Spiritual Gems
JEREMIAH 49-50
Bible Reading assignment: Jer 50:24-40
it “Trap” ¶3
Jeremiah 49:
1 And why are his people living in Israel’s cities?”
2 ‘And Israel will take possession of those who dispossessed him,’ says Jehovah.
3 Together with his priests and his princes.
4 And who says: “Who will come against me?”’”
5 And no one will gather those who flee.’”
6 “‘But afterward I will gather the captives of the Amʹmon·ites,’ declares Jehovah.”
7 Has their wisdom rotted?
8 When the time comes to turn my attention to him.
9 They would cause only as much ruin as they wanted.
10 And he will be no more.
11 And your widows will trust in me.”
12 For this is what Jehovah says: “Look! If those not sentenced to drink the cup must drink it, should you be left completely unpunished? You will not be left unpunished, for you must drink it.”
13 “For by myself I have sworn,” declares Jehovah, “that Bozʹrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a devastation, and a curse; and all her cities will become perpetual ruins.”
14 Prepare for battle.”
15 Despised among men.
16 I will bring you down from there,” declares Jehovah.
17 “And Eʹdom must become an object of horror. Everyone passing along by her will stare in horror and whistle on account of all her plagues.
18 Just as in the overthrow of Sodʹom and Go·morʹrah and of their neighboring towns,” Jehovah says, “no one will dwell there, and no man will settle there.
19 “Look! Someone will come up against the secure pastures like a lion from the dense thickets along the Jordan, but in a moment I will make him run away from her. And I will appoint over her the chosen one. For who is like me, and who will challenge me? What shepherd can stand before me?
20 He will make their dwelling place desolate because of them.
21 The sound has been heard as far as the Red Sea.
22 Will become like the heart of a woman in childbirth.”
23 There is anxiety in the sea that cannot be calmed.
24 Like a woman who is giving birth.
25 The town of exultation?
26 And all the soldiers will perish in that day,” declares Jehovah of armies.
27 And it will consume the fortified towers of Ben-haʹdad.”
28 And destroy the sons of the East.
29 And they will cry out to them, ‘Terror is all around!’”
30 And he has thought out a plan against you.”
31 “It has no doors or bars; they live in isolation.
32 And I will bring their disaster from every direction,” declares Jehovah.
33 And no man will settle in her.”
34 This is the word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Eʹlam in the beginning of the reign of King Zed·e·kiʹah of Judah:
35 “This is what Jehovah of armies says, ‘Here I am breaking the bow of Eʹlam, the source of their mightiness.
36 I will bring in on Eʹlam the four winds from the four extremities of the heavens, and I will scatter them to all these winds. There will not be a nation to which the dispersed ones of Eʹlam will not go.’”
37 “I will shatter the Eʹlam·ites before their enemies and before those seeking to take their life; and I will bring calamity on them, my burning anger,” declares Jehovah. “And I will send the sword after them until I have exterminated them.”
38 “And I will set my throne in Eʹlam, and I will destroy from there the king and the princes,” declares Jehovah.
39 “But in the final part of the days, I will gather the captives of Eʹlam,” declares Jehovah.
Jeremiah 50:
1 The word that Jehovah spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chal·deʹans, through Jeremiah the prophet:
2 Her disgusting idols have become terrified.’
3 They have gone away.”
4 “In those days and at that time,” declares Jehovah, “the people of Israel and the people of Judah will come together. They will weep as they walk, and together they will seek Jehovah their God.
5 They will ask the way to Zion, with their faces turned in that direction, saying, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.’
6 My people have become a flock of lost sheep. Their own shepherds caused them to stray. They led them away onto the mountains, roaming from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting-place.
7 All those finding them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, because they sinned against Jehovah, against the dwelling place of righteousness and the hope of their forefathers, Jehovah.’”
8 And be like the leading animals before the flock.
9 They do not come back without results.
10 All those taking spoil from her will be fully satisfied,” declares Jehovah.
11 And you kept neighing like stallions.
12 A waterless wilderness and a desert.
13 And whistle because of all her plagues.
14 For it is against Jehovah that she has sinned.
15 Do to her just as she has done.
16 Each one will flee to his own land.
17 “The people of Israel are scattered sheep. Lions have dispersed them. First the king of As·syrʹi·a devoured them; then King Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar of Babylon gnawed on their bones.
18 Therefore this is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Here I will deal with the king of Babylon and with his land in the same way that I dealt with the king of As·syrʹi·a.
19 And I will bring Israel back to his pasture, and he will graze on Carʹmel and on Baʹshan, and on the mountains of Eʹphra·im and of Gilʹe·ad he will be satisfied.’”
20 For I will forgive those whom I let remain.”
21 “Do all that I have commanded you.
22 A great catastrophe.
23 How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!
24 For it was Jehovah whom you opposed.
25 In the land of the Chal·deʹans.
26 May she have no one left.
27 Their time of reckoning!
28 The vengeance for his temple.
29 Against the Holy One of Israel.
30 And all her soldiers will perish in that day,” declares Jehovah.
31 “For your day must come, the time that I will call you to account.
32 And it will consume everything around you.”
33 They have refused to let them go.
34 And to bring agitation to the inhabitants of Babylon.”
35 “Against the inhabitants of Babylon and against her princes and against her wise ones.
36 There is a sword against her warriors, and they will become terrified.
37 There is a sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered.
38 And because of their frightful visions they keep acting with madness.
39 Nor will she be a place of residence throughout all generations.”
40 “Just as with God’s overthrow of Sodʹom and Go·morʹrah and of their neighboring towns,” declares Jehovah, “no one will dwell there, and no man will settle there.
41 From the remotest parts of the earth.
42 Like one man, they line up in battle formation against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 Pain like that of a woman giving birth.
44 “Look! Someone will come up against the secure pastures like a lion from the dense thickets along the Jordan, but in a moment I will make them run away from her. And I will appoint over her the chosen one. For who is like me, and who will challenge me? What shepherd can stand before me?
45 He will make their dwelling place desolate because of them.
46 And an outcry will be heard among the nations.”