Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

1 And it happened that, in the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama of royal descent, with the nobles of the king, and accompanied by ten men, went to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. And they ate bread together there, in Mizpah.

2 Then Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, rose up, and the ten men who were with him, and they struck down Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and they killed him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

3 Likewise, Ishmael struck down all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, with the Chaldeans who were found there, and the men of war.

4 Then, on the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, while no one yet knew of it,

5 men arrived from Shechem, and from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men, with their beards shaved, and their garments rent, and unbathed. And they had gifts and frankincense in hand, so that they might make an offering in the house of the Lord.

6 Therefore, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, departing from Mizpah to meet them, went forth weeping as he was walking. And when he had met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.”

7 And when they had arrived at the center of the city, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, put them to death around the public cistern, he and the men who were with him.

8 But ten men were found among them, who said to Ishmael: “Do not kill us! For in the field we have storehouses of grain and barley and oil and honey.” And so he ceased, and he did not put them to death with their brothers.

9 Now the cistern, into which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had struck down because of Gedaliah, is the same one that king Asa made out of fear of Baasha, the king of Israel. This same cistern Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled with those who were slain.

10 Then Ishmael led away captive all the remnant of the people who were at Mizpah, the king’s daughters as well as all the people who remained at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, had committed to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, seized them and went away, so that he might go over to the sons of Ammon.

11 But Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the fighters who were with him, heard about all the evil that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had done.

12 And taking all the men, they set out to make war against Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. And they found him at the great waters that are in Gibeon.

13 And when all the people who were with Ishmael had seen Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the fighters who were with him, they rejoiced.

14 And all the people whom Ishmael had seized turned back to Mizpah. And they returned and went over to Johanan, the son of Kareah.

15 But Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, fled with eight men from the face of Johanan, and they went over to the sons of Ammon.

16 Therefore, Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the fighters who were with him, took from Mizpah the entire remnant of the common people, whom they had led away from Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. These were strong men of battle, and women, and children, and eunuchs: those whom he had led away from Gibeon.

17 And they went away and settled as sojourners at Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, so that they might continue on and enter into Egypt,

18 away from the face of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had struck down Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land of Judah.

1 And all the leaders of the warriors, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and the rest of the common people, from the least even to the greatest, drew near.

2 And they said to Jeremiah the prophet: “Let our supplication fall before your sight. And pray for us to the Lord your God, on behalf of this entire remnant. For few out of many have been left behind, just as your eyes behold us.

3 And so, may the Lord your God announce to us the way that we must travel, and the word that we must accomplish.”

4 Then Jeremiah, the prophet, said to them: “I have listened. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words. And whatever word he will respond to me, I will declare to you. And I will conceal nothing from you.”

5 And they said to Jeremiah: “May the Lord be the witness between us of truth and fidelity, if we do not act according to whatever word the Lord your God will send by you to us.

6 Whether it is for good or for harm, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you. So may it be well with us, when we heed the voice of the Lord our God.”

7 Then, when ten days had been completed, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.

8 And he called Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of warriors who were with him, and all the people, from the least even to the greatest.

9 And he said to them: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you have sent me, so that I may present your petitions in his sight:

10 If you dwell quietly in this land, I will build you up, and I will not tear you down. I will plant you, and I will not uproot you. For now I have been appeased by the harm that I have done to you.

11 Do not be afraid before the face of the king of Babylon, whom you have dreaded with great fear. Do not dread him, says the Lord. For I am with you, so that I may accomplish your salvation, and so that I may rescue you from his hand.

12 And I will give you mercies, and I will take pity on you, and I will cause you to live in your own land.

13 But if you say: ‘We will not live in this land, nor will we heed the voice of the Lord our God,’

14 saying: ‘Never! Instead, we will travel to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, and we will not hear the blast of the trumpet, and we will not endure famine. And there we shall live.’

15 Because of this, hear now the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces so as to advance into Egypt, and if you enter so that you may live there,

16 the sword which you dread will overtake you there, in the land of Egypt, and the famine, about which you are anxious, will cling to you in Egypt, and there you shall die.

17 And all the men, who have set their faces so that they may advance to Egypt in order to live there, will die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence. None of them will remain, nor will they escape from the face of the evil that I will bring over them.

18 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Just as my fury and my indignation has been enflamed over the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will my indignation be enflamed over you, when you will have entered into Egypt. And so you will be an oath, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a disgrace. And you will never see this place again.

19 This is the word of the Lord concerning you, O remnant of Judah: Do not choose to enter into Egypt, for certainly you understand what I have sworn to you this day.

20 For you have deceived your own souls. For you have sent me to the Lord our God, saying: ‘Pray on our behalf to the Lord our God. And in accord with anything whatsoever that the Lord our God will tell you, announce this to us, and we will do it.’

21 And I have announced it to you this day, and you have not heeded the voice of the Lord your God, concerning everything about which he has sent me to you.

22 Therefore, know with certainty now, that you will die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, in the place which you wish to enter so that you may live there.”

1 Then it happened that, when Jeremiah had finished speaking all the words of the Lord their God to the people, all those words concerning which the Lord their God had sent him to them,

2 Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the exalted men, spoke to Jeremiah, saying: “You are speaking a lie! The Lord our God has not sent you to say: ‘You shall not enter into Egypt so as to live in that place.’

3 Instead, Baruch, the son of Neriah, has incited you against us, so as to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to put us to death and to cause us to be led away into Babylon.”

4 And so Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the warriors, and all the people, did not heed the voice of the Lord to remain in the land of Judah.

5 But Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the warriors, took away all the remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the nations (to which they had been scattered before) to live in the land of Judah:

6 men, and women, and children, and the daughters of the king, and every soul that Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, had left behind with Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as well as Jeremiah, the prophet, and Baruch, the son of Neriah.

7 And they entered into the land of Egypt. For they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they went as far as Tahpanhes.

8 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes, saying:

9 “Take great stones in your hand, and you shall conceal them in the crypt which is under the brick wall at the gate of the house of Pharaoh at Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah.

10 And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send for and take Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne over these stones which I have concealed, and he will establish his throne upon them.

11 And he will come and strike the land of Egypt: those who are meant for death, shall go to death, and those for captivity, to captivity, and those for the sword, to the sword.

12 And he will kindle a fire in the shrines of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them down, and he will lead them away captive. And he will clothe himself with the land of Egypt, just as a shepherd is clothed with his cloak. And he will go forth from that place in peace.

13 And he will crush the statues of the house of the Sun, those that are in the land of Egypt, and the shrines of the gods of Egypt he will burn up with fire.”

1 The word that came through Jeremiah to all the Jews who were living in the land of Egypt, living at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, saying:

2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You yourselves have seen all this evil that I have led over Jerusalem and over all the cities of Judah. And behold, they are desolate to this day, and there is no inhabitant in them,

3 because of the wickedness which they have done, so that they provoked me to wrath, and because they went to offer sacrifice and worship to strange gods, which neither they, nor you, nor your fathers knew.

4 And I sent to you all my servants, the prophets, rising in the night, and sending, and saying: ‘Do not choose to do this abominable word, which I hate.’

5 But they did not listen, nor did they incline their ear, so that they would convert from their evil, and so that they would not sacrifice to strange gods.

6 And so my indignation and my fury was fanned and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. And they have been turned into desolation and devastation, just as it is this day.

7 And now, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil against your own souls, so that, among you, man and woman, child and infant would pass away from the midst of Judah, and so that no remnant at all would be left behind of you?

8 For you have provoked me by the works of your hands, by sacrificing to strange gods in the land of Egypt, into which you have entered in order to live there, and so that you would perish and become a curse and a disgrace before all the nations of the earth.

9 How could you have forgotten the evils of your fathers, and the evils of the kings of Judah, and the evils of their wives, and your own evils, and the evils of your own wives, which they have done in the land of Judah and in the regions of Jerusalem?

10 They have not been cleansed, even to this day. And they have not feared, and they have not walked in the law of the Lord and in my precepts, which I have given before you and before your fathers.

11 For this reason, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face upon you for evil. And I will disperse all of Judah.

12 And I will take the remnant of Judah, who had set their faces so that they would enter into the land of Egypt and live there, and they will all be consumed in the land of Egypt. They will fall by the sword and by famine. And they will be consumed, from the least, even to the greatest. By sword and by famine shall they die. And they will be an oath, and a wonder, and a curse, and a disgrace.

13 And I will visit against those who are living in the land of Egypt, just as I have visited against Jerusalem: with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence.

14 And there will be no one who escapes, of those who remain among the remnant of the Jews, those who have gone to sojourn in the land of Egypt. And they wish to be returned to the land of Judah, for they lift up their souls so that they might return and live there. But there will be no one who may return, except those who will flee.”

15 Then all the men, knowing that their wives were sacrificing to strange gods, and all of the women, a great multitude of whom were standing there, and all of the people who were living in the land of Egypt at Pathros, responded to Jeremiah, by saying:

16 “Concerning the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not heed you.

17 But we will continue to do every word which proceeds from our own mouth, so that we sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and we pour out libations to her, just as we and our fathers have done, our kings and our leaders, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For we were filled with bread, and it was well with us, and we saw no evil.

18 But since the time that we ceased to offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and to pour out libations to her, we have been in need of all things, and we have been consumed by the sword and by famine.

19 But when we offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven and pour out libations to her, do we make cakes for her worship and offer libations to her without our husbands?”

20 And Jeremiah spoke to all the people, facing the men, and facing the women, and facing all the people who had responded this word to him, saying:

21 “Was this not the sacrifice that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your leaders, and the people of the land, which has been called to mind by the Lord and which has entered into his heart?

22 And the Lord could no longer bear this, because of the evil of your intentions, and because of the abominations that you have done. And so, your land has become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, and it is without an inhabitant, even to this day.

23 This is because you have sacrificed to idols, and you have sinned against the Lord. And you have not heeded the voice of the Lord, and you have not walked in his law, and in his precepts, and in his testimonies. It is for this reason that these evils have happened to you, just as it is today.”

24 Then Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women: “Listen to the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt:

25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You and your wives have spoken it with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying: ‘Let us perform our vows that we have made, so that we may offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and pour out libations to her.’ You have fulfilled your vows and accomplished their works.

26 Because of this, listen to the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, who live in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, that my name will never again be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in the land of Egypt, saying: ‘As the Lord God lives.’

27 Behold, I will be vigilant over them for harm, and not for good. And all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be consumed, by the sword and by famine, until they are thoroughly consumed.

28 And a few men, who will flee from the sword, will return from the land of Egypt into the land of Judah. And all the remnant of Judah, who had entered into the land of Egypt so as to live there, will know whose word will be completed, mine or theirs.

29 And this will be a sign to you, says the Lord, that I will visit against you in this place, so that truly you may know that my words will be completed against you for harm.”

30 Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will deliver Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who are seeking his life, just as I delivered Zedekiah, the king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, his enemy and the one who was seeking his life.”

1 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch, the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book, from the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying:

2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, Baruch:

3 You have said: ‘Woe to me, a wretched man! For the Lord has added sorrow to my sorrow. I have labored in my groaning, and I have not found rest.’

4 Thus says the Lord: So shall you say to him: Behold, those whom I have built up, I destroy, and those whom I have planted, I uproot, even this entire land.

5 And are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not choose to seek them. For behold, I will lead evil over all that is flesh, says the Lord. But I will give your life to you unto salvation, in every place, wherever you may travel.”

1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles,

2 about Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, which was beside the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, struck down, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah:

3 ” ‘Prepare the heavy and the light shield, and advance to war!

4 Harness the horses, and let the horsemen climb upon them! Stand forth with helmets! Sharpen the lances! Clothe yourselves in armor!’

5 And what is next? I have seen them terrified, and turning their backs, their strong ones cut down. They have fled in disorder and have not looked back. Terror on every side, says the Lord.

6 Let not the swift take flight; let not the strong ones think to save themselves. They have been conquered and ruined, toward the north, near the river Euphrates.

7 Who is this, who ascends like a flood, and whose streams swell up, like those of the rivers?

8 Egypt ascends in the form of a river, and its waves will be moved like those of a river. And he will say: ‘I will ascend and cover the earth! I will perish the city and its inhabitants!’

9 Mount the horses, and exult upon chariots, and let the strong ones advance: the Ethiopians, and the Libyans, who hold the heavy shield, and the Lydians, who grasp and shoot arrows.

10 For this is the day of the Lord, the God of hosts, a day of vengeance, so that he may vindicate himself of his enemies. The sword will devour, and be satiated, and be inebriated with their blood. For there is a victim of the Lord, the God of hosts, in the land of the north, beside the river Euphrates.

11 Ascend to Gilead, and take its balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! It is in vain that you multiply medicines; there will be no health for you!

12 The nations have heard of your disgrace, and your wailing has filled the earth. For the strong have stumbled against the strong, and both have fallen together.”

13 The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, concerning how Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, would arrive and strike the land of Egypt:

14 “Announce it to Egypt, and make it heard in Migdol, and let it resonate in Memphis and in Tahpanhes. Say this: Stand and prepare yourself! For the sword will devour everything around you.

15 Why have your strong ones decayed? They have not stood firm, because the Lord has overthrown them.

16 He has multiplied those in ruin, and each man has fallen beside his neighbor. And they will say: ‘Rise up, and let us return to our own people and to the land of our nativity, away from the face of the sword of the dove.

17 Call the name of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt: ‘Time has brought tumult.’

18 As I live, says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts, just as Tabor is among the mountains, and just as Carmel is beside the sea, so will he come.

19 Equip yourself for the transmigration, O daughter who inhabitants Egypt. For Memphis will be in desolation, and it will be deserted and uninhabited.

20 Egypt is like a stately and finely-formed calf. The one who will goad her will come from the north.

21 Her hired hands also, who move within her midst, like fatted calves have been turned back, and they have fled at the same time, and they are not able to stand firm. For the day of their passing away has overwhelmed them; it is the time of their visitation.

22 Her voice will sound out like brass. For they will rush forward with an army, and with axes they will come against her, like those who chop wood.

23 They have cut down her forest, says the Lord, which was not able to be counted. They have been multiplied more than locusts, and they are without number.

24 The daughter of Egypt has been confounded, and she has been delivered into the hand of the people of the north.

25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: Behold, I will visit against the tumult of Alexandria, and against Pharaoh, and against Egypt, and against her gods, and against her kings, and against Pharaoh, and against those who trust in him.

26 And I will give them over to the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. And after this, it shall be inhabited, just as in the former days, says the Lord.

27 And as for you, my servant Jacob, you should not be afraid, and you should not dread, O Israel. For behold, I will bring your salvation from afar, and your offspring from the land of your captivity. And Jacob will return and have rest, and he will prosper. And there will be no one who may terrify him.

28 And as for you, my servant Jacob, do not be afraid, says the Lord. For I am with you. For I will consume all the nations to which I have cast you out. Yet truly, I will not consume you. Instead, I will chastise you in judgment, but neither will I spare you, as if you were innocent.”

1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah, the prophet, against the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza.

2 Thus says the Lord: “Behold, waters will rise up from the north, and they will be like an inundating torrent, and they will cover the land and its plenitude, the city and its inhabitants. The men will cry out, and all the inhabitants of the land will wail,

3 before the uproar of a procession of weapons and of his soldiers, before the commotion of his four-horse chariots and the multitude of his wheels. The fathers have not looked back for the sons, because of feebleness of hands,

4 because of the arrival of the day on which all the Philistines will be devastated, and Tyre and Sidon will be destroyed, with all the rest of their helpers. For the Lord has depopulated the Philistines, the remnant of the island of Cappadocia.

5 Baldness has arrived over Gaza. Ashkelon has been silenced, along with the remnant of their valley. And how long will you continue to be cut down?

6 O sharp sword of the Lord, how long will you be without rest? Enter your sheath; be refreshed and silenced.

7 But how can it find rest, when the Lord has ordered it against Ashkelon and against its maritime regions, and when a task has been appointed to it there?”

1 Against Moab, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe upon Nebo! For it has been devastated and confounded. Kiriathaim has been seized; the strong one has been confounded and has trembled.

2 There is no longer any rejoicing in Moab over Heshbon. They have devised evil. ‘Come and let us destroy it as a nation.’ Then you will be utterly silenced, and the sword will pursue you.

3 A voice of clamor from Horonaim: devastation and great destruction!

4 Moab has been crushed. Announce an outcry for her little ones.

5 For, along the ascent of Luhith, the mourner will ascend with weeping. For, on the descent of Horonaim, the enemies have heard the wailing of devastation.

6 Flee, save your lives! And you shall be like a saltcedar tree in the desert.

7 For because you have had faith in your fortifications and in your storehouses, you too will be seized. And Chemosh will go into captivity: his priests and his leaders together.

8 And the despoiler will overwhelm every city, and not a single city will be saved. And the valleys will perish, and the fields will be destroyed. For the Lord has spoken.

9 Give a blossom to Moab. For it will depart when it is blossoming. And its cities will become desolate and uninhabited.

10 Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully. And cursed is he who prohibits his sword from blood.

11 Moab has been fertile from his youth, and he has rested amid his brood. And he has not been transferred from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into the transmigration. Therefore, his taste has remained with him, and his scent has not changed.

12 Because of this, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will send to him those who will line up and knock down his bottles, and they will knock him down and empty his vessels, and they will break their bottles against one another.

13 And Moab will be confounded by Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was shamed by Bethel, in which they had faith.

14 How can you say: ‘We are strong and robust men of battle?’

15 Moab has been devastated, and they have cut down her cities. And her elect young men have descended to slaughter. So says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

16 The passing away of Moab draws near and arrives. Its evil will rush forward with great speed.

17 Console him, all you who surround him and all you who know his name. Say: ‘How has the strong staff become broken, the glorious staff?’

18 Descend from your glory, and sit in thirst, O habitation of the daughter of Dibon! For the destroyer of Moab has ascended to you; he has dissipated your fortifications.

19 Stand in the way, and gaze out, O habitation of Aroer! Question him who is fleeing, and say to him who has escaped: ‘What has happened?’

20 Moab has been confounded, because he has been conquered. Wail and cry out! Announce it in Arnon: Moab has been devastated,

21 and judgment has arrived upon the land of the plains: upon Holon, and upon Jahzah, and upon Mephaath,

22 and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon the house of Deblathaim,

23 and upon Kiriathaim, and upon the house of Gamul, and upon the house of Meon,

24 and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, those far away and those nearby.

25 The horn of Moab has been cut away, and his arm has been crushed, says the Lord.

26 Inebriate him, for he has lifted himself up against the Lord. And Moab will thrust his hand into his own vomit, and also now he himself will become a derision.

27 For Israel had been a derision to them. It was as if you had discovered him among thieves. Because of your own words, then, which you have spoken against him, you will be led away captive.

28 Relinquish the cities, and live upon a rock, O inhabitants of Moab, and be like a dove nesting at the mouth of an opening at the summit.

29 We have listened to the arrogance of Moab; he is very proud: his exaltation, and arrogance, and pride, and the loftiness of his heart.

30 I myself know, says the Lord, his boasting, and that his ability is not in accord with it, nor is it in accord with what he has been striving to do.

31 For this reason, I will wail over Moab, and I will cry out to all of Moab, to the men on the brick wall who are lamenting.

32 O vineyard of Sibmah, I will weep for you, with the mourning of Jazer. Your offshoots have crossed over the sea. They have reached even to the sea of Jazer. The despoiler has rushed over your harvest and your vintage.

33 Rejoicing and exultation has been taken away from Carmel and from the land of Moab. And I have taken the wine from the winepresses. The treader of grapes will no longer sing the usual rhythmic chant.

34 From the outcry of Heshbon, even to Elealeh and Jahzah, they have uttered their voice; from Zoar, even to Horonaim, like a three year old calf. So too, the waters of Nimrim will be very bad.

35 And I will take away from Moab, says the Lord, the one who makes offerings in exalted places, and the one who sacrifices to his gods.

36 Because of this, my heart will resound for Moab, like the pipes, and my heart will make a sound like the pipes for the men on the brick wall. For he has done more than he was able, yet still they have perished.

37 For every head will be bald, and every beard will be shaved. All the hands will be bound together, and there will be haircloth on every back.

38 Over all the rooftops of Moab, and in its streets, everyone will mourn. For I have crushed Moab like a useless vessel, says the Lord.

39 How was it conquered, so that they would wail? How is it that Moab has cast down his neck and been confounded? And Moab will be a derision and an example to everyone around him.”

40 Thus says the Lord: “Behold, he will fly like the eagle, and he will extend his wings to Moab.

41 Kerioth has been captured, and the fortifications have been taken. And in that day, the heart of the strong ones of Moab will be like the heart of a woman giving birth.

42 And Moab will cease to be a people. For he has been glorified against the Lord.

43 Terror and the pit and the snare will overwhelm you, O inhabitant of Moab, says the Lord.

44 Whoever flees from the terror will fall into the pit. And whoever climbs out of the pit will be seized by the snare. For I will lead over Moab the year of their visitation, says the Lord.

45 Those fleeing from the snare stood in the shadow of Heshbon. For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and it will devour the portion of Moab, and the top of the head of the sons of tumult.

46 Woe to you, O Moab! You have been ruined, O people of Chemosh! For your sons and your daughters have been taken into captivity.

47 But I will convert the captivity of Moab in the last days, says the Lord.” Such are the judgments of Moab thus far.

1 Against the sons of Ammon. Thus says the Lord: “Does Israel have no sons? Or is there no heir for him? Then why has Milcom possessed the inheritance of Gad, and why have his people lived in his cities?

2 Therefore, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will cause the noise of battle to be heard over Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. And it will be scattered into a tumult, and her daughters will be burned with fire. And Israel shall possess those who had possessed him, says the Lord.

3 Wail, O Heshbon! For Ai has been devastated. Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Wrap yourselves with haircloth. Mourn and circle the hedges. For Milcom will be led into the transmigration: his priests and his leaders together.

4 Why have you gloried in the valleys? Your valley has flowed away, O delicate daughter, for you had confidence in your treasures, and you were saying, ‘Who can approach me?’

5 Behold, I will lead a terror over you, says the Lord, the God of hosts, from those who are all around you. And you will be dispersed, each one from before your sight. There will be no one who will gather together those who are fleeing.

6 And after this, I will cause the captives of the sons of Ammon to return, says the Lord.”

7 Against Idumea. Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman? Counsel has perished from the sons. Their wisdom has become useless.

8 Flee and turn your backs! Descend into the chasm, O inhabitants of Dedan! For I have brought the perdition of Esau over him, the time of his visitation.

9 If those who gather grapes had passed by you, would they not have left behind a cluster? If there were thieves in the night, they would seize what was enough for themselves.

10 Yet truly, I have stripped Esau bare. I have revealed his secrets, and he is not able to be concealed. His offspring has been devastated, with his brothers and his neighbors, and he himself will not exist.

11 Leave behind your orphans. I will make sure that they live. And your widows will hope in me.”

12 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, those who judged that they would not drink the cup, will certainly drink. And so, will you be released as if you were innocent? You will not be released as if innocent. Instead, you shall certainly drink.

13 For I have sworn by myself, says the Lord, that Bozrah will be a desolation, and a disgrace, and a wasteland, and a curse. And all her cities will be a perpetual wilderness.

14 I have heard a report from the Lord, and an legate has been sent to the nations: ‘Gather yourselves together, and go forth against her, and let us rise up to battle.’

15 For behold, I have made you little among the nations, contemptible among men.

16 Your arrogance has deceived you, by the pride of your heart, you who live in the caverns of the rock and who strive to take hold of the height of the hill. But even if you make your nest like that of an eagle, I will pull you down from there, says the Lord.

17 And Idumea will be a desert. Everyone who passes by it will be stupefied and will hiss over all its wounds.

18 Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors were overthrown, says the Lord: there will not be a man living there, and no son of man will tend it.

19 Behold, he will ascend like a lion from the arrogance of the Jordan, against the robust beauty. For I will cause him to rush against her suddenly. And who will be the elect one, whom I may appoint over her? For who is like me? And who can endure me? And who is that pastor who can withstand my countenance?

20 Because of this, listen to the counsel of the Lord, which he has undertaken concerning Edom, and to his thoughts, which he has devised concerning the inhabitants of Teman. Certainly, the little ones of the flock will cast them down, unless they scatter them with their habitation.

21 The earth has been shaken at the noise of their destruction. The outcry of their voice has been heard at the Red Sea.

22 Behold, he will ascend like an eagle and will fly. And he will spread his wings over Bozrah. And in that day, the heart of the strong ones of Idumea will be like the heart of a woman giving birth.”

23 Against Damascus. “Hamath has been confounded, with Arpad. For they have heard a most grievous report. They have been stirred up like the sea. Because of anxiousness, they were not able to rest.

24 Damascus has been broken. She has been turned to flight. Trembling has taken hold of her. Anguish and sorrows have seized her, like a woman giving birth.

25 How could they have abandoned the praiseworthy city, the city of rejoicing?

26 For this reason, her young men will fall in her streets. And all the men of battle will be silenced in that day, says the Lord of hosts.

27 And I will kindle a fire at the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the defensive walls of Ben-hadad.”

28 Against Kedar and against the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has struck down. Thus says the Lord: “Rise up and ascend to Kedar, and lay waste to the sons of the East.

29 They will seize their tabernacles and their flocks. And they will take for themselves their tents, and all their vessels, and their camels. And they will call down a terror upon them on every side.

30 Flee, go away urgently! Sit in deep pits, you who inhabit Hazor, says the Lord. For Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has undertaken a counsel against you, and he has devised plans against you.

31 Rise up, and ascend to a nation that is quiet and lives in confidence, says the Lord. They have neither gates nor bars. They dwell alone.

32 And their camels will be a spoil, and the multitude of their cattle will be a prey. And I will disperse, into every wind, those who have shaved their hair. And from all their confines, I will lead great destruction over them, says the Lord.

33 And Hazor will be a habitation for serpents, deserted even unto eternity. No man will abide there, nor will a son of man tend it.”

34 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, saying:

35 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, and the summit of their strength.

36 And I will lead the four winds over Elam, from the four corners of heaven. And I will scatter them into all these winds. And there will be no nation to which the fugitives of Elam will not travel.

37 And I will cause Elam to be terrified before their enemies and in the sight of those who seek their life. And I will lead an evil over them, the wrath of my fury, says the Lord. And I will send the sword after them, until I consume them.

38 And I will set my throne in Elam, and I will perish the kings and princes from there, says the Lord.

39 But in the last days, I will cause the captives of Elam to return, says the Lord.”

1 The word that the Lord has spoken about Babylon and about the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.

2 “Announce it among the Gentiles, and make it known. Lift up a sign. Proclaim it and do not conceal it. Say this: ‘Babylon has been captured. Bel has been confounded. Merodach has been conquered. Their graven things have been confounded. Their idols have not survived.’

3 For a nation has ascended against her from the north, which will set her land in desolation. And there will be no one who may live within it, from man even to beast. For they have been removed and have gone away.

4 In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the sons of Israel will advance, they and the sons of Judah together. Weeping as they walk, they will hurry on, and they will seek the Lord their God.

5 They will ask the way to Zion; their faces will be set toward this place. They will arrive and will be joined to the Lord by an everlasting covenant, which nothing will wipe away into oblivion.

6 My people have become a lost flock. Their shepherds have led them astray and have caused them to wander in the mountains. They have crossed from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place.

7 All whom they have found, they have devoured. And their enemies have said: ‘We have not sinned. For it is they who have sinned against the Lord, the beauty of justice, and against the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’

8 Withdraw from the midst of Babylon, and go forth from the land of the Chaldeans. And be like young goats before the flock.

9 For behold, I am raising up, and I will lead against Babylon, a congregation of great nations from the land of the north. And they will be prepared against her, and from there she will be taken. Their arrows, like those of a strong man, a killer, will not return empty.

10 And Chaldea will become a prey. All who lay waste to her will be filled, says the Lord.

11 For you exult and you speak great things, plundering my inheritance. For you have spread out like calves upon the grass, and you have bellowed like bulls.

12 Your mother has been exceedingly shamed, and she who bore you has become equal to the dust. Behold, she will be the last among the nations, a desert, impassable and dry.

13 By the wrath of the Lord, it will not be inhabited. Instead, it will be entirely desolate. Every one who passes by Babylon will be stupefied and will hiss over all her wounds.

14 Prepare yourselves against Babylon, on every side, all you who bend the bow. Make war against her! You should not spare the arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord.

15 Cry out against her! For where she has put forth a hand, her foundations have fallen, her walls have been destroyed. For it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance against her! Just as she has done, do so to her.

16 Destroy the founder from Babylon, and the one who holds the sickle in the time of harvest. Before the face of the sword of the dove, each one will turn back to his people, and every one will flee to his own land.

17 Israel is a scattered flock. The lions have driven him away. First, the king of Assyria devoured him. And last, this Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has taken away his bones.

18 Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will visit the king of Babylon and his land, just as I have visited the king of Assyria.

19 And I will lead back Israel to his habitation. And he will pasture on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul will be satiated at mount Ephraim and Gilead.

20 In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel will be sought, and there will be none. And the sin of Judah will be sought, and none will be found. For I will be forgiving to them, whom I will leave behind.

21 Ascend against the land of the rulers, and visit against its inhabitants! Scatter and destroy whatever has been left behind them, says the Lord, and act according to all that I have instructed you.

22 A voice of war in the land, and great destruction!

23 How has the mallet of the entire earth been broken and crushed? How has Babylon been turned into a desert among the nations?

24 I have ensnared you, and you have been captured, O Babylon, and you did not realize it. You have been discovered and seized, because you provoked the Lord.

25 The Lord has opened his storehouse, and he has brought forth the instruments of his wrath. For there is work for the Lord, the God of hosts, within the land of the Chaldeans.

26 Advance against her from the furthest regions! Open, so that those who will trample her may go out! Take stones from the road, and gather them into piles, and destroy her. And let there be nothing left of her.

27 Scatter all her strong ones. Let them descend to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has arrived, the time of their visitation.

28 It is the voice of those who are fleeing and of those who have escaped from the land of Babylon: to announce in Zion the revenge of the Lord our God, the revenge of his Temple.

29 Announce it to the many in Babylon, to all who bend the bow. Stand together against her all around, and let no one escape. Repay her according to her work. In accord with all that she has done, do to her. For she has raised herself up against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.

30 For this reason, her young men will fall in her streets. And all her men of war will be silenced, in that day, says the Lord.

31 Behold, I am against you, O proud one, says the Lord, the God of hosts. For your day has arrived, the time of your visitation.

32 And the proud one will fall and be ruined. And there will be no one who may lift him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour everything around him.”

33 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have endured calumny together. All who have seized them are holding them and refusing to release them.

34 Their redeemer is strong. The Lord of hosts is his name. He will defend their case in judgment, so that he may terrify the land and disturb the inhabitants of Babylon.

35 A sword is for the Chaldeans, says the Lord, and for the inhabitants of Babylon, and for her leaders, and for her wise ones.

36 A sword is for her diviners, who will be fooled. A sword is for her strong ones, who will be afraid.

37 A sword is for their horses, and for their chariots, and for all the common people who are in her midst. And they will be like women. A sword is for her storehouses, and they will be plundered.

38 A drought is over her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and they glory in portents.

39 Because of this, dragons will live there with the fig fauns, and ostriches will live in it. And it will no longer be inhabited, even in perpetuity, nor will it be raised up, even from generation to generation.

40 Just as the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and their neighboring towns, says the Lord, no man will live there, and a son of man will not tend it.

41 Behold, a people arrives from the north, and a great nation. And many kings will rise up from the ends of the earth.

42 They will take up the bow and the shield. They are cruel and merciless. Their voice will sound out, like the sea, and they will ride upon horses, like a man prepared for battle against you, O daughter of Babylon.

43 The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, and his hands have been weakened. Anguish has overtaken him, like the pains of a woman giving birth.

44 Behold, he will ascend like a lion from the arrogance of the Jordan to the robust beauty. For I will cause him to rush upon her suddenly. And who will be the elect one, whom I may appoint over her? For who is like me? And who can endure me? And who is that pastor who can withstand my countenance?”

45 Because of this, listen to the counsel of the Lord, which he has conceived in his mind against Babylon, and to his thoughts, which he has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: “Certainly the little ones of the flocks will pull them down, unless their habitation will have been destroyed with them.

46 At the voice of the captivity of Babylon, the earth has been moved, and an outcry has been heard among the nations.”