HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1060
J EREMIA H 2 6
land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel
and her neighboring lands will serve the king
of Babylon for seventy years.
12 “Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon
and his people for their sins,” says the Lord.
“I will make the country of the Babylonians* a
wasteland forever. 13 I will bring upon them all
the terrors I have promised in this book—all the
penalties announced by Jeremiah against the
nations. 14 Many nations and great kings will
enslave the Babylonians, just as they enslaved
my people. I will punish them in proportion to
the suffering they cause my people.”
The Cup of the LORD’s Anger
15 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said
to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled to the
brim with my anger, and make all the nations
to whom I send you drink from it. 16 When they
drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the
warfare I will send against them.”
17 So I took the cup of anger from the Lord
and made all the nations drink from it—every
nation to which the Lord sent me. 18 I went to
Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah, and
their kings and officials drank from the cup.
From that day until this, they have been a
desolate ruin, an object of horror, contempt,
and cursing. 19 I gave the cup to Pharaoh, king
of Egypt, his attendants, his officials, and all
his people, 20 along with all the foreigners living in that land. I also gave it to all the kings
of the land of Uz and the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what
remains of Ashdod. 21 Then I gave the cup to
the nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon,
22 and the kings of Tyre and Si don, and the
kings of the regions across the sea. 23 I gave it
to Dedan, Tema, and Buz, and to the people
who live in distant places.* 24 I gave it to the
kings of Arabia, the kings of the nomadic tribes
of the desert, 25 and to the kings of Zimri, Elam,
and Media. 26 And I gave it to the kings of the
northern countries, far and near, one after the
other—all the kingdoms of the world. And finally, the king of Babylon* himself drank from
the cup of the Lord’s anger.
27 Then the Lord said to me, “Now tell them,
‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
the God of Israel, says: Drink from this cup of
my anger. Get drunk and vomit; fall to rise no
more, for I am sending terrible wars against
you.’ 28 And if they refuse to accept the cup, tell
them, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: You
have no choice but to drink from it. 29 I have
begun to punish Jerusalem, the city that bears
my name. Now should I let you go unpunished?
No, you will not escape disaster. I will call for
war against all the nations of the earth. I, the
Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!’
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30 “Now prophesy all these things, and say to
them,
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32
“‘The Lord will roar against his own land
from his holy dwelling in heaven.
He will shout like those who tread grapes;
he will shout against everyone on earth.
His cry of judgment will reach the ends of
the earth,
for the Lord will bring his case against
all the nations.
He will judge all the people of the earth,
slaughtering the wicked with the sword.
I, the Lord, have spoken!’”
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
says:
“Look! Disaster will fall upon nation
after nation!
A great whirlwind of fury is rising
from the most distant corners of the
earth!”
33 In that day those the Lord has slaughtered
will fill the earth from one end to the other. No
one will mourn for them or gather up their bodies to bury them. They will be scattered on the
ground like manure.
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Weep and moan, you evil shepherds!
Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock!
The time of your slaughter has arrived;
you will fall and shatter like a fragile
vase.
You will find no place to hide;
there will be no way to escape.
Listen to the frantic cries of the shepherds.
The leaders of the flock are wailing
in despair,
for the Lord is ruining their pastures.
Peaceful meadows will be turned into
a wasteland
by the Lord’s fierce anger.
He has left his den like a strong lion seeking
its prey,
and their land will be made desolate
by the sword* of the enemy
and the Lord’s fierce anger.
Jeremiah’s Escape from Death
This message came to Jeremiah from
the Lord early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah,* king of Judah. 2 “This is
what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard in
front of the Temple of the Lord, and make an
announcement to the people who have come
there to worship from all over Judah. Give
them my entire message; include every word.
3 Perhaps they will listen and turn from their
26
25:12 Or Chaldeans. 25:23 Or who clip the corners of their
hair. 25:26 Hebrew of Sheshach, a code name for Babylon.
25:38 As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek version;
Masoretic Text reads by the anger. 26:1 The first year of
Jehoiakim’s reign was 608 b.c.