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