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| [1]THE WORD OF THE LORD WHICH HE SPOKE AGAINST BABYLON. |
[1]In the begynnyng of the raigne of Iehoakim the sonne of Iosias kyng of Iuda, came this worde vnto Ieremie from the Lorde, which spake thus vnto me |
| [2]Proclaim ye among the Gentiles, and cause the tidings to be heard, and suppress them not: say ye, Babylon is taken, Belus is confounded; the fearless, the luxurious Maerodach is delivered up. |
[2]Make thee bondes and chaynes, and put them about thy necke |
| [3]For a nation has come up against her from the north, he shall utterly ravage her land, and there shall be none to dwell in it, neither man nor beast. |
[3]And sende them to the kyng of Edom, to the kyng of Moab, to the kyng of Ammon, to the kyng of Tyrus, and to the kyng of Sidon, and that by the messengers which shall come to Hierusalem, vnto Zedekiah the kyng of Iuda |
| [4]In those days, and at that time, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Juda together; they shall proceed, weeping as they go, seeking the Lord their God. |
[4]And bid them say vnto their maisters, Thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, the God of Israel, speake thus vnto your maisters |
| [5]They shall ask the way till they come to Sion, for that way shall they set their face; and they shall come and flee for refuge to the Lord their God; for the everlasting covenant shall not be forgotten. |
[5]I am he that made the earth, the men, and the cattell that are vpon the grounde with my great power & stretched out arme, and haue geuen it vnto whom it pleased me |
| [6]My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds thrust them out, they caused them to wander on the mountains: they went from mountain to hill, they forgot their resting-place. |
[6]And nowe wyll I deliuer all these landes into the power of Nabuchodonozor the kyng of Babylon my seruaunt: the beastes also of the fielde shall I geue hym, to do hym seruice |
| [7]All that found them consumed them: their enemies said, Let us not leave them alone, because they have sinned against the Lord: he that gathered their fathers had a pasture of righteousness. |
[7]And all the people shal serue him, and his sonne, and his childers children, vntyll the tyme of the same lande be come, and his tyme also: yea many people and great kynges shall serue hym |
| [8]Flee ye out of the midst of Babylon, and from the land of the Chaldeans, and go forth, and be as serpents before sleep. |
[8]Moreouer, that people and kyngdome which wyl not serue Nabuchodonozor, & that wyll not put their neckes vnder the yoke of the kyng of Babylon: the same people wyll I visite with the sworde, with hunger and pestilence, vntyll I haue consumed them in his handes, saith the Lorde |
| [9]For, behold, I stir up against Babylon the gatherings of nations out of the land of the north; and they shall set themselves in array against her: thence shall she be taken, as the dart of an expert warrior shall not return empty. |
[9]And therfore folowe not your prophetes, soothsayers, expounders of dreames, charmers, & witches, which say vnto you, Ye shal not serue the kyng of Babylon |
| [10]And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied. |
[10]For they preache you lyes, to bring you farre from your lande, & that I myght cast you out, and destroy you |
| [11]Because ye rejoiced, and boasted, while plundering mine heritage; because ye exulted as calves in the grass, and pushed with the horn as bulls. |
[11]But the people that put their neckes vnder the yoke of the kyng of Babylon and serue hym, those wyll I let remayne styll in their owne lande, saith the Lorde, and they shall occupie it and dwell therin |
| [12]Your mother is greatly ashamed; your mother that bore you for prosperity is confounded: she is the last of the nations, desolate, |
[12]All these thynges tolde I Zedekiah the kyng of Iuda, and sayde: Put your neckes vnder the yoke of the kyng of Babylon, and serue him and his people, that ye may liue |
| [13]by reason of the Lord's anger: it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be all a desolation; and every one that passes through Babylon shall scowl, and they shall hiss at all her plague. |
[13]Why wylt thou and thy people perishe with the sworde, with hunger, with pestilence, like as the Lord hath deuised for all people that wyll not serue the kyng of Babylon |
| [14]Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all ye that bend the bow; shoot at her, spare not your arrows, |
[14]Therfore geue no eare vnto those prophetes that tell you, Ye shall not serue the kyng of Babylon: for they preache you lyes |
| [15]and prevail against her: her hands are weakened, her bulwarks are fallen, and her wall is broken down: for it is vengeance from God: take vengeance upon her; as she has done, do to her. |
[15]Neither haue I sent them saith the Lorde: howbeit they are bolde falsly to prophecie in my name, that I myght the sooner driue you out, and that ye myght perishe, with your preachers |
| [16]Utterly destroy seed out of Babylon, and him that holds a sickle in time of harvest: for fear of the Grecian sword, they shall return every one to his people, and every one shall flee to his own land. |
[16]I speake to the priestes also, and to all this people: Thus saith the Lorde, Heare not the wordes of your prophetes that preache vnto you, and say, Beholde, the vessels of the Lordes house shall shortly be brought hyther agayne from Babylon: for they prophecie lyes vnto you |
| [17]Israel is a wandering sheep; the lions have driven him out: the king of Assyria first devoured him, and afterward this king of Babylon has gnawed his bones. |
[17]Heare them not, but serue the kyng of Babylon, that ye may lyue: Wherfore wyll ye make this citie to be destroyed |
| [18]Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will take vengeance on the king of Babylon, and upon his land, as I took vengeance on the king of Assyria. |
[18]But yf they be true prophetes in very deede, and yf the worde of the Lorde be committed vnto them, then let them pray the Lord of hoastes, that the remnaunt of the ornamentes which are in the house of the Lorde & in the house of the kyng of Iuda, and at Hierusalem, be not caryed to Babylon also |
| [19]And I will restore Israel to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and on mount Ephraim and in Galaad, and his soul shall be satisfied. |
[19]For thus hath the Lorde of hoastes spoken concerning the pillers, the lauer, the seate, and the residue of the ornamentes that yet remayne in this citie |
| [20]In those days, and at that time, they shall seek for the iniquity of Israel, and there shall be none; and for the sins of Juda, and they shall not be found: for I will be merciful to them that are left |
[20]Which Nabuchodonozor the kyng of Babylon toke not when he caryed away Iechonias the sonne of Iehoakim kyng of Iuda, with all the power of Iuda & Hierusalem, vnto Babylon captiue |
| [21]on the land, saith the Lord. Go up against it roughly, and against them that dwell on it: avenge, O sword, and destroy utterly, saith the Lord, and do according to all that I command thee. |
[21]Yea thus hath the Lorde of hoastes the God of Israel spoken, as touchyng the residue of the ornamentes of the Lordes house, of the kyng of Iuda his house, and of Hierusalem |
| [22]A sound of war, and great destruction in the land of the Chaldeans! |
[22]They shalbe caryed vnto Babylon, and there shall they remayne vntyll I visite them, saith the Lorde: then wyll I bryng them hyther agayne |
| [23]How is the hammer of the whole earth broken and crushed! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! |
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| [24]They shall come upon thee, and thou shalt not know it, Babylon, that thou wilt even be taken captive: thou art found and taken, because thou didst resist the Lord. |
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| [25]The Lord has opened his treasury, and brought forth the weapons of his anger: for the Lord God has a work in the land of the Chaldeans. |
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| [26]For her times are come: open ye her storehouses: search her as a cave, and utterly destroy her: let there be no remnant of her. |
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| [27]Dry ye up all her fruits, and let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! for their day is come, and the time of their retribution. |
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| [28]A voice of men fleeing and escaping from the land of Babylon, to declare to Sion the vengeance that comes from the Lord our God. |
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| [29]Summon many against Babylon, even every one that bends the bow: camp against her round about; let no one of her people escape: render to her according to her works; according to all that she has done, do to her: for she has resisted the Lord, the Holy God of Israel. |
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| [30]Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her warriors shall be cast down, saith the Lord. |
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| [31]Behold, I am against thee the haughty one, saith the Lord: for thy day is come, and the time of thy retribution. |
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| [32]And thy pride shall fail, and fall, and there shall be no one to set it up again: and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all things round about her. |
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| [33]Thus saith the Lord; The children of Israel and the children of Juda have been oppressed: all they that have taken them captive have oppressed them together; for they would not let them go. |
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| [34]But their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name: he will enter into judgment with his adversaries, that he may destroy the earth; |
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| [35]and he will sharpen a sword against the Chaldeans, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her nobles and upon her wise men; |
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| [36]a sword upon her warriors, and they shall be weakened: a sword upon their horses, and upon their chariots: |
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| [37]a sword upon their warriors and upon the mixed people in the midst of her; and they shall be as women: a sword upon the treasures, and they shall be scattered upon her water, |
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| [38]and they shall be ashamed: for it is a land of graven images; and in the islands, where they boasted. |
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| [39]Therefore shall idols dwell in the islands, and the young of monsters shall dwell in it: it shall not be inhabited any more for ever. |
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| [40]As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities bordering upon them, saith the Lord: no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn there. |
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| [41]Behold, a people comes from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred up from the end of the earth; holding bow and dagger: |
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| [42]the people is fierce, and will have no mercy: their voices shall sound as the sea, they shall ride upon horses, prepared for war, like fire, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. |
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| [43]The king of Babylon heard the sound of them, and his hands were enfeebled: anguish overcame him, pangs as of a woman in travail. |
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| [44]Behold, he shall come up as a lion from Jordan to Gaethan; for I will speedily drive them from her, and I will set all the youths against her: for who is like me? and who will resist me? and who is this shepherd who will stand before me? |
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| [45]Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he has taken against Babylon; and his devices, which he has devised upon the Chaldeans inhabiting it: surely lambs of their flock shall be destroyed: surely pasture shall be cut off from them. |
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| [46]For at the sound of the taking of Babylon the earth shall quake, and a cry shall be heard among the nations. |
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