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Chapter 48
Thus saith the Lord of Hosts,
the God of Israel against Moab: Woe unto Nabo, for it shall be layed
waste, brought to confusion and taken. Yee the strong city of
Kariathiarim shall be brought to shame, and afraid: Moab shall be no
more had in honor: Wicked counsel shall be taken upon Hesebon. Come,
( shall they say ) let us root them out, that may be no more among
the number of the Gentiles, yee that they may no more be thought
upon: Thus the sword shall persecute thee: A voice shall cry from
Horonaim, With great wasting and destruction, is Moab made desolate.
And this cry shall be heard in all her cities. At the going up
unto Luith there shall arise a lamentation: and down toward Horonaim,
there shall be heard a cruel and deadly cry: Get you away, save your
lives and be like unto the *heeth in the wilderness. For because
thou hast trusted in thy strongholds and treasure, thou shalt taken
Chamos with his priests and princes shall go away into captivity.
The destroyer shall come upon all cities, none shall escape.
The valleys shall be destroyed, and the fields shall be layed waste:
like as the Lord hath determined.
Make a token unto Moab, that she get her away speedily: for
her cities shall be made so desolate, that no man shall dwell therin.
Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord negligently, and cured
be he that keepeth back his sword from shedding blood.
Moab hath ever been rich and careless from her youth up, she
hath sitten and taken her ease with her treasure. She was never yet
put out of one vessel into another, that is, she never went away in
to captivity, therefore her taste remaineth, and her savoure is not
yet changed.
But lo, the time cometh, sayeth the Lord, that I shall send
her trussers to truss her up, to prepare a season her vessels: yee
her tankards rattle and shake to and fro. And Moab shall be ashamed
of Chamos, like as Israel was ashamed of Bethel, wherin she put her
trust.
Wherefore do ye think thus: We are mighty, and strong men of
war? Moab shall be destroyed, her cities burnt up: her chosen young
men shall be slain, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of Hosts.
The destruction of Moab cometh on a pace, and her fall is at hand.
All her neighbors shall mourn for her, and all they that know
her name, shall say: O how happeneth it, that the strong staff and
goodly rod is broken? And thou daughter Dibon, come down from thy
glory, and sit in poverty. For he that destroyeth Moab, shall come
up also, and break down thy strong holds.
And thou that dwellest in Aroer, get thee to the street, and
look about thee: ask them that are fled and escaped, and say: What
thing is happened? O Moab is confounded and overcome.
Mourn and cry, tell it out at Armon, that Moab is destroyed.
And misery shall come upon the plain land: Namely, upon Holon, and
Jahazah, and Mephaath and Dibon, upon Nabo, and the house of
Deblathaim, upon Cariathiarim and Bethgamul, upon Bethmaon and
Carioth, upon Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, whether
they lie far or near.
The horn of Moab shall be smitten down, and her arm broken,
saith the Lord. Make her drunken, for she magnified herself above
the Lord, that men may clap their hands at her vomit, and that she
also may be laughed into scorn. O Israel, shalt thou not laugh him
to scorn, when he is taken among thieves? Yee because of thy words
that thou hast spoken against him, thou shalt be driven away. Ye
Moabites shall leave the cities, and dwell in the rocks of stone,
and become like doves, that make their nest in holes.
As for Moabs pride, we have heard of it, she is very high
minded. I know her stoutness, her boasting, her arrogance and the
pride of her stomach, sayeth the Lord. For her furriousness may
neither uphold her with strength ner deed. Therefore shall their
mourning be made for Moab, and every man shall cry for Moabs sake: a
lamentation shall be made to the men that stand upon the wall. So
will I mourn for thee also O Jazer, and for thee, O thou vineyard of
Sabamah.
Thy wine branches shall come over the sea, and the branches of
Jazer but unto the sea: the destroyer shall break into thy harvest
and grape gathering: Mirth and cheer shall be taken away from the
timber field, and from the whole land of Moab.
There shall be no sweet wine in the press, the treader shall
have no stomach to cry, yee there shall be none to cry unto him:
which afore time were heard from Hesebon to Eleale, and Jahaz, which
lifted up their voice from Zoar unto Horonaim, that bullock of three
years old. The waters also of Nemrim shall be dried up.
Moreover I will make Moab cease ( saith the Lord ) from the
offerings and *censing that she hath made unto her gods in high
places. Wherefore my heart mourneth for Moab, like a crowd playing
an heavy song: and for the mens sake of the brick wall my heart
mourneth also, even as a pipe that pipeth a doleful song: for they
shall be very few, and destroyed.
All heads shall be shaven, and all beards clipped off: all
hands bound, and all loins girded about with sack cloth. Upon all
the housetops and streets of Moab, there shall be mourning: For I
will break Moab like an unprofitable vessel saith the Lord. O how
fearful is she? O how mourneth she? O how doth Moab hang down her
head, and is ashamed? Thus shall Moab be a laughing stock, and had
in *derision of all them, that be round about her.
For thus saith the Lord: Behold, the enemy shall come flying
as an *Aegle, and shall spread his wings upon Moab. They shall climb
over the walls, and win the strongholds. Then the mighty mens hearts
in Moab shall be like the heart of a woman travailing with child.
And Moab shall be made desolate, that she shall no more be a
people, because she hath set up herself against the Lord. fear, pit,
and snare shall come upon thee ( O Moab ) saith the Lord. Who so
escapeth the fear, shall fall in the pit: and who so getteth out of
the pit, shall be taken in the snare.
For I will bring a year of visitation upon Moab, saith the
Lord. They that are able to flee, shall stand under the shadow of
Hesebon. For there shall go a fire out of Heshbon, and a flame from
Sion, and shall burn up that proud people of Moab, both before and
behind.
Woe be unto thee, (O Moab ) for thou people of Chamos shall
perish: Yee thy sons and daughters shall be led away captive. Yet at
the last will I bring Moab out of captivity again, saith the Lord.
Thus far of the plague of Moab.
*heeth ( low shrub ) *censing ( burning of incense ) *derision
(ridicule, contempt)
*Aegle (Eagle) Cap A ; elsewhere see: Eagle; 4th Esdras, Reveleation
also see modern "Moab".
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Chapter 49
As concerning the Ammonites,
thus the Lord sayeth: Hath Israel no children, or is he without an
heir? Why hath your king then taken Gad in? Wherefore doth his
people dwell in his cities? Behold therefore, the time cometh (
saith the Lord ) that I will bring a noise of war into Rabah of the
Ammonites. Lahel shall be desolate, and her cities burnt up: and the
Israelites shall be lords over those that had them in possession
afore, saith the Lord. The cities of Rabah shall cry out, and gird
themselves with sackcloth: they shall mourn, and run about the
walls: for their king shall be led away prisoner: yee his priests
and princes with him.
Wherefore trusteth thou in the water streams that flow to and
fro, O thou fierce daughter: and thinkest thou art so safe ( by
reason of thy treasure ) that no man shall come to thee?
Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord God of
Hosts, from all those that be about thee: so that ye shall be
scattered every man from another, and no man shall gather them
together again that be fled. But after that, I will bring the
Ammonites also out of captivity again.
Upon the Edomites hath the Lord of Hosts spoken on this
manner: Is there no wisdom in Thema? Is there no more good counsel
among his people? Is their wisdom then turned clean to nought? Get
you hence, turn your backs creep down into the deep, O ye citizens
of Dedan.
For I will bring destruction upon Esau, ye and the day of his
visitation. If the grape gathers come upon thee, should they not
leave some grapes? If the night robbers came upon thee, should they
not take so much as they thought were enough?
But I will make Esau bare, and discover his secrets, so that
he shall not be able to hide them. His seed shall be wasted away yee
his brethren and his neighbors, and he himself shall not be left
behind.
Thou shalt leave thy fatherless children behind thee, and I
will keep them and thy widows shall take their comfort in me. For
thus hath the Lord spoken: Behold, they that men thought were *unmete
to drink of the cup, have drunken with the first: and thinkest thou
then to be free?
No, no: thou shalt neither be quiet nor free, but thou must
drink also: For why, I have sworn by myself ( sayeth the Lord ) that
Bozrah shall become a wilderness, an open shame, a laughing stock
and cursing: and her cities shall be a continual desert.
For I am perfectly informed of the Lord, that he hath sent a
message all ready unto the Heathen. Gather you together, and go
forth against them: make you ready to battle, for, lo: I will make
thee but small among the Heathen, and little regarded among men.
Thy high stomach and pride of thy heart have deceived thee,
Because thou wilt dwell in the holes of stony rocks, and have the
high mountains in possession. Nevertheless though thy nest were as
high as the *Aegles, yet will I cast thee down, saith the Lord.
Moreover Idumea shall be a wilderness: who so goeth by it, shall be
abashed, and wonder at all her miserable plagues. Like as Sodom,
Gomor, and the cities that lay there about, were turned up side down
( saith the Lord ) so shall no body dwell in Idumea, and no man
shall have his habitation there. Behold, like as the Lion cometh up
from the pleasant meadows of Jordan unto the green pastures of Etham,
so will i drive him, and make him turn against her. But who is the
young man that I will ordain thereto? Who is like unto me? What is
he that will strive with me? What shepherd may stand in my hands?
Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken
upon Idumea: and his purpose, that he hath devised upon the citizens
of Theman: The least of the flock shall tear them in pieces, and
look what fair thing they have, they shall make it waste, and
themselves also. At the noise of their fall, the earth shall quake,
the cry of their voice shall be heard to the red sea. Behold, the
enemy shall come and fly up hither, like as it were an *Aegle and
spread his wings upon *Bozrah. Then shall the hearts of the worthies
in Edom be as the heart of a woman travailing with child. Upon
Damascus, Hamath and Arphad shall come confusion, for they shall
hear evil tidings: they shall be tossed to and fro like the sea that
can not stand still. Damascus shall be sore afraid, and shall flee,
trembling shall come upon her. Sorrow and pain shall over take her
as a woman travailing of child. But how should so worshipful and
glorious a city be forsaken? Hear therefore: her young men shall
fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be taken away in
that time, sayeth the Lord of Hosts. I will kindle a fire in the
walls of Damascus, which shall consume the palace of Benhadad.
As for Cedar and kingdom of Hazor, whom Nabuchodonosor the
king of Babylon smote down, the Lord hath spoken thus upon them:
Arise, and get you up to Cedar, and destroy the people toward the
east. Their tents and their flocks shall they take away, yee their
hangings and their vessel. Their Camels also shall they carry away
with them. Then shall come about them on every side with a fearful
cry.
Flee, get you soon away, creep into caves, that ye may dwell
there: O yee inhabitantors of Hazor, saith the Lord. For
Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon hath holden a counsel concerning
you, and concluded his devise against you. Arise, and get you up
against yonder rich and careless people ( sayeth the Lord ) which
have neither gates nor door bars, and dwell not together. Their
camels shall be stolen, and the droves of their cattle driven away.
Moreover, these that be shaven will I scatter toward all the
winds, and bring them to destruction: yee and that through their own
familiars, saith the Lord. Hazor also shall be a dwelling for
Dragons, and an everlasting wilderness: so that no body shall dwell
there, and no man shall have there his habitation.
These are the words, that the Lord spake to the prophet Jeremy
concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah King of
Judah. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of
Elam, and take away their strength: and upon Elam I will bring the
four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them
against the same the same four winds: And there shall be no people,
but some of them shall flee unto them.
For I will cause Elam to be afraid of their enemies, and of
them that seek their lives: and will bring upon them the indignation
of my wrath, saith the Lord. And I will persecute them with the
sword so long till I have brought them to naught. I will set my
stool in Elam, I will destroy both the king and the princes from
thence, saith the Lord. But in the process of time, I will bring
Elam out of captivity again, saith the Lord.
*unmete (not worthy) *Aegles (eagles) note Cap A and see Eagle in
4th Esdras and Revelation. *Bozrah note; modern day Bozrah.
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Chapter 50
The words that
the Lord spake unto the prophet Jeremy, concerning Babylon, and the
land of the Caldees: preach among the Gentiles, let your voice be
heard, make a token: cry out, keep no silence, but say Babylon shall
be won, Bel shall be confounded, and Merodach shall be over come.
Yee their gods shall be brought to shame and their images
shall stand in fear. For out of the north there come a people
against her, which shall make her land so waste, that no body shall
dwell therin: neither man ner beast. In those days, and at that
time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and
the children of Judah, weeping and making haste, and shall seek the
Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Sion, thither shall they
turn their faces, and come and hang upon thee, in a covenant that
never shall be broken.
My people hath been lost flock, my shepherds have deceived
them, and have made them go astray upon the hills. They have gone
from the mountains to the little hill, and forgotten their fold. All
they that came upon them, have devoured them: and their enemies
said: We have made no fault against them, for they have displeased
the Lord, yee even the Lord which is the beauty of their
righteousness, and that defended their fathers. Yet shall ye flee
from Babylon, and depart out of the land of the Caldees, and ye
shall be as the rams that go before the flock. For lo, I will make
up an host of people from the northern land, and bring them upon
Babylon: these shall lay siege to it, and win it: There arrows shall
not miss, like as a cunning archer shuteth not wrong. And the
Chaldees shall be spoiled, and all they that spoil them, shall be
satisfied, saith the Lord. because ye were so cheerful and glad, to
tread down mine heritage, and fulfill your pleasures, as the calves
in the grass: And triumphed over them like the bulls, when ye had
gotten the victory. Your mothers shall be sore confounded, and they
that bare you, shall come to shame. She shall be the least set by
among the nations, void, waste, and dried up. No man shall be able
to dwell there, for the fear of the Lord, but she shall be whole
desolate. All they that go by Babylon, shall stand still, and be
abashed, and shall wonder at all her plagues.
Go forth in your array against Babylon round about, all ye
that can handle bows: shoot at her, spare no arrows, for she hath
sinned against the Lord. Cry out: upon her, upon her, against her
round about: she shall yield herself, her foundations shall fall,
and her walls shall come down, for it shall be the vengeance of the
Lord. Yee vengeance shall be taken of her, and as she hath done, so
shall she be dealt withal. They shall root out the sower from
Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in Harvest. For fear of
the sword of the enemy, every man shall get him to his own people,
and every man shall flee to his own land. Israel is a scattered
flock, the Lions have dispersed them. First the king of the
Assyrians devoured them, last of all this Nabuchodonosor King of
Babylon hath bruised all their bones.
Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel:
Behold, I will visit the King of Babylon and his kingdom, as I have
visited the King of Assyrians. and I will bring Israel again to his
pleasant pasture, that he may feed upon Carmel and Bashan, and be
satisfied upon the mount of Ephraim and Gilead. In those days and at
the same time ( saith the Lord ) if the offense of Israel be sought
for, there shall be none found: If men enquire for the sin of Judah,
there shall be none: for I will be merciful unto them, whom I suffer
to remain over.
Go down ( O thou avenger ) in to the enemies land, and visit
them that dwell therin: down with them, and smite them upon the
backs, sayeth the Lord: do according to all, that i have commanded
thee. There is gone about the land a cry of the slaughter and great
murder, namely on this manner: How happeneth it, that the hammer of
the whole world is thus broken and bruised insunder? How chanced it,
that Babylon is become a wilderness among the Heathen on this
manner? I myself have layed wait for thee, and thou art taken:
unawares art thou trapped and snared: for why, thou hast provoked
the Lord unto anger: The Lord hath opened his house of ordinance,
and brought forth weapons of his wrath. For the thing that is done
in the land of the Caldees, it is the Lord of hosts work.
These things shall come upon her at the last, they shall break
into her privy chambers, they shall leave her as bare as stones,
that be layed together upon heaps. They shall so destroy her, that
nothing shall be left. They shall slay all her mighty soldiers, and
put them to death. Woe be unto them, for the day and the time of
their visitation is at hand. Me think I hear all ready a cry, of
them that be fled and escaped out of the land of Babylon, which show
Sion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple:
yee a voice of them, that cry against Babylon: Call up all the
archers against Babylon, pitch your tents round about her, that none
escape. Recompense her, as she hath deserved: and according as she
hath done, so deal with her again: for she hath set up herself
against the Lord, against the holy one of Israel. Therefore shall
her young men fall down in the streets, and all her men of war shall
be rooted out in that day, saith the Lord. Behold, I speak unto thee
( O thou proud ) saith the Lord God of Hosts: for thy day shall
come, even the time of thy visitation. And the proud shall stumble
and fall, and no man shall help him up. I will burn up his cities
with fire, and it shall consume all that is round about him.
Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: The children of Israel and Judah
suffer violence together. All they that have them in captivity, keep
them fast, and will not let them go: but their avenger and redeemer
is mighty, whose name is the Lord of Hosts: he shall maintain their
cause, he shall make the land shake, and judge them that dwell
therin, one with another. The sword shall come upon the Caldees,
saith the Lord, upon them that dwell in Babylon, upon their princes,
and upon their wise men: The sword upon their soothsayers, as for
those ( they shall become fools ) The sword upon their worthies, so
that they shall stand in fear: The sword upon their horsemen and
chariots, and upon all the common people that dwell under them: so
that they shall all become like women: The sword upon their
treasure, so that it shall be stolen away: The sword upon their
waters, so that they shall be dried up: For the land worshipeth
images, and delighteth in strange wonderful things. Therefore shall
wild beasts, Apes, and Ostriches dwell therin: for there shall never
man dwell there, neither shall any man have his habitation there for
evermore. Like as God destroyed Sodome and Gomorre, with the cities
that lay there about, saith the Lord: So shall no man dwell there
also, neither shall any man have there his habitation. Behold, there
shall come a people from the North, with a great bound of men, and
many Kings shall stand up from the ends of the earth: They bear bows
and bucklers, cruel are they and unmerciful. Their voice
roareth like the raging sea, they ride upon horses, and come
weaponed to fight against thee: O Babylon. As soon as the king of
Babylon heareth tell of them, his hands shall wax feeble: Sorrow and
heaviness shall come upon come upon him, as of a woman in travailing
with child. Behold, Like as the Lion cometh up from the pleasant
meadows of Jordan unto the green pastures of Ethan, so will I drive
them forth, and make them run against her. But whom shall I choose
out, and ordain to such a thing? For who is like me, or who will
strive with me? or what shepherd may stand against me? Therefore
hear the counsel that the Lord hath given upon Babylon, and the
devise that he hath taken upon the land of the Caldees. The least
among the people shall tear them in pieces, and look what pleasant
thing they have: they shall lay it waste. The noise at the winning
of Babylon shall move the earth, and the cry shall be heard among
the Gentiles.
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Chapter 51
Thus hath the Lord said: Behold,
I will raise up a perilous wind against Babylon and her citizens,
that bear evil will against me. I will send also into Babylon
fanners, to fan her out, and destroy her land: for in the day of her
trouble they shall be about her an every side: Moreover, the Lord
hath said unto the bow men, and to them that climb over the walls in
breast plates: He shall not spare her young men, kill down all her
host. Thus the slain shall fall down in the land of the Caldees, and
the wounded in the streets. As for Israel and Juda, they shall not
be forsaken of their God, of the Lord of Hosts, of the holy one of
Israel: no, though they have filled all their land full of sin. Fly
away from Babylon, every man save his life. Let no man hold his
tongue to her wickedness, for the time of the Lords vengeance is
come, yee he shall reward her again. Babylon hath been in the Lords
hand a golden cup, that maketh all lands drunken. Of her wine have
all people drunken, therefore are they out of their wits. But
suddenly is Babylon fallen and destroyed. Mourn for her, bring
plasters for her wounds, if she may peradventure be healed again. We
would have made Babylon whole ( sayeth they ) but she is not
recovered. Therefore will we let her alone, and go every man into
his own country. For her judgment is come in to heaven, and is gone
up to the clouds. And therefore come on, we will show Sion the work
of the Lord our God.
Make sharp arrows, and fill the quivers: for the Lord hath
raised up the spirit of the king of the Meedes, which hath already a
desire to destroy Babylon. This shall be the vengeance of the Lords,
and the vengeance of his temple.
Set up tokens upon the walls of Babylon, make your watch
strong, set your watchmen in array, yee hold private watches: and
yet for all that shall the Lord go forth with the devise, which he
hath taken upon them that dwell in Babylon.
O thou that dwellest by the great waters, O thou that hast so
great treasure and riches, thine end is come: and the raking of thy
winnings. The Lord of Hosts hath sworn by himself, that he will over
whelm thee with men like grasshoppers in number, which with courage
shall cry Alarm, Alarm against the. Yee even the Lord of Hosts, that
with his power made the earth, with his wisdom prepared the round
world, and with his discretion spied out the heavens. As soon as he
letteth his voice be heard, the waters in the air wax fierce: He
draweth up the clouds from the ends of the earth. He turneth the
lightnings to rain, he bringeth the winds out of their secret
places. By the reason of wisdom, all men are become fools.
Confounded are all the casters of images: for the thing that they
make is but deceit, and hath no breath. Vain is it and worthy to be
laughed at: and in the time of visitation it shall perish.
Nevertheless, the portion of Jacob is none such: but he that
made all things, whose name is the Lord of Hosts, he is the rod of
his inheritance. Thou breakest my weapons of war, and yet through
thee I have scattered the nations and kingdoms: Through thee have I
scattered horse and horse man, yee the chariots, and such as sat
upon them: through thee I have scattered man and woman, old and
young, bachelor and maiden. Through thee I have scattered the
shepherd and his flock, the husband man and his cattle, the princes
and rulers. Therefore will I reward the city of Babylon and all her
citizens the Caldees, with all the evil which they have done unto
Sion: yee that ye yourselves shall see it, sayeth the Lord. Behold,
I come upon thee ( thou noisesome hill ) sayeth the Lord, thou that
destroyest all lands. I will stretch out my hand over thee, and cast
down from the stoney rocks: and will make thee a brunt hill, so that
neither corner stones, ner pinnacles, ner foundation stones shall be
taken any more out of thee, but waste and desolate shalt thou lie
for evermore, sayeth the Lord.
Set up a token in the land, blow the trumpets among the
Heathen, provoke the nations against her, call the kingdoms of
Ararat, Menni, and Ascanes against her: number out Taphsar against
her, bring as great a sort of horses against her, as if they were
grasshoppers. Prepare against them the people of the Meedes with
their kings princes and all their chief rulers, yee and the whole
land that is under them.
The land also shall shake and be afraid, when the devise of
the Lord shall come forth against Babylon: to make the land of
Babylon so waste, that no man shall dwell any more therin. The
Worthies of Babylon shall leave the battle, and keep themselves in
strongholds, their strength hath failed them, they shall be like
women. Their dwelling places shall be burnt up, their bars shall be
broken. Orie pursuant shall meet another, yee one post shall come by
another, to bring the king of Babylon tidings: that his city is
taken in on every side, the *foordes occupied, the *senns brunt up,
and the soldiers sore afraid.
For thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel: The
daughter of Babylon hath been in her time like as a threshing floor
but shortly shall her harvest come. Nabuchodonosor the king of
Babylon hath devoured and destroyed me, he hath made me an empty
vessel. He swallowed me up like a dragon, and filled his belly with
my delicates: he hath cast me out. he hath taken my substance away
and the thing that was left me hath he carried unto Babylon, sayeth
the daughter that dwelleth in Sion: yee and my blood also unto the
Caldees, sayeth Jerusalem. Therefore thus sayeth the Lord: Behold, I
will drink up her see, and dry up her water springs.
Babylon shall become an heap of stones a dwelling place for
dragons, a fearfulness and wondering, because no man dwelleth there.
They shall roar together like lions, and as young lions when they be
angry, so shall they bend them selves. In their heat I shall set
drink before them, and they shall be drunken for joy: Then shall
they sleep an everlasting sleep, and never wake, sayeth the Lord. I
shall carry them down to be slain like sheep, like whethers and
goats. O how was Sesach won? O, how was the glory of the whole land
taken? how happeneth it, that Babylon is so wondered at among the
Heathen? The sea is risen over Babylon, and hath covered her with
his great waves. Her cities are layed waste, the land lieth
unbuilded and void: it is a land where no man dwelleth, and where no
man traveleth through. Moreover, I will visit Bel at Babylon: and
the thing that he hath swallowed up, that same shall I pluck out of
his mouth. The Gentiles also shall run no more unto him, yee and the
walls of Babylon shall fall.
O My people, come out of Babylon, that every man may save his
life, from the fearful wrath of the Lord. Be not faint hearted, and
fear not at every rumor that shall be heard in the land: for every
year bringeth new tidings, yee strange wickedness and lordship. And
lo, the time cometh that I will visit the images of Babylon, and the
whole land shall be confounded, yee and her slain shall lie in the
midst of her. Heaven and earth with all that is therin, shall
rejoice over Babylon, when the destroyers shall come upon her from
the North, sayeth the Lord.
Like as Babylon hath beaten down and the slain many out of
Israel, so shall there fall many, and be slain in all her kingdom.
Ye that have escaped the sword, haste you, stand not still, remember
the Lord afar off: and think upon Jerusalem, for we were ashamed to
hear the blasphemes: our faces were covered with shame, because the
strange aliens came into the Sanctuary of the Lord. Wherefore,
behold, ( sayeth the Lord ) the time cometh, that I will visit the
images of Babylon, and through the whole land they shall mourn and
fall. Though Babylon climbeth up into heaven, and keep her power an
high: yet shall I send her destroyers, saith the Lord.
A piteous cry shall be heard from Babylon, and a great misery
from the land of the Caldees: when the Lord destroyeth them, and
when he driveth out the high stomach and proud boasting, wherewith
they have been as furious as the waves of great water floods, For
the destroyers shall come upon her ( even upon Babylon ) which shall
take her worthies, and break their bows : for God is disposed to
avenge himself upon them, and sufficiently to recompense them. Yee (
sayeth the Lord ) I will make their Princes, their wise men, their
chief rulers and all their worthies, drunken: so that they shall
sleep an everlasting sleep, and never wake: Thus sayeth the King,
whose name is the Lord of Hosts.
Moreover, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: The thick wall of
Babylon shall be broken, and her proud gates shall be burnt up. And
the thing that the Gentiles and the people have wrought with great
travail and labor, shall come to naught and be consumed with fire.
This is the charge that Jeremy gave unto Saraiah the son of
Neriah, the son of Maasiah, when he went toward Babylon with
Zedekiah the King of Judah, in the fourth year of his reign. Now
this Saraiah was a peaceable Prince. Jeremy wrote in a book all the
misery that should come upon Babylon, yee and all these sermons that
be written against Babylon, and gave Saraiah this charge: When thou
comest unto Babylon, see that you read all these words, and say: O'
Lord, thou art determined to root out this place, so that neither
people ner cattle shall dwell there any more, but to lie waste for
ever: and when thou hast read out the book, bind a stone to it, and
cast it in the midst of Euphrates, and say: Even thus shall Babylon
sink, and be thrust down with the burden of trouble, that I will
bring upon her: so that she shall *uever come up again. Thus far are
the preachings of Jeremy.
*foordes = shallow area were a crossing can be made through water,
perhaps like a moat. *senns = a swampy area, perhaps defensive; as
it is hard to move quickly through a swamp. *uever (never)
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Chapter 52
Zedekiah was twenty one years
old, when he was made king, and he reigned eleven years in
Jerusalem. His mothers name was Hamutal, Jeremys daughter of Lobnah.
He lived wickedly before the Lord even as Jehoakim did. Wherefore
the Lord was angry at Jerusalem and Judah, so long till he had cast
them out of his presence. And Zedekiah fell from the King of
Babylon. But in the ninth year of his reign, In the tenth Month, the
tenth day of the Month it happened, that Nabuchodonosor King of
Babylon with all his Host came before Jerusalem, and besieged it,
and made them built bulwarks round about it. And this besieging of
the city endured unto the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
And in the fourth Month, the ninth day of the Month, there was
so great hunger in the city: that there were no more vitals for the
people of the land. So all the soldiers break away, and fled out of
the city by night through the way of the port between the two walls
by the Kings garden. Now the Caldees had compassed the city round
about, yet went these men their way toward the wilderness.
And so the Caldees followed upon them, and took Zedekiah the
king in the field of Jericho, when his host was run from him. So
they carried the king away prisoner to Riblah, unto the King of
Babylon in the land of Hemath, where he gave judgment upon him.
The King of Babylon also caused Zedekiahs sons to be slain
before his face, yee and put all the princes of Judah to death at
Reblath. Moreover he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, caused him to be
bound in chains, to be carried unto Babylon: and let him live in
prison, till he died.
Now the tenth day of the fifth Month, in the *ninth year of
Nabuchodonosor King of Babylon, Nabuzaradan the chief captain and
the king of Babylons servants came unto Jerusalem, and burnt up the
house of the Lord. He burnt up also the kings palace, all the houses
and all the gorgeous buildings in Jerusalem. And the whole Host of
the Caldees that were with the chief Captain, brake down all the
walls of Jerusalem round about.
As for the poor people and such folk as yet was left in the
city, which also were fallen to the King of Babylon, yee and what
people as yet remained: Nabuzaradan the chief Captain carried them
away prisoners. But the poor people of the country, did Nabuzaradan
the chief Captain leave in the land, to occupy the vineyards and
fields. The Caldees also brake the brasen pillars that were in the
house of the Lord, yee the seat and the brasen *laver that was in
the house of the Lord: and carried all the metal of them unto
Babylon. They took away also the Caldrons, shovels, flesh hooks,
sprinklers, spoons, and all the brasen vessel that was occupied in
the service: with the basins, coal pans, sprinklers, pots,
candlesticks, spoons and cups: whereof some were of gold, and some
silver.
The chief Captain took also the two pillars, the laver, and
the twelve brasen bullocks that stood under the seat, which King
Solomon made in the house of the Lord: and all the vessel contained
so much metal, that it might not be weighed. For every pillar was
eighteen cubits high, and the rope that went about it, was twelve
cubits, and four fingers thick and round: Now upon the rope were
brasen *knoppes, and every knob was five cubits high: and upon the
knobs were *whopes, and pomegranates round about of clean brass.
After this manner were both the pillars fashioned with the
pomegranates, whereof there were an hundred and ninety six
pomegranates which hanged upon the hoops round about. The chief
Captain also took Sariah the high priest, and Sophoniah that was
chief next to him, and the three keepers of the treasury. He took
out of the city a chamberlain which was a captain of the soldiers,
and seven men that were the kings servants, which were found in the
city: and Sepher a captain that used to muster the men of war: with
sixty men of the country that were taken in the city. These
Nabuzaradan the chief Captain took, and carried them to the king of
Babylon unto Reblath: and the King of Babylon caused them to be put
to death at Reblath in the land of Hemath. And thus Judah was lead
away captive, out of his own land. This is the sum of the people,
whom Nabuchodonosor lead away captive.
In the seventh year of his reign, he carried away captive of
the Jews, three thousand and three and twenty. In the eighteenth
year Nabuchodonosor carried away from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty
two persons. In the twenty third year of Nabuchodonosor Nabuzaradan
the chief Captain, took away seven hundred forty five Jews
prisoners, The whole sum of all the prisoners, is four thousand and
six hundred.
In the thirty seventh year after that Jehoacin the king of
Judah was carried away in the twenty fifth day of the twelfth Month,
Evilmerodach King of Babylon ( the same year that he reigned ) gave
Jehoacin the king of Judah his pardon, and let him out of prison,
and spake lovingly to him. And set his throne above the thrones of
the other Kings that were with him in Babylon. He changed also the
clothes of his prison, yee and he ate with him all his life long.
And he had a continual living given him of the king of Babylon,
every day a certain thing allowed him all the days of his life,
until he died.
*ninth (kjv and other bibles of man =nineteenth) year. *laver
(large basin)
*knoppes, (knobs or decorative bosses) *whopes (hoops),
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Chapters
1-6 |
7-13
| 14-21 |
22-27
| 28-32 |
33-39
| 40-47 |
48-end
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