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Chapter 50
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1
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The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against
the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. |
2
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall
be satisfied, saith the LORD. |
11
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. |
23
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How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and
broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the
nations! |
24
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword
is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. |
37
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is
moved, and the cry is heard among the nations. |
