World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Jeremiah 44
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The word that came to concerning all the who lived in the land of , who lived at , and at , and at , and in the country of , saying, " of Armies, the of Israel, says: 'You have seen all the evil that I have brought on , and on all the cities of Judah. Behold, today they are a desolation, and no man dwells in them, because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to , in that they went to , to other gods that they didn't know, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. However I sent to you all my servants , rising up early and sending them, saying, "Oh, don't do this thing that I hate." But they didn't listen and didn't incline their ear. They didn't turn from their wickedness, to stop burning to other gods. Therefore my and my was poured out, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of ; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is today.' "Therefore now , the of Armies, the of Israel, says: 'Why do you commit great evil against your own , to yourselves man and woman, infant and nursing child out of the middle of Judah, to leave yourselves no one remaining, in that you provoke me to with the works of your hands, burning to other gods in the land of where you have gone to live, that you may , and that you may be and a among all the nations of the earth? Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of ? They are not humbled even to this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in , nor in , that I set before you and before your fathers.' "Therefore of Armies, the of Israel, says: 'Behold, I will set against you for evil, even to all Judah. I will take of Judah that have set their faces to go into the land of to live there, and they will all be consumed. They will fall in the land of . They will be consumed and by the . They will , from the least even to the greatest, and by the . They will be an object of horror, an astonishment, , and a . For I will punish those who in the land of , as I have punished , , by the , and by the pestilence; so that none of of Judah, who have gone into the land of to live there, will escape or be left to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a to return to there; for no one will return except those who will escape.'" Then all the men who knew that their wives to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great , even all the people who lived in the land of , in , answered , saying, "As for the word that you have spoken to us in name, we will not listen to you. But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our , to to the queen of and to pour out drink to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of ; for then we had plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we stopped burning to the queen of , and pouring out drink to her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed and by the ." The women said, "When we to the queen of and poured out drink to her, did we make her cakes to her, and pour out drink to her, without our husbands?" 20Then said to all the people—to the men and to the women, even to all the people who had given him an answer, saying, "The that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of , you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, didn't remember them, and didn't it come into his ? Thus could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of the which you have committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation, an astonishment, and , without inhabitant, as it is today. Because you have and because you have against , and have not voice, nor walked in , nor in his , nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil has happened to you, as it is today." Moreover said to all the people, including all the women, "Hear word, all Judah who are in the land of ! of Armies, the of Israel, says, 'You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, "We will surely perform our that we have , to to the queen of , and to pour out drink to her." "'Establish then your , and perform your .' "Therefore hear word, all Judah who in the land of : 'Behold, I have by my great name,' , 'that my name will no more be named in the of any man of Judah in all the land of , saying, "As lives." Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of will be consumed and by the , until they are all gone. Those who escape will return out of the land of into the land of Judah few in number. All of Judah, who have gone into the land of to live there, will know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. "'This will be the sign to you,' , 'that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for evil.' says, 'Behold, I will give king of into the hand of his and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave king of Judah into the hand of king of , who was his enemy and sought his life.'"
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