World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Jeremiah 11
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1The word that came to from , saying, "Hear the words of this , and speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of ; and say to them, , the of Israel says: ' is the man who doesn't hear the words of this , which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of , out of the iron furnace,' saying, ' and do them, according to all which I command you; so you shall be my people, and I will be your ; that I may establish the which I to your fathers, to give them a and honey,' as it is today." Then I answered, and said, ", ." said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of , saying, 'Hear the words of this , and do them. For I earnestly protested to your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of , even to this day, rising early and protesting, saying, "." Yet they didn't , nor turn their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of their evil . Therefore I brought on them all the words of this , which I commanded them to do, but they didn't do them.'" said to me, "A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of . They have turned back to the of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to them. The and the house of Judah have broken my which I made with their fathers. Therefore says, 'Behold, I will bring evil on them which they will not be able to escape; and they will cry to me, but I will not listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of will go and cry to the gods to which they offer , but they will not them at all in the time of their trouble. For according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah; and according to the number of the streets of you have set up to the shameful thing, even to to .' "Therefore don't for this people. Don't lift up cry or for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry to me because of their trouble. What has my beloved to do in my house, since she has behaved lewdly with many, and the has passed from you? When you do evil, then you rejoice." called your name, "A green olive tree, beautiful with goodly fruit." With the noise of a great roar he has kindled on it, and its are broken. For of Armies, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil of the and of the house of Judah, which they have done to themselves in provoking me to by to . gave me knowledge of it, and I knew it. Then you showed me their doings. But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter. I didn't know that they had devised plans against me, saying, "Let's destroy the tree with its fruit, and let's cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered." But, , who judges righteously, who tests and , I will see your on them; for to you I have my cause. "Therefore says concerning the men of , who seek your life, saying, 'You shall not in name, that you not by our hand'— therefore of Armies says, 'Behold, I will punish them. The young men will . Their sons and their daughters will by . There will be no to them, for I will bring evil on the men of , even the year of their visitation.'"
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Babylon and the exile, 612 BC to 539 BC ›
Babylon replaces Assyria, Jerusalem and its temple are destroyed in 586 BC, and the leadership of Judah lives in Mesopotamia without a king, a temple, or a country.
- Babylon
- Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilds the city on a scale meant to be seen from a distance: the Ishtar Gate in glazed blue brick, the processional way, the ziggurat, and gardens later counted among the wonders of the world. Babylonian tablets record rations issued to the captive king Jehoiachin of Judah by name, which is one of the tidier points of contact between the Bible and the archives.
- Egypt
- Briefly resurgent. Pharaoh Neco marches north, kills King Josiah at Megiddo, and installs and deposes kings in Jerusalem, until Babylon beats him decisively at Carchemish in 605 BC. Jeremiah spends his career saying that betting on Egypt is suicide, and is proved right.
- Judah
- Deported in stages, then destroyed. The temple is burned, the walls broken, and the leadership marched to Mesopotamia. What happens next is one of the strangest survivals in history: a people keeps its identity without land, king, or sanctuary, and comes out of it with its scriptures more central than before.
- Further afield
- An extraordinary century for ideas everywhere at once. Thales and the first Greek philosophers, Solon's reforms at Athens, the Buddha in India, Confucius and Lao Tzu in China, and Zoroaster in Persia all fall within a few generations of the exile.
All of Jeremiah