Hebrew Names Version HNV
The Message Bible MSG
1 The word that the LORD spoke concerning Bavel, concerning the land of the Kasdim, by Yirmeyahu the prophet.
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The Message of God through the prophet Jeremiah on Babylon, land of the Chaldeans:
2 Declare you among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don't conceal: say, Bavel is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodakh is dismayed; her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.
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"Get the word out to the nations! Preach it! Go public with this, broadcast it far and wide: Babylon taken, god-Bel hanging his head in shame, god-Marduk exposed as a fraud. All her god-idols shuffling in shame, all her play-gods exposed as cheap frauds.
3 For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and animal.
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For a nation will come out of the north to attack her, reduce her cities to rubble. Empty of life - no animals, no people - not a sound, not a movement, not a breath.
4 In those days, and in that time, says the LORD, the children of Yisra'el shall come, they and the children of Yehudah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek the LORD their God.
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"In those days, at that time" - God's Decree - "the people of Israel will come, And the people of Judah with them. Walking and weeping, they'll seek me, their God.
5 They shall inquire concerning Tziyon with their faces turned toward it, [saying], Come, and join yourselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.
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They'll ask directions to Zion and set their faces toward Zion. They'll come and hold tight to God, bound in a covenant eternal they'll never forget.
6 My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting-place.
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"My people were lost sheep. Their shepherds led them astray. They abandoned them in the mountains where they wandered aimless through the hills. They lost track of home, couldn't remember where they came from.
7 All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of righteousness, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.
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Everyone who met them took advantage of them. Their enemies had no qualms: 'Fair game' they said. 'They walked out on God. They abandoned the True Pasture, the hope of their parents.'
8 Flee out of the midst of Bavel, and go forth out of the land of the Kasdim, and be as the male goats before the flocks.
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"But now, get out of Babylon as fast as you can. Be rid of that Babylonian country. On your way. Good sheepdogs lead, but don't you be led. Lead the way home!
9 For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Bavel a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain.
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Do you see what I'm doing? I'm rallying a host of nations against Babylon. They'll come out of the north, attack and take her. Oh, they know how to fight, these armies. They never come home empty-handed.
10 Kasdim shall be a prey: all who prey on her shall be satisfied, says the LORD.
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Babylon is ripe for picking! All her plunderers will fill their bellies!" God's Decree.
11 Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out [the grain], and neigh as strong horses;
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"You Babylonians had a good time while it lasted, didn't you? You lived it up, exploiting and using my people, Frisky calves romping in lush pastures, wild stallions out having a good time!
12 your mother shall be utterly put to shame; she who bore you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
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Well, your mother would hardly be proud of you. The woman who bore you wouldn't be pleased. Look at what's come of you! A nothing nation! Rubble and garbage and weeds!
13 Because of the wrath of the LORD she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: everyone who goes by Bavel shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
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Emptied of life by my holy anger, a desert of death and emptiness. Travelers who pass by Babylon will gasp, appalled, shaking their heads at such a comedown.
14 Set yourselves in array against Bavel round about, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against the LORD.
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Gang up on Babylon! Pin her down! Throw everything you have against her. Hold nothing back. Knock her flat. She's sinned - oh, how she's sinned, against me!
15 Shout against her round about: she has submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her.
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Shout battle cries from every direction. All the fight has gone out of her. Her defenses have been flattened, her walls smashed. 'Operation God's Vengeance.' Pile on the vengeance! Do to her as she has done. Give her a good dose of her own medicine!
16 Cut off the sower from Bavel, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn everyone to his people, and they shall flee everyone to his own land.
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Destroy her farms and farmers, ravage her fields, empty her barns. And you captives, while the destruction rages, get out while the getting's good, get out fast and run for home.
17 Yisra'el is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Ashshur devoured him; and now at last Nevukhadretztzar king of Bavel has broken his bones.
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"Israel is a scattered flock, hunted down by lions. The king of Assyria started the carnage. The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, Has completed the job, gnawing the bones clean."
18 Therefore thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Yisra'el: Behold, I will punish the king of Bavel and his land, as I have punished the king of Ashshur.
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And now this is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, has to say: "Just watch! I'm bringing doom on the king of Babylon and his land, the same doom I brought on the king of Assyria.
19 I will bring Yisra'el again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Karmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on the hills of Efrayim and in Gil`ad.
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But Israel I'll bring home to good pastures. He'll graze on the hills of Carmel and Bashan, On the slopes of Ephraim and Gilead. He will eat to his heart's content.
20 In those days, and in that time, says the LORD, the iniquity of Yisra'el shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Yehudah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.
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In those days and at that time" - God's Decree - "they'll look high and low for a sign of Israel's guilt - nothing; Search nook and cranny for a trace of Judah's sin - nothing. These people that I've saved will start out with a clean slate.
21 Go up against the land of Meratayim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: kill and utterly destroy after them, says the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded you.
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"Attack Merathaim, land of rebels! Go after Pekod, country of doom! Hunt them down. Make a clean sweep." God's Decree. "These are my orders. Do what I tell you.
22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
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"The thunderclap of battle shakes the foundations!
23 How is the hammer of the whole eretz cut apart and broken! how is Bavel become a desolation among the nations!
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The Hammer has been hammered, smashed and splintered, Babylon pummeled beyond recognition.
24 I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Bavel, and you weren't aware: you are found, and also caught, because you have striven against the LORD.
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I set out a trap and you were caught in it. O Babylon, you never knew what hit you, Caught and held in the steel grip of that trap! That's what you get for taking on God.
25 The LORD has opened his armory, and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, the LORD of Hosts, has a work [to do] in the land of the Kasdim.
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"I, God, opened my arsenal. I brought out my weapons of wrath. The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, has a job to do in Babylon.
26 Come against her from the utmost border; open her store-houses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left.
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Come at her from all sides! Break into her granaries! Shovel her into piles and burn her up. Leave nothing! Leave no one!
27 Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
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Kill all her young turks. Send them to their doom! Doom to them! Yes, Doomsday! The clock has finally run out on them.
28 The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Bavel, to declare in Tziyon the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.
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And here's a surprise: Runaways and escapees from Babylon Show up in Zion reporting the news of God's vengeance, taking vengeance for my own Temple.
29 Call together the archers against Bavel, all those who bend the bow; encamp against her round about; let none of it escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Yisra'el.
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"Call in the troops against Babylon, anyone who can shoot straight! Tighten the noose! Leave no loopholes! Give her back as good as she gave, a dose of her own medicine! Her brazen insolence is an outrage against God, The Holy of Israel.
30 Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says the LORD.
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And now she pays: her young strewn dead in the streets, her soldiers dead, silent forever." God's Decree.
31 Behold, I am against you, you proud one, says the Lord, the LORD of Hosts; for your day is come, the time that I will visit you.
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"Do you get it, Mister Pride? I'm your enemy!" Decree of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies. "Time's run out on you: That's right: It's Doomsday.
32 The proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are round about him.
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Mister Pride will fall flat on his face. No one will offer him a hand. I'll set his towns on fire. The fire will spread wild through the country."
33 Thus says the LORD of hosts: The children of Yisra'el and the children of Yehudah are oppressed together; and all who took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go.
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And here's more from God-of-the-Angel-Armies: "The people of Israel are beaten down, the people of Judah along with them. Their oppressors have them in a grip of steel. They won't let go.
34 Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of Hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the eretz, and disquiet the inhabitants of Bavel.
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But the Rescuer is strong: God-of-the-Angel-Armies. Yes, I will take their side, I'll come to their rescue. I'll soothe their land, but rough up the people of Babylon.
35 A sword is on the Kasdim, says the LORD, and on the inhabitants of Bavel, and on her princes, and on her wise men.
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"It's all-out war in Babylon" - God's Decree - "total war against people, leaders, and the wise!
36 A sword is on the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.
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War to the death on her boasting pretenders, fools one and all! War to the death on her soldiers, cowards to a man!
37 A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is on her treasures, and they shall be robbed.
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War to the death on her hired killers, gutless wonders! War to the death on her banks - looted!
38 A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they are mad over idols.
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War to the death on her water supply - drained dry! A land of make-believe gods gone crazy - hobgoblins!
39 Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be lived in from generation to generation.
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The place will be haunted with jackals and scorpions, night-owls and vampire bats. No one will ever live there again. The land will reek with the stench of death.
40 As when God overthrew Sedom and `Amorah and the neighbor cities of it, says the LORD, so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.
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It will join Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, the cities I did away with." God's Decree. "No one will live there again. No one will again draw breath in that land, ever.
41 Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the eretz.
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"And now, watch this! People pouring out of the north, hordes of people, A mob of kings stirred up from far-off places.
42 They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Bavel.
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Flourishing deadly weapons, barbarians they are, cruel and pitiless. Roaring and relentless, like ocean breakers, they come riding fierce stallions, In battle formation, ready to fight you, Daughter Babylon!
43 The king of Bavel has heard the news of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail.
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Babylon's king hears them coming. He goes white as a ghost, limp as a dishrag. Terror-stricken, he doubles up in pain, helpless to fight, like a woman giving birth to a baby.
44 Behold, [the enemy] shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Yarden against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd who can stand before me?
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"And now watch this: Like a lion coming up from the thick jungle of the Jordan, Looking for prey in the mountain pastures, I'll take over and pounce. I'll take my pick of the flock - and who's to stop me? All the so-called shepherds are helpless before me."
45 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Bavel; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Kasdim: Surely they shall drag them away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.
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So, listen to this plan that God has worked out against Babylon, the blueprint of what he's prepared for dealing with Chaldea: Believe it or not, the young, the vulnerable - mere lambs and kids - will be dragged off. Believe it or not, the flock in shock, helpless to help, watches it happen.
46 At the noise of the taking of Bavel the eretz trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations.
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When the shout goes up, "Babylon's down!" the very earth will shudder at the sound. The news will be heard all over the world.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.