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1 | The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the
land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. |
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2 | Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a
standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel
is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are
confounded, her images are broken in pieces. |
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3 | For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her,
which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell
therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and
beast. |
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4 | In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children
of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together,
going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. |
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5 | They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward,
saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a
perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. |
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6 | My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds 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 restingplace. |
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7 | All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries
said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the
LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of
their fathers. |
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8 | Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the
land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the
flocks. |
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9 | For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an
assembly of great nations from the north country: and they
shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she
shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert
man; none shall return in vain. |
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10 | And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be
satisfied, saith the LORD. |
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11 | Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of
mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at
grass, and bellow as bulls; |
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12 | Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall
be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a
wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. |
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13 | Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited,
but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by
Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. |
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14 | Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye
that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath
sinned against the LORD. |
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15 | Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her
foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is
the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she
hath done, do unto her. |
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16 | Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the
sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing
sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall
flee every one to his own land. |
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17 | Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away:
first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. |
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18 | Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I
have punished the king of Assyria. |
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19 | And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall
feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied
upon mount Ephraim and Gilead. |
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20 | In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity
of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and
the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will
pardon them whom I reserve. |
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21 | Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and
against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy
after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I
have commanded thee. |
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22 | A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. |
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23 | How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken!
how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! |
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24 | I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O
Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also
caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. |
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25 | The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the
weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord
GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. |
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26 | Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses:
cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of
her be left. |
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27 | Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe
unto them! for their day is come, the time of their
visitation. |
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28 | The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of
Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God,
the vengeance of his temple. |
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29 | Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend
the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape:
recompense her according to her work; according to all that
she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against
the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. |
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30 | Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her
men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD. |
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31 | Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord
GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit
thee. |
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32 | And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall
raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it
shall devour all round about him. |
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33 | Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the
children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took
them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. |
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34 | Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he
shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to
the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. |
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35 | A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the
inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her
wise men. |
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36 | A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is
upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. |
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37 | A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and
upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and
they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and
they shall be robbed. |
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38 | A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for
it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their
idols. |
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39 | Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts
of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell
therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither
shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. |
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40 | As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities
thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither
shall any son of man dwell therein. |
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41 | Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great
nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of
the earth. |
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42 | They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and
will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and
they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a
man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. |
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43 | The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his
hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of
a woman in travail. |
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44 | Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of
Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them
suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I
may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint
me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before
me? |
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45 | Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken
against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed
against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the
flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their
habitation desolate with them. |
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46 | At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and
the cry is heard among the nations. |
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