that the Lord, the God of Israel, says, 'The forces at your disposal are now outside the walls fighting against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonians who have you under siege. I will gather those forces back inside the city.

I will hand you over to those who want to take your life and of whom you are afraid. I will hand you over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his Babylonian soldiers.

"I, the Lord, the God of Israel, say: 'The exiles whom I sent away from here to the land of Babylon are like those good figs. I consider them to be good.

This whole area will become a desolate wasteland. These nations will be subject to the king of Babylon for seventy years.'

For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation too. I will repay them for all they have done!'"

I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power of my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him.

All nations must serve him and his son and grandson until the time comes for his own nation to fall. Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon.

So do not listen to your prophets or to those who claim to predict the future by divination, by dreams, by consulting the dead, or by practicing magic. They keep telling you, 'You do not need to be subject to the king of Babylon.'

I told King Zedekiah of Judah the same thing. I said, "Submit to the yoke of servitude to the king of Babylon. Be subject to him and his people. Then you will continue to live.

Do not listen to the prophets who are telling you that you do not need to serve the king of Babylon. For they are prophesying lies to you.

Do not listen to them. Be subject to the king of Babylon. Then you will continue to live. Why should this city be made a pile of rubble?'"

"The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, 'I will break the yoke of servitude to the king of Babylon.

Then he spoke up in the presence of all the people. "The Lord says, 'In the same way I will break the yoke of servitude of all the nations to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon before two years are over.'" After he heard this, the prophet Jeremiah departed and went on his way.

For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, "I have put an irresistible yoke of servitude on all these nations so they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And they will indeed serve him. I have even given him control over the wild animals."'"

"The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says to all those he sent into exile to Babylon from Jerusalem,

"You say, 'The Lord has raised up prophets of good news for us here in Babylon.'

So pay attention to what I, the Lord, have said, all you exiles whom I have sent to Babylon from Jerusalem.'

For he has even sent a message to us here in Babylon. He wrote and told us, "You will be there a long time. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce."'"

"Send a message to all the exiles in Babylon. Tell them, 'The Lord has spoken about Shemaiah the Nehelamite. "Shemaiah has spoken to you as a prophet even though I did not send him. He is making you trust in a lie.

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah while King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and the towns around it with a large army. This army consisted of troops from his own army and from the kingdoms and peoples of the lands under his dominion.

The Lord God of Israel told Jeremiah to go and give King Zedekiah of Judah a message. He told Jeremiah to tell him, "The Lord says, 'I am going to hand this city over to the king of Babylon and he will burn it down.

Tell King Jehoiakim of Judah, 'The Lord says, "You burned the scroll. You asked Jeremiah, 'How dare you write in this scroll that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and wipe out all the people and animals on it?'"

Where now are the prophets who prophesied to you that the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land?

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. The siege began in the tenth month of the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah.

Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took captive the rest of the people who were left in the city. He carried them off to Babylon along with the people who had deserted to him.

Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had issued orders concerning Jeremiah. He had passed them on through Nebuzaradan, the captain of his royal guard,

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah after Nebuzaradan the captain of the royal guard had set him free at Ramah. He had taken him there in chains along with all the people from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried off to exile to Babylon.

Then tell them, 'The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, "I will bring my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will set his throne over these stones which I have buried. He will pitch his royal tent over them.

Also you shall speak to Shemaiah of Nehelam [among the exiles in Babylon], saying,

now therefore [continued the letter from Shemaiah in Babylon to Zephaniah in Jerusalem], why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesies to you?

The Lord says, "Army of Babylon, go and attack a nation that lives in peace and security. They have no gates or walls to protect them. They live all alone.

The Lord spoke concerning Babylon and the land of Babylonia through the prophet Jeremiah.

For a nation from the north will attack Babylon. It will lay her land waste. People and animals will flee out of it. No one will inhabit it.'

"People of Judah, get out of Babylon quickly! Leave the land of Babylonia! Be the first to depart! Be like the male goats that lead the herd.

For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon a host of mighty nations from the land of the north. They will set up their battle lines against her. They will come from the north and capture her. Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier who does not return from the battle empty-handed.

"Take up your battle positions all around Babylon, all you soldiers who are armed with bows. Shoot all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! For she has sinned against the Lord.

"The people of Israel are like scattered sheep which lions have chased away. First the king of Assyria devoured them. Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones.

So I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, say: 'I will punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria.

I set a trap for you, Babylon; you were caught before you knew it. You fought against me. So you were found and captured.

"Call for archers to come against Babylon! Summon against her all who draw the bow! Set up camp all around the city! Do not allow anyone to escape! Pay her back for what she has done. Do to her what she has done to others. For she has proudly defied me, the Holy One of Israel.

Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride forth on their horses. Lined up in formation like men going into battle, they are coming against you, fair Babylon!

The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear when he hears news of their coming. Anguish will grip him, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.

The Lord says, "I will cause a destructive wind to blow against Babylon and the people who inhabit Babylonia.

"You who live along the rivers of Babylon, the time of your end has come. You who are rich in plundered treasure, it is time for your lives to be cut off.

"Babylon, you are my war club, my weapon for battle. I used you to smash nations. I used you to destroy kingdoms.

The Lord says, "Beware! I am opposed to you, Babylon! You are like a destructive mountain that destroys all the earth. I will unleash my power against you; I will roll you off the cliffs and make you like a burned-out mountain.

"King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon devoured me and drove my people out. Like a monster from the deep he swallowed me. He filled his belly with my riches. He made me an empty dish. He completely cleaned me out."

The person who lives in Zion says, "May Babylon pay for the violence done to me and to my relatives." Jerusalem says, "May those living in Babylonia pay for the bloodshed of my people."

Babylon will become a heap of ruins. Jackals will make their home there. It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn, a place where no one lives.

The sea has swept over Babylon. She has been covered by a multitude of its waves.

"Get out of Babylon, my people! Flee to save your lives from the fierce anger of the Lord!

Cries of anguish will come from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.

For a destroyer is attacking Babylon. Her warriors will be captured; their bows will be broken. For the Lord is a God who punishes; he pays back in full.

Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "When you arrive in Babylon, make sure you read aloud all these prophecies.

Then say, 'In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the judgments I am ready to bring upon her; they will grow faint.'" The prophecies of Jeremiah end here.

Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed at Riblah in the territory of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile away from its land.

He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

He was given daily provisions by the king of Babylon for the rest of his life until the day he died.

The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

“As I live,” says the King,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts,
“Surely like Tabor among the mountains
Or like Carmel by the sea,
So shall he [the great king of Babylon] come.

The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says, “Behold, I am going to punish Amon [chief god of the sacred city] of Thebes [the capital of Upper Egypt], and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings—even Pharaoh and those who put their trust in him [as a shield against Babylon].

For thus says the Lord:

“Behold, one (Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon) will fly swiftly like an eagle
And spread out his wings against Moab.

Your mother [Babylon] shall be greatly shamed;
She who gave you birth will be ashamed.
Behold, she will be the least of the nations,
A wilderness, a parched land and a desert.

“Go against [Babylon] the land of Merathaim (Double Rebellion),
Go up against it and against the people of Pekod (Punishment).
Kill and utterly destroy them,” says the Lord,
“And do everything that I have commanded you.”

“Behold, I am against you, [O Babylon, you] arrogant one, [you who are pride and presumption personified],”
Says the Lord God of hosts,
“For your day has come,
The time when I will punish you.

“Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is His name.
He will most certainly plead their case and defend their cause
So that He may bring rest to their land,
But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

“Therefore wild beasts of the desert will live there [in Babylon] with the jackals;
The ostriches also will live there,
And it will never again be inhabited [with people]
Or lived in from generation to generation.

“And I will send foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her
And may devastate and empty her land;
For in the day of destruction
They will be against her on every side.

Babylon has suddenly fallen and is shattered!
Wail for her [if you care to]!
Get balm for her [incurable] pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.

We would have healed Babylon, but she was not to be healed.
Abandon her and let each [captive] return to his own country,
For her guilt and judgment have reached to heaven
And are lifted up to the very skies.

“They will not take from you [even] a stone for a cornerstone
Nor any rock for a foundation,
But you will be desolate forever,” says the Lord.

You who have escaped the sword,
Go away! Do not stay!
Remember the Lord from far away,
And let [desolate] Jerusalem come into your mind.