Jeremiah 27 Cross References - ISV

¹ Jeremiah Tells the Nations to Submit to BabylonAt the beginning of the reign of Josiah’s son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ² this is what the LORD says to me: “Make restraints and yokes for yourself and put them on your neck. ³ Then send messengers to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon through the envoys who come to Jerusalem to king Zedekiah of Judah. ⁴ Give them this order for their masters: ‘This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says, and this is what you are to say to your masters, ⁵ “By my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth, mankind, and the animals that are on the face of the earth, and I give it to whomever I see fit. ⁶ Now I’ve given all these lands to my servant, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I’ve even given him the wild animals to serve him. ⁷ All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until his country’s time also comes, and then many nations and great kings will use him as a slave. ⁸ If a nation and kingdom does not serve him—King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon—and does not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I’ll judge that nation with the sword, with famine, and with plague,” declares the LORD, “until I’ve completely destroyed it by his hand. ⁹ You aren’t to listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, and your sorcerers who say to you, ‘Don’t serve the king of Babylon.’ ¹⁰ They’re prophesying a lie to you in order to remove you far away from your land. I’ll drive you out and you will perish. ¹¹ But I’ll let the nation that brings its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him remain in its own land,” declares the LORD, “and they’ll work it and remain in it.”’”
¹² Zedekiah Told to Submit to BabylonI spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah using words like these: “Bring your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and you will live! ¹³ Why should you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by plague as the LORD has decreed about the nation that does not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴ Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, ‘You won’t serve the king of Babylon.’ Indeed, they’re prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁵ For I didn’t send them,” declares the LORD, “and they’re falsely prophesying in my name, so I will drive both you and the prophets who prophesy to you out of the land.”
¹⁶ The People and Priests Told to Submit to BabylonThen I spoke to the priests and all this people: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you: “The vessels from the Temple are about to be returned from Babylon very soon now.” Indeed, they’re prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁷ Don’t listen to them! Serve the king of Babylon and you’ll live. Why should this city become a ruin? ¹⁸ If they’re prophets, and if they have a message from the LORD, let them plead with the LORD of the Heavenly Armies so that the utensils that remain in the LORD’s Temple, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem might not be taken to Babylon. ¹⁹ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says about the pillars, the bronze sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that remain in this city ²⁰ that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn’t take when he took Jehoiakim’s son Jeconiah, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem from Jerusalem into exile to Babylon— ²¹ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says about the vessels that remain in the LORD’s Temple, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, ²² “They’ll go into Babylon and there they’ll remain until the time I take note of them,” declares the LORD. “Then I’ll bring them up and return them to this place.”’”

¹¹ Zedekiah Rules in Judah
Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem.

¹ Jeremiah is ArrestedIn the beginning of the reign of Josiah’s son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, this message came from the LORD:

³ Then send messengers to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon through the envoys who come to Jerusalem to king Zedekiah of Judah.

¹² Zedekiah Told to Submit to BabylonI spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah using words like these: “Bring your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and you will live!

¹⁹ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says about the pillars, the bronze sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that remain in this city ²⁰ that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn’t take when he took Jehoiakim’s son Jeconiah, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem from Jerusalem into exile to Babylon—

¹ Jeremiah Challenges a False ProphetIn that same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fourth year and the fifth month, Azzur’s son Hananiah, the prophet from Gibeon, told me at the LORD’s Temple in front of the priests and all the people,

³⁰ Ahijah grabbed the new cloak that he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces! ³¹ Then he told Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, because this is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘Pay attention! I’m going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s control and give you ten tribes.

² at that time the LORD spoke through Amoz’s son Isaiah: “Go loosen the sackcloth that’s around your waist, and take your sandals off your feet.” So that’s what he did: he went around naked and barefoot.
³ Then the LORD said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has walked around naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a warning for Egypt and Ethiopia, ⁴ so the king of Assyria will lead away the Egyptian captives and exiles from Cush, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot—with even their buttocks uncovered—to the shame of Egypt.

¹ Jeremiah’s Linen BeltThis is what the LORD told me: “Go and buy a linen belt for yourself, and put it around your waist. But don’t let it get wet.” ² So I bought the belt according to the LORD’s instruction, and put it around my waist.
³ Then this message from the LORD came to me a second time: ⁴ Take the belt that you bought and that is around your waist. Get up and go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a crevice in the rock.” ⁵ So I went and hid it at the Euphrates, just as the LORD had commanded me.
⁶ After a long time, the LORD told me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and get the belt that I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷ I went to the Euphrates and dug it up. I got the belt from the place where I had hidden it. The belt was ruined! It was not good for anything.
⁸ Then this message from the LORD came to me: ⁹ “This is what the LORD says: ‘In the same way I’ll ruin the pride of Judah and the pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ This evil people that refuses to listen to my words, that stubbornly pursues their own desires, and that follows other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt that is not good for anything. ¹¹ For just as the belt clings tightly to a person’s waist, so I’ve made all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah cling tightly to me,’ declares the LORD. ‘I did this so that they would be my people, name, praise, and glory. But they wouldn’t listen.’

² “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I’ll allow you to hear my words.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was doing work at the potter’s wheel. ⁴ But the vessel he was working on with the clay was ruined in the potter’s hand. So he remade it into another vessel that seemed appropriate to him.
⁵ Then this message from the LORD came to me: ⁶ “Israel, can’t I deal with you like this potter?” declares the LORD. “Look, Israel, like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. ⁷ At one moment I may speak about a nation or a kingdom to uproot it, pull it down, or destroy it. ⁸ But if that nation about which I spoke turns from its evil way, I’ll change my mind about the disaster that I had planned for it. ⁹ At another moment I may speak about a nation or kingdom to build it or plant it. ¹⁰ But if that nation does evil in my eyes by not obeying me, I’ll change my mind about the good that I said I would bring on it.

¹ The Lesson of the Broken JugThis is what the LORD says: “Go and buy a potter’s clay jug. Take along some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests. ² Go out to the Valley of Hinnom at the entrance to the Potsherd Gate, and there proclaim the words that I’m telling you.
³ “You are to say, ‘Hear this message from the LORD, you kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem!
“‘This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “I’m about to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of all who hear about it tingle. ⁴ For they have forsaken me and have treated this place as foreign. In it they have burned incense to other gods that neither they, their ancestors, nor the kings of Judah knew. They have also filled this place with the blood of innocent people. ⁵ They built the high places for Baal to burn their children in the fire as a burnt offering to Baal—something I didn’t command, didn’t say, nor did it ever enter my mind!
⁶ “‘“Therefore, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this place will no longer be called Topheth, or the Valley of Hinnom, but rather the Valley of Slaughter. ⁷ I’ll shatter the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I’ll make them fall by the sword before their enemies and at the hands of those seeking their lives. I’ll give their dead bodies as food to the birds of the sky and to the animals of the land. ⁸ I’ll make this city into a desolate place and an object of scorn. All who pass by it will be astonished and will scoff because of all its wounds. ⁹ I’ll cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and people will eat the flesh of their neighbors in the siege and in the distress to which their enemies and those seeking their lives will subject them.”’”
¹⁰ “Then you are to break the jug in front of the men who have come with you, ¹¹ and say to them, ‘This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “In this same way I’ll break this people and this city, just as someone breaks a potter’s vessel which he then cannot put back together again. They’ll bury corpses in Topheth until there is no more room to bury anyone.

¹⁰ Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. ¹¹ Hananiah, in front of all the people, said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘In the same way, within two years, I’ll break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’” Then Jeremiah the prophet went on his way.
¹² This message from the LORD came to Jeremiah after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet: ¹³ “Go and say to Hananiah, ‘This is what the LORD says: “You have broken wooden yokes, but you have made iron yokes in their place.” ¹⁴ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “I’ve put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They’ll serve him, and I’ve even given the wild animals to him.”’”

¹ The Vision of the Brick“And now Son of Man, you are to take a brick, set it in front of you, and inscribe on it the outline of the city—that is, Jerusalem. ² You are to lay siege against it, build a rampart around it, set a bulwark against it, encircle it with a berm, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it. ³ Then you are to take a flat, iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city.
“Next, you are to turn toward it, oppose it, and place it under siege, because you are to lay siege to it. All of this will serve as a sign to the house of Israel.
⁴ “Now as for you, you are to sleep on your left side, symbolically bearing the punishment of the house of Israel while you’re counting the days you’ll be sleeping on your left side to bear symbolically the punishment for their sin. ⁵ I’ve assigned you to sleep this way for 390 days, representing the years they’ve been sinning, as you bear symbolically the punishment of the house of Israel.

¹ Ezekiel Packs for ExileThis message came to me from the LORD: ² “Son of Man, you live in a rebellious house that has eyes to see, but they can’t see, and ears to hear, but they can’t hear, since they’re a rebellious house.
³ “So now, Son of Man, you are to prepare your luggage for a trip into exile, and then you are to leave during the daytime so they see you leaving. Leave from your place to another while they’re watching. Then perhaps they’ll realize that they’re a rebellious house.
⁴ “Bring out your luggage, like you’re packing to go into exile, and do this during the daytime while they’re watching you. Later that evening, leave while they’re watching you like someone heading into exile. ⁵ While they continue to watch, dig a hole for yourself in the wall and enter through it.
⁶ “While they’re watching, carry your luggage on your shoulder and go out in total darkness. Cover your face so that you won’t see the land, because I’m using you as a sign to Israel’s house.”
⁷ I did just as I was commanded. I brought out the luggage as if it were luggage for exile. I did this during the day. Then in the evening I dug a hole in the wall with my hand and brought the luggage out in total darkness and carried it out on my shoulder while they were watching.
⁸ The Meaning of the MessageThe next morning, this message came to me from the LORD: ⁹ “Son of Man, didn’t the house of Israel, that rebellious house, ask you, ‘What are you doing?’ ¹⁰ Answer them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says, “This oracle concerns the prince of Jerusalem and the whole of Israel’s house that is in their midst. ¹¹ Tell them, ‘I’m a sign for you. Just as I enacted it, it’s going to happen to them. They’ll go into exile and captivity. ¹² Then the prince, who will be one of them, will carry his luggage on his shoulder in the dark and will go out. They’ll dig a hole in the wall for him to go through. His face will be covered so that he won’t be able to see the land with his eyes. ¹³ But I’ll throw my net over him. As a result, he’ll be captured with my net, and with it I’ll bring him to Babel, the land of the Chaldeans. He won’t see it, though he’ll die there. ¹⁴ I’ll scatter every attendant who surrounds him, along with his entire army, to every wind. When I unsheathe my sword to pursue them, ¹⁵ they’ll learn that I am the LORD, when I’ve dispersed them among the nations and scattered them throughout the earth.”’”
¹⁶ The Purpose of the Surviving Remnant“But I’ll preserve a few people out of the violent death, famine, and pestilence, so they can recount their detestable practices among the nations when they’ll go there. Then they’ll know that I am the LORD.”
¹⁷ The Coming DevastationThis message came to me from the LORD: ¹⁸ “Son of Man, eat your bread with trembling and drink your water with quivering and anxiety. ¹⁹ Then tell the people of the land, ‘This is what the LORD says to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to Israel’s land: “They’ll eat their food in anxiety and drink their water in trepidation, because their land will be desolate in its entirety due to all the violence committed by all who live in it. ²⁰ The towns that are inhabited will lie in ruins, because the land will be devastated. Then they’ll learn that I am the LORD.”’”
²¹ The Coming Fulfillment of VisionsLater, this message came to me from the LORD: ²² “Son of Man, what’s this proverb you have concerning Israel’s land that says, ‘The days pass slowly and every vision ends in nothing.’? ²³ Therefore you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says, “I’m about to put an end to use of this proverb in Israel. It will never be used again as a proverb in Israel. Instead, tell them that the days are drawing near when every vision will be fulfilled. ²⁴ There will no longer be worthless visions and flattering divinations in the midst of Israel’s house. ²⁵ Because I am the LORD, I’ll speak and the message that I communicate will be accomplished without delay. While you continue to be a rebellious house, I’ll speak the message and then fulfill it,” declares the Lord GOD.’”
²⁶ The Imminent FulfillmentLater, this message came to me from the LORD: ²⁷ “Son of Man, pay attention! The house of Israel keeps on saying, ‘The vision that he’s talking about concerns the distant future. He’s prophesying concerning times that are far in the future!’ ²⁸ Therefore tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says, “None of my messages will be delayed any longer. Any message that I speak will be fulfilled,” declares the Lord GOD.’”

³ So compose a parable for the rebellious house. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Prepare your pot for boiling! Set it in place. Fill it up with water, too. ⁴ Gather together the best pieces of meat on it— including the thighs and the shoulders— and fill it with the choicest bones. ⁵ Take the best bones from the flock, pile wood under the pot for the bones, bring it to a boil, and then cook the bones in it.”’”
⁶ Woe to Jerusalem“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How terrible it is for that blood-filled city, to the pot whose rust remains in it, whose rust won’t come off. Empty it one piece at a time. Don’t let a lot fall on it. ⁷ Her blood was in it. She poured it out onto bare rock. She didn’t pour it out on the ground, intending to cover it with dirt. ⁸ In order to stir up my anger and in order to take vengeance, I set the blood on a bare rock so that it cannot be covered.’
⁹ “Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How terrible it is for that blood-filled city— I’m also going to add to my pile of kindling. ¹⁰ Pile up the wood! Make the fire burn hot. Boil the meat! Mix the seasonings. Burn those bones to a crisp! ¹¹ Make the pot stand empty on the coals until its bronze glows red, its rust can be scoured off, and its dross completely removed. ¹² The pot wearies me, but its thick rust won’t come off, even with fire.

¹ The Vision of LocustsThis is what the Lord GOD showed me: Look! He was forming locust swarms as the latter plantings were just beginning to sprout. Indeed, the king had just taken his first fruit tax.

⁴ The Vision of FireThis is what the Lord GOD showed me: Look! The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire, and it was drying up the great depths of the ocean and consuming the land.

¹³ Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance in the name of God. Instead, he stiffened his resolve, and hardened his heart, and would not return to the LORD God of Israel.

¹⁹ Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his officials, his princes, and all his people; ²⁰ all the various people; all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod; ²¹ Edom, Moab, and the people of Ammon; ²² all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and all the kings of the coast lands that are beyond the sea; ²³ Dedan, Tema, Buz, and those who shave the corners of their beards; ²⁴ all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the various people who live in the desert; ²⁵ all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; ²⁶ all the kings of the north near and far, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. The king of Sheshak will drink after all the others.

¹ A Prophecy against the PhilistinesThis is the message from the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza. ² This is what the LORD says: “Look, waters are rising from the north, and they’ll become an overflowing river. They’ll overflow the land and all that fills it— the city and those that live in it. People will cry out, and all those living in the land will wail. ³ At the sound of the galloping hooves of his horses, at the rumbling of his chariots, the clatter of his wheels, fathers won’t turn back for their children because their hands are weak, ⁴ for the day is coming to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains. For the LORD is destroying the Philistines, the remnant of the coastlands of Caphtor. ⁵ Baldness is coming to Gaza. Ashkelon is silenced. Remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself? ⁶ Ah, sword of the LORD, how long before you are quiet? Put yourself into your scabbard, be at rest, be silent! ⁷ How can it be quiet, when the LORD has ordered disaster to come to Ashkelon and the seashore? That’s where he has assigned it.”

¹⁵ But he rebelled against the king of Babylon by sending his messengers to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Or will the one who did this escape? Will he break the covenant, but still be delivered?’”
¹⁶ God will Punish the King“As long as I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “in Babylon, that place where the king has enthroned him, whose oath he despised so as to break his covenant, he’ll die with him. ¹⁷ Pharaoh, with his massive army and large battalions won’t protect him when mounds and siege walls are built to destroy many people. ¹⁸ He despised the oath he had made and broke the covenant. Look! Because he willingly submitted, yet he has done all these things, he won’t escape.
¹⁹ Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says, “As long as I live, because he despised my oath and broke my covenant, he’s going to suffer the consequences. ²⁰ I’ll spread my net over him so that he’ll be caught in my snare. I’ll bring him to Babylon and carry out my sentence there because of his treachery toward me. ²¹ The fugitives of his troops will die by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the four winds. Then you’ll know that I, the LORD, have spoken.”

¹ A Message Condemning AmmonThis message came to me from the LORD: ² “Son of Man, turn your attention to the descendants of Ammon and rebuke them. ³ Tell the Ammonites: ‘Listen to a message from the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says: “Because you have said, ‘Aha!’ about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it became desolate, and about the households of Judah when they went into exile, ⁴ therefore you’d better look out! I’m going to turn you over to men from the East, who will dominate you. You will become their property. They will set up military encampments and permanent places in which to live among you, and then they’ll eat your fruit and drink your milk. ⁵ I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels, and Ammon will become a resting place for flocks of sheep. That’s how they’ll learn that I am the LORD.”’”
⁶ Why God Condemned Ammon“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you’ve applauded, stamped your feet, and rejoiced with all sorts of malice in your heart against the land of Israel, ⁷ therefore you’d better watch out! I’m raising a clenched fist in your direction! I’m about to feed you to the surrounding nations as war plunder. I’m going to eliminate you as a nation and kill off those of you who survive to live in other countries. I’m going to destroy you, and that’s how you’ll learn that I am the LORD.’”
⁸ A Message Rebuking Moab and Seir“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Moab and Seir are claiming, “Judah’s citizens are just like every other nation,” ⁹ therefore you’d better watch out! I’m going to tear open Moab’s flanks, starting with its frontier cities—the very glory of the nation!—including Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim. ¹⁰ I’m going to turn these cities over to men from the East, who will dominate you. You will become their property. As a result, Ammon will be forgotten as a nation. ¹¹ I’m also going to punish Moab, and that’s how they’ll learn that I am the LORD.’”
¹² The Coming Destruction of Edom“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Edom has made it their practice to seek extraordinary vengeance against Judah’s citizens, and by doing so has incurred extraordinary guilt by taking revenge against them,’ ¹³ therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I’m going to raise my clenched fist in Edom’s direction and eliminate every single human being and animal from Edom! I’m going to turn everything into a wasteland, starting with Teman, and Dedan will fall by violence! ¹⁴ I’m going to inundate Edom with my retribution, using my people Israel to carry it out! They’ll deliver my anger, acting as an agent of my fury. Edom will come to know my vengeance,’ declares the Lord GOD.’”
¹⁵ A Message Condemning Philistia“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Philistia has made it their practice to carry out retribution, accompanied by extraordinary malice in their personal vendettas—vendettas that spring from their everlasting hostility— ¹⁶ this is what the Lord GOD says: “Look out! I’m raising my clenched fist in Philistia’s direction. I’m going to execute the Cherethites and destroy what’s left of the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. ¹⁷ I’ll take vengeance on them, punishing them severely in my anger. They’ll know that I am the LORD when I take my vengeance on them.”’”

¹⁸ “Son of Man, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made his army work very hard to attack Tyre. They tore their hair out and rubbed their shoulders raw! Despite all of that work trying to capture Tyre, neither he nor his army got paid from Tyre for all that!

⁹ A Warning to TyreThis is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Tyre —and now for a fourth— I will not turn away; because they delivered the entire population to Edom, and did not remember their covenant with their relatives.

¹ Pharaoh Refuses to Let the People GoAfter Moses and Aaron arrived, they told Pharaoh, “This is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘Let my people go so they may make a pilgrimage for me in the desert.’”

¹⁰ The LORD is the true God; he’s the living God and the everlasting king. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

¹⁶ The Portion of Jacob is not like these. He made everything, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name.

²⁷ “You are to say to them, ‘This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Drink, get drunk, and vomit! Fall down and don’t get up because of the sword I’m sending among you.”’

¹⁹ The Portion of Jacob is not like these. He made everything, including the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name.

²⁹ God also told them, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant that grows throughout the earth, along with every tree that grows seed-bearing fruit. They will produce your food. ³⁰ I have given all green plants as food for every wild animal of the earth, every bird that flies, and to every living thing that crawls on the earth.” And that is what happened.

² All the living creatures of the earth will be filled with fear and terror of you from now on, including all the creatures that fly in the sky, everything that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the ocean. They’ve been assigned to live under your dominion.
³ “Every living, moving creature will be food for you. Just as I gave you green plants before, so now you have everything.

⁶ “Whoever sheds human blood, by a human his own blood is to be shed; because God made human beings in his own image.

¹¹ because the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them, in six days, then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.ה

⁷ Indeed, the LORD your God blessed all the works of your hands. He knows about your travels through this vast desert. The LORD your God was with you these past 40 years, so that you didn’t lack anything.

⁹ Israel Passes through Moabite Territory“Then the LORD told me, ‘Don’t harass Moab or provoke them to war, because I won’t give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their property.

¹⁹ When you come to the Ammonites, don’t harass or provoke them to war, for I won’t give any part of Ammonite land to you, since I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their property.

²¹ a great people, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. But the LORD destroyed the Rephaim, so that the Ammonites dispossessed them and settled there instead.

¹⁷ any animal on earth, any winged bird that flies in the sky,

²⁵ Warnings against Angering God“After you’ve borne children and grandchildren, have been there for a long time in the land, have become so corrupted that you make images of any form, and have done evil in the eyes of the LORD your God, you will provoke him to anger.

³² Who is Like the LORD?“Indeed, ask from one end of the heavens to the other about days of old, before your time, when God created mankind on the earth. Did we ever have anything as great as this, or ever hear of anything like it?

³⁵ “You have been shown this in order to know that ‘the LORD is God’ and there is no one like him.

¹⁶ “‘You are to honor your father and your mother, just as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your life will be long and things will go well for you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.ו

²⁹ But they are your people and inheritance, whom you brought out by your mighty strength and awesome power.’”

⁸ When the Most High gave nations as their inheritance, when he separated the human race, he set boundaries for the people according to the number of the children of God.

² “My servant Moses is dead. Now get ready to cross the Jordan River—you and all the people—to the land that I’m giving the Israelis. ³ I’m giving you every place where the sole of your foot falls, just as I promised Moses.

² AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM CYRUS, KING OF PERSIA All of the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the LORD God of Heaven, and he specifically charged me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

⁵ Job Acknowledges God’s Power“The ghosts of the dead writhe under the waters along with those who live there with them. ⁶ Sheol is naked before God and Abaddon has no clothes. ⁷ He spreads out the north over empty space, suspending the earth over nothing. ⁸ “He restricts the waters within clouds and the clouds don’t burst open under them. ⁹ He has enclosed the face of the full moon and spread his clouds over it. ¹⁰ He has delimited a boundary over the surface of the oceans as a limit between light and darkness. ¹¹ The pillars of the heavens tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. ¹² By his power he disturbs the sea; and with his skill he shatters the sea monster. ¹³ he clears the skies with his wind; his hands have pierced the fleeing serpent. ¹⁴ Indeed, these are the fringes of his ways, and how faint is the whisper we’ve heard of it! But who can comprehend the thunder of his might?”

⁴ On the Natural World“Where were you when I laid the foundation of my earth? Tell me, since you’re so informed! ⁵ Who set its measurement? Am I to assume you know? Who stretched a boundary line over it? ⁶ On what were its bases set? Who laid its corner stone ⁷ while the morning stars sang together and all the divine beings shouted joyfully? ⁸ “Who enclosed the sea with limits when it gushed out of the womb, ⁹ when I made clouds to be its clothes and thick darkness its swaddling blanket, ¹⁰ when I proscribed a boundary for it, set in place bars and doors for it; ¹¹ and said, ‘You may come only this far and no more. Your majestic waves will stop here.’? ¹² “Have you ever commanded the morning at any time during your life? Do you know where the dawn lives, ¹³ where it seizes the edge of the earth and shakes the wicked out of it? ¹⁴ Like clay is molded by a signet ring, the earth’s hills and valleys then stand out like the colors of a garment. ¹⁵ Then from the wicked their light is withheld and their upraised arm is broken. ¹⁶ “Have you been to the source of the sea and walked about in the recesses of the deepest ocean? ¹⁷ Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? ¹⁸ Do you understand the breadth of the earth? Tell me, since you know it all! ¹⁹ “Where is the road to where the light lives? Or where does the darkness live? ²⁰ Can you take it to its homeland, since you know the path to his house? ²¹ You should know! After all, you had been born back then, so the number of your days is great! ²² “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen where the hail is stored, ²³ which I’ve reserved for the tribulation to come, for the day of battle and war? ²⁴ Where is the lightning diffused or the east wind scattered around the earth? ²⁵ “Who cuts canals for storm floods, and paths for the lightning and thunder, ²⁶ to bring rain upon a land without inhabitants, a desert in which no human beings live, ²⁷ to satisfy a desolate and devastated desert, causing it to sprout vegetation? ²⁸ “Does the rain have a father? Who fathered the dew? ²⁹ Whose womb brings forth the ice? Who gives birth to frost out of an empty sky, ³⁰ when water solidifies like stone and the surface of the deepest sea freezes?
³¹ On the Heavens“Can you bind the chains of Pleiades or loosen the cords of Orion? ³² Can you bring out constellations in their season? Can you guide the Bear with her cubs? ³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you regulate their authority over the earth? ³⁴ “Can you call out to the clouds, so that abundant water drenches you? ³⁵ Can you command the lightning, so that it goes forth and calls to you, ‘Look at us!’ ³⁶ “Who sets wisdom within you, or imbues your mind with understanding? ³⁷ Who has the wisdom to be able to count the clouds, or to empty the water jars of heaven, ³⁸ when dust dries into a mass and then breaks apart into clods?
³⁹ On the Animal World“Can you hunt prey for the lioness to satisfy young lions ⁴⁰ when they crouch in their dens and lie in ambush in their lairs? ⁴¹ Who prepares food for the raven, when its offspring cry out to God as they wander for lack of food?”

²⁵ You established the earth long ago; the heavens are the work of your hands.

¹⁵ May you be blessed by the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth. ¹⁶ The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but he gave the earth to human beings.

¹⁰ He struck down many nations, killing many kings— ¹¹ Sihon, king of the Amorites, Og, king of Bashan, and every kingdom of Canaan— ¹² and he gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance to his people Israel.

⁵ to the one who by wisdom made the heavens, for his gracious love is everlasting— ⁶ to the one who spread out the earth over the waters, for his gracious love is everlasting— ⁷ to the one who made the great lights, for his gracious love is everlasting— ⁸ the sun to illumine the day, for his gracious love is everlasting— ⁹ and the moon and stars to illumine the night, for his gracious love is everlasting—

⁵ Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, ⁶ maker of heaven and earth, the seas and everything in them, forever the guardian of truth,

² Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his armies! ³ Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars. ⁴ Praise him, you heaven of heavens, and you waters above the heavens. ⁵ Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he himself gave the command that they be created.

²¹ The Majesty of the LORD“You know, don’t you? You have heard, haven’t you? Hasn’t it been told you from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth? ²² He’s the one who sits above the disk of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He’s the one who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in, ²³ who brings princes to nothing, and makes void the rulers of the earth. ²⁴ No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the earth, than he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest sweeps them away like stubble. ²⁵ “To whom, then, will you compare me, and to whom should I be equal?” asks the Holy One. ²⁶ “Lift your eyes up to heaven and see who created all these— the one who leads out their vast array of stars by number, calling them all by name— because of his great might and his powerful strength— and not one is missing.”

⁵ God Speaks about the ServantThis is what God says— the God who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its produce, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:

²⁴ “This is what the LORD says, your Redeemer and the one who formed you in the womb: ‘I am the LORD, who has made everything, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth— Who was with me at that time?—

¹² I myself made the earth and personally created humankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the skies; I marshaled all their starry hosts.”

¹³ Moreover, my hands laid the earth’s foundation, and my right hand spread out the heavens. I call out to them, and they stand up together.

¹³ As a result, you have forgotten the LORD who made you, who stretched out the heavens and laid the earth’s foundations, and you live in constant fear every day because of the oppressor’s fury, since he’s ready to destroy. Now where is the oppressor’s fury?

¹¹ Tell this to them: “The gods who didn’t make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from these heavens.”
¹² A Hymn of Praise to GodThe LORD is the one who made the world by his power, who established the earth by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

¹⁷ ‘LORD! Look, you made the heavens and the earth with your great power and your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you!

¹⁵ Praise to the God of JacobHe made the earth by his power. He established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he spread out the heavens.

¹⁷ This order is announced by the observers, and the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over human kingdoms and grants them to whomever he desires, and he places the least important of men over them.’

¹ The Word and CreationIn the beginning, the Word existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He existed in the beginning with God. ³ Through him all things were made, and apart from him nothing was made that has been made.

¹⁵ “Men, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings with natures like yours. We are telling you the good news so you’ll turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.

²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in shrines made by human hands,

¹⁶ For by him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether they are kings, lords, rulers, or powers. All things have been created through him and for him.

² has in these last days spoken to us by a Son whom he appointed to be the heir of everything and through whom he also made the universe.

¹⁰ And, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. ¹¹ They will come to an end, but you will remain forever. They will all wear out like clothes.

¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power, because you created all things; they came into existence and were created because of your will.”

¹⁰ Indeed, every animal of the forest is mine, even the cattle on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know all the birds in the mountains; indeed, everything that moves in the field is mine. ¹² “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is mine along with everything in it.

²⁸ who says about Cyrus, “He’s my shepherd, and he’ll carry out everything that I please: He’ll say of Jerusalem, ‘Let it be rebuilt,’ and of my Temple, ‘Let its foundations be laid again.’”’”

⁷ Afterwards,” declares the LORD, “I’ll give King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the people—those who are left in this city from the plague, the sword, and the famine—into the control of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, right into the hand of their enemies and the hand of those who want to kill them. He’ll execute them with swords and won’t pity them. He won’t spare them, nor will he have compassion on them.”’

¹ Two Baskets of FigsAfter Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken Jehoiakim’s son Jeconiah, king of Judah, along with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the smiths from Jerusalem into exile, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed right in front of the Temple of the LORD.

⁹ I’m now sending for all the tribes from the north, declares the LORD, and for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I’ll bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I’ll utterly destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting desolation.

¹⁴ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “I’ve put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They’ll serve him, and I’ve even given the wild animals to him.”’”

¹⁰ Then say to them, ‘This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “I’m going to send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I’ll take him and set his throne over these stones that I’ve buried, and he will spread his canopy over them.

²⁰ The LORD’s Instrument of Judgment“You are my war-club and weapons of war. I’ll smash nations with you and destroy kingdoms with you. ²¹ I’ll smash the horse and its rider with you. I’ll smash the chariot and its rider with you. ²² I’ll smash man and woman with you. I’ll smash old man and young boy with you. I’ll smash young man and young woman with you. ²³ I’ll smash the shepherd and his flock with you. I’ll smash the farmer and his team of oxen with you. I’ll smash governors and officials with you.

¹⁸ “Son of Man, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made his army work very hard to attack Tyre. They tore their hair out and rubbed their shoulders raw! Despite all of that work trying to capture Tyre, neither he nor his army got paid from Tyre for all that! ¹⁹ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I’m going to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He’s going to carry off her wealth, confiscate her war implements, and use it all to pay wages for his army! ²⁰ I’ve given him the land of Egypt as a reward for attacking Tyre for me,’ declares the Lord GOD.

³⁷ You, your majesty, king of kings—to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory, ³⁸ so that wherever people, wild animals, or birds of the sky live, he has placed them under your control, giving you dominion over them all—you’re that head of gold.

¹⁸ Your majesty, the Most High God gave your grandfather Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty, as well as greatness, glory, and splendor. ¹⁹ And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages revered and feared him. He executed those whom he desired to execute, he spared those whom he wished to spare, he promoted those whom he desired to promote, and he humbled those whom he wished to humble.

²⁰ Nebuchadnezzar carried off to Babylon those who survived the executions, and they served him and his descendants until the kingdom of Persia came to power. ²¹ All of this fulfilled what the LORD had predicted through Jeremiah. And so the land enjoyed its Sabbaths, and the length of the land’s desolation lasted until a 70-year long Sabbath had been completed.

¹³ But the Lord laughs at him because he sees that his day is coming!

⁸ Daughter of Babylon! You devastator! How blessed will be the one who pays you back for what you have done to us. ⁹ How blessed will be the one who seizes your young children and pulverizes them against the cliff!

¹ The Destruction of BabylonA message that Amoz’s son Isaiah received about Babylon:

⁸ They will be terrified; pain and anguish will seize them; they’ll writhe like a woman in labor. They’ll look aghast at one another; and their faces will be ablaze with fear. ⁹ Watch out! The Day of the LORD is coming— cruel, with wrath and fierce anger— to turn the entire inhabited earth into a desolation and to annihilate sinners from it. ¹⁰ For the stars of the heavens and their constellations won’t shine their light; the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon won’t shine its light. ¹¹ I’ll punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I’ll put an end to the pomposity of the arrogant, and overthrow the insolence of tyrants. ¹² I’ll make people scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than gold from Ophir. ¹³ Therefore I’ll make the heavens tremble. The earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, at the time of his burning anger. ¹⁴ They will be like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with no one to gather them, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land. ¹⁵ Whoever is captured will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall dead, killed by the sword. ¹⁶ Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, and their houses will be looted, and their wives slept with.
¹⁷ Babylon FallsWatch out! I’m stirring up the Medes against them, who care nothing for silver and take no delight in gold. ¹⁸ Their bows will dash the young men to pieces; they’ll show no pity on those not yet born, and their eyes will not spare children. ¹⁹ Babylon, that jewel of kingdoms, the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah, when God overthrew them— ²⁰ It will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; no Bedouin will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. ²¹ But desert beasts will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there owls will dwell, and goat-demons will dance there. ²² Hyenas will howl in its strongholds, and jackals will make their dens in its citadels. Its time is close at hand, and its days will not be extended any further.

⁴ you will lift up this song of mockery against the king of Babylon: “How the oppressor has come to an end! How the attacker has ceased! ⁵ The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, ⁶ that struck down peoples in anger with unceasing blows, that oppressed nations in fury with relentless persecution.

²² Babylon’s Desolation“I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, “and I will eliminate from Babylon her name and survivors, her offspring and descendants,” declares the LORD. ²³ “And I’m going to make it a possession of the hedgehog—pools of water—and I’ll sweep with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

⁹ Look! Here come riders, each man with a pair of horses!” They’re shouting out the answer: “Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and they have shattered all the images of her gods on the ground!

¹ The Fall of Babylon “Come down and sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a chair, Daughter of the Chaldeans! For no longer will they call you tender and attractive. ² Take millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, strip off your robes, bare your legs, and wade through the rivers. ³ Your nakedness will be exposed, and your disgrace will also be seen. I’ll take vengeance, and I will spare no mortal. ⁴ “Our Redeemer— the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name— is the Holy One of Israel. ⁵ “Sit silent, and enter into the darkness, you daughter of the Chaldeans; for no more will they call you Queen of Kingdoms.

¹¹ This entire land will be a desolation and a waste, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
¹² ‘Then when the seventy years have passed, I’ll judge the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the LORD, I’ll judge the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity and I’ll make it a desolation forever. ¹³ I’ll bring on that land all the things I spoke against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied about the nations. ¹⁴ Indeed many nations and great kings will make slaves even of them, and I’ll repay them according to their deeds, according to what they have done.’”

¹ Prophecies against BabylonThis is the message that the LORD spoke through the prophet Jeremiah about Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans. ² “Declare and proclaim among the nations. Lift up a banner and proclaim. Don’t conceal anything. Say, ‘Babylon will be captured. Bel will be disgraced, and Marduk will be destroyed. Her idols will be disgraced, and her filthy images will be destroyed.’ ³ For a nation from the north will go up against her. It will make her land into an object of horror, and no one will live in it. Both people and animals will wander off, and they’ll leave. ⁴ In those days, and at that time,” declares the LORD, “the people of Israel will come together with the people of Judah. They’ll be weeping as they travel along, and they’ll be seeking the LORD their God. ⁵ They’ll ask the way to Zion, turning their faces in that direction. They’ll come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that won’t be forgotten. ⁶ My people have become lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them toward the mountains. They go from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place. ⁷ All who find them devour them, but their enemies say, ‘We’re not guilty, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of righteousness, the LORD, the hope of their ancestors.’ ⁸ Move away from the middle of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans. Be like male goats at the head of the flock. ⁹ Indeed, I’m going to stir up and bring against Babylon a great company of nations from the land of the north. They’ll deploy for battle against her, and from there she will be captured. Their arrows will be like a skilled warrior; they won’t miss their targets. ¹⁰ The Chaldeans will become plunder, and all who plunder them will get more than enough,” declares the LORD. ¹¹ “Though you rejoice, though you exult, you plunderers of my inheritance, though you skip around like a heifer in the grass and neigh like stallions, ¹² your mother will be greatly devastated, she who gave birth to you will be ashamed. She will become the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. ¹³ Because of the anger of the LORD she won’t be inhabited, but will be utterly devastated. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified and will scoff because of all her wounds. ¹⁴ Deploy the troops all around Babylon. All who bend the bow, shoot at her and spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD. ¹⁵ Raise a battle cry against her on every side. She has surrendered, her pillars have fallen, her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of the LORD. Take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her. ¹⁶ Eliminate from Babylon the one who plants seeds and the one who uses the sickle at harvest time. Because of the oppressor’s sword, let each one turn toward his own people and flee to his own land.”
¹⁷ Hope for Israel“Israel is a scattered flock, driven out by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria, and then afterward King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnawed his bones. ¹⁸ Therefore this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Look, I’m about to judge the king of Babylon and his land, just as I’ve judged the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ I’ll bring Israel back to his pasture. He will graze on Carmel, on Bashan, on Mt. Ephraim, and on Gilead—his hunger will be satisfied. ²⁰ In those days and at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘the iniquity of Israel will be searched for, but there will be none; and the sin of Judah, but none will be found, because I’ll pardon those I leave as a remnant.’”
²¹ God’s Judgment on Babylon“Go up against the land of Merathaim and the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill them with swords, and completely destroy them,” declares the LORD, “and do everything that I’ve commanded you. ²² The noise of battle is in the land, and great destruction. ²³ How the hammer of all the earth is cut off and broken! How Babylon has become a horror among the nations! ²⁴ I’ll set a trap for you, and you will be caught, Babylon, but you don’t realize it. You will be found and also seized, because you challenged the LORD! ²⁵ “The LORD will open his armory, and bring out the weapons of his anger. Indeed, a work of the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will be in the land of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ Come to her from afar. Open up her barns. Pile her up like heaps of grain, and completely destroy her. Don’t leave any survivors. ²⁷ Put all her bulls to the sword, let them go down to the slaughter. How terrible for them because their day has come, the time of their judgment. ²⁸ “The sound of fugitives and refugees will come from the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, vengeance for his Temple. ²⁹ “Summon many to Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Camp all around her, let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds. Do to her just as she has done. For she has behaved arrogantly against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰ Therefore, her warriors will fall in her streets, and all her soldiers will be silenced on that day,” declares the LORD. ³¹ “Look, I’m against you, arrogant one,” declares the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies. “Indeed your day is coming, the time of your judgment. ³² The arrogant one will stumble and fall, and there will be no one to lift him up. I’ll set fire to his cities, and it will devour everything around him.” ³³ This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “The people of Israel are oppressed, along with the people of Judah. All their captors have held on to them and refused to let them go. ³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name. He will vigorously plead their case in order to bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon. ³⁵ A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares the LORD, “and against the inhabitants of Babylon, against her officials and her wise men. ³⁶ A sword against the diviners. They’ll be made fools. A sword against her warriors. They’ll be shattered. ³⁷ A sword against her horses, against her chariots, and against all the foreign troops in her midst. They’ll become women. A sword against her treasures. They’ll be plundered. ³⁸ A drought against her waters. They’ll dry up. For it’s a land of idols, and they go mad over their terrifying images. ³⁹ Therefore the desert creatures along with hyenas will live there. They’ll live in it with ostriches, but people won’t live in it again. They won’t inhabit it from generation to generation. ⁴⁰ Just as when God overthrew Sodom, Gomorrah, and their neighbors,” declares the LORD, “so also no one will live there. No human being will reside in it. ⁴¹ “Look, people are coming from the north. A great nation and many kings will be stirred up from the ends of the earth. ⁴² They grab bow and spear. They’re cruel and show no mercy. Their sound roars like the sea, as they ride on horses deployed like men ready for battle against you, daughter of Babylon. ⁴³ The king of Babylon has heard the news about them, and his hands hang limp. Distress has seized him, like a woman in labor.
⁴⁴ “Look, like a lion comes up from the thicket of the Jordan to a pasture that grows year round, so I’ll drive them away from her in an instant, and I’ll appoint whomever is chosen over her. Indeed, who is like me? Who gives me counsel? Who is the shepherd who will stand against me?” ⁴⁵ Therefore, hear the plan that the LORD has made against Babylon, and the strategy that he devised against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely they’ll drag the little ones of the flock away. Surely their pasture will be desolate because of them. ⁴⁶ At the shout that Babylon has been seized, the earth will be shaken, and the cry will be heard among the nations.

³¹ Jehoiachin Released from PrisonIn the first year of his reign, King Evil-merodach of Babylon, showed favor to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah.

²⁵ This is the written inscription: MENE, MENE, TEKEL AND PARSIN
²⁶ These are the meanings of the words:MENE: God has audited your kingdom—and has ended it. ²⁷ TEKEL: You’ve been weighed on the scales—and you don’t measure up. ²⁸ PERES: Your kingdom has been divided—and will be given to the Medes and Persians.”
²⁹ Then Belshazzar gave orders to clothe Daniel in purple, to place a chain of gold around his neck, and to proclaim him the third highest ruler of the kingdom.
³⁰ That night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was killed, ³¹ and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of 62.

⁷ Won’t your creditors revolt unexpectedly? Won’t those who make you tremble wake up? As a result, you’ll become their prey! ⁸ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “In pursuit of glory I was sent to the nations who plundered you, because whoever injures you injures the pupil of my eye. ⁹ And look, I will shake my fist over them, and they will become plunder for their former slaves. And you will know that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies sent me.”’”

⁵ The beast was allowed to speak arrogant and blasphemous things, and it was given authority for 42 months. ⁶ It uttered blasphemies against God, against his name, and against his residence, that is, against those who are living in heaven. ⁷ It was allowed to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. It was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. ⁸ All those who had become settled down and at home, living on the earth, will worship it, everyone whose name had not been written in the Book of Life belonging to the lamb that had been slaughtered since the foundation of the world. ⁹ Let everyone listen: ¹⁰ If anyone is to be taken captive, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with a sword, with a sword he will be killed.
The Vision of the Beast from the EarthHere is a call for endurance and faith of the saints:

⁸ Then another angel, a second one, followed him, saying, “Fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen! She has made all nations drink the wine, the wrath earned for her sexual sins.”

¹⁵ Another angel came out of the Temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Swing your sickle, and gather the harvest, for the hour has come to gather it, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” ¹⁶ The one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was harvested.
¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the Temple in heaven. He, too, had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ From the altar came another angel who had authority over fire. He called out in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp sickle, “Swing your sharp sickle, and gather the bunches of grapes from the vine of the earth, because those grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ So the angel swung his sickle in the earth, gathered the grapes from the earth, and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. ²⁰ The wine press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press as high as a horse’s bridle for about 1,600 stadia.

¹⁹ The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. God remembered to give Babylon the Great the cup of wine filled with the fury of his wrath.

¹⁶ The ten horns and the beast you saw will hate the prostitute. They will leave her abandoned and naked. They will eat her flesh and burn her up with fire, ¹⁷ for God has placed within them a desire to carry out his purpose by uniting to give their kingdom to the beast until God’s words are fulfilled.

² He cried out in a powerful voice, “Fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen! She has become a home for demons. She is a prison for every unclean spirit, a prison for every unclean bird, and a prison for every unclean and hated beast. ³ For all the nations have drunk from the wine of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her. The world’s businesses have become rich from her luxurious excesses.”
⁴ The Warning to Leave BabylonThen I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you don’t participate in her sins and also suffer from her diseases. ⁵ For her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. ⁶ Do to her as she herself has done, and give her double for her deeds. Mix a double drink for her in the cup she mixed. ⁷ Just as she glorified herself and lived in luxury, inflict on her just as much torture and misery. In her heart she says, ‘I am a queen on a throne, not a widow. I will never see misery.’ ⁸ For this reason, her diseases that result in death, misery, and famine will come in a single day. She will be burned up in a fire, because powerful is the Lord God who judges her.”

¹⁰ I’ll send the sword, famine, and plague against them until they’re completely destroyed from the land which I gave them and their ancestors.’”

²⁸ And if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink it, say to them, ‘This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “You will surely drink it! ²⁹ Look, I’m beginning to bring disaster on the city that is called by my name, and do you actually think you will avoid punishment? You won’t avoid punishment because I’m summoning the sword against all those who live in the land,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.’”

¹⁷ So Jeremiah told Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you will immediately surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, and this city won’t be burned with fire. Both you and your family will live. ¹⁸ But if you don’t surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given to the Chaldeans, and they’ll burn it with fire. You won’t escape from their hands.’”
¹⁹ Then King Zedekiah told Jeremiah, “I’m afraid of the Judeans who have gone over to the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans may turn me over to them, and they may treat me harshly.”

⁹ Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men: “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Remain in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and things will go well for you.

¹⁰ ‘If you will just remain in this land, I’ll build you up and not pull you down. I’ll plant you and not uproot you, for I’m sorry about the disaster I’ve brought on you. ¹¹ Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon as you have been. Don’t fear him,’ declares the LORD, ‘because I am with you to save you and deliver you from his control. ¹² I’ll show you compassion, so he will have compassion on you and return you to your land. ¹³ But if you disobey the LORD your God by saying, “We won’t stay in this land,” ¹⁴ and you also say, “No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we won’t see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or hunger for bread, and there we will stay,” ¹⁵ then hear this message from the LORD, remnant of Judah: ‘This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “If you are really determined to go into Egypt, and you go there to settle, ¹⁶ the sword that you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt. The famine that you dread will pursue you into Egypt, and there you will die. ¹⁷ All the people who are determined to go into Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague. No one will survive the disaster that I’ll bring on them.” ¹⁸ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be a curse and an object of horror, ridicule, and scorn, and you will never again see this place.’

³ Because Jerusalem and Judah had angered the Lord, he cast them out of his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, ⁴ and in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with all his army. He encamped near it and set up siege works all around it. ⁵ The city was under siege until the eleventh year of the reign of King Zedekiah. ⁶ By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe that there was no food for the people of the land.

²¹ This is what the Lord GOD says, “I’m sending four of my most destructive judgments—military invasion, famine, wild animals, and pestilence—into Jerusalem to destroy both human beings and livestock in it.

¹¹ Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and sorcerers, and they—along with the Egyptian magicians—did the same thing with their secret arts.

¹⁰ There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in fire, practices divination, interprets omens, practices sorcery, ¹¹ casts spells, or who is a medium, an occultist, or a necromancer. ¹² Whoever practices these things is detestable to the LORD, and the LORD your God will expel them before you because of these things.

¹⁴ because those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to those who practice witchcraft and divination. But the LORD does not allow you to act this way.”

²² The Israelis also killed Beor’s son Balaam, the occult practitioner, executing him with a sword as one of those killed.

¹⁹ Rejecting Occultic Wisdom“So when they advise you, ‘Ask the mediums your questions, and quiz the spiritists who chirp and mutter,’ shouldn’t a people instead be consulting their God— and not the dead— on behalf of those who are living

¹² “But stand up now with your spells and your many incantations, at which you have labored from your childhood until today, ¹³ according to your multiple schemes. Let them stand up now— those who conjure the heavens and gaze at the stars, predicting at the new moons— and save you from what is about to happen to them. ¹⁴ “See, they are just like stubble; fire burns them up. They could not even save themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals for warming oneself, no fire to sit by.

¹⁴ Then the LORD told me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I didn’t send them, I didn’t command them, and I didn’t speak to them. They’re proclaiming to you false visions, worthless predictions, and the delusions of their own minds.

¹⁶ This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you; they’re giving you false hopes. They declare visions from their own minds— they don’t come from the LORD!

²⁵ “I’ve heard what the prophets who prophesy lies in my name have said: ‘I had a dream; I had a dream.’

³² Look, I’m against those who prophesy based on false dreams,” declares the LORD, “and relate them and lead my people astray with their lies and their recklessness. I didn’t send them; I didn’t command them, and they provide no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.

¹⁴ Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, ‘You won’t serve the king of Babylon.’ Indeed, they’re prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁵ For I didn’t send them,” declares the LORD, “and they’re falsely prophesying in my name, so I will drive both you and the prophets who prophesy to you out of the land.”
¹⁶ The People and Priests Told to Submit to BabylonThen I spoke to the priests and all this people: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you: “The vessels from the Temple are about to be returned from Babylon very soon now.” Indeed, they’re prophesying a lie to you.

⁸ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Don’t let the prophets and diviners who are among you deceive you, and don’t listen to them when they tell you their dreams.

⁷ Those who see visions will be put to shame, and the diviners will be disgraced—every one of them— they will cover their faces, because there will be no answer from God.’”

² Truly the family idols talk nonsense and the diviners discern lies, describing delusional dreams. Since their comfort is vacuous, they wander off on their own like sheep, because there is no shepherd.

⁵ The Judgment of God“I’ll come near to you for judgment. I’ll be a witness, quick to speak against sorcerers, against adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who defraud the laborer of his wage, against those who defraud the widow and the orphan, against those who deprive the alien of justice, and against those who don’t fear me,” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

¹¹ They paid careful attention to him because he had thrilled them for a long time with his occult performances.

²¹ They did not repent from their murders, their witchcraft, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

²³ The light from a lamp will never shine within you again. The voice of a bridegroom and bride will never be heard within you again. For your merchants were the important people of the world, and all the nations were deceived by your witchcraft.

⁸ But people who are cowardly, unfaithful, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will find themselves in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”

¹⁵ Outside are dogs, sorcerers, immoral people, murderers, idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

¹⁴ Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, ‘You won’t serve the king of Babylon.’ Indeed, they’re prophesying a lie to you.

¹⁶ Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘I’m about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you will die because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.’”

³¹ “Indeed, this city has provoked me to anger and wrath from the day they built it until now, and so I’ll remove it from my sight

¹⁴ Your prophets look on your behalf; they see false and deceptive visions. They did not expose your sins in order to restore what had been captured. Instead, they crafted oracles for you that are false and misleading.

⁹ On False Prophets“Now as to the prophet, if through deceit he delivers a message, I the LORD have deceived that prophet! I’ll reach out in opposition to him and exterminate him from among my people Israel. ¹⁰ They’ll bear the consequences of their guilt, and the prophet will be just as guilty as the one who seeks that prophet’s guidance. ¹¹ Then Israel’s house won’t wander away from me again, nor will they defile themselves again with all their transgressions. They’ll become my people and I’ll be their God,” declares the Lord GOD.

⁹ Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live. He will save his life as a spoil of war.

² this is what the LORD says to me: “Make restraints and yokes for yourself and put them on your neck.

⁸ If a nation and kingdom does not serve him—King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon—and does not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I’ll judge that nation with the sword, with famine, and with plague,” declares the LORD, “until I’ve completely destroyed it by his hand.

² “This is what the LORD says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague, but the one who goes over to the Chaldeans will live. His life will be spared, and he will live.’

⁹ Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men: “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Remain in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and things will go well for you. ¹⁰ As for me, I’ll remain at Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine, summer fruit, and oil. Put it in your containers and live in your cities that you have taken over.”
¹¹ All the Judeans who were in Moab, those with the people in Ammon, those in Edom, and those in all the other countries also heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah and that he had appointed Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, over them. ¹² So all the Judeans returned from all the countries where they had been scattered. They came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and they gathered wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

¹⁰ ‘If you will just remain in this land, I’ll build you up and not pull you down. I’ll plant you and not uproot you, for I’m sorry about the disaster I’ve brought on you. ¹¹ Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon as you have been. Don’t fear him,’ declares the LORD, ‘because I am with you to save you and deliver you from his control.

¹¹ Zedekiah Rules in Judah
Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹² He practiced what the LORD his God considered to be evil and never humbled himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the LORD. ¹³ Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance in the name of God. Instead, he stiffened his resolve, and hardened his heart, and would not return to the LORD God of Israel.

³³ “But the person who listens to me will live safely and will be secure from the fear of evil.”

² this is what the LORD says to me: “Make restraints and yokes for yourself and put them on your neck. ³ Then send messengers to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon through the envoys who come to Jerusalem to king Zedekiah of Judah.

¹⁷ So Jeremiah told Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you will immediately surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, and this city won’t be burned with fire. Both you and your family will live.

¹¹ The Meaning of the ParableThis message came to me from the LORD: ¹² “Tell my rebellious house, ‘Don’t you know what these things mean? Look! The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, captured her king and princes, and took them with him to Babylon. ¹³ Then he took one of the royal descendants, made a covenant with him, and put him under an oath of loyalty, taking the leaders of the land captive ¹⁴ in order to humiliate the kingdom so it wouldn’t be able to return to power, but would still be able to continue as long as he keeps his covenant.

³⁶ But whoever sins against me destroys himself; everyone who hates me loves death.”

⁹ I’ll make them into a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth; into a cause for contempt, into a byword, into a taunt, and into a curse in all the places to which I drive them.

²⁰ Jeremiah said, “They won’t turn you over. Obey the LORD in what I’m telling you, and it will go well for you and you will live.

²⁴ But when the righteous person abandons his righteous deeds and commits evil, detestable practices, as wicked people do, he won’t live, will he? None of the righteous acts that he had done will be remembered. He’ll die in his treacherous unfaithfulness and sins that he had committed.”

³¹ Stop your transgressing—the deeds by which you’ve rebelled—and then make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, you house of Israel?

¹¹ “Tell them, ‘As certainly as I’m alive and living,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I receive no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Instead, my pleasure is that the wicked repent from their behavior and live. Turn back! Turn back, all of you, from your wicked behavior! Why do you have to die, you house of Israel?’”

²² “And the LORD asked him, ‘How?’
“‘I will go,’ he announced, ‘and I will be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets!’
“So the LORD said, ‘You’re just the one to deceive him. You will be successful. Go and do it.’
²³ “Now therefore, listen! The LORD has placed a lying spirit in the mouth of all of these prophets of yours, because the LORD has determined to bring disaster upon you.”

¹⁰ For it is: “Do this and do that, do this and do that, Line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there.” ¹¹ Very well, then, through the mouths of foreigners and foreign languages the LORD will speak to this people ¹² to whom he said, “This is the resting place, so give rest to the weary”’ and, “This is the place of repose”— but they would not listen. ¹³ So, then, the message from the LORD to them will become: “Do this and do that, do this and do that, line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there,” so that they will go, but fall backward, and be injured, snared, and captured.

²¹ I didn’t send these prophets, but they ran anyway. I didn’t speak to them, but they prophesied.

⁹ You aren’t to listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, and your sorcerers who say to you, ‘Don’t serve the king of Babylon.’ ¹⁰ They’re prophesying a lie to you in order to remove you far away from your land. I’ll drive you out and you will perish.

¹⁵ The prophet Jeremiah told the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD didn’t send you, and you are causing these people to trust in a lie.

⁸ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Don’t let the prophets and diviners who are among you deceive you, and don’t listen to them when they tell you their dreams. ⁹ Indeed, they’re prophesying lies to you in my name. I didn’t send them,’ declares the LORD.

⁶ Instead, they crafted false prophecies and divination.
“‘They say, “…declares the LORD,” even though the LORD didn’t send them. And they hope for the fulfillment of their message. ⁷ You’ve crafted a false prophesy and spoken deceptive divination, haven’t you? But then you say, “…declares the LORD,” although I haven’t spoken a single word.
⁸ “‘Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says, “Because you’ve spoken falsehood and deceptions, I am therefore opposing you,” declares the Lord GOD. ⁹ My hand will oppose the prophets who see false visions and speak deceptive divinations. They won’t be included with the council of my people, nor will they be entered into the registry of Israel’s house or enter Israel’s land. Then you’ll know that I am the Lord GOD, ¹⁰ because they’ve truly caused my people to stray saying, “Peace,” but there’s no peace.’”
Metaphor of the Whitewashed Wall“When someone builds a wall, they coat it with whitewash. ¹¹ Tell those who coat it with whitewash that it will fall. It will be washed off by the rain. Great hailstones will fall and a stormy wind will strip it off. ¹² Look! When the wall collapses, won’t it be said of you, ‘Where’s the coat of paint that you spread all over the wall?’
¹³ “Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says, ‘In my burning anger, I’ll rip it open with a windstorm. In my anger, I’ll rinse it off with rain, and put an end to it with a hailstorm in my destructive rage. ¹⁴ I’ll tear down the wall that you’ve smeared with whitewash, level it to the ground, and tear out its foundation. Then it will collapse—and you’ll perish with it! Then you’ll know that I am the LORD.
¹⁵ “‘That’s how I’ll vent my anger on the wall and on the ones who coated it with whitewash. And I’ll say to you, “The wall is gone and so are those who coated it.”

²² “‘“Because you’ve dismayed the heart of the righteous—whom I never intended to dismay—with lies, and because you’ve encouraged the wicked so that he wouldn’t abandon his evil behavior and by doing so live, ²³ you’ll no longer see false visions or again practice divination, because I’m going to deliver my people from your power. Then you’ll know that I am the LORD.”’”

¹¹ Suppose a man who keeps company with a deceiving spirit prophesies like this: ‘Drink wine and strong drink!’ Won’t the people accept him as a prophet?”

¹⁵ A Tree is Known by Its Fruit
“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are savage wolves.

¹³ Such people are false apostles, dishonest workers who are masquerading as apostles of the Messiah. ¹⁴ And no wonder, since Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is not surprising if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their doom will match their deeds!

² Beware of the dogs! Beware of the evil workers! Beware of the mutilators!

¹ Warning against False TeachersNow there were false prophets among the people, just as there also will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many people will follow their immoral ways, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned. ³ In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. The ancient verdict against them is still in force, and their destruction is not delayed.

¹ Test What People SayDear friends, stop believing every spirit. Instead, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

¹⁷ Then the king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he wouldn’t prophesy anything good about me, but only evil?”
¹⁸ But Micaiah responded, “Therefore, listen to what the LORD has to say. I saw the LORD, sitting on his throne, and the entire Heavenly Army was surrounding him on his right hand and on his left hand.
¹⁹ “The LORD asked, ‘Who will tempt King Ahab of Israel to attack Ramoth-gilead, so that he will die there?’ And one was saying one thing and one was saying another.
²⁰ “But then a spirit approached, stood in front of the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’
“And the LORD asked him, ‘How?’
²¹ “‘I will go,’ he announced, ‘and I will be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets!’
“So the LORD said, ‘You’re just the one to deceive him. You will be successful. Go and do it.’
²² Now therefore, listen! The LORD has placed a lying spirit in the mouth of all of these prophets of yours, because the LORD has determined to bring disaster upon you.”

¹⁶ But even while the prophet was speaking, the king asked him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?”
So the prophet stopped speaking, but he also said, “I know God has determined to destroy you, because you’ve done all this and ignored my counsel.”

¹³ “Indeed, from the least important to the most important, they’re all greedy for dishonest gain. From prophet to priest, they all act deceitfully. ¹⁴ They treated my people’s wound superficially, telling them, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace. ¹⁵ Were they ashamed because they did what was repugnant to God? They were not ashamed at all— they don’t even know how to blush! Therefore they’ll fall with those who fall. When I punish them, they’ll be brought down,” says the LORD.

¹⁰ Therefore, I’ll give their wives to others, and their fields to new owners. Indeed, from the least important to the most important, they’re all greedy for dishonest gain. From prophet to priest, they all act deceitfully. ¹¹ They have treated my people’s wound superficially, telling them, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. ¹² Are they ashamed because they have done what is repugnant to God? They weren’t ashamed at all; they don’t even know how to blush! Therefore they’ll fall with those who fall. When I punish them, they’ll be brought down,” says the LORD.

¹⁵ Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the false prophets who prophesy in my name, ‘There will be no sword and famine in this land’ (though I haven’t sent them): ‘By the sword and by famine these prophets will be finished off! ¹⁶ The people to whom they have prophesied will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters. I’ll pour out on them the judgment they deserve.’”

⁶ You, Pashhur, and all those living in your house will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon and there you will die. There you and all your loved ones to whom you have falsely prophesied will be buried.’”

¹⁵ Therefore, this is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies says about the prophets, “I’m about to make them eat wormwood and drink poisoned water, because godlessness has spread from the prophets of Jerusalem throughout the land.”

¹⁰ They’re prophesying a lie to you in order to remove you far away from your land. I’ll drive you out and you will perish.

¹⁶ Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘I’m about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you will die because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.’”
¹⁷ So the prophet Hananiah died in the seventh month of that year.

⁹ Indeed, they’re prophesying lies to you in my name. I didn’t send them,’ declares the LORD.

²² What happens to them will be the basis for a curse for all the Judean exiles who are in Babylon. People will say, “May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the LORD roasted in the fire, ²³ because they did something stupid in Israel. They committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they spoke lies that I didn’t command them. I’m the one who knows, and I’m a witness,” declares the LORD.’”

³¹ “Send a message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the LORD says about Shemaiah from Nehelam, “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I didn’t send him, and has made you trust a lie,” ³² therefore, this is what the LORD says: “I’m about to judge Shemaiah from Nehelam along with his descendants. He won’t have anyone related to him living among these people. Nor will he see the good that I’ll do for my people,” declares the LORD, “because he advocated rebellion against the LORD.”’”

³ “Son of Man, these men have taken idols into their hearts. They’ve placed the stumbling block that is their own iniquity right in front of their faces. Should I be consulted by them at all? ⁴ Therefore, speak up and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says, “Every person from Israel’s house who follows his idols and sets the stumbling block that is his own sin in front of his face, and then consults a prophet, I the LORD will answer him according to how many idols he embraces. ⁵ I’ll do this in order to capture the hearts of Israel’s house who have become alienated from me due to all of their idols.”’”
⁶ An Exhortation to Turn Away“Therefore you are to tell Israel’s house, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says, “Turn away! Turn away from your idols, and abandon your detestable practices! ⁷ For when a native Israeli or a resident alien abandons me to set up idols in his heart behind my back, and then places the stumbling block of his iniquity right in front of his own face, then approaches a prophet to inquire of me on behalf of his own self-interest, I, the LORD will answer him myself. ⁸ I’m determined to oppose that person and make him an example. Proverbs will be written about him when I eliminate him from my people. Then you’ll know that I am the LORD.”’”
⁹ On False Prophets“Now as to the prophet, if through deceit he delivers a message, I the LORD have deceived that prophet! I’ll reach out in opposition to him and exterminate him from among my people Israel. ¹⁰ They’ll bear the consequences of their guilt, and the prophet will be just as guilty as the one who seeks that prophet’s guidance.

⁵ God’s Judgment against False Prophets“This is what the LORD says about the prophets who are causing my people to go astray, who are calling out ‘Peace’ when they’re being fed, but who declare war against those who won’t feed them: ⁶ ‘You will have nights without visions, and darkness without prophecy. The sun will set on the prophets, and the day will darken for them. ⁷ Those who see visions will be put to shame, and the diviners will be disgraced—every one of them— they will cover their faces, because there will be no answer from God.’”

¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If one blind person leads another blind person, both will fall into a ditch.”

²⁴ because false messiahs and false prophets will appear and display great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

⁹ The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the power of Satan. He will use every kind of power, including miraculous signs, lying wonders, ¹⁰ and every type of evil to deceive those who are dying, those who refused to love the truth that would save them. ¹¹ For this reason, God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie. ¹² Then all who have not believed the truth but have taken pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned.

¹⁷ and what they say will spread everywhere like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are like that. ¹⁸ They have abandoned the truth by claiming that the resurrection has already taken place, and so they destroy the faith of others.
¹⁹ However, God’s solid foundation still stands. It has this inscription on it: “The Lord knows those who belong to him,” and “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from evil.”

³ For the time will come when people will not tolerate healthy doctrine, but with itching ears will surround themselves with teachers who cater to their people’s own desires. ⁴ They will refuse to listen to the truth and will turn to myths.

⁷ It was allowed to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. It was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. ⁸ All those who had become settled down and at home, living on the earth, will worship it, everyone whose name had not been written in the Book of Life belonging to the lamb that had been slaughtered since the foundation of the world.

¹² It uses all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and those living on it worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. ¹³ It performs spectacular signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people. ¹⁴ It deceives those living on earth with the signs that it is allowed to do on behalf of the first beast, telling them to make an image for the beast who was wounded by a sword and yet lived.

²⁰ The beast was captured, along with the false prophet who had performed signs on its behalf. By these signs the false prophet had deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and worshipped its image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

¹³ Jerusalem’s Citizens are Sent into ExileNebuchadnezzar carried off from there all of the treasures of the LORD’s Temple, along with the treasures in the king’s palace. He cut into pieces all the gold vessels in the LORD’s Temple that King Solomon of Israel had made, just as the LORD had said would happen.

⁷ Nebuchadnezzar also took articles from the LORD’s Temple to Babylon and placed them in his temple in Babylon. ⁸ The rest of Jehoiakim’s accomplishments—along with the detestable things that he did that were recorded in his disfavor—are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin became king to replace him.
⁹ Jechoiachin’s Reign; Nebuchadnezzar’s Second Capture of JerusalemJehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem, all the while doing what the LORD considered to be evil. ¹⁰ At the beginning of the next year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, along with valuable articles from the LORD’s Temple, and he installed Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah as king over Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁵ the elder and the dignitary is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.

³ and within two years I’ll bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD’s Temple that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from this place and carried to Babylon.

² Within a week, the Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with valuable objects from the house of God. Nebuchadnezzar brought them to the temple of his god in the land of Shinar and stored them in its treasure house.

³⁴ In the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem I’ll bring an end to the sound of gladness and rejoicing, to the sounds of the bridegroom and bride, for the land will become a wasteland.”

¹¹ But I’ll let the nation that brings its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him remain in its own land,” declares the LORD, “and they’ll work it and remain in it.”’”
¹² Zedekiah Told to Submit to BabylonI spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah using words like these: “Bring your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and you will live! ¹³ Why should you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by plague as the LORD has decreed about the nation that does not serve the king of Babylon?

²³ “They’ll bring all your women and children out to the Chaldeans, and you won’t escape from their hand. Indeed, you will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire.”

²⁴ Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won’t he?”
²⁶ The LORD said, “If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I’ll forgive the whole place for their sake.”
²⁷ Abraham answered, “Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I’ve ventured to speak to my LORD. ²⁸ What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?”
The LORD said, “I won’t destroy it if I find 45 there.”
²⁹ Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, “What if 40 are found there?”
The LORD replied, “I won’t do it for the sake of those 40.”
³⁰ Abraham then asked, “I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?”
The LORD answered, “I won’t do it for the sake of those 30.”
³¹ “Look,” Abraham said, “I’ve presumed to speak to my LORD… so what if 20 are found there?”
“For the sake of those 20,” the LORD responded, “I won’t destroy it.”
³² Finally, Abraham inquired, “I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?”
He replied, “For the sake of those ten I won’t destroy it.”
³³ As soon as he finished talking to Abraham, the LORD left and Abraham returned to where he had been sitting.

¹⁷ Then Abraham interceded with God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants so they could bear children,

⁸ The Israelis told Samuel, “Don’t stop crying out to the LORD our God for us that he may deliver us from the hand of the Philistines.”

¹⁹ Then all the people told Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants, so that we don’t die, because we made all our sins worse by asking for a king for ourselves.”

²³ Now as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. I’ll also instruct you in the way that is good and right.

²⁴ Then you can call on the name of your god, and I’ll call on the name of the LORD. Let the God who answers by fire be our God!”
“That’s a good idea!” all the people shouted.

²⁶ So they took the ox that was given to them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from early morning until noon. “Baal! Answer us!” they cried. But there was no response. Nobody answered. So they kept on dancing around the altar that they had made.

²⁰ Sennacherib is Defeated and Killed
Meanwhile, King Hezekiah and Amoz’s son Isaiah the prophet were praying about this and crying out to heaven.

⁸ So take seven bulls and seven rams and bring them to my servant Job. And bring a whole burnt offering for yourselves and my servant Job will pray for you. I’ll encourage him by not responding as your disgraceful folly deserves, since you didn’t speak about me correctly as did my servant Job. ⁹ So Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamath did precisely as the LORD had spoken to them, because the LORD showed favor to Job.

¹⁶ “As for you, don’t pray on behalf of this people, don’t cry or offer a petition for them, and don’t plead with me, for I won’t listen to you.

¹ The Destiny of the JudgedThen the LORD told me, “Even if Moses and Samuel were standing before me, I wouldn’t be favorably disposed toward this people. Send them out of my presence! Let them go!

²⁰ Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit to take my life. Remember! I stood before you and spoke good on their behalf in order to turn your wrath away from them.

² They told Jeremiah the prophet, “Please listen to what we have to ask of you. Pray to the LORD your God for us and for all these survivors. Indeed, only a few of us remain out of many, as you can see.

¹⁴ Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job lived in that land, they would only save their own lives on account of their righteousness,” declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁸ though these three men lived there, as I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “they couldn’t deliver their own sons and daughters. They would only save themselves.
¹⁹ “Or if I were to send a pestilence against that land and pour out my anger in it with bloodshed, destroying both man and beast in it, ²⁰ even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were among them, as I live” says the Lord GOD, “they couldn’t save their own sons or daughters. They would only save their own souls due to their own righteousness.”

³⁰ I sought for a man among them to build the wall and stand in the breach in my presence on behalf of the land so that it won’t be destroyed, but I found no one,

⁹ “And now, go ahead and implore God by saying, ‘Be gracious to us.’ Will he receive you favorably and accept offerings like that from your hand?” asks the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

¹⁶ Therefore, make it your habit to confess your sins to one another and to pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. ¹⁷ Elijah was a person just like us, and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and rain never came to the land for three years and six months. ¹⁸ Then he prayed again, and the skies poured out rain, and the ground produced its crops.

¹⁵ He fashioned two bronze pillars, each one eighteen cubits high, with a circumference of twelve cubits. ¹⁶ He also crafted two capitals of cast bronze and set them on top of the pillars. The height of one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. ¹⁷ A network of latticework on top of the pillars was inlaid with ornamental wreaths and chains, the top of each pillar containing seven groups of ornamental structures. ¹⁸ The pillars contained two rows of ornaments shaped like pomegranates around the latticework covering the top of each pillar. ¹⁹ The capitals on top of each pillar above the rounded latticework contained four cubits of lily designs, ²⁰ with the capitals on the two pillars covered by 200 pomegranates in rows around both the capitals above and adjoining the rounded latticework. ²¹ That’s how he designed the pillars at the portico of the sanctuary. When he set up the right pillar, he named it Jachin. When he set up the left pillar, he named it Boaz. ²² The work on the pillars was finished with a lily design on top of the pillars.

¹³ The Chaldeans also broke into pieces and carried back to Babylon the bronze pillars that stood in the LORD’s Temple, along with the stands and the bronze sea that used to be in the LORD’s Temple.

¹⁷ The height of one of the pillars was eighteen cubits, and the capital on top of it was three cubits high. A latticework carved in the form of pomegranates encircled the capital, crafted completely out of brass. The second pillar was identical to the first.

² He crafted a circular sea of cast metal 10 cubits from rim to rim and five cubits tall. A line 30 cubits long surrounded it. ³ Underneath, figurines resembling oxen encircled the circular sea beneath it, ten oxen every cubit, and encircling the sea completely. The oxen were in two rows, cast all at the same time. ⁴ The sea stood on top of twelve oxen, three of which faced to the north, three of which faced to the west, three of which faced to the south, and three of which faced toward the east. The sea was placed on top of the oxen, with all of their hindquarters turned inwards. ⁵ It was a handbreadth thick, with its brim fashioned like the brim of a cup. Similar in shape to a lily blossom, it could hold 3,000 baths. ⁶ Solomon also made ten wash basins, placing five on the right side and five on the left. The basins were intended for use to rinse burnt offerings, and the sea was intended for use by the priests to wash in.
⁷ Solomon made ten gold lamp stands as he had been directed and set them in the Temple, five on the south side and five on the north side. ⁸ He also made ten tables and placed them in the Temple, five on the right side and five on the left side. He also constructed 100 gold basins. ⁹ He made the court of the priests, the great court, and doors for the court, overlaying their doors with bronze. ¹⁰ He set the sea at the southeast corner of the Temple.
¹¹ Hiram-abi crafted the pots, shovels, and basins, thus completing the work that he did for King Solomon on the Temple of God; ¹² that is, the two pillars, the bowls, the two capitals on top of the pillars, the two lattice works that covered the two bowls for the capitals that were on top of the pillars; ¹³ the 400 pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the latticework of the two pillars (each latticework having two rows of ornaments at the bowl-shaped top of each pillar); ¹⁴ the ten stands with their ten basins; ¹⁵ the large bronze basin called the Sea with the twelve oxen underneath, ¹⁶ along with its pots, shovels, forks, and all of its other implements that Hiram-abi made from polished bronze for King Solomon and the LORD’s Temple.

¹⁷ The Chaldeans broke in pieces the bronze pillars that were in the LORD’s Temple and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the LORD’s Temple, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁸ They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the pans, and all the bronze utensils that were used in the temple service. ¹⁹ The captain of the guard took away the bowls, the fire pans, the basins, the pots, the lamp stands, the pans, and the bowls for libations, both those made of gold and those made of silver. ²⁰ There was too much bronze to weigh in the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve bronze oxen that were under the sea, and the stands which King Solomon had made for the LORD’s Temple. ²¹ Each of the pillars was twelve cubits high and its circumference twelve cubits. It was hollow and about a handbreadth thick. ²² On each pillar was a capital of bronze, and the height of each capital was five cubits. Latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar was like this, including the pomegranates. ²³ There were 96 pomegranates open to view. In all, there were 100 pomegranates all around the latticework.

¹⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar sent away into exile all of Jerusalem—all the captains, all the valiant soldiers, 10,000 captives, and all of the craftsmen and ironworkers. Nobody remained except the poorest people of the land. ¹⁵ He sent Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon, along with the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶ All 7,000 of the most valiant soldiers and 1,000 of the craftsmen and ironworkers—all physically fit and trained for battle—were brought by the king of Babylon into exile in Babylon.

¹⁰ At the beginning of the next year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, along with valuable articles from the LORD’s Temple, and he installed Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah as king over Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁸ who took back to Babylon every article in God’s Temple, whether large or small, including the treasuries of the LORD’s Temple, the king’s assets, and those of his officers.

²⁸ “Is this man Jehoiachin a despised and shattered jar, a vessel no one wants? Why were he and his descendants hurled away, thrown into a land that they didn’t know?

¹³ Jerusalem’s Citizens are Sent into ExileNebuchadnezzar carried off from there all of the treasures of the LORD’s Temple, along with the treasures in the king’s palace. He cut into pieces all the gold vessels in the LORD’s Temple that King Solomon of Israel had made, just as the LORD had said would happen. ¹⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar sent away into exile all of Jerusalem—all the captains, all the valiant soldiers, 10,000 captives, and all of the craftsmen and ironworkers. Nobody remained except the poorest people of the land. ¹⁵ He sent Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon, along with the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶ All 7,000 of the most valiant soldiers and 1,000 of the craftsmen and ironworkers—all physically fit and trained for battle—were brought by the king of Babylon into exile in Babylon.
¹⁷ Zedekiah is Installed as KingThe king of Babylon installed Jehoiachin’s uncle Mattaniah as king in his place and then changed his name to Zedekiah.

¹⁷ Therefore he brought up the king of the Chaldeans against them, who executed their young men in the holy Temple, showing no compassion on young man or young virgin, adult men or the aged. God gave them all into the king’s control, ¹⁸ who took back to Babylon every article in God’s Temple, whether large or small, including the treasuries of the LORD’s Temple, the king’s assets, and those of his officers.

²¹ All of this fulfilled what the LORD had predicted through Jeremiah. And so the land enjoyed its Sabbaths, and the length of the land’s desolation lasted until a 70-year long Sabbath had been completed.

⁷ Temple Instruments ReturnedKing Cyrus also brought out from storage the service instruments from the Temple of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his gods. ⁸ Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out to Mithredath the Treasurer, had them inventoried, and had them placed in care of Sheshbazzar, governor of Judah.

¹¹ The complete inventory of gold and silver vessels totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all to Jerusalem, along with the exiles from Babylon.

¹³ However, during King Cyrus’ first year—that same King Cyrus of Babylon—issued a decree to reconstruct this Temple of God. ¹⁴ He delivered into the care of Sheshbazzar (whom he appointed governor) the gold and silver utensils that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Jerusalem Temple and brought into the Babylonian temple. ¹⁵ “And Cyrus told him, ‘Take these utensils, go to Jerusalem, and carry them to the Temple, after the Temple of God has been built in its appropriate place.’

⁹ On the first day of the first month he left Babylon and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, since the beneficent hand of his God was upon him.

¹⁹ Furthermore, you are to deliver to the God of Jerusalem the vessels for the service of the Temple of your God that have been given to you.

³⁰ No wisdom, insight, or counsel can prevail against the LORD.

¹¹ This entire land will be a desolation and a waste, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
¹² ‘Then when the seventy years have passed, I’ll judge the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the LORD, I’ll judge the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity and I’ll make it a desolation forever.

¹⁰ “For this is what the LORD says: ‘When Babylon’s seventy years are completed, I’ll take note of you and will fulfill my good promises to you by bringing you back to this place.

⁵ The king of Babylon will take Zedekiah to Babylon and there he will stay until I judge him,” declares the LORD. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you won’t succeed.”’”

⁵ You will die peacefully, and as they burned fires for your ancestors, the former kings who were before you, so they’ll burn fires for you, wailing, “Oh how terrible, your majesty!”’ For I’ve spoken the message,” declares the LORD.

¹⁷ The Chaldeans broke in pieces the bronze pillars that were in the LORD’s Temple and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the LORD’s Temple, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁸ They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the pans, and all the bronze utensils that were used in the temple service. ¹⁹ The captain of the guard took away the bowls, the fire pans, the basins, the pots, the lamp stands, the pans, and the bowls for libations, both those made of gold and those made of silver. ²⁰ There was too much bronze to weigh in the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve bronze oxen that were under the sea, and the stands which King Solomon had made for the LORD’s Temple. ²¹ Each of the pillars was twelve cubits high and its circumference twelve cubits. It was hollow and about a handbreadth thick.

¹ Belshazzar’s FestivalKing Belshazzar put on a great festival for a thousand of his officials. He joined all one thousand of them in getting drunk. ² Under the influence of wine, Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver vessels his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought in so the king, his officials, his wives, and his mistresses could drink from them. ³ As ordered, they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the sanctuary of God’s Temple in Jerusalem, and the king, his officials, his wives, and mistresses drank from them. ⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

²³ “You’ve exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven.
“You’ve had the vessels from his Temple brought into your presence.
“And you, your officials, and your wives and mistresses drank wine from them.
“You praised gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which can’t see, hear, or demonstrate knowledge.
“But you didn’t honor God, who holds in his power your very life and all your ways.

² in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, noted in the Scripture the total years that were assigned by the message from the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem: 70 years.