World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Jeremiah 17
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
"The of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond. It is engraved on the tablet of their , and on the of your . Even their children remember their and their by the green trees on the high hills. My mountain in the field, I will give your substance and all your for a plunder, and your , because of , throughout all your borders. You, even of yourself, will discontinue from your heritage that I gave you. I will cause you to your in the land which you don't know, for you have kindled a in my which will burn ." says: " is the man who trusts in man, relies on strength of , and whose departs from . For he will be like a bush in , and will not see when good comes, but will inhabit the parched places in , an uninhabited salt land. " is the man who trusts in , and whose confidence is in . For he will be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green, and will not be concerned in the year of . It won't cease from yielding fruit. is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it? "I, , search . I try , even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right. In the middle of his days, they will leave him. At his end, he will be a fool. A , set on high , is the place of our sanctuary. , the of Israel, all who forsake you will be disappointed. Those who depart from me will be written in the earth, because they have forsaken , the spring of living waters. Heal me, O , and I will be healed. me, and I will be ; for you are my . Behold, they ask me, "Where is word? Let it be fulfilled now." As for me, I have not hurried from being a after you. I haven't the woeful day. You know. That which came out of my was before your . Don't be a terror to me. You are my refuge in the day of evil. Let them be disappointed who persecute me, but don't let me be disappointed. Let them be dismayed, but don't let me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double . said this to me: "Go and stand in the of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the of . Tell them, 'Hear word, you kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the inhabitants of , that enter in by these : says, "Be careful, and bear no burden on the , nor bring it in by the of . Don't carry a burden out of your houses on the . Don't do any work, but make the , as I commanded your fathers. But they didn't listen. They didn't turn their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive . It will happen, if you diligently listen to me," , "to bring in no burden through the of this city on the , but to make the , to do no work therein; then there will enter in by the of this city kings and princes sitting on , riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of ; and this city will . They will come from the cities of Judah, and from the places around , from the land of , from the lowland, from the hill country, and from the South, bringing burnt offerings, , , and , and bringing of to house. But if you will not listen to me to make the , and not to bear a burden and enter in at the of on the , then I will kindle a in its , and it will devour the palaces of . It will not be quenched."'"
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