The Hebrew Prophets

Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath smitten: `Thus said Jehovah: Arise ye, go ye up unto Kedar, And spoil the sons of the east.

Their tents and their flock they do take, Their curtains, and all their vessels, And their camels, they bear away for themselves, And they called concerning them, Fear is round about.

Flee, bemoan mightily, go deep to dwell, Ye inhabitants of Hazor--an affirmation of Jehovah, For given counsel against you hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, Yea, he deviseth against them a device.

Rise ye, go up unto a nation at rest, Dwelling confidently, an affirmation of Jehovah, It hath no two-leaved doors nor bar, Alone they do dwell.

And their camels have been for a prey, And the multitude of their cattle for a spoil, And I have scattered them to every wind, Who cut off the corner of the beard , And from all its passages I bring in their calamity, An affirmation of Jehovah.

And Hazor hath been for a habitation of dragons, A desolation--unto the age, No one doth dwell there, nor sojourn in it doth a son of man!'

That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

`Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Lo, I am breaking the bow of Elam, The beginning of their might.

And I have brought in to Elam four winds, From the four ends of the heavens, And have scattered them to all these winds, And there is no nation whither outcasts of Elam come not in.

And I have affrighted Elam before their enemies, And before those seeking their life, And I have brought in against them evil, The heat of Mine anger, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sent after them the sword, Till I have consumed them;

And I have set My throne in Elam, And I have destroyed thence King and princes--an affirmation of Jehovah.

And it hath come to pass, in the latter end of the days, I turn back to the captivity of Elam, An affirmation of Jehovah!'

The word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet:

`Declare ye among nations, and sound, And lift up an ensign, sound, do not hide, Say ye: Captured hath been Babylon, Put to shame hath been Bel, Broken hath been Merodach, Put to shame have been her grievous things, Broken have been her idols.

For come up against her hath a nation from the north, It maketh her land become a desolation, And there is not an inhabitant in it. From man even unto beast, They have moved, they have gone.

In those days, and at that time, An affirmation of Jehovah, Come in do sons of Israel, They and sons of Judah together, Going on and weeping they go, And Jehovah their God they seek.

To Zion they ask the way, Thitherward are their faces: Come in, and we are joined unto Jehovah, A covenant age-during--not forgotten.

A perishing flock hath My people been, Their shepherds have caused them to err, To the mountains causing them to go back, From mountain unto hill they have gone, They have forgotten their crouching-place.

All finding them have devoured them, And their adversaries have said: We are not guilty, Because that they sinned against Jehovah, The habitation of righteousness, And the hope of their fathers--Jehovah.

Move ye from the midst of Babylon, And from the land of the Chaldeans go out. And be as he-goats before a flock.

For, lo, I am stirring up, And am causing to come up against Babylon, An assembly of great nations from a land of the north, And they have set in array against her, From thence she is captured, Its arrow--as a skilful hero--returneth not empty,

And Chaldea hath been for a spoil, All her spoilers are satisfied, An affirmation of Jehovah.

Because thou rejoicest, because thou exultest, O spoilers of Mine inheritance, Because thou increasest as a heifer at the tender grass, And dost cry aloud as bulls,

Ashamed hath been your mother greatly, Confounded hath she been that bare you, Lo, the hindermost of nations is a wilderness, A dry land, and a desert.

Because of the wrath of Jehovah it is not inhabited, And it hath been a desolation--all of it. Every passer by at Babylon is astonished, And doth hiss because of all her plagues.