The Hebrew Prophets

Its cities have been for a desolation, A dry land, and a wilderness, A land--none doth dwell in them, Nor pass over into them doth a son of man.

And I have seen after Bel in Babylon, And I have brought forth that which he swallowed--from his mouth, And flow no more unto him do nations, Also the wall of Babylon hath fallen.

Go forth from its midst, O My people, And deliver ye, each his soul, Because of the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah,

And lest your heart be tender, And ye be afraid of the report that is heard in the land, And come in a year hath the report, And after it in a year the report, And violence is in the land, ruler against ruler;

Therefore, lo, days are coming, And I have seen after the graven images of Babylon. And all its land is ashamed, And all its pierced ones do fall in its midst.

And cried aloud against Babylon Have heavens and earth, and all that is in them, For, from the north come to it do the spoilers, An affirmation of Jehovah.

Even Babylon is to fall, ye pierced of Israel, Even they of Babylon have fallen, Ye pierced of all the earth.

Ye escaped of the sword, go on, stand not, Remember ye from afar Jehovah, And let Jerusalem come up on your heart.

We have been ashamed, for we heard reproach, Covered hath shame our faces, For come in have strangers, against the sanctuaries of the house of Jehovah.

Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have seen after its graven images, And in all its land groan doth the wounded.

Because Babylon goeth up to the heavens, And because it fenceth the high place of its strength, From Me come into it do spoilers, An affirmation of Jehovah.

A voice of a cry is from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldean.

For Jehovah is spoiling Babylon, And hath destroyed out of it a great voice, And sounded have its billows as many waters, Given forth a noise hath their voice.

For come in against it--against Babylon--hath a spoiler, And captured have been its mighty ones, Broken have been their bows, For the God of recompences--Jehovah--doth certainly repay.

And I have caused its princes to drink, And its wise men, its governors, And its prefects, and its mighty ones, And they have slept a sleep age-during, And they awake not--an affirmation of the king, Jehovah of Hosts is His name.

Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, the wall of Babylon--The broad one--is utterly made bare, And her high gates with fire are burnt, And peoples labour in vain, And nations in fire, and have been weary!

The word that Jeremiah the prophet hath commanded Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, in his going with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign--and Seraiah is a quiet prince;

and Jeremiah writeth all the evil that cometh unto Babylon on one book--all these words that are written concerning Babylon.

And Jeremiah saith unto Seraiah, `When thou dost enter Babylon, then thou hast seen, and hast read all these words,

and hast said: Jehovah, Thou, Thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that there is none dwelling in it, from man even unto cattle, for it is a desolation age-during.

And it hath come to pass, when thou dost finish reading this book, thou dost bind to it a stone, and hast cast it into the midst of Phrat,

and said, Thus sink doth Babylon, and it doth not arise, because of the evil that I am bringing in against it, and they have been weary.' Hitherto are words of Jeremiah.

A son of twenty and one years is Zedekiah in his reigning, and eleven years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother is Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiakim hath done,

for, because of the anger of Jehovah, it hath been in Jerusalem and Judah till He hath cast them from before His face, and Zedekiah doth rebel against the king of Babylon.