KJ3 Literal Translation
Jeremiah 50
The judgment of Babylon. The redemption of Israel.
1The Word that Jehovah spoke against Babylon, against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet:
2Declare among the nations, and make them hear, and lift up a banner. Make them hear, do not hide it; say, Babylon is captured, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is broken in pieces, her images are put to shame, her idols are broken in pieces.
3For a nation comes up against her from the north, which shall make her land a horror. Yea, no one shall dwell in it. They shall flee, they shall go up, both man and animal.
4In these days, and at that time, the sons of Israel shall come, a statement of Jehovah, they and the sons of Judah together, going and weeping; they shall go and seek Jehovah their God.
5They shall ask the way there to Zion, with their faces pointing there, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten.
6My people are lost sheep, their shepherd has led them astray; they turned them back on the mountains, they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.
7All who have found them have devoured them. And their oppressing ones said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Jehovah, the habitation of righteousness, and the hope of their fathers, Jehovah.
8Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks.
9For, behold, I am stirring up and making go up a company of great nations from a northern land against Babylon. And they shall array themselves against her. She shall be captured there; their arrows shall be as those of a mighty, skillful man; they shall not return empty.
10And Chaldea shall be a prize; all who plunder her shall be satisfied, a statement of Jehovah.
11Because you rejoice, because you exult, O plunderers of My inheritance, because you are fat like the heifer in grass, and neigh like strong ones,
12your mother shall be greatly ashamed, she who bore you shall turn pale. Behold, the last of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13Because of the wrath of Jehovah, it shall not be lived in, but all of it shall be a waste. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be amazed and hiss at all her plagues.
14Array yourselves against Babylon round about. All you who tread a bow, shoot at her. Do not spare arrows, for she has sinned against Jehovah.
15Shout against her round about. She has given her hand, her foundations have fallen, her walls have been thrown down, for it is Jehovah's vengeance. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, do to her.
16Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one taking hold of the sickle in the time of harvest. They shall turn from a sword of the oppressing one, each man to his people. And they shall flee, each man to his own land.
17Israel is a scattered sheep, driven away by lions. First, the king of Assyria devoured him. And last, this King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon broke his bones.
18So Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says this: Behold, I am calling to account the king of Babylon and his land as I have called to account the king of Assyria.
19And I will bring back Israel to his home, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20In those days, and at that time, a statement of Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and it is not; and the sins of Judah, and they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
21Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it and against those living in Pekod. Waste and destroy after them, says Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22A sound of battle is in the land and of great ruin.
23How the hammer of all the earth is cut off and broken! How Babylon has become a horror among the nations!
24I have laid a trap for you, and you also are captured, Babylon, and you did not know. You were found and also caught, because you stirred up yourself against Jehovah.
25Jehovah has opened His armory and has brought out the weapons of His fury. For this is a work of Jehovah, God of Hosts, in the land of the Chaldeans.
26Come against her from the end, open her granaries, pile her up as heaps and utterly destroy her. Let not a remnant be to her.
27Put the sword to all her bulls, let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their being called to account.
28The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance of His temple.
29Make the archers hear against Babylon. All you who tread a bow camp against it round about. Let not one of them escape. Repay her according to her work, according to all that she has done, do to her. For she has been proud against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel.
30So her young men shall fall in the broad places, and all her men of war shall be silenced in that day, a statement of Jehovah.
31Behold, I am against you, O proud one, a statement of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, for your day has come, the time I will call you to account
32And the proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall burn up everything round about him.
33So says Jehovah of Hosts, Those oppressing the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah together; yea, all who captured them and held them fast; they refused to let them go.
34Their Redeemer is strong, Jehovah of Hosts is His name. Striving He shall strive in their strife, so that He may give rest to the land, and make to tremble those living in Babylon.
35A sword is on the Chaldeans, a statement of Jehovah, and on those living in Babylon, and on her rulers, and on her wise men.
36A sword is on the liars, and they shall become fools; a sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be broken.
37A sword is on his horses and his chariots, and to all the mixed people in her midst. And they shall become as women. A sword is to her treasuries, and they shall be plundered.
38A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up. For it is the land of idols, and they boast themselves in idols.
39So the beasts of the desert shall dwell there with jackals. And the daughters of the ostrich shall dwell in her again. And it shall not be lived in again forever; not be lived in until generation and generation.
40As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, a statement of Jehovah, so no man shall live there, nor shall a son of man sojourn in it.
41Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred up from the farthest parts of the earth.
42They lay hold of a bow and a javelin, they shall be cruel and will show no mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea, and arrayed like a man for the battle, they shall ride on horses against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43The king of Babylon has heard their report, and his hands sank; anguish seized him, pangs like one giving birth.
44Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of Jordan against the perpetual abode. But I will make them suddenly run away from it. And who is a chosen one I will appoint over it? For who is like Me? And who will summon Me? And who is this shepherd who will stand before Me?
45So hear the counsel of Jehovah that He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall not drag them, the little ones of the flock. Surely He will not make their dwelling desolate over them.
46At the sound of Babylon's capture, the earth shall tremble, and a cry is heard among the nations.
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