484 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
484 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 51
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1. This is what the LORD says:
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"I will stir up a destroyer against Babylon
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and the people of Babylonia.
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2. Foreigners will come and winnow her,
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blowing her away as chaff.
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They will come from every side
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to rise against her in her day of trouble.
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3. Don't let the archers put on their armor
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or draw their bows.
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Don't spare even her best soldiers!
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Let her army be completely destroyed.
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4. They will fall dead in the land of the Babylonians,
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slashed to death in her streets.
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5. For the LORD of Heaven's Armies
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has not abandoned Israel and Judah.
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He is still their God,
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even though their land was filled with sin
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against the Holy One of Israel."
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6. Flee from Babylon! Save yourselves!
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Don't get trapped in her punishment!
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It is the LORD's time for vengeance;
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he will repay her in full.
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7. Babylon has been a gold cup in the LORD's hands,
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a cup that made the whole earth drunk.
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The nations drank Babylon's wine,
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and it drove them all mad.
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8. But suddenly Babylon, too, has fallen.
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Weep for her.
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Give her medicine.
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Perhaps she can yet be healed.
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9. We would have helped her if we could,
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but nothing can save her now.
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Let her go; abandon her.
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Return now to your own land.
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For her punishment reaches to the heavens;
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it is so great it cannot be measured.
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10. The LORD has vindicated us.
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Come, let us announce in Jerusalem
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everything the LORD our God has done.
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11. Sharpen the arrows!
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Lift up the shields!
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For the LORD has inspired the kings of the Medes
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to march against Babylon and destroy her.
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This is his vengeance against those
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who desecrated his Temple.
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12. Raise the battle flag against Babylon!
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Reinforce the guard and station the watchmen.
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Prepare an ambush,
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for the LORD will fulfill all his plans against Babylon.
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13. You are a city by a great river,
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a great center of commerce,
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but your end has come.
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The thread of your life is cut.
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14. The LORD of Heaven's Armies has taken this vow
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and has sworn to it by his own name:
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"Your cities will be filled with enemies,
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like fields swarming with locusts,
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and they will shout in triumph over you."A Hymn of Praise to the LORD
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15. The LORD made the earth by his power,
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and he preserves it by his wisdom.
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With his own understanding
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he stretched out the heavens.
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16. When he speaks in the thunder,
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the heavens roar with rain.
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He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.
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He sends the lightning with the rain
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and releases the wind from his storehouses.
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17. The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge!
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The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make,
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for their carefully shaped works are a fraud.
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These idols have no breath or power.
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18. Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies!
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On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.
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19. But the God of Israel is no idol!
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He is the Creator of everything that exists,
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including his people, his own special possession.
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The LORD of Heaven's Armies is his name!
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Babylon's Great Punishment
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20. "You are my battle-ax and sword,"
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says the LORD.
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"With you I will shatter nations
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and destroy many kingdoms.
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21. With you I will shatter armies--
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destroying the horse and rider,
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the chariot and charioteer.
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22. With you I will shatter men and women,
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old people and children,
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young men and young women.
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23. With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks,
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farmers and oxen,
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captains and officers.
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24. "I will repay Babylon
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and the people of Babylonia
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for all the wrong they have done
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to my people in Jerusalem," says the LORD.
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25. "Look, O mighty mountain, destroyer of the earth!
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I am your enemy," says the LORD.
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"I will raise my fist against you,
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to knock you down from the heights.
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When I am finished,
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you will be nothing but a heap of burnt rubble.
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26. You will be desolate forever.
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Even your stones will never again be used for building.
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You will be completely wiped out,"
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says the LORD.
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27. Raise a signal flag to the nations.
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Sound the battle cry!
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Mobilize them all against Babylon.
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Prepare them to fight against her!
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Bring out the armies of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
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Appoint a commander,
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and bring a multitude of horses like swarming locusts!
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28. Bring against her the armies of the nations--
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led by the kings of the Medes
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and all their
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captains and officers.
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29. The earth trembles and writhes in pain,
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for everything the LORD has planned against Babylon stands unchanged.
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Babylon will be left desolate without a single inhabitant.
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30. Her mightiest warriors no longer fight.
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They stay in their barracks, their courage gone.
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They have become like women.
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The invaders have burned the houses
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and broken down the city gates.
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31. The news is passed from one runner to the next
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as the messengers hurry to tell the king
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that his city has been captured.
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32. All the escape routes are blocked.
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The marshes have been set aflame,
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and the army is in a panic.
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33. This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies,
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the God of Israel, says:
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"Babylon is like wheat on a threshing floor,
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about to be trampled.
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In just a little while
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her harvest will begin."
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34. "King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has eaten and crushed us
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and drained us of strength.
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He has swallowed us like a great monster
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and filled his belly with our riches.
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He has thrown us out of our own country.
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35. Make Babylon suffer as she made us suffer,"
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say the people of Zion.
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"Make the people of Babylonia pay for spilling our blood,"
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says Jerusalem.The LORD's Vengeance on Babylon
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36. This is what the LORD says to Jerusalem:
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"I will be your lawyer to plead your case,
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and I will avenge you.
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I will dry up her river,
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as well as her springs,
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37. and Babylon will become a heap of ruins,
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haunted by jackals.
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She will be an object of horror and contempt,
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a place where no one lives.
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38. Her people will roar together like strong lions.
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They will growl like lion cubs.
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39. And while they lie inflamed with all their wine,
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I will prepare a different kind of feast for them.
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I will make them drink until they fall asleep,
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and they will never wake up again,"
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says the LORD.
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40. "I will bring them down
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like lambs to the slaughter,
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like rams and goats to be sacrificed.
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41. "How Babylon is fallen--
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great Babylon, praised throughout the earth!
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Now she has become an object of horror
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among the nations.
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42. The sea has risen over Babylon;
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she is covered by its crashing waves.
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43. Her cities now lie in ruins;
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she is a dry wasteland
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where no one lives or even passes by.
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44. And I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon,
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and make him vomit up all he has eaten.
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The nations will no longer come and worship him.
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The wall of Babylon has fallen!
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A Message for the Exiles
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45. "Come out, my people, flee from Babylon.
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Save yourselves! Run from the LORD's fierce anger.
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46. But do not panic; don't be afraid
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when you hear the first rumor of approaching forces.
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For rumors will keep coming year by year.
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Violence will erupt in the land
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as the leaders fight against each other.
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47. For the time is surely coming
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when I will punish this great city and all her idols.
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Her whole land will be disgraced,
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and her dead will lie in the streets.
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48. Then the heavens and earth will rejoice,
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for out of the north will come destroying armies
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against Babylon," says the LORD.
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49. "Just as Babylon killed the people of Israel
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and others throughout the world,
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so must her people be killed.
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50. Get out, all you who have escaped the sword!
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Do not stand and watch--flee while you can!
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Remember the LORD, though you are in a far-off land,
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and think about your home in Jerusalem."
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51. "We are ashamed," the people say.
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"We are insulted and disgraced
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because the LORD's Temple
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has been defiled by foreigners."
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52. "Yes," says the LORD, "but the time is coming
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when I will destroy Babylon's idols.
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The groans of her wounded people
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will be heard throughout the land.
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53. Though Babylon reaches as high as the heavens
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and makes her fortifications incredibly strong,
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I will still send enemies to plunder her.
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I, the LORD, have spoken!
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Babylon's Complete Destruction
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54. "Listen! Hear the cry of Babylon,
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the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.
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55. For the LORD is destroying Babylon.
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He will silence her loud voice.
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Waves of enemies pound against her;
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the noise of battle rings through the city.
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56. Destroying armies come against Babylon.
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Her mighty men are captured,
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and their weapons break in their hands.
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For the LORD is a God who gives just punishment;
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he always repays in full.
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57. I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
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along with her captains, officers, and warriors.
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They will fall asleep
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and never wake up again!"
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says the King, whose name is
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the LORD of Heaven's Armies.
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58. This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies says:
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"The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground,
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and her massive gates will be burned.
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The builders from many lands have worked in vain,
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for their work will be destroyed by fire!"
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Jeremiah's Message Sent to Babylon
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59. The prophet Jeremiah gave this message to Seraiah son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah, a staff officer, when Seraiah went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah. This was during the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign.
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60. Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the terrible disasters that would soon come upon Babylon--all the words written here.
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61. He said to Seraiah, "When you get to Babylon, read aloud everything on this scroll.
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62. Then say, 'LORD, you have said that you will destroy Babylon so that neither people nor animals will remain here. She will lie empty and abandoned forever.'
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63. When you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone and throw it into the Euphrates River.
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64. Then say, 'In this same way Babylon and her people will sink, never again to rise, because of the disasters I will bring upon her.'"
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This is the end of Jeremiah's messages.
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