Indeed, I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

They will come, and each king will set up his throne
at the entrance to Jerusalem’s gates.
They will attack all her surrounding walls
and all the other cities of Judah.

This is what the Lord says:

What fault did your fathers find in Me
that they went so far from Me,
followed worthless idols,
and became worthless themselves?

How can you protest, “I am not defiled;
I have not followed the Baals”?
Look at your behavior in the valley;
acknowledge what you have done.
You are a swift young camel
twisting and turning on her way,

a wild donkey at home in the wilderness.
She sniffs the wind in the heat of her desire.
Who can control her passion?
All who look for her will not become tired;
they will find her in her mating season.

Can a young woman forget her jewelry
or a bride her wedding sash?
Yet My people have forgotten Me
for countless days.

Moreover, you will be led out from here
with your hands on your head
since the Lord has rejected those you trust;
you will not succeed even with their help.

If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him to marry another,
can he ever return to her?
Wouldn’t such a land become totally defiled?
But you!
You have played the prostitute with many partners—
can you return to Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.

I thought: After she has done all these things, she will return to Me. But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

I observed that it was because unfaithful Israel had committed adultery that I had sent her away and had given her a certificate of divorce. Nevertheless, her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid but also went and prostituted herself.

Indifferent to her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.

Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to Me with all her heart—only in pretense.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

However, as a woman may betray her lover,
so you have betrayed Me, house of Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Return, you faithless children.
I will heal your unfaithfulness.
“Here we are, coming to You,
for You are the Lord our God.

They have her surrounded
like those who guard a field,
because she has rebelled against Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

I hear a cry like a woman in labor,
a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child.
The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands:
Woe is me, for my life is weary
because of the murderers!

Roam through the streets of Jerusalem.
Look and take note;
search in her squares.
If you find one person,
any who acts justly,
who seeks to be faithful,
then I will forgive her.

Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them,
but do not finish them off.
Prune away her shoots,
for they do not belong to the Lord.

Shepherds and their flocks will come against her;
they will pitch their tents all around her.
Each will pasture his own portion.

Set them apart for war against her;
rise up, let’s attack at noon.
Woe to us, for the day is passing;
the evening shadows grow long.

Rise up, let’s attack by night.
Let us destroy her fortresses.”

For this is what the Lord of Hosts says:

Cut down the trees;
raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem.
This city must be punished.
There is nothing but oppression within her.

As a well gushes out its water,
so she pours out her evil.
Violence and destruction resound in her.
Sickness and wounds keep coming to My attention.

“At that time”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of her officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the residents of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves.

Even the stork in the sky
knows her seasons.
The turtledove, swallow, and crane
are aware of their migration,
but My people do not know
the requirements of the Lord.

Why are we just sitting here?
Gather together; let us enter the fortified cities
and perish there,
for the Lord our God has destroyed us.
He has given us poisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against the Lord.

Listen—the cry of my dear people
from a far away land,
“Is the Lord no longer in Zion,
her King not within her?”
Why have they provoked me to anger
with their carved images,
with their worthless foreign idols?

Therefore, here is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth who want to take your life. They warn, “You must not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, or you will certainly die at our hand.”

I have abandoned My house;
I have deserted My inheritance.
I have given the love of My life
into the hands of her enemies.

My inheritance has acted toward Me
like a lion in the forest.
She has roared against Me.
Therefore, I hate her.

Is My inheritance like a hyena to Me?
Are birds of prey circling her?
Go, gather all the wild animals;
bring them to devour her.

Judah mourns;
her gates languish.
Her people are on the ground in mourning;
Jerusalem’s cry rises up.

Even the doe in the field
gives birth and abandons her fawn
since there is no grass.

I made their widows more numerous
than the sand of the seas.
I brought a destroyer at noon
against the mother of young men.
I suddenly released on her
agitation and terrors.

The mother of seven grew faint;
she breathed her last breath.
Her sun set while it was still day;
she was ashamed and humiliated.
The rest of them I will give over to the sword
in the presence of their enemies.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.

because he didn’t kill me in the womb
so that my mother might have been my grave,
her womb eternally pregnant.

For this is what the Lord says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah: “He has left this place—he will never return here again,

As for me, here I am in your hands; do to me what you think is good and right.

Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the Lord’s temple that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from here and transported to Babylon.

Watch! I am going to bring them from the northern land.
I will gather them from remote regions of the earth—
the blind and the lame will be with them,
along with those who are pregnant and those about to give birth.
They will return here as a great assembly!

This is what the Lord says:

A voice was heard in Ramah,
a lament with bitter weeping—
Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted for her children
because they are no more.

How long will you turn here and there,
faithless daughter?
For the Lord creates something new in the land—
a female will shelter a man.

King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he’s in your hands since the king can’t do anything against you.”

So the king commanded Ebed-melech, the Cushite, “Take from here 30 men under your authority and pull Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.”

Instead, we will do everything we said we would: burn incense to the queen of heaven and offer drink offerings to her just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in Judah’s cities and in Jerusalem’s streets. Then we had enough food and good things and saw no disaster,

but from the time we ceased to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to offer her drink offerings, we have lacked everything, and through sword and famine we have met our end.”

And the women said, “When we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it apart from our husbands’ knowledge that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘As for you and your wives, you women have spoken with your mouths, and you men fulfilled it by your deeds, saying, “We will keep our vows that we have made to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings for her.” Go ahead, confirm your vows! Pay your vows!’

Egypt is a beautiful young cow,
but a horsefly from the north is coming against her.

Even her mercenaries among her
are like stall-fed calves.
They too will turn back;
together they will flee;
they will not take their stand,
for the day of their calamity is coming on them,
the time of their punishment.

Egypt will hiss like a slithering snake,
for the enemy will come with an army;
with axes they will come against her
like those who cut trees.

They will cut down her forest—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
though it is dense,
for they are more numerous than locusts;
they cannot be counted.

The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to punish Amon, god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt, her gods, and her kings—Pharaoh and those trusting in him.

There is no longer praise for Moab;
they plan harm against her in Heshbon:
Come, let’s cut her off from nationhood.
Also, Madmen, you will be silenced;
the sword will pursue you.

Moab will be shattered;
her little ones will cry out.

Make Moab a salt marsh,
for she will run away;
her towns will become a desolation,
without inhabitant.

Stand by the highway and look,
resident of Aroer!
Ask him who is fleeing or her who is escaping:
What happened?

On all the rooftops of Moab and in her public squares, everyone is mourning because I have shattered Moab like a jar no one wants.” This is the Lord’s declaration.

Yet, I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the last days.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
The judgment on Moab ends here.

For by Myself I have sworn”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will become ruins forever.”

I have heard a message from the Lord;
a messenger has been sent among the nations:
Assemble yourselves to come against her.
Rise up for war!

“Edom will become a desolation. Everyone who passes by her will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds.

“Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. Indeed, I will chase Edom away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like Me? Who will summon Me? Who is the shepherd who can stand against Me?”

At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; the sound of her cry will be heard at the Red Sea.

Damascus has become weak;
she has turned to run;
panic has gripped her.
Distress and labor pains have seized her
like a woman in labor.

Therefore, her young men will fall in her public squares;
all the warriors will perish in that day.
This is the declaration of
the Lord of Hosts.

Announce to the nations;
proclaim and raise up a signal flag;
proclaim, and hide nothing.
Say: Babylon is captured;
Bel is put to shame;
Marduk is devastated;
her idols are put to shame;
her false gods, devastated.

For a nation from the north will come against her;
it will make her land desolate.
No one will be living in it—
both man and beast will escape.

For I will soon stir up and bring against Babylon
an assembly of great nations from the north country.
They will line up in battle formation against her;
from there she will be captured.
Their arrows will be like those of a skilled warrior
who does not return empty-handed.

The Chaldeans will become plunder;
all Babylon’s plunderers will be fully satisfied.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Because of the Lord’s wrath,
she will not be inhabited;
she will become a desolation, every bit of her.
Everyone who passes through Babylon
will be horrified
and scoff because of all her wounds.

Line up in battle formation around Babylon,
all you archers!
Shoot at her! Do not spare an arrow,
for she has sinned against the Lord.

Raise a war cry against her on every side!
She has thrown up her hands in surrender;
her defense towers have fallen;
her walls are demolished.
Since this is the Lord’s vengeance,
take out your vengeance on her;
as she has done, do the same to her.

Come against her from the most distant places.
Open her granaries;
pile her up like mounds of grain
and completely destroy her.
Leave her no survivors.

Put all her young bulls to the sword;
let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them, because their day has come,
the time of their punishment.

Summon the archers to Babylon,
all who string the bow;
camp all around her; let none escape.
Repay her according to her deeds;
just as she has done, do the same to her,
for she has acted arrogantly against the Lord,
against the Holy One of Israel.

Therefore, her young men will fall
in her public squares;
all the warriors will perish in that day.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

A sword is over the Chaldeans—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
against those who live in Babylon,
against her officials, and against her sages.

A sword is against the diviners,
and they will act foolishly.
A sword is against her heroic warriors,
and they will be terrified.

A sword is against his horses and chariots
and against all the foreigners among them,
and they will be like women.
A sword is against her treasuries,
and they will be plundered.

A drought will come on her waters,
and they will be dried up.
For it is a land of carved images,
and they go mad because of terrifying things.

Therefore, desert creatures will live with hyenas,
and ostriches will also live in her.
It will never again be inhabited
or lived in through all generations.

“Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. Indeed, I will chase Babylon away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like Me? Who will summon Me? Who is the shepherd who can stand against Me?”

I will send strangers to Babylon
who will scatter her and strip her land bare,
for they will come against her
from every side in the day of disaster.

Don’t let the archer string his bow;
don’t let him put on his armor.
Don’t spare her young men;
completely destroy her entire army!

Those who were slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans,
those who were pierced through, in her streets.

Leave Babylon;
save your lives, each of you!
Don’t perish because of her guilt.
For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance—
He will pay her what she deserves.

Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand,
making the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore, the nations go mad.

Suddenly Babylon fell and was shattered.
Wail for her;
get balm for her wound—
perhaps she can be healed.

We tried to heal Babylon,
but she could not be healed.
Abandon her!
Let each of us go to his own land,
for her judgment extends to the sky
and reaches as far as the clouds.

Sharpen the arrows!
Fill the quivers!
The Lord has put it into the mind
of the kings of the Medes
because His plan is aimed at Babylon
to destroy her,
for it is the Lord’s vengeance,
vengeance for His temple.

Raise a signal flag in the land;
blow a ram’s horn among the nations;
set apart the nations against her.
Summon kingdoms against her—
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a marshal against her;
bring up horses like a swarm of locusts.

Set apart the nations for battle against her—
the kings of Media,
her governors and all her officials,
and all the lands they rule.

Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting;
they sit in their strongholds.
Their might is exhausted;
they have become like women.
Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze,
her gate bars are shattered.

For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:

Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trampled.
In just a little while her harvest time will come.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

I am about to plead your case
and take vengeance on your behalf;
I will dry up her sea
and make her fountain run dry.

Her cities have become a desolation,
a dry and arid land,
a land where no one lives,
where no human being passes through.

Come out from among her, My people!
Save your lives, each of you,
from the Lord’s burning anger.

Therefore, look, the days are coming
when I will punish Babylon’s carved images.
Her entire land will suffer shame,
and all her slain will lie fallen within her.

Heaven and earth and everything in them
will shout for joy over Babylon
because the destroyers from the north
will come against her.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Therefore, look, the days are coming—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when I will punish her carved images,
and the wounded will groan
throughout her land.