Babylon

That thou hast taken up this simile Concerning the king of Babylon, and said, How hath the exactor ceased,

And I have risen up against them, (The affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts,) And have cut off, in reference to Babylon, Name and remnant, and continuator and successor, The affirmation of Jehovah.

And lo, this, the chariot of a man is coming, A couple of horsemen.' And he answereth and saith: `Fallen, fallen hath Babylon, And all the graven images of her gods He hath broken to the earth.

At that time hath Merodach-Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah, when he heareth that he hath been sick, and is become strong.

And Isaiah the prophet cometh in unto king Hezekiah, and saith unto him, `What said these men? and whence come they unto thee?' And Hezekiah saith, `From a land afar off they have come unto me--from Babylon.'

Lo, days are coming, and borne hath been all that is in thy house, and that thy fathers have treasured up till this day, to Babylon; there is not left a thing, said Jehovah;

and of thy sons who come forth from thee, whom thou begettest, they take, and they have been eunuchs in a palace of the king of Babylon.'

Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: `For your sake I have sent to Babylon, And caused bars to descend--all of them, And the Chaldeans, whose song is in the ships.

Come down, and sit on the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, Sit on the earth, there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans, For no more do they cry to thee, `O tender and delicate one.'

Be gathered all of you, and hear, Who among them did declare these things? Jehovah hath loved him, He doth His pleasure on Babylon, And His arm is on the Chaldeans.

Go out from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans, With a voice of singing declare, Cause ye this to be heard, Bring it forth unto the end of the earth, Say, Redeemed hath Jehovah His servant Jacob.

For thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am making thee for a fear to thyself, And to all loving thee, And they have fallen by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes are beholding, And all Judah I give into the hand of the king of Babylon, And he hath removed them to Babylon, And he hath smitten them with the sword.

And I have given all the strength of this city, And all its labour, and all its precious things, Yea, all the treasures of the kings of Judah I do give into the hand of their enemies, And they have spoiled them, and taken them, And have brought them into Babylon.

And thou, Pashhur, and all dwelling in thy house, Do go into captivity. and Babylon thou dost enter, And there thou diest, and there thou art buried, Thou and all loving thee, To whom thou hast prophesied falsely.'

`Inquire, we pray thee, for us at Jehovah, for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath fought against us; perhaps Jehovah doth deal with us according to all His wonders, and doth cause him to go up from off us.'

Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel: Lo, I am turning round the weapons of battle That are in your hand, With which ye do fight the king of Babylon, And the Chaldeans, who are laying siege against you, At the outside of the wall, And I have gathered them into the midst of this city,

And after this--an affirmation of Jehovah, I give Zedekiah king of Judah, And his servants, and the people, And those left in this city, From the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, Into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of their enemies, And into the hand of those seeking their life, And he hath smitten them by the mouth of the sword, He hath no pity on them, Nor doth he spare, nor hath he mercy.

For I have set My face against this city for evil, And not for good--an affirmation of Jehovah. Into the hand of the king of Babylon it is given, And he hath burned it with fire.

And I have given thee into the hand of those seeking thy life, And into hands of which thou art afraid, Into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of the Chaldeans.

Jehovah hath shewed me, and lo, two baskets of figs, appointed before the temple of Jehovah, --after the removing by Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, of Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the heads of Judah, and the artisan, and the smith, from Jerusalem, when he bringeth them into Babylon--

The word that hath been unto Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, --it is the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, --

Lo, I am sending, and have taken all the families of the north--an affirmation of Jehovah--even unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and have brought them in against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations round about, and have devoted them, and appointed them for an astonishment, and for a hissing, and for wastes age-during.

And all this land hath been for a waste, for an astonishment, and these nations have served the king of Babylon seventy years.

`And it hath come to pass, at the fulness of seventy years, I charge against the king of Babylon, and against that nation--an affirmation of Jehovah--their iniquity, and against the land of the Chaldeans, and have appointed it for desolations age-during.

And all the kings of the north, The near and the far off, one unto another, And all the kingdoms of the earth, That are on the face of the ground, And king Sheshach drinketh after them.