World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Jeremiah 50
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The word that spoke concerning , concerning the land of the , by the . "Declare among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don't conceal; say, ' has been taken, is disappointed, is dismayed! Her are disappointed. Her idols are dismayed.' For a nation comes up out of the north against her, which will make her land desolate, and no one will in it. They have fled. They are gone, both man and animal. "In those days, and in that time," , "the will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on their way weeping, and will seek their . They will inquire concerning with their faces turned toward it, saying, 'Come, and join yourselves to in an that will not be forgotten.' My people have been lost sheep. Their 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 . All who found them have devoured them. Their said, 'We are not guilty, because they have against , the habitation of , even , the of their fathers.' "Flee out of the middle of ! Go out of the land of the , and be as the male goats before the flocks. For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against a company of great nations from the north country; and they will set themselves in array against her. She will be taken from there. Their arrows will be as of an expert mighty man. None of them will return in . will be a prey. All who prey on her will be satisfied," . "Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses, your mother will be utterly disappointed. She who bore you will be confounded. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, a , a dry land, and a . Because of she won't be inhabited, but she will be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by will be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. Set yourselves in array against all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her. Spare no arrows, for she has against . Shout against her all around. She has submitted herself. Her bulwarks have fallen. Her walls have been thrown down, for it is the of . Take on her. As she has done, do to her. the sower from , and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing , they will each return to their own people, and they will each flee to their own land. "Israel is a hunted sheep. The lions have driven him away. First, the king of devoured him, and now at last king of has broken his bones." Therefore of Armies, the of Israel, says: "Behold, I will punish the king of and his land, as I have punished the king of . I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he will feed on and . His will be satisfied on the hills of and in . In those days, and in that time," , "the of Israel will be sought for, and there will be none, also the of Judah, and they won't be found; for I will pardon them whom I leave as a . "Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and after them," , "and do according to all that I have commanded you. A sound of battle is in the land, and of great . How the hammer of the whole earth is cut apart and broken! How has become a desolation among the nations! I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, , and you weren't aware. You are found, and also caught, because you have fought against . has opened his armory, and has brought out the weapons of his ; for , of Armies, has a work to do in the land of the . Come against her from the farthest border. Open her storehouses. Cast her up as heaps. Destroy her utterly. Let nothing of her be left. Kill all her bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation. Listen to those who flee and escape out of the land of , to declare in the of our , the of his temple. "Call together the archers against , all those who bend the bow. Encamp against her all around. Let none of it escape. Pay her back according to her work. According to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against , against the One of Israel. Therefore her young men will fall in her streets. All her men of war will be brought to silence in that day," . "Behold, I am against you, you proud one," , of Armies; "for your day has come, the time that I will visit you. The proud one will stumble and fall, and no one will raise him up. I will kindle a in his cities, and it will devour all who are around him." of Armies says: "The and the children of Judah are oppressed together. All who took them hold them . They refuse to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong. of Armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of . "A is on the ," , "and on the inhabitants of , on her princes, and on her men. A is on the boasters, and they will become fools. A is on her , and they will be dismayed. A is on their horses, on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the middle of her; and they will become as women. A is on her , and they will be robbed. A is on her waters, and they will be dried up; for it is a land of engraved , and they are mad over idols. Therefore the wild animals of with the wolves will there. The ostriches will therein. It will be inhabited no more , neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. As when overthrew and and its neighbor cities," , "so no man will there, neither will any live therein. "Behold, a people comes from the north. A great nation and many kings will be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. They take up bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea. They ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of . The king of has heard the news of them, and his hands become feeble. Anguish has taken hold of him, pains as of a woman in labor. Behold, will come up like a lion from the thickets of against the strong habitation; for I will suddenly make them run away from it. Whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it, for who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the who can stand before me?" Therefore hear that he has taken against ; and his purposes that he has purposed against the land of the : Surely they will drag them away, even the little ones of the flock. Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them. The earth trembles at the noise of the taking of . The cry is heard among the nations.
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