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