For the LORD is a God of retribution, He will fully repay.

⁵⁷“I will make her leaders and her wise men drunk, Her governors, her officials, and her warriors, So that they will sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,” Declares the King, whose name is the LORD of armies.

⁵⁸This is what the LORD of armies says: “The broad wall of Babylon will be completely demolished, And her high gates will be set on fire; So the peoples will labor for nothing, And the nations become exhausted only for fire.”

⁵⁹The command that Jeremiah the prophet gave Seraiah the son of Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (And Seraiah was quartermaster.)

⁶⁰Jeremiah wrote on a single scroll all the disaster which would come against Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon.

⁶¹Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud,

⁶²and say, ‘You, LORD, have promised concerning this place to cut it off, so that there will be nothing living in it, whether man or animal; but it will be a permanent desolation.’

⁶³And as soon as you finish reading this scroll, you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates,

⁶⁴and say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and not rise again, because of the disaster that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become exhausted.’ ” To this point are the words of Jeremiah.

¹Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

²He did evil in the sight of the LORD, in accordance with everything that Jehoiakim had done.

³For because of the anger of the LORD this came about in Jerusalem and Judah, until He drove them out from His presence. And Zedekiah revolted against the king of Babylon.

⁴Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it, and built a bulwark all around it.

⁵So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

⁶On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

⁷Then the city was breached, and all the warriors fled and left the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah.

⁸But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the desert plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.

⁹Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.

¹⁰And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the commanders of Judah in Riblah.

¹¹Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze shackles and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.

¹²Now on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who was in the service of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.

¹³And he burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every large house he burned with fire.

¹⁴So the entire army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard tore down all the walls around Jerusalem.

¹⁵Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.

¹⁶But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

¹⁷Now the bronze pillars which belonged to the house of the LORD and the stands and the bronze sea, which were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans smashed to pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon.

¹⁸They also took the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the pans, and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service.

¹⁹The captain of the guard also took the bowls, the firepans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the pans, and the drink offering bowls, whatever was fine gold, and whatever was fine silver.

²⁰The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the LORD—the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight.

²¹As for the pillars, the height of each pillar was eighteen cubits, and it was twelve cubits in circumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow.

²²Also, a capital of bronze was on top of it; and the height of each capital was five cubits, with latticework and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates.

²³There were ninety-six exposed pomegranates; all the pomegranates numbered a hundred on the latticework all around.

²⁴Then the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, with the three officers of the temple.

²⁵He also took from the city one official who was overseer of the warriors, seven of the king’s advisers who were found in the city, the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men from the people of the land who were found inside the city.

²⁶Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

²⁷Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was led into exile from its land.

²⁸These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar took into exile: in the seventh year 3,023 Jews;

²⁹in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem;

³⁰in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took into exile 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 people in all.

³¹Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, showed favor to Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.

³²Then he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

³³So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and had his meals in the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life.

³⁴And as his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day, all the days of his life until the day of his death.

¹How lonely sits the city That once had many people! She has become like a widow Who was once great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces Has become a forced laborer!

²She weeps bitterly in the night, And her tears are on her cheeks; She has no one to comfort her Among all her lovers. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies.

³Judah has gone into exile out of affliction And harsh servitude; She lives among the nations, But she has not found a resting place; All those who pursued her have overtaken her In the midst of distress.

⁴The roads of Zion are in mourning Because no one comes to an appointed feast. All her gates are deserted; Her priests groan, Her virgins are worried, And as for Zion herself, it is bitter for her.

⁵Her adversaries have become her masters, Her enemies are secure; For the LORD has caused her grief Because of the multitude of her wrongdoings; Her little ones have gone away As captives led by the enemy.

⁶All of her splendor Is gone from the daughter of Zion; Her leaders have become like deer That have found no pasture, And they have fled without strength From the pursuer.

⁷In the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her treasures That were hers since the days of old, When her people fell into the hand of the adversary And no one helped her. The adversaries saw her, They laughed at her ruin.

⁸Jerusalem sinned greatly, Therefore she has become an object of ridicule. All who honored her despise her Because they have seen her nakedness; Even she herself groans and turns away.

⁹Her uncleanness was in her garment’s seams; She did not think of her future. So she has fallen in an astonishing way; She has no comforter. “See, LORD, my affliction, For the enemy has honored himself!”

¹⁰The adversary has stretched out his hand Over all her precious things, For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, The ones whom You commanded That they were not to enter Your congregation.

¹¹All her people groan, seeking bread; They have given their treasures for food To restore their lives. “See, LORD, and look, For I am despised.”

¹²“Is it nothing to all you who pass this way? Look and see if there is any pain like my pain Which was inflicted on me, With which the LORD tormented me on the day of His fierce anger.

¹³From the height He sent fire into my bones, And it dominated them. He has spread a net for my feet; He has turned me back; He has made me desolate, Faint all day long.

¹⁴The yoke of my wrongdoings is bound; By His hand they are woven together. They have come upon my neck; He has made my strength fail. The Lord has handed me over To those against whom I am not able to stand.

¹⁵The Lord has thrown away all my strong men In my midst; He has called an appointed time against me To crush my young men; The Lord has trodden as in a wine press The virgin daughter of Judah.

¹⁶For these things I weep; My eyes run down with water; Because far from me is a comforter, One to restore my soul. My children are desolate Because the enemy has prevailed.”

¹⁷Zion stretches out with her hands; There is no one to comfort her; The LORD has commanded regarding Jacob That those around him become his adversaries; Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.

¹⁸“The LORD is righteous, For I have rebelled against His command; Hear now, all peoples, And see my pain; My virgins and my young men Have gone into captivity.

¹⁹I called to my lovers, but they deserted me; My priests and my elders perished in the city While they sought food to restore their strength themselves.

²⁰See, LORD, for I am in distress; My spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is overturned within me, For I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword has made women childless; In the house it is like death.

²¹They have heard that I groan; There is no one to comfort me, All my enemies have heard of my disaster; They are joyful that You have done it. Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed, So that they will become like me.

²²May all their wickedness come before You; And deal with them just as You have dealt with me For all my wrongdoings. For my groans are many and my heart is faint.”

¹How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion With a cloud in His anger! He has hurled The glory of Israel from heaven to earth, And has not remembered His footstool In the day of His anger.

²The Lord has destroyed; He has not spared All the settlements of Jacob. In His wrath He has overthrown The strongholds of the daughter of Judah, He has hurled them down to the ground; He has profaned the kingdom and its leaders.

³In fierce anger He has cut off All the strength of Israel; He has pulled back His right hand From the enemy. And He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire Consuming on all sides.

⁴He has bent His bow like an enemy; His right hand is positioned like an adversary, And He has killed everything that was pleasant to the eye. In the tent of the daughter of Zion He has poured out His wrath like fire.

⁵The Lord has become like an enemy. He has engulfed Israel; He has engulfed all its palaces, He has destroyed its strongholds And caused great mourning and grieving in the daughter of Judah.

⁶And He has treated His tabernacle violently, like a despised garden; He has destroyed His appointed meeting place. The LORD has caused The appointed feast and Sabbath in Zion to be forgotten, And He has despised king and priest In the indignation of His anger.

⁷The Lord has rejected His altar, He has repudiated His sanctuary; He has handed over The walls of her palaces to the enemy. They have made a noise in the house of the LORD As on the day of an appointed feast.

⁸The LORD determined to destroy The wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out a line, He has not restrained His hand from destroying, And He has caused rampart and wall to mourn; They have languished together.

⁹Her gates have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her leaders are among the nations; The Law is gone. Her prophets, too, find No vision from the LORD.

¹⁰The elders of the daughter of Zion Sit on the ground and are silent. They have thrown dust on their heads; They have put on sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem Have bowed their heads to the ground.

¹¹My eyes fail because of tears, My spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is poured out on the earth Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, When little ones and infants languish In the streets of the city.

¹²They say to their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” As they faint like a wounded person In the streets of the city, As their lives are poured out In their mothers’ arms.

¹³How shall I admonish you? What shall I compare to you, Daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I liken to you as I comfort you, Virgin daughter of Zion? For your collapse is as vast as the sea; Who can heal you?

¹⁴Your prophets have seen for you Worthless and deceptive visions; And they have not exposed your wrongdoing So as to restore you from captivity, But they have seen for you worthless and misleading pronouncements.

¹⁵All who pass along the way Clap their hands in ridicule at you; They hiss and shake their heads At the daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city of which they said, ‘Perfect in beauty, A joy to all the earth’?”

¹⁶All your enemies Have opened their mouths wide against you; They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have engulfed her! This certainly is the day which we awaited; We have reached it, we have seen it!”

¹⁷The LORD has done what He determined; He has accomplished His word Which He commanded from days of old. He has torn down without sparing, And He has helped the enemy to rejoice over you; He has exalted the might of your adversaries.

¹⁸Their heart cried out to the Lord: “You wall of the daughter of Zion, Let your tears stream down like a river day and night; Give yourself no relief, Let your eyes have no rest.

¹⁹Arise, whimper in the night At the beginning of the night watches; Pour out your heart like water Before the presence of the Lord; Raise your hands to Him For the life of your little ones Who languish because of hunger At the head of every street.

²⁰See, LORD, and look! With whom have You dealt this way? Should women really eat their children, The little ones who were born healthy? Should priest and prophet really be killed In the sanctuary of the Lord?

²¹On the ground in the streets Lie young and old; My virgins and my young men Have fallen by the sword. You have put them to death on the day of Your anger, You have slaughtered, without sparing.

²²You called as on the day of an appointed feast My terrors on every side; And there was no one who survived or escaped On the day of the LORD’S anger. As for those whom I brought forth healthy and whom I raised, My enemy annihilated them.”