The word that Jehovah spake concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.
Declare ye among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is {Or, broken down}dismayed; her images are put to shame, her idols are {Or, broken down}dismayed.
For out of the north there cometh 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 beast.
In those days, and in that time, saith Jehovah, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek Jehovah their God.
They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces {Hebrew: hitherward.}thitherward, saying, Come ye, and {Or, they shall join themselves}join yourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.
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.
All that found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Jehovah, the habitation of righteousness, even Jehovah, the hope of their fathers.
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks.
For, lo, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of {Or, according to another reading, a mighty man that maketh childless.}an expert mighty man; {Or, that returneth not}none shall return in vain.
And Chaldea shall be a prey: all that prey upon her shall be satisfied, saith Jehovah.
Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye that plunder my heritage, because ye are wanton as a heifer {Or, at grass}that treadeth out the grain, and neigh as strong horses;
your mother shall be utterly put to shame; she that bare you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
Because of the wrath of Jehovah she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all ye that bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against Jehovah.
Shout against her round about: she hath {Hebrew: given her hand.}submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Jehovah: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
Israel is a {Hebrew: scattered.}hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah 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.
And I will bring Israel again to his {Or, fold}pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.
In those days, and in that time, saith Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.
Go up against the land of {That is, Double rebellion.}Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of {That is, Visitation.}Pekod: slay and {Hebrew: devote.}utterly destroy after them, saith Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against Jehovah.
Jehovah hath opened his armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.
Come against her {Or, from every quarter}from the utmost border; open her {Or, granaries}store-houses; cast her up as heaps, and {Hebrew: devote.}destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left.
Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance of his temple.
Call together {Or, many}the archers against Babylon, all them that bend the bow; encamp against her round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her; for she hath been proud against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, saith Jehovah.
Behold, I am against thee, {Hebrew: O Pride.}O thou proud one, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts; for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.
And {Hebrew: Pride.}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 that are round about him.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all that took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go.
Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith Jehovah, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
A sword is upon the {Hebrew: boatings.}boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.
A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed.
A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad over {Hebrew: terrors.}idols.
Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the {Hebrew: howling creatures.}wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith Jehovah, so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.
Behold, a people cometh from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
The king of Babylon hath heard the tidings of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
Behold, the enemy shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoso 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 that can stand before me?
Therefore hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.
At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembleth, and the cry is heard among the nations.
Querverweise zu Jeremia 50,6 Jer 50,6
Israel is a {Hebrew: scattered.}hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of Jehovah: therefore they have not {Or, dealt wisely}prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.
For of old time {Or, thou hast}I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bonds; and thou saidst, I will not {Another reading is, transgress.}serve; for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the harlot.
Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;He leadeth me beside {Hebrew: waters of rest.}still waters.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant;For I do not forget thy commandments.
for both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith Jehovah.
Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery places in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil upon them, {Or, in the year}even the year of their visitation, saith Jehovah.
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, so that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of {Or, poison}gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is ungodliness gone forth into all the land.
Moreover Jehovah said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
Thou art my hiding-place; thou wilt preserve me from trouble;Thou wilt compass me about with songs of deliverance. [Selah
Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth,Where thou feedest thy flock,Where thou makest it to rest at noon:For why should I be as one that is veiledBeside the flocks of thy companions?
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath {Hebrew: made to light.}laid on him the iniquity of us all.
His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
Yea, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds that cannot understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, {Or, one and all}from every quarter.
Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow shall be as this day, a day great beyond measure.
Truly in vain is the help that is looked for from the hills, the {Or, noisy throng}tumult on the mountains: truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.
A Prayer of Moses the man of God.Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-placeIn all generations.
If thou know not, O thou fairest among women,Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock,And feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were distressed and scattered, as sheep not having a shepherd.
The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought back that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor have ye ruled over them.
And they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.
My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my sheep were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and there was none that did search or seek after them.
Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah:
As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely forasmuch as my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my sheep;
therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah:
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.
For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered in {Hebrew: the day of clouds and thick darkness.}the cloudy and dark day.
My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my sheep were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and there was none that did search or seek after them.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High {Or, That abideth…Almighty; Even I &c.}Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will feed them with good pasture; and upon the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Thus said Jehovah my God: Feed the flock of slaughter;
whose {Or, buyers}possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich; and {Or, their shepherd pitieth}their own shepherds pity them not.
For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah; but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbor's hand, and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.
So I fed the flock of slaughter, verily {Or, the most miserable of sheep}the poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called {Or, Graciousness }Beauty, and the other I called {Or, Binders Or, Union}Bands; and I fed the flock.
And I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.
Then said I, I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die; and {Or, that which is lost, let it be lost}that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let them that are left eat every one the flesh of another.
Return unto thy rest, O my soul;For Jehovah hath dealt bountifully with thee.
And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing.
And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those that made bondmen of them.
And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the beasts of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid.
But he answered and said, I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
For thus said the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. And ye would not:
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How think ye? if any man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and go unto the mountains, and seek that which goeth astray?
And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth over it more than over the ninety and nine which have not gone astray.
And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and his neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.
I say unto you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine righteous persons, who need no repentance.
For ye were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and {Or, Overseer}Bishop of your souls.