Jeremiah 50

English Standard Version

Judgment on Babylon

50 The word that the Lord spoke concerning ^(A)Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, ^(B)by Jeremiah the prophet:

²“Declare among the nations and proclaim,
    set up a banner and proclaim,
    conceal it not, and say:
^(C)‘Babylon is taken,
    ^(D)Bel is put to shame,
    Merodach is dismayed.
^(E)Her images are put to shame,
    her idols are dismayed.’

³“For ^(F)out of the north a nation has come up against her, ^(G)which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; ^(H)both man and beast shall flee away.

⁴^(I)“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, ^(J)the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, ^(K)weeping as they come, and they ^(L)shall seek the Lord their God. ⁵^(M)They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, ^(N)saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an ^(O)everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’

⁶^(P)“My people have been lost sheep. ^(Q)Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. ⁷All who found them have devoured them, ^(R)and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for ^(S)they have sinned against the Lord, ^(T)their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, ^(U)the hope of their fathers.’

⁸^(V)“Flee from the midst of Babylon, ^(W)and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. ⁹For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon ^(X)a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. ¹⁰^(Y)Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord.

¹¹^(Z)“Though you rejoice, though you exult,
    O plunderers of my heritage,
though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture,
    and neigh like stallions,
¹²your mother shall be utterly shamed,
    and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
Behold, she shall be the last of the nations,
    ^(AA)a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
¹³^(AB)Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited
    but shall be an utter desolation;
^(AC)everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled,
    ^(AD)and hiss because of all her wounds.
¹⁴^(AE)Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around,
    ^(AF)all you who bend the bow;
shoot at her, spare no arrows,
    ^(AG)for she has sinned against the Lord.
¹⁵^(AH)Raise a shout against her all around;
    she has surrendered;
her bulwarks have fallen;
    ^(AI)her walls are thrown down.
For ^(AJ)this is the vengeance of the Lord:
    take vengeance on her;
    ^(AK)do to her as she has done.
¹⁶Cut off from Babylon the sower,
    and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest;
^(AL)because of the sword of the oppressor,
    ^(AM)every one shall turn to his own people,
    and every one shall flee to his own land.

¹⁷^(AN)“Israel is a hunted sheep ^(AO)driven away by lions. ^(AP)First the king of Assyria ^(AQ)devoured him, and now at last ^(AR)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^(AS)has gnawed his bones. ¹⁸Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, ^(AT)I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, ^(AU)as I punished the king of Assyria. ¹⁹^(AV)I will restore Israel to his pasture, and ^(AW)he shall feed on ^(AX)Carmel and in ^(AY)Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in ^(AZ)Gilead. ²⁰In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, ^(BA)iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for ^(BB)I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.

²¹“Go up against the land of Merathaim,^[a]
    and against the inhabitants of Pekod.^[b]
Kill, ^(BC)and devote them to destruction,^[c]
declares the Lord,
    and do all that I have commanded you.
²²^(BD)The noise of battle is in the land,
    and great destruction!
²³^(BE)How the hammer of the whole earth
    is cut down and broken!
^(BF)How Babylon ^(BG)has become
    a horror among the nations!
²⁴^(BH)I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon,
    and ^(BI)you did not know it;
you were found and caught,
    because you opposed the Lord.
²⁵The Lord has opened his armory
    and brought out ^(BJ)the weapons of his wrath,
for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do
    in the land of the Chaldeans.
²⁶Come against her from every quarter;
    open her granaries;
^(BK)pile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction;
    let nothing be left of her.
²⁷Kill all ^(BL)her bulls;
    let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
    ^(BM)the time of their punishment.

²⁸“A voice! They ^(BN)flee and escape from the land of Babylon, ^(BO)to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for ^(BP)his temple.

²⁹^(BQ)“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. ^(BR)Encamp around her; let no one escape. ^(BS)Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has ^(BT)proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰^(BU)Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, declares the Lord.

³¹“Behold, I am against you, O ^(BV)proud one,
    declares the Lord God of hosts,
^(BW)for your day has come,
    the time when I will punish you.
³²^(BX)The proud one shall stumble and fall,
    with none to raise him up,
^(BY)and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
    and it will devour all that is around him.

³³“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(BZ)The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; ^(CA)they refuse to let them go. ³⁴^(CB)Their Redeemer is strong; ^(CC)the Lord of hosts is his name. ^(CD)He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵“A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord,
    and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
    and against ^(CE)her officials and her ^(CF)wise men!
³⁶A sword against the diviners,
    that they may become fools!
A sword against her ^(CG)warriors,
    that they may be destroyed!
³⁷A sword against her horses and against her chariots,
    and against all ^(CH)the foreign troops in her midst,
    that ^(CI)they may become women!
^(CJ)A sword against all her treasures,
    that they may be plundered!
³⁸^(CK)A drought against her waters,
    that they may be dried up!
^(CL)For it is a land of images,
    and they are mad over idols.

³⁹^(CM)“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon,^[d] and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations. ⁴⁰^(CN)As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the Lord, ^(CO)so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.

⁴¹^(CP)“Behold, a people comes from the north;
    a mighty nation and many kings
    are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
⁴²They lay hold of bow and spear;
    they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;
    they ride on horses,
arrayed as a man for battle
    against you, O daughter of Babylon!

⁴³“The king of Babylon heard the report of them,
and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
pain as of a woman in labor.

⁴⁴^(CQ)“Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd ^(CR)can stand before me? ⁴⁵Therefore hear ^(CS)the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon, ^(CT)and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: ^(CU)Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. ⁴⁶^(CV)At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 50:21 Merathaim means double rebellion
Jeremiah 50:21 Pekod means punishment
Jeremiah 50:21 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
Jeremiah 50:39 Hebrew lacks in Babylon

Hebrews 6

English Standard Version

6 Therefore ^(A)let us leave ^(B)the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance ^(C)from dead works and of faith toward God, ²and of ^(D)instruction about washings,^[a] ^(E)the laying on of hands, ^(F)the resurrection of the dead, and ^(G)eternal judgment. ³And this we will do ^(H)if God permits. ⁴For it is impossible, in the case of those ^(I)who have once been enlightened, who have tasted ^(J)the heavenly gift, and ^(K)have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵and ^(L)have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶and ^(M)then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since ^(N)they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. ⁷For ^(O)land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. ⁸But ^(P)if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, ^(Q)and its end is to be burned.

⁹Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. ¹⁰For ^(R)God is not unjust so as to overlook ^(S)your work and the love that you have shown for his name in ^(T)serving the saints, as you still do. ¹¹And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance ^(U)of hope until the end, ¹²so that you may not be sluggish, but ^(V)imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Certainty of God's Promise

¹³For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, ^(W)he swore by himself, ¹⁴saying, ^(X)“Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” ¹⁵And thus Abraham,^[b] ^(Y)having patiently waited, obtained the promise. ¹⁶For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes ^(Z)an oath is final for confirmation. ¹⁷So when God desired to show more convincingly to ^(AA)the heirs of the promise ^(AB)the unchangeable character of his purpose, ^(AC)he guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸so that by two unchangeable things, in which ^(AD)it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope ^(AE)set before us. ¹⁹We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into ^(AF)the inner place behind the curtain, ²⁰where Jesus has gone ^(AG)as a forerunner on our behalf, ^(AH)having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.