The Lord Will Help Israel (JER 51:36-40)

[51:36] And so the Lord said to the people of Jerusalem, “I will take up your cause and will make your enemies pay for what they did to you. I will dry up the source of Babylonia's water and make its rivers go dry.

[51:37] That country will become a pile of ruins where wild animals live. It will be a horrible sight; no one will live there, and all who see it will be terrified.

[51:38] The Babylonians all roar like lions and growl like lion cubs.

[51:39] Are they greedy? I will prepare them a feast and make them drunk and happy. They will go to sleep and never wake up.

[51:40] I will take them to be slaughtered, like lambs, goats, and rams. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Babylon's Fate (JER 51:41-49)

[51:41] The Lord says about Babylon: “The city that the whole world praised has been captured! What a horrifying sight Babylon has become to the nations!

[51:42] The sea has rolled over Babylon and covered it with roaring waves.

[51:43] The towns have become a horrifying sight and are like a waterless desert, where no one lives or even travels.

[51:44] I will punish Bel, the god of Babylonia, and make him give up his stolen goods; the nations will not worship him any more. “Babylon's walls have fallen.

[51:45] People of Israel, run away from there! Run for your life from my fierce anger.

[51:46] Do not lose courage or be afraid because of the rumors you hear. Every year a different rumor spreads—rumors of violence in the land and of one king fighting another.

[51:47] And so the time is coming when I will deal with Babylonia's idols. The whole country will be put to shame, and all its people will be killed.

[51:48] Everything on earth and in the sky will shout for joy when Babylonia falls to the people who come from the north to destroy it.

[51:49] Babylonia caused the death of people all over the world, and now Babylonia will fall because it caused the death of so many Israelites. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

God's Message to the Israelites in Babylonia (JER 51:50-53)

[51:50] The Lord says to his people in Babylonia: “You have escaped death! Now go! Don't wait! Though you are far from home, think about me, your Lord, and remember Jerusalem.

[51:51] You say, ‘We've been disgraced and made ashamed; we feel completely helpless because foreigners have taken over the holy places in the Temple.’

[51:52] So then, I say that the time is coming when I will deal with Babylon's idols, and the wounded will groan throughout the country.

[51:53] Even if Babylon could climb to the sky and build a strong fortress there, I would still send people to destroy it. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Further Destruction on Babylon (JER 51:54-58)

[51:54] The Lord says, “Listen to the sound of crying in Babylon, of mourning for the destruction in the land.

[51:55] I am destroying Babylon and putting it to silence. The armies rush in like roaring waves and attack with noisy shouts.

[51:56] They have come to destroy Babylon; its soldiers are captured, and their bows are broken. I am a God who punishes evil, and I will treat Babylon as it deserves.

[51:57] I will make its rulers drunk— men of wisdom, leaders, and soldiers. They will go to sleep and never wake up. I, the king, have spoken; I am the Lord Almighty.

[51:58] The walls of mighty Babylon will be thrown to the ground, and its towering gates burned down. The work of the nations is all for nothing; their efforts go up in flames. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken.”

Jeremiah's Message Is Sent to Babylonia (JER 51:59-64)

[51:59] King Zedekiah's personal attendant was Seraiah, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. In the fourth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, Seraiah was going to Babylonia with him, and I gave him some instructions.

[51:60] I wrote in a book an account of all the destruction that would come on Babylonia, as well as all these other things about Babylonia.

[51:61] I told Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, be sure to read aloud to the people everything that is written here.

[51:62] Then pray, ‘Lord, you have said that you would destroy this place, so that there would be no living creatures in it, neither people nor animals, and it would be like a desert forever.’

[51:63] Seraiah, when you finish reading this book to the people, then tie it to a rock and throw it into the Euphrates River

[51:64] and say, ‘This is what will happen to Babylonia—it will sink and never rise again because of the destruction that the Lord is going to bring on it.’” The words of Jeremiah end here.

The Fall of Jerusalem (JER 52:1-11)

[52:1] Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of the Jeremiah who lived in the city of Libnah.

[52:2] King Zedekiah sinned against the Lord, just as King Jehoiakim had done.

[52:3] The Lord became so angry with the people of Jerusalem and Judah that he banished them from his sight. Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia,

[52:4] and so Nebuchadnezzar came with all his army and attacked Jerusalem on the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign. They set up camp outside the city, built siege walls around it,

[52:5] and kept it under siege until Zedekiah's eleventh year.

[52:6] On the ninth day of the fourth month of that same year, when the famine was so bad that the people had nothing left to eat,

[52:7] the city walls were broken through. Although the Babylonians were surrounding the city, all the soldiers escaped during the night. They left by way of the royal garden, went through the gateway connecting the two walls, and fled in the direction of the Jordan Valley.

[52:8] But the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah, captured him in the plains near Jericho, and all his soldiers deserted him.

[52:9] Zedekiah was taken to King Nebuchadnezzar, who was in the city of Riblah in the territory of Hamath, and there Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him.

[52:10] At Riblah he put Zedekiah's sons to death while Zedekiah was looking on and he also had the officials of Judah executed.

[52:11] After that, he had Zedekiah's eyes put out and had him placed in chains and taken to Babylon. Zedekiah remained in prison in Babylon until the day he died.

The Destruction of the Temple (JER 52:12-23)

[52:12] On the tenth day of the fifth month of the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, Nebuzaradan, adviser to the king and commander of his army, entered Jerusalem.

[52:13] He burned down the Temple, the palace, and the houses of all the important people in Jerusalem;

[52:14] and his soldiers tore down the city walls.

[52:15] Then Nebuzaradan took away to Babylonia the people who were left in the city, the remaining skilled workers, and those who had deserted to the Babylonians.

[52:16] But he left in Judah some of the poorest people, who owned no property, and he put them to work in the vineyards and fields.

[52:17] The Babylonians broke in pieces the bronze columns and the carts that were in the Temple, together with the large bronze tank, and they took all the bronze to Babylon.

[52:18] They also took away the shovels and the ash containers used in cleaning the altar, the tools used in tending the lamps, the bowls used for catching the blood from the sacrifices, the bowls used for burning incense, and all the other bronze articles used in the Temple service.

[52:19] They took away everything that was made of gold or silver: the small bowls, the pans used for carrying live coals, the bowls for holding the blood from the sacrifices, the ash containers, the lampstands, the bowls used for incense, and the bowls used for pouring out wine offerings.

[52:20] The bronze objects that King Solomon had made for the Temple—the two columns, the carts, the large tank, and the twelve bulls that supported it—were too heavy to weigh.

[52:23] On the grillwork of each column there were a hundred pomegranates in all, and ninety-six of these were visible from the ground.

The People of Judah Are Taken to Babylonia (JER 52:24-34)

[52:24] In addition, Nebuzaradan, the commanding officer, took away as prisoners Seraiah the High Priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three other important Temple officials.

[52:25] From the city he took the officer who had been in command of the troops, seven of the king's personal advisers who were still in the city, the commander's assistant, who was in charge of military records, and sixty other important men.

[52:26] Nebuzaradan took them to the king of Babylonia, who was in the city of Riblah

[52:27] in the territory of Hamath. There the king had them beaten and put to death. So the people of Judah were carried away from their land into exile.

[52:28] This is the record of the people that Nebuchadnezzar took away as prisoners: in his seventh year as king he carried away 3,023;

[52:29] in his eighteenth year, 832 from Jerusalem;

[52:30] and in his twenty-third year, 745—taken away by Nebuzaradan. In all, 4,600 people were taken away.

[52:31] In the year that Evil-Merodach became king of Babylonia, he showed kindness to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison. This happened on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin had been taken away as a prisoner.

[52:32] Evil-Merodach treated him kindly and gave him a position of greater honor than he gave the other kings who were exiles with him in Babylonia.

[52:33] So Jehoiachin was permitted to change from his prison clothes and to dine at the king's table for the rest of his life.

[52:34] Each day for as long as he lived, he was given a regular allowance for his needs.

The Sorrows of Jerusalem (LAM 1:1-22)

[1:1] How lonely lies Jerusalem, once so full of people! Once honored by the world, she is now like a widow; The noblest of cities has fallen into slavery.

[1:2] All night long she cries; tears run down her cheeks. Of all her former friends, not one is left to comfort her. Her allies have betrayed her and are all against her now.

[1:3] Judah's people are helpless slaves, forced away from home. They live in other lands, with no place to call their own— Surrounded by enemies, with no way to escape.

[1:4] No one comes to the Temple now to worship on the holy days. The young women who sang there suffer, and the priests can only groan. The city gates stand empty, and Zion is in agony.

[1:5] Her enemies succeeded; they hold her in their power. The Lord has made her suffer for all her many sins; Her children have been captured and taken away.

[1:6] The splendor of Jerusalem is a thing of the past. Her leaders are like deer that are weak from hunger, Whose strength is almost gone as they flee from the hunters.

[1:7] A lonely ruin now, Jerusalem recalls her ancient splendor. When she fell to the enemy, there was no one to help her; Her conquerors laughed at her downfall.

[1:8] Her honor is gone; she is naked and held in contempt. She groans and hides her face in shame. Jerusalem made herself filthy with terrible sin.

[1:9] Her uncleanness was easily seen, but she showed no concern for her fate. Her downfall was terrible; no one can comfort her. Her enemies have won, and she cries to the Lord for mercy.

[1:10] The enemies robbed her of all her treasures. She saw them enter the Temple itself, Where the Lord had forbidden Gentiles to go.

[1:11] Her people groan as they look for something to eat; They exchange their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. “Look at me, Lord,” the city cries; “see me in my misery.”

[1:12] “Look at me!” she cries to everyone who passes by. “No one has ever had pain like mine, Pain that the Lord brought on me in the time of his anger.

[1:13] “He sent fire from above, a fire that burned inside me. He set a trap for me and brought me to the ground. Then he abandoned me and left me in constant pain.

[1:14] “He took note of all my sins and tied them all together; He hung them around my neck, and I grew weak beneath the weight. The Lord gave me to my foes, and I was helpless against them.

[1:15] “The Lord laughed at all my strongest soldiers; He sent an army to destroy my young men. He crushed my people like grapes in a wine press.

[1:16] “That is why my eyes are overflowing with tears. No one can comfort me; no one can give me courage. The enemy has conquered me; my people have nothing left.

[1:17] “I stretch out my hands, but no one will help me. The Lord has called enemies against me from every side; They treat me like some filthy thing.

[1:18] “But the Lord is just, for I have disobeyed him. Listen to me, people everywhere; look at me in my pain. My young men and women have been taken away captive.

[1:19] “I called to my allies, but they refused to help me. The priests and the leaders died in the city streets, Looking for food to keep themselves alive.

[1:20] “Look, O Lord, at my agony, at the anguish of my soul! My heart is broken in sorrow for my sins. There is murder in the streets; even indoors there is death.

[1:21] “Listen to my groans; there is no one to comfort me. My enemies are glad that you brought disaster on me. Bring the day you promised; make my enemies suffer as I do.

[1:22] “Condemn them for all their wickedness; Punish them as you punished me for my sins. I groan in misery, and I am sick at heart.”

The Lord's Punishment of Jerusalem (LAM 2:1-22)

[2:1] The Lord in his anger has covered Zion with darkness. Its heavenly splendor he has turned into ruins. On the day of his anger he abandoned even his Temple.

[2:2] The Lord destroyed without mercy every village in Judah And tore down the forts that defended the land. He brought disgrace on the kingdom and its rulers.

[2:3] In his fury he shattered the strength of Israel; He refused to help us when the enemy came. He raged against us like fire, destroying everything.

[2:4] He aimed his arrows at us like an enemy; He killed all those who were our joy and delight. Here in Jerusalem we felt his burning anger.

[2:5] Like an enemy, the Lord has destroyed Israel; He has left her forts and palaces in ruins. He has brought on the people of Judah unending sorrow.

[2:6] He smashed to pieces the Temple where we worshiped him; He has put an end to holy days and Sabbaths. King and priest alike have felt the force of his anger.

[2:7] The Lord rejected his altar and deserted his holy Temple; He allowed the enemy to tear down its walls. They shouted in victory where once we had worshiped in joy.

[2:8] The Lord was determined that the walls of Zion should fall; He measured them off to make sure of total destruction. The towers and walls now lie in ruins together.

[2:9] The gates lie buried in rubble, their bars smashed to pieces. The king and the noblemen now are in exile. The Law is no longer taught, and the prophets have no visions from the Lord.

[2:10] Jerusalem's old men sit on the ground in silence, With dust on their heads and sackcloth on their bodies. Young women bow their heads to the ground.

[2:11] My eyes are worn out with weeping; my soul is in anguish. I am exhausted with grief at the destruction of my people. Children and babies are fainting in the streets of the city.

[2:12] Hungry and thirsty, they cry to their mothers; They fall in the streets as though they were wounded, And slowly die in their mothers' arms.

[2:13] O Jerusalem, beloved Jerusalem, what can I say? How can I comfort you? No one has ever suffered like this. Your disaster is boundless as the ocean; there is no possible hope.

[2:14] Your prophets had nothing to tell you but lies; Their preaching deceived you by never exposing your sin. They made you think you did not need to repent.

[2:15] People passing by the city look at you in scorn. They shake their heads and laugh at Jerusalem's ruins: “Is this that lovely city? Is this the pride of the world?”

[2:16] All your enemies mock you and glare at you with hate. They curl their lips and sneer, “We have destroyed it! This is the day we have waited for!”

[2:17] The Lord has finally done what he threatened to do: He has destroyed us without mercy, as he warned us long ago. He gave our enemies victory, gave them joy at our downfall.

[2:18] O Jerusalem, let your very walls cry out to the Lord! Let your tears flow like rivers night and day; Wear yourself out with weeping and grief!

[2:19] All through the night get up again and again to cry out to the Lord; Pour out your heart and beg him for mercy on your children— Children starving to death on every street corner!

[2:20] Look, O Lord! Why are you punishing us like this? Women are eating the bodies of the children they loved! Priests and prophets are being killed in the Temple itself!

[2:21] Young and old alike lie dead in the streets, Young men and women, killed by enemy swords. You slaughtered them without mercy on the day of your anger.

[2:22] You invited my enemies to hold a carnival of terror all around me, And no one could escape on that day of your anger. They murdered my children, whom I had raised and loved.