Jeremiah 28
1 It happened the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of YHWH, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
Thus says the Lord; Behold, I stir up against Babylon, and against the Chaldeans dwelling therein, a deadly burning wind.
2 "Thus speaks YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, 'I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
And I will send forth against Babylon spoilers, and they shall spoil her, and shall ravage her land. Woe to Babylon round about [her] in the day of her affliction.
3 Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of YHWH's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried to Babylon:
Let the archer bend his bow, and him that has armour put it on: and spare you not her young men, but destroy you all her host.
4 and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, who went to Babylon,' says YHWH; 'for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'"
And slain men shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and [men] pierced through shall fall without it.
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of YHWH,
For Israel and Juda have not been forsaken of their God, of the Lord Almighty; whereas their land was filled with iniquity against the holy things of Israel.
6 even the prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen: YHWH do so; YHWH perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of YHWH's house, and all them of the captivity, from Babylon to this place.
Flee you out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every one his soul: and be not overthrown in her iniquity; for it is the time of her retribution from the Lord; he is rendering to her a recompence.
7 Nevertheless hear you now this word that I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people:
Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, causing all the earth to be drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore they were shaken.
8 The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
And Babylon is fallen suddenly, and is broken to pieces: lament for her; take balm for her deadly wound, if by any means she may be healed.
9 The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall happen, then shall the prophet be known, that YHWH has truly sent him."
We tried to heal Babylon, but she was not healed: let us forsake her, and depart every one to his own country: for her judgement has reached to the heaven, it has mounted up to the stars.
10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the bar from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and broke it.
The Lord has brought forth his judgement: come, and let us declare in Sion the works of the Lord our God.
11 Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, "Thus says YHWH: 'Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the nations.'" The prophet Jeremiah went his way.
Prepare the arrows; fill the quivers: the Lord has stirred up the spirit of the king of the Medes: for his wrath is against Babylon, to destroy it utterly; for it is the Lord's vengeance, it is the vengeance of his people.
12 Then the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
Lift up a standard on the walls of Babylon, prepare the quivers, rouse the guards, prepare the weapons: for the Lord has taken [the work] in hand, and will execute what he has spoken against the inhabitants of Babylon,
13 "Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, 'Thus says YHWH: You have broken the bars of wood; but you have made in their place bars of iron.
dwelling on many waters, and amidst the abundance of her treasures; your end is come verily into your bowels.
14 For thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel: "I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the animals of the field also."'"
For the Lord has sworn by his arm, [saying, ]I will fill you with men as with locusts; and they that come down shall cry against you.
15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, "Hear now, Hananiah: YHWH has not sent you; but you make this people to trust in a lie.
The Lord made the earth by his power, preparing the world by his wisdom, by his understanding he stretched out the heaven.
16 Therefore thus says YHWH, 'Look, I will send you away from off the surface of the earth: this year you shall die, because you have spoken rebellion against YHWH.'"
At [his] voice he makes a sound of water in the heaven, and brings up clouds from the extremity of the earth; he makes lightnings for rain, and brings light out of his treasures.
17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
Every man has completely lost understanding; every goldsmith is confounded because of his graven [images]: for they have cast false [gods], there is no breath in them.
They are vain works, objects of scorn; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
Not such is Jacob's portion; for he that formed all things, he is his inheritance; the Lord is his name.
You scatter for me the weapons of war: and I will scatter nations by you, and will destroy kings by means of you.
And by you I will scatter the horse and his rider; and by you I will scatter chariots and them that ride in them.
And by you I will scatter youth and maid; and by you I will scatter man and woman.
And by you I will scatter the shepherd and his flock; and by you I will scatter the husbandman and his husbandry; and by you I will scatter leaders and the captains.
And I will recompense to Babylon and to all the Chaldeans that dwell [there] all their mischiefs that they have done to Sion before your eyes, says the Lord.
Behold, I am against you, the ruined mountain, that destroys the whole earth; and I will stretch out mine hand upon you, and will roll you down upon the rocks, and will make you as a burnt mountain.
And they shall not take from you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for a foundation: for you shall be a desolation for ever, says the Lord.
Lift up a standard in the land, sound the trumpet amongst the nations, consecrate the nations against her, raise up kings against her by me, and [that] for the people of Achanaz; set against her engines of war; bring up against her horses as a multitude of locusts.
Bring up nations against her, [even] the king of the Medes and of the whole earth, his rulers, and all his captains.
The earth has quaked and been troubled, because the purpose of the Lord has risen up against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, and uninhabitable.
The warrior of Babylon has failed to fight; they shall sit there in the siege; their power is broken; they are become like women; her tabernacles have been set on fire; her bars are broken.
One shall rush, running to meet [another] runner, and one [shall go] with tidings to meet [another] with tidings, to bring tidings to the king of Babylon, that his city is taken.
At the end of his passages they were taken, and his cisterns they have burnt with fire, and his warriors are going forth.
For thus says the Lord, The houses of the king of Babylon shall be threshed as a floor in the season; yet a little while, and her harvest shall come.
He has devoured me, he has torn me asunder, airy darkness has come upon me; Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon has swallowed me up, as a dragon has he filled his belly with my delicacies.
My troubles and my distresses have driven me out into Babylon, shall she that dwells in Sion say; and my blood [shall be] upon the Chaldeans dwelling [there], shall Jerusalem say.
Therefore thus says the Lord, Behold, I will judge your adversary, and I will execute vengeance for you; and I will waste her sea, and dry up her fountain.
And Babylon shall be a desolation, and shall not be inhabited.
For they rose up together as lions, and as lions' whelps.
In their heat I will give them a draught, and make them drunk, that they may be stupified, and sleep an everlasting sleep, and not awake, says the Lord.
And bring you them down as lambs to the slaughter, and rams with kids.
How has the boast of all the earth been taken and caught in a snare! how has Babylon become a desolation amongst the nations!
The sea has come up upon Babylon with the sound of its waves, and she is covered.
Her cities are become like a dry and trackless land; not so much as one [man] shall dwell in it, neither shall a son of man lodge in it.
And I will take vengeance on Babylon, and bring forth out of her mouth what she has swallowed down, and the nations shall no more be gathered to her:
and in Babylon the slain men of all the earth shall fall.
Go forth of the land, you that escape, and stay not; you that are afar off, remember the Lord, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
We are ashamed, because we have heard our reproach; disgrace has covered our face; aliens are come into our sanctuary, [even] into the house of the Lord.
Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will take vengeance upon her graven [images]: and slain men shall fall in all her land.
For though Babylon should go up as the heaven, and though she should strengthen her walls with her power, from me shall come they that shall destroy her, says the Lord.
A sound of a cry in Babylon, and great destruction in the land of the Chaldeans:
for the Lord has utterly destroyed Babylon, and cut off from her the great voice sounding as many waters: he has consigned her voice to destruction.
For distress has come upon Babylon, her warriors are taken, their bows are useless: for God recompenses them.
The Lord recompenses, and will make her leaders and her wise men and her captains completely drunk, says the King, the Lord Almighty is his name.
Thus says the Lord, The wall of Babylon was made broad, but it shall be completely broken down, and her high gates shall be burnt with fire; and the peoples shall not labour in vain, nor the nations fail in [their] rule.
THE WORD WHICH THE LORD COMMANDED THE PROPHET JEREMIAS to say to Saraeas son of Nerias, son of Maasaeas, when he went from Sedekias king of Juda to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. And Saraeas was over the bounties.
And Jeremias wrote in a book all the evils which should come upon Babylon, [even] all these words that are written against Babylon.
And Jeremias said to Saraeas, When you are come to Babylon, and shall see and read all these words;
then you shall say, O Lord God, you have spoken against this place, to destroy it, and that there should be none to dwell in it, neither man nor beast; for it shall be a desolation for ever.
And it shall come to pass, when you shall cease from reading this book, that you shall bind a stone upon it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates;
and shall say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and not rise, because of the evils which I bring upon it.
