'Taken' in the Bible

Go and proclaim these words toward the north [where the ten tribes have been taken as captives] and say,‘Return, faithless Israel,’ says the Lord;‘I will not look on you in anger.For I am gracious and merciful,’ says the Lord;‘I will not be angry forever.

But I am full of the wrath (judgment) of the Lord;I am tired of restraining it.“[I will] pour it out on the children in the streetAnd on the young men gathered together;For both the husband and wife shall be taken,The aged and the very old [though full of days they are not exempt from judgment].

We have heard the report of it;Our hands become limp and helpless.Anguish has gripped us,Pain like that of a woman in childbirth.

“The wise men are shamed,They are dismayed and caught.Behold, they have [manipulated and] rejected the [truth in the] word of the Lord,And what kind of wisdom and insight do they have?

For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I (Jeremiah) am broken;I mourn, anxiety has gripped me.

My tent is destroyed,And all my [tent] cords are broken;My children have been taken from me [as captives] and are no more.There is no one to stretch out my tent againAnd to set up my [tent] curtains.

You have planted them, they have also taken root;They grow, they have even produced fruit.You are honored by their [hypocritical] lipsBut [You are] far from their heart and mind.

But if you will not listen and obey,My soul will weep in secret for your pride;My eyes will weep bitterlyAnd flow with tears,Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

The cities of the South (the Negev) have been closed up,And there is no one to open them;All Judah has been carried into exile,Completely carried away into exile.

For thus says the Lord, “Do not enter a house of mourning, nor go to lament (express grief) or bemoan [the dead], for I have taken My peace away from this people,” says the Lord, “even My lovingkindness and compassion.

After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken Jeconiah [who was also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah [along] with the craftsmen and smiths into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, the Lord showed me [in a vision] two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord.

Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh [after the ark of the Lord had been taken by our enemies] and this city [Jerusalem] will be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered around Jeremiah in the [outer area of the] house of the Lord.

Because of them, this curse shall be taken up and used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,

You will not escape from his hand, for you will definitely be captured and handed over to him; you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you face to face; and you will go to Babylon.’”’

So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guardhouse until the day that Jerusalem was captured [by the Chaldeans of Babylon].

Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the Middle Gate [establishing both military control of the city and their authority to judge the captives]: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris (chief of the eunuchs), and Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag (chief of the magicians), with all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.

But the Chaldean (Babylonian) army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. When they had seized him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the [Aramean] land of Hamath, where he passed sentence on him.

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being taken as exiles to Babylon.

Now when all the commanders of the forces that were [scattered] in the open country [of Judah] and their men heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land [of Judah] and had put him in charge of the men, women, and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon,

Concerning Moab.Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,“Woe (judgment is coming) to [the city of] Nebo, for it has been destroyed!Kiriathaim has been shamed, it has been captured;Misgab [the high fortress] has been shamed, broken down and crushed.

“For because you have trusted in your works [your hand-made idols] and in your treasures [instead of in God],Even you yourself will be captured;And Chemosh [your disgusting god cannot rescue you, but] will go away into exile [along with the fugitives]Together with his priests and his princes.

“So joy and gladness are taken awayFrom the fruitful field and from the land of Moab.And I have made the wine cease from the wine presses;No one treads the grapes with shouting.Their shouting is not joyful shouting [but is instead, a battle cry].

“Kerioth [and the cities] has been takenAnd the strongholds seized;And the hearts of the warriors of Moab in that dayShall be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.

“The one who flees from the terrorWill fall into the pit,And the one who gets up out of the pitWill be taken and caught in the trap;For I shall bring upon it, even upon Moab,The year of their punishment,” says the Lord.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Moab!The people of [the pagan god called] Chemosh have perished;For your sons have been taken away captiveAnd your daughters into captivity.

Concerning the sons (descendants) of Ammon.Thus says the Lord:“Does Israel have no sons [to reclaim Gad from the Ammonites]?Has he no heir?Why then has Malcam taken possession of GadAnd [why do] his people live in the cities [of Gad]?

“Damascus has become helpless;She has turned away to flee,Terror (panic) has seized her;Anguish and distress have gripped herLike a woman in childbirth.

“Declare among the nations.Lift up a signal [to spread the news]—publish and proclaim it,Do not conceal it; say,‘Babylon has been taken,Bel [the patron god] has been shamed, Marduk (Bel) has been shattered.Babylon’s images have been shamed, her [worthless] idols have been thrown down.’

“For behold, I will stir up and bring up against BabylonAn assembly of great nations from the north country.They will equip themselves and set up the battle lines against her;From there she will be taken captive.Their arrows will be like an expert warriorWho will not return empty-handed.

“I set a trap for you and you also were caught, O Babylon,And you did not know it;You have been found and also seizedBecause you have struggled against the Lord.”

At the shout, “Babylon has been seized!” the earth quakes, and an outcry is heard among the nations.

One courier runs to meet another,And one messenger to meet another,To tell the king of BabylonThat his city has been captured from end to end;

“How Sheshak (Babylon) has been captured,And the praise of the whole earth been seized!How Babylon has become an astonishing desolation and an object of horror among the nations!

“I will punish and judge Bel [the handmade god] in BabylonAnd take out of his mouth what he has swallowed up [the stolen sacred articles and the captives of Judah and elsewhere].The nations will no longer flow to him.Yes, the wall of Babylon has fallen down!

For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon;And her mighty warriors will be captured,Their bows are shattered;For the Lord is a God of [just] restitution;He will fully repay.