Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Jeremiah, chapters 50 and 51. Chapter 50 The
word that the Lord spoke against Babylon and
against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah
the prophet. Declare among the nations, proclaim
and set up a standard. Proclaim, do not conceal
it. Say, Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed. Merodach
is broken in pieces. Her idols are humiliated,
her images are broken in pieces. For out of the
north a nation comes up against her, which shall
make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell
therein. They shall move, they shall depart,
both man and beast. In those days and in that
time, says the Lord, the children of Israel shall
come, they and the children of Judah together.
With continual weeping they shall come and seek
the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to
Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, Come
and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual
covenant that will not be forgotten. My people
have been lost cheap. Their shepherds have led
them astray. They have turned them away on the
mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill.
They have forgotten their resting place. All
who found them have devoured them. And their
adversaries said, We have not offended, because
they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation
of justice, the Lord, the hope of their fathers.
Move from the midst of Babylon, go out of the
land of the Chaldeans, and be like the rams before
the flocks. For behold, I will raise and cause
to come up against Babylon, an assembly of great
nations from the north country, and they shall
array themselves against her. From there she
shall be captured, their arrows shall be like
those of an expert warrior, none shall return
in vain, and Chaldea shall become plunder. All
who plunder her shall be satisfied, says the
Lord. Because you were glad, because you rejoiced,
you destroyers of my heritage, because you have
grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, and
you bellow like bulls, your mother shall be deeply
ashamed. She who bore you shall be ashamed. Behold,
the least of the nations shall be a wilderness,
a dry land and a desert. Because of the wrath
of the Lord, she shall not be inhabited, but
she shall be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes
by Babylon shall be horrified and hiss at all
her plagues. Put yourselves in array against
Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow.
Shoot at her, spare no arrows, for she has sinned
against the Lord. Shout against her all around,
she has given her hand. Her foundations have
fallen, her walls are thrown down. For it is
the vengeance of the Lord, take vengeance on
her. As she has done, so do to her. Cut off the
sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle
at harvest time. For fear of the oppressing sword,
everyone shall turn to his own people, and everyone
shall flee to his own land. Israel is like scattered
sheep, the lions have driven him away. First
the king of Assyria devoured him, Now at last
this Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has broken
his bones. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, Behold, I will punish the
king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished
the king of Assyria. But I will bring back Israel
to his home, and he shall feed on Carmel and
Bashan. His soul shall be satisfied on Mount
Ephraim and Gilead. In those days and in that
time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall
be sought, but there shall be none. and the sins
of Judah, but they shall not be found. For I
will pardon those whom I preserve. Go up against
the land of Merathim, against it and against
the inhabitants of Pechod. Waste and utterly
destroy them, says the Lord, and do according
to all that I have commanded you. A sound of
battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut
apart and broken. How Babylon has become a desolation
among the nations. I have laid a snare for you.
You have indeed been trapped, O Babylon, and
you were not aware. You have been found and also
caught, because you have contended against the
Lord. The Lord has opened his armory and has
brought out the weapons of his indignation. For
this is the work of the Lord God of hosts. In
the land of the Chaldeans, come against her from
the farthest border. Open her storehouses, cast
her up as heaps of ruins, and destroy her utterly.
Let nothing of her be left. Slay all her bulls.
Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them!
For their day has come, the time of their punishment.
The voice of those who flee and escape from the
land of Babylon declares in Zion the vengeance
of the Lord our God, the vengeance of His temple.
Call together the archers against Babylon. All
who bend the bow encamp against it all around.
Let none of them escape. Repay her according
to her work, according to all she has done due
to her. For she has been proud against the Lord,
against the Holy One of Israel. Therefore her
young men shall fall in the streets, and all
her men of war shall be cut off in that day,
says the Lord. Behold, I am against you, O most
haughty one, says the Lord God of hosts. For
your day has come, the time that I will punish
you. The most proud shall stumble and fall, and
no one will raise him up. I will kindle a fire
in his cities, and it will devour all around
him. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the children
of Israel were oppressed, along with the children
of Judah. All who took them captive have held
them fast. They have refused to let them go.
Their Redeemer is strong. The Lord of hosts is
his name. He will thoroughly plead their case,
that he may give rest to the land and disquiet
the inhabitants of Babylon. A sword is against
the Chaldeans, says the Lord, against the inhabitants
of Babylon, and against her princes and her wise
men. A sword is against the soothsayers and they
will be fools. A sword is against her mighty
men and they will be dismayed. A sword is against
their horses, against their chariots, and against
all the mixed peoples who are in her midst and
they will become like women. A sword is against
her treasures and they will be robbed. A drought
is against her waters and they will be dried
up. For it is the land of carved images and they
are insane with their idols. Therefore the wild
desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals,
and the ostriches shall dwell in it. It shall
be inhabited no more for ever, nor shall it be
dwelt in from generation to generation. As God
overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors,
says the Lord, so no one shall reside there,
nor son of man dwell in it. Behold, the people
shall come from the north, and a great nation
and many kings shall be raised up from the ends
of the earth. They shall hold the bow and the
lance. They are cruel and shall not show mercy.
Their voice shall roar like the sea. They shall
ride on horses, set in array like a man for the
battle against you, O daughter of Babylon. The
king of Babylon has heard the report about them,
and his hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken
hold of him, pangs as of a woman in childbirth.
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the
flood plain of the Jordan against the dwelling
place of the strong. But I will make them suddenly
run away from her. And who is a chosen man that
I may appoint over her? For who is like me? Who
will arraign me? And who is that shepherd who
will withstand me? Therefore hear the counsel
of the Lord that he has taken against Babylon
and his purposes that he has proposed against
the land of the Chaldeans. Surely the least of
the flock shall draw them out. Surely he will
make their dwelling place desolate with them.
At the noise of the taking of Babylon, the earth
trembles, and a cry is heard among the nations.
Chapter 51 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will
raise up against Babylon, against those who dwell
in Lab Kamai, a destroying wind, and I will send
winnowers to Babylon, who shall winnow her and
empty her land. For in the day of doom they shall
be against her all around. Against her let the
archer bend his bow, and lift himself up against
her in his armor. Do not spare her young men,
utterly destroy all her army. Thus the slain
shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and
those thrust through in her streets. For Israel
is not forsaken, nor Judah. By his God, the Lord
of hosts, though their land was filled with sin
against the Holy One of Israel. Flee from the
midst of Babylon, and everyone save his life.
Do not be cut off in her iniquity, for this is
the time of the Lord's vengeance. He shall recompense
her. Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand
that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank
her wine. Therefore the nations are deranged.
Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed.
Wail for her. Take balm for her pain. Perhaps
she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon,
but she is not healed. forsake her and let us
go everyone to his own country for her judgment
reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies
the lord has revealed our righteousness come
and let us declare in zion the work of the lord
our god make the arrows bright gather the shields
the lord has raised up the spirit of the kings
of the medes for his plan is against babylon
to destroy it because it is the vengeance of
the lord the vengeance for his temple Set up
the standard on the walls of Babylon. Make the
guard strong. Set up the watchmen. Prepare the
ambushes. For the Lord has both devised and done
what he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
O you who dwell by many waters, abundant in treasures,
your end has come, the measure of your covetousness.
The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself, Surely
I will fill you with men as with locusts, and
they shall lift up a shout against you. He has
made the earth by his power. He has established
the world by his wisdom and stretched out the
heaven by his understanding. When he utters his
voice, there is a multitude of waters in the
heavens. He causes the vapors to ascend from
the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for
the rain. He brings the wind out of his treasuries.
Everyone is dull -hearted without knowledge.
Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved
image. For his molded image is falsehood, and
there is no breath in them. They are futile,
a work of errors. In the time of their punishment
they shall perish. The portion of Jacob is not
like them, for he is the maker of all things.
And Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. The
Lord of hosts is his name. You are my battle
axe and weapons of war. For with you I will break
the nation in pieces. With you I will destroy
kingdoms. With you I will break in pieces the
horse and its rider. With you I will break in
pieces the chariot and its rider. With you also
I will break in pieces man and woman. With you
I will break in pieces old and young. With you
I will break in pieces the young man and the
maiden. With you also I will break in pieces
the shepherd and his flock. With you I will break
in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen, and
with you I will break in pieces governors and
rulers. And I will repay Babylon and all the
inhabitants of Chaldea for all the evil they
have done, in Zion in your sight, says the Lord.
Behold, I am against you a destroying mountain,
who destroys all the earth, says the Lord. And
I will stretch out my hand against you, roll
you down from the rocks, and make you a burnt
mountain. They shall not take from you a stone
for a corner, nor a stone for a foundation, but
you shall be desolate forever, says the Lord.
Set up a banner in the land, blow the trumpet
among the nations, prepare the nations against
her, call the kingdoms together against her,
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz, appoint a general
against her. Cause the horses to come up like
the bristling locusts. Prepare against her the
nations, with the kings of the Medes, its governors,
and all its rulers, all the land of his dominion.
And the land will tremble in sorrow. For every
purpose of the Lord shall be performed against
Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation
without inhabitant. The mighty men of Babylon
have ceased fighting. They have remained in their
strongholds. Their might has failed. They became
like women. They have burned her dwelling places,
the bars of her gate are broken. One runner will
run to meet another, and one messenger to meet
another, to show the king of Babylon that his
city is taken on all sides. The passages are
blocked, the reeds they have burned with fire,
and the men of war are terrified. For thus says
the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, the daughter
of Babylon is like a threshing floor when it
is time to thresh her. Yet a little while, and
the time of her harvest will come. Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, has devoured me, he has
crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he
has swallowed me up like a monster, he has filled
his stomach with his delicacies, he has spit
me out. Let the violence done to me and my flesh
be upon Babylon, the inhabitant of Zion will
say, and my blood be upon the inhabitants of
Chaldea, Jerusalem will say. Therefore, thus
says the Lord, behold i will plead your case
and take vengeance for you i will dry up her
sea and make her springs dry babylon shall become
a heap a dwelling place for jackals an astonishment
and a hissing without an inhabitant they shall
roar together like lions they shall growl like
lions whelps in their excitement i will prepare
their feasts i will make them drunk that they
may rejoice and sleep a perpetual sleep and not
awake says the lord I will bring them down like
lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.
O how Shishak is taken, and how the praise of
the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become
desolate among the nations! The sea has come
up over Babylon. She is covered with the multitude
of its waves. Her cities are a desolation, a
dry land and a wilderness, a land where no one
dwells, through which no son of man passes. I
will punish Bel in Babylon. and I will bring
out of his mouth what he has swallowed. And the
nations shall not stream to him any more. Yes,
the wall of Babylon shall fall. My people, go
out of the midst of her, and let everyone deliver
himself from the fierce anger of the Lord. And
lest your heart faint, and you fear for the rumor
that will be heard in the land, a rumor will
come one year, and after that, in another year,
a rumor will come, and violence in the land,
ruler against ruler. Therefore behold, the days
are coming, that I will bring judgment on the
carved images of Babylon. Her whole land shall
be ashamed, and all her slain shall fall in her
midst. Then the heavens and the earth, and all
that is in them, shall sing joyously over Babylon.
For the plunderers shall come to her from the
north, says the Lord. As Babylon has caused the
slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon the slain
of all the earth shall fall. You who have escaped
the sword, get away, do not stand still. Remember
the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come to
your mind. We are ashamed because we have heard
reproach. Shame has covered our faces, for strangers
have come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's
house. Therefore, behold, the days are coming,
says the Lord, that I will bring judgment on
her carved images, and throughout all her land
the wounded shall groan. Though Babylon were
to mount up to heaven, and though she were to
fortify the height of her strength, yet from
my plunderers would come to her, says the Lord.
The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great
destruction from the land of the Chaldeans, because
the Lord is plundering Babylon and silencing
her loud voice. Though her waves roar like great
waters, and the noise of their voice is uttered,
because the plunderer comes against her, against
Babylon, and her mighty men are taken. Every
one of their bows is broken, for the Lord is
the God of recompense. He will surely repay.
And I will make drunk her princes and wise men,
her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men,
and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not
awake, says the king, whose name is the Lord
of hosts. Thus says the Lord of hosts, The broad
walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and
her high gates shall be burned with fire. the
people will labor in vain, and the nations because
of the fire, and they shall be weary. The word
which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Sariah the
son of Nariah the son of Massiah, when he went
with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in
the fourth year of his reign, and Sariah was
the quartermaster. So Jeremiah wrote in a book,
all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all
these words that are written against Babylon.
And Jeremiah said to Sariah, When you arrive
in Babylon and see it, and read all these words,
then you shall say, O Lord, you have spoken against
this place to cut it off, so that none shall
remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall
be desolate forever. Now it shall be, when you
have finished reading this book, that you shall
tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates.
Then you shall say, Thus Babylon shall sink and
not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring
upon her, and they shall be weary. Thus far are
the words of Jeremiah. I hope you enjoyed today's
reading as much as I did, and I look forward
to seeing you again tomorrow to continue on our
journey. God bless you and have a great day.