Jeremiah 27
1 In the beginning of the reigne of Iehoiakim the sonne of Iosiah King of Iudah came this worde vnto Ieremiah from the Lord, saying,
THE WORD OF THE LORD WHICH HE SPOKE AGAINST BABYLON.
2 Thus saith the Lord to me, Make thee bonds, and yokes, and put them vpon thy necke,
Proclaim you amongst the Gentiles, and cause the tidings to be heard, and suppress [them] not: say you, Babylon is taken, Belus is confounded; the fearless, the luxurious Maerodach is delivered up.
3 And send them to the King of Edom, and to the King of Moab, and to the King of the Ammonites, and to the King of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hande of the messengers which come to Ierusale vnto Zedekiah ye king of Iudah,
For a nation has come up against her from the north, he shall utterly ravage her land, and there shall be none to dwell in it, neither man nor beast.
4 And commande them to saye vnto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hostes the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say vnto your masters,
In those days, and at that time, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Juda together; they shall proceed, weeping as they go, seeking the Lord their God.
5 I haue made the earth, the man, and the beast that are vpon the groud, by my great power, and by my outstreched arme, and haue giuen it vnto whom it pleased me.
They shall ask the way till [they come to] Sion, for that way shall they set their face; and they shall come and flee for refuge to the Lord their God; for the everlasting covenant shall not be forgotten.
6 But nowe I haue giuen all these landes into the hand of Nebuchad-nezzar the King of Babel my seruant, and the beastes of the fielde haue I also giuen him to serue him.
My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds thrust them out, they caused them to wander on the mountains: they went from mountain to hill, they forgot their resting-place.
7 And all nations shall serue him, and his sonne, and his sonnes sonne vntill the very time of his lande come also: then many nations and great Kinges shall serue themselues of him.
All that found them consumed them: their enemies said, Let us not leave them alone, because they have sinned against the Lord: he that gathered their fathers [had] a pasture of righteousness.
8 And the nation and kingdome which will not serue the same Nebuchad-nezzar king of Babel, and that will not put their necke vnder the yoke of the King of Babel, the same nation will I visite, saith the Lord, with the sworde, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, vntill I haue wholy giuen them into his hands.
Flee you out of the midst of Babylon, and from the land of the Chaldeans, and go forth, and be as serpents before sleep.
9 Therefore heare not your prophets nor your southsayers, nor your dreamers, nor your inchanters, nor your sorcerers, which say vnto you thus, Ye shall not serue the King of Babel.
For, behold, I stir up against Babylon the gatherings of nations out of the land of the north; and they shall set themselves in array against her: thence shall she be taken, as the dart of an expert warrior shall not return empty.
10 For they prophecie a lie vnto you to cause you to goe farre from your lande, and that I should cast you out, and you should perish.
And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied.
11 But the nation that put their neckes vnder the yoke of the King of Babel, and serue him, those wil I let remaine stil in their owne land, saith the Lord, and they shall occupie it, and dwel therein.
Because you rejoiced, and boasted, [while] plundering mine heritage; because you exulted as calves in the grass, and pushed with the horn as bulls.
12 I spake also to Zedekiah king of Iudah according to all these wordes, saying, Put your neckes vnder the yoke of the King of Babel, and serue him and his people, that ye may liue.
Your mother is greatly ashamed; your mother that bore you for prosperity is confounded: [she is] the last of the nations, desolate,
13 Why will ye dye, thou, and thy people by the sworde, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken against the nation, that will not serue the King of Babel?
by reason of the Lord's anger: it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be all a desolation; and every one that passes through Babylon shall scowl, and they shall hiss at all her plague.
14 Therefore heare not the words of the prophets, that speake vnto you, saying, Ye shall not serue the King of Babel: for they prophecie a lie vnto you.
Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all you that bend the bow; shoot at her, spare not your arrows,
15 For I haue not sent them, saith the Lord, yet they prophecie a lie in my name, that I might cast you out, and that ye might perish, both you, and the prophets that prophecie vnto you.
and prevail against her: her hands are weakened, her bulwarks are fallen, and her wall is broken down: for it is vengeance from God: take vengeance upon her; as she has done, do to her.
16 Also I spake to the Priests, and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Heare not the wordes of your prophets that prophecie vnto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the house of the Lord shall nowe shortly be brought againe from Babel, for they prophecie a lie vnto you.
Utterly destroy seed out of Babylon, [and] him that holds a sickle in time of harvest: for fear of the Grecian sword, they shall return every one to his people, and every one shall flee to his own land.
17 Heare them not, but serue the King of Babel, that ye may liue: wherefore shoulde this citie be desolate?
Israel is a wandering sheep; the lions have driven him out: the king of Assyria first devoured him, and afterward this king of Babylon [has gnawed] his bones.
18 But if they be Prophets, and if the word of the Lord be with them, let them intreate the Lord of hostes, that the vessels, which are left in the House of the Lord, and in the house of the King of Iudah, and at Ierusalem, go not to Babel.
Therefore thus says the Lord; Behold, I [will] take vengeance on the king of Babylon, and upon his land, as I took vengeance on the king of Assyria.
19 For thus saith the Lord of hostes, concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remaine in this citie,
And I will restore Israel to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and on mount Ephraim and in Galaad, and his soul shall be satisfied.
20 Which Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babel tooke not, when he caryed away captiue Ieconiah the sonne of Iehoiakim King of Iudah from Ierusalem to Babel, with all the nobles of Iudah and Ierusalem.
In those days, and at that time, they shall seek for the iniquity of Israel, and there shall be none; and for the sins of Juda, and they shall not be found: for I will be merciful to them that are left
21 For thus saith the Lord of hostes the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remaine in the House of the Lord, and in the house of the King of Iudah, and at Ierusalem,
on the land, says the Lord. Go up against it roughly, and against them that dwell on it: avenge, O sword, and destroy utterly, says the Lord, and do according to all that I command you.
22 They shall be brought to Babel, and there they shalbe vntil the day that I visite them, saith the Lord: then will I bring them vp, and restore them vnto this place.
A sound of war, and great destruction in the land of the Chaldeans!
How is the hammer of the whole earth broken and crushed! How is Babylon become a desolation amongst the nations!
They shall come upon you, and you shall not know it, Babylon, that you will even be taken captive: you are found and taken, because you did resist the Lord.
The Lord has opened his treasury, and brought forth the weapons of his anger: for the Lord God [has] a work in the land of the Chaldeans.
For her times are come: open you her storehouses: search her as a cave, and utterly destroy her: let there be no remnant of her.
Dry you up all her fruits, and let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! for their day is come, and the time of their retribution.
A voice of men fleeing and escaping from the land of Babylon, to declare to Sion the vengeance [that comes] from the Lord our God.
Summon many against Babylon, [even] every one that bends the bow: camp against her round about; let no one of her [people] escape: render to her according to her works; according to all that she has done, do to her: for she has resisted the Lord, the Holy God of Israel.
Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her warriors shall be cast down, says the Lord.
Behold, I am against you the haughty one, says the Lord: for your day is come, and the time of your retribution.
And your pride shall fail, and fall, and there shall be no one to set it up again: and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all things round about her.
Thus says the Lord; The children of Israel and the children of Juda have been oppressed: all they that have taken them captive have oppressed them together; for they would not let them go.
But their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name: he will enter into judgement with his adversaries, that he may destroy the earth;
and he will sharpen a sword against the Chaldeans, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her nobles and upon her wise men;
a sword upon her warriors, and they shall be weakened: a sword upon their horses, and upon their chariots:
a sword upon their warriors and upon the mixed people in the midst of her; and they shall be as women: a sword upon the treasures, and they shall be scattered upon her water,
and they shall be ashamed: for it is a land of graven [images]; and in the islands, where they boasted.
Therefore shall idols dwell in the islands, and the young of monsters shall dwell in it: it shall not be inhabited any more for ever.
As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities bordering upon them, says the Lord: no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn there.
Behold, a people comes from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred up from the end of the earth; holding bow and dagger:
[the people] is fierce, and will have no mercy: their voices shall sound as the sea, they shall ride upon horses, prepared for war, like fire, against you, O daughter of Babylon.
The king of Babylon heard the sound of them, and his hands were enfeebled: anguish overcame him, pangs as of a woman in travail.
Behold, he shall come up as a lion from Jordan to Gaethan; for I will speedily drive them from her, and I will set all the youths against her: for who is like me? and who will resist me? and who is this shepherd who will stand before me?
Therefore hear you the counsel of the Lord, which he has taken against Babylon; and his devices, which he has devised upon the Chaldeans inhabiting [it]: surely lambs of their flock shall be destroyed: surely pasture shall be cut off from them.
For at the sound of the taking of Babylon the earth shall quake, and a cry shall be heard amongst the nations.
