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Ezequiel 7

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1 Demais veio a palavra do Senhor a mim, dizendo:

2 E tu, ó filho do homem, assim diz o Senhor Deus à terra de Israel: Vem o fim, o fim Vem sobre os quatro cantos da terra.

3 Agora vem o fim sobre ti, e enviarei sobre ti a minha ira, e te julgarei conforme os teus caminhos; e trarei sobre ti todas as tuas abominações.

4 E não te pouparei, nem terei piedade de ti; mas eu te punirei por todos os teus caminhos, enquanto as tuas abominações estiverem no meio de ti; e sabereis que eu sou o Senhor.

5 Assim diz o Senhor Deus: Mal sobre Mal! eis que vem!

6 Vem o fim, o fim Vem, despertou-se contra ti; eis que Vem.

7 Vem a tua ruína, ó habitante da terra! Vem o tempo; está perto o dia, o dia de tumulto, e não de gritos alegres, sobre os montes.

8 Agora depressa derramarei o meu furor sobre ti, e cumprirei a minha ira contra ti, e te julgarei conforme os teus caminhos; e te punirei por todas as tuas abominações.

9 E não te pouparei, nem terei piedade; conforme os teus caminhos, assim te punirei, enquanto as tuas abominações estiverem no meio de ti; e sabereis que eu, o Senhor, castigo.

10 Eis o dia! Eis que vem! Veio a tua ruína; já floresceu a vara, já brotou a soberba. :

11 A violência se levantou em vara de iniqüidade. nada restará deles, nem da sua multidão, nem dos seus bens. Não haverá eminência entre eles.

12 Vem o tempo, é chegado o dia; não se alegre o comprador, e não se entristeça o vendedor; pois a ira está sobre toda a multidão deles.

13 Na verdade o vendedor não tornará a possuir o que vendeu, ainda que esteja por longo tempo entre os viventes; pois a visão, no tocante a toda a multidão deles, não voltará atrás; e ninguém prosperará na vida, pela sua iniqüidade.

14 Já tocaram a trombeta, e tudo prepararam, mas não há quem vá à batalha; pois sobre toda a multidão deles está a minha ira.

15 Fora está a espada, e dentro a peste e a fome; o que estiver no campo morrerá à espada; e o que estiver na cidade, devorálo-a a fome e a peste.

16 E se escaparem alguns sobreviventes, estarão sobre os montes, como pombas dos vales, todos gemendo, cada um por causa da sua iniqüidade.

17 Todas as mãos se enfraquecerão, e todos os joelhos se tornarão fracos como água.

18 E se cingirão de sacos, e o terror os cobrirá; e sobre todos os rostos haverá vergonha e sobre todas as suas cabeças calva.

19 A sua prata, lançá-la-ão pelas ruas, e o seu ouro será como imundícia; nem a sua prata nem o seu ouro os poderá livrar no dia do furor do Senhor; esses metais não lhes poderão saciar a fome, nem lhes encher o estômago; pois serviram de tropeço da sua iniqüidade.

20 Converteram em soberba a formosura dos seus adornos, e deles fizeram as imagens das suas abominações, e as suas coisas detestáveis; por isso eu a fiz para eles como uma coisa imunda.

21 E entregá-la-ei nas mãos dos estrangeiros por presa, e aos ímpios da terra por despojo; e a profanarão.

22 E desviarei deles o meu rosto, e profanarão o meu lugar oculto; porque entrarão nele saqueadores, e o profanarão.

23 Faze uma cadeia, porque a terra está cheia de crimes de sangue, e a cidade está cheia de violência.

24 Pelo que trarei dentre as nações os piores, que possuirão as suas casas; e farei cessar a soberba dos poderosos; e os seus lugares santos serão profanados.

25 Quando vier a angústia eles buscarão a paz, mas não haverá paz.

26 Miséria sobre miséria virá, e se levantará rumor sobre rumor; e buscarão do profeta uma visão; mas do sacerdote perecerá a lei, e dos anciãos o conselho.

27 O rei pranteará, e o príncipe se vestirá de desolação, e as mãos do povo da terra tremerão de medo. Conforme o seu caminho lhes farei, e conforme os seus merecimentos os julgarei; e saberão que eu sou o Senhor.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #131

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131. These things saith He that hath the sharp two-edged sword, signifies the Lord, who alone combats in temptation. This is evident from the signification of "long sword" or "sword [romphaeae seu gladii]," as meaning truth combating against falsity, and in the opposite sense, falsity combating against truth. It is said to be "sharp two-edged," because it pierces on both sides. Because this is signified by "the long sword," dispersion of falsities is also signified by it, and also temptation. That it signifies dispersion of falsities, see above (n. 73). It signifies temptation, because in what is written to the angel of this church temptations are treated of. Moreover, "the long sword" also signifies temptation, because temptation is a combat of truth against falsity and of falsity against truth. (That spiritual temptation is such combat, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 187-201) By "these things saith He that hath the sharp long sword with two edges" is meant that the Lord alone combats in temptations, because in the preceding chapter (verse 16) it was said that:

Out of the mouth of the Son of man, walking in the midst of the seven lampstands, a sharp two-edged long sword was seen going forth (Revelation 1:16).

and by the "Son of man" is meant the Lord in respect to Divine truth (as may be seen above, n. 63. That the Lord alone combats in temptations, and not man at all, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 195-200.) By "long sword" or by "sword [romphaeam seu gladium]" is signified the combat of truth against falsity, and of falsity against truth, because by "wars" in the Word are signified spiritual wars, and spiritual wars are wars of truths against falsities and of falsities against truths; and as "wars" in the Word have such a signification, all weapons of war, as "sword," "spear," "bow," "arrows," "shield," and many others, signify each some special thing pertaining to spiritual combat; especially the "sword," because in wars they fight with swords. (That "wars" signify spiritual combats, see Arcana Coelestia 1659, 1664, 8295, 10455; consequently that each weapon of war signifies something pertaining to spiritual combat, see n. 1788, 2686)

[2] That "sword" in the Word signifies truth combating against falsity, and falsity against truth, and therefore the dispersion of falsities, and also spiritual temptation, can be seen from very many passages, of which I will introduce here only a few by way of confirmation. Thus in Matthew:

Jesus said that He came not to send peace on earth, but a sword (Matthew 10:34).

Here by "sword" is meant the combat of temptation. It was so said, because men at that time were in falsities, and the Lord uncovered interior truths, and only by combats from such truths can falsities be cast out.

[3] In Luke:

Jesus said to His disciples, Now he that hath a purse let him take it, likewise a wallet; and he that hath no sword let him sell his garments and buy one (Luke 22:35-38).

By "purse" and "wallet" spiritual knowledges, thus truths, are signified; "garments" signify what is their own; and by "sword" combat is signified.

[4] In Jeremiah:

A sword against the Chaldeans, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her chiefs, and against her wise men. A sword against liars that they may become foolish; a sword against her mighty men that they may be dismayed; a sword against her horses and against her chariots; a sword against her treasures that they may be spoiled; a drought upon her waters that they may be dried up (Jeremiah 50:35-38).

By "sword" here dispersion and vastation of truth are signified; by each in particular against which the sword shall be, as the "Chaldeans," the "inhabitants of Babylon," her "chiefs" and "her wise men," "liars," "mighty men," "horses," "chariots," and "treasures," are signified the persons or things that will be vastated: as by "horses," things intellectual; by "chariots," doctrinals; and by "treasures," knowledges; it is said, therefore, "a drought upon her waters, that they may be dried up," for "waters" are the truths of the church, and "a drought that they may be dried up" is vastation. (That "drought" and "drying up" are where there is no truth, see Arcana Coelestia 8185; that "waters" are truths of the church, see above, n. 71; that "treasures" are knowledges, Arcana Coelestia, 1694, 4508, 10227; that "horses" are things intellectual, and "chariots" doctrinals, see White Horse 2-5.)

[5] In Isaiah:

Jehovah will plead, and with His sword with all flesh, and the slain of Jehovah shall be multiplied (Isaiah 66:16).

In Jeremiah:

Upon all the heights in the desert the devastators are come, because the sword of Jehovah devoureth from the end of the land even to the end of the land (Jeremiah 12:12).

In Ezekiel:

Prophesy and say, a sword sharpened and also furbished, it is sharpened to slay a slaughter, it is furbished that it may have luster; let the sword be doubled for the third time; the sword of the slain, the sword of great slaughter entering into the secret chambers that the heart may melt, and stumblings be multiplied; against all their gates will I set the point of the sword: Ah! It is made into lightning (Ezekiel 21:9-15, 28).

In Isaiah:

Bring waters to meet him that is thirsty, with bread prevent him that wandereth; for before the sword shall they wander, before the drawn sword, and before the bended bow, and for the grievousness of war (Isaiah 21:14, 15).

In Ezekiel:

They shall quake with fear when I shall make my sword to fly before their faces, that they may tremble every moment, a man for his own soul; by the swords of the mighty casting down their multitude (Ezekiel 32:10-12).

In David:

Let the saints exult in glory; let them sing upon their beds. Let the exaltations of God be in their throat, and a two-edged sword in their hand (Psalms 149:5, 6).

In the same:

Gird thy sword upon the thigh, O mighty one, in thy honor ascend the chariot, ride on the Word of truth, thy right hand shall teach thee wonderful things. Thine arrows are sharp (Psalms 45:3-5).

In Revelation:

There was given unto him that sat on the red horse a great sword (Revelation 6:4).

In another place:

Out of the mouth of him that sat on the white horse went forth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. The rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse (Revelation 19:15, 21).

By "sword" in these passages is signified truth combating and destroying; this destruction is especially apparent in the spiritual world; there those that are in falsities cannot sustain the truth; when they come into the sphere of light, that is, where Divine truth is, they are in anguish, like those who are struggling with death; and thus also they are deprived of truths and are vastated.

[6] As most expressions in the Word have also a contrary sense, so also has "sword;" in that sense it signifies falsity combating against truth and destroying it. The vastations of the church, which take place when there are no longer any truths, but only falsities, are described in the Word by a "sword," as in the following passages:

They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all nations; Jerusalem shall finally be trodden down by all nations, until the times of the nations shall be fulfilled (Luke 21:24).

The consummation of the age, which is here treated of, is the last time of the church, when falsities are to prevail. "To fall by the edge of the sword" denotes that truth will be destroyed by falsity; "nations" here are evils and "Jerusalem" is the church.

[7] In Isaiah:

I will make a man more rare than fine gold. Everyone that is found shall be thrust through; and everyone gathered in shall fall by the sword (Isaiah 13:12, 15).

"A man who is rare" for those that are in truths; "to be thrust through" and "to fall by the sword" means to be consumed by falsity.

[8] In the same:

In that day they shall cast away every man the idols of his silver and the idols of his gold, which your own hands have made unto you. Then shall Asshur fall by the sword, not of a man [viri]; and the sword not of a man [hominis] shall devour him; but he who fleeth for himself before the sword, his young man shall be for tribute (Isaiah 31:7, 8).

"The idols which the hands have made" are falsities from self-intelligence; "Asshur" is the rational by which [per quod]. "To fall by the sword not of a man" [viri], and "not of a man" [hominis], is not to be destroyed by any combat of truth against falsity. "He who fleeth for himself before the sword, his young man shall be for tribute," means that the truth which is not destroyed shall be subservient to falsities. That this is the meaning of these words does not appear in the sense of the letter, which shows how far distant the spiritual sense is from the sense of the letter.

[9] In Jeremiah:

In vain I have smitten your sons; they accepted not correction; your own sword hath devoured your prophets (Jeremiah 2:30).

Behold, the prophet say, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine. By sword and by famine shall the prophets be consumed. If I go forth into the field, behold the slain with the sword; and if I enter into the city, then behold the sickness of famine (Jeremiah 14:13-18).

Both these passages treat of the vastation of the church in respect to truth; "prophets" are those who teach truths; and "the sword that consumes them" is falsity combating and destroying; "the field" is the church; "the city" is doctrine; "the slain with the sword in the field" are those in the church with whom truths are destroyed; "the famine" that is in the city is dearth of all truth in doctrine.

[10] In the same:

They have denied Jehovah when they have said, It is not He; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword and famine (Jeremiah 5:12).

In the same:

The young men shall die by the sword; and their sons and their daughters shall die by famine (Jeremiah 11:22).

"Young men" are those who are in truths, and in the abstract, truths themselves; "to die by the sword" is to be destroyed by falsities; "sons and daughters" are the knowledges of truth and good; "famine" is a dearth of these.

[11] In Lamentations:

We get our bread with peril of our souls, because of the sword of the wilderness (Lamentations 5:9).

"The wilderness" is where there is no good because there is no truth; its "sword" is the destruction of truth; "bread" is good, which is got with "peril of souls," because all good is implanted in man by means of truth.

[12] In Ezekiel:

The sword is without, and pestilence and famine within; he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him (Ezekiel 7:15).

"The sword" is the destruction of truth; "pestilence" consequent extermination; and "famine" complete dearth. Similarly in other places (as in Jeremiah 21:7; 29:17, 18; 34:17).

[13] In Zechariah:

Woe to the shepherd of nought forsaking the flock; a sword upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm in drying up shall dry up, and his right eye in growing dim shall grow dim (Jeremiah 11:17).

"A sword upon the arm" is the destruction of the voluntary in respect to good; "a sword upon the right eye" is the destruction of the intellectual in respect to truth; that all good and all truth are to perish is signified by "the arm in drying up shall dry up; and the right eye in growing dim shall grow dim."

[14] In Isaiah:

Thus shall ye say to your lord, Fear not for the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the lads of the king of Asshur have blasphemed Jehovah. Behold, I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. And Senacherib, king of Asshur, returned; and it came to pass, when he bowed himself in the house of Nisroch his god, his two sons smote him with the sword (Isaiah 37:6, 7, 37, 38).

As it is the rational that acknowledges and that denies the Divine, and when it denies seizes upon every falsity instead of truth, and thus perishes, there was this representative occurrence, namely, that the king of Asshur, because he blasphemed Jehovah, was smitten with the sword by his sons, in the house of Nisroch his god. "Asshur" signifies the rational in either sense (Arcana Coelestia, n. 119, 1186); the "sons" of that king signify falsities, and the "sword" signifies destruction by falsities.

[15] In Moses:

[It was commanded that] the city that worshiped other gods should be smitten with the sword, and burned up with fire (Deuteronomy 13:12-16).

This was decreed because at that time all things were representative; "to worship other gods" is to worship from falsities; "to be smitten with the sword" is to perish by falsity; and "to be burned up with fire" is to perish by the evil of falsity.

[16] In the same:

Whosoever in the field toucheth one that is slain with the sword shall be unclean (Numbers 19:16, 18, 19).

"One in the field slain with the sword" represented those within the church who destroyed truths with themselves; "the field" here is the church.

[17] That "sword" signifies falsity destroying truth is manifest in David:

The sons of man are set on fire; their teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword (Psalms 57:4).

Behold, they belch out with their mouth, swords are in their lips (Psalms 59:7).

Workers of iniquity sharpen their tongues like a sword; they hurl their arrow with a bitter word (Psalms 64:3).

From this it is clear what is signified by the Lord's words to Peter:

All they that take the sword shall perish by the sword (Matthew 26:51-52);

namely, that those who believe falsities will perish by falsities.

[18] From this it is now evident what is signified in the Word by "the long sword," "the short sword," or the "sword" [romphaea, macharera, seu gladius] in both senses. Such things are signified by "sword" by reason also of appearance in the spiritual world. When spiritual combats take place there, which are combats of truth against falsity and of falsity against truth, various weapons of war, as swords, spears, shields, and the like are seen; not that the combats are maintained by these, but they are mere appearances, representative of spiritual combats. When falsities are fiercely combating truths, there sometimes appears from heaven the brightness or flashing of a sword vibrating every way, and causing great terror, by which those who are combating from falsities are dispersed.

[19] This makes clear what is meant by these words in Ezekiel:

They shall be horribly afraid when I shall brandish My sword before their faces, that they may tremble every moment for their soul (Ezekiel 32:10-12).

And in the same:

Prophesy and say, a sword, it is sharpened and also furbished, that it may have luster, that the heart may melt. Ah! It is made into lightning (Ezekiel 21:9-10, 15).

The sword causes so great terror because "iron," of which a sword is made, signifies truth in ultimates, and the brightness and flashing are from the light of heaven and from vibration of this light upon the sword. The light of heaven is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord. Divine truth thus falling upon those who are in falsities strikes terror.

[20] This also makes clear what is signified by this, that:

Cherubim, after Adam had been driven out, were made to dwell at the east of Eden, and the flame of a sword turning and vibrating every way, to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24).

By the "tree of life" is signified celestial love, which is love to the Lord; by "cherubim" a guard; by the "flame of a sword turning every way" the terrific driving off and rejecting of all who are in falsities; the "east of Eden" is where the Lord's presence is in celestial love; by these words, therefore, is signified that every approach to the acknowledgement of the Lord alone is closed to him who does not live a life of love. That "sword" signifies falsity is clearly evident in Ezekiel, where it is said of the prince of Tyre:

They shall unsheathe the swords upon the beauty of thy wisdom (Ezekiel 28:7).

"The prince of Tyre" signifies intelligence from the knowledges of truth; because that is extinguished by falsities it is said that they should unsheathe their swords "upon wisdom," which could not have been said unless by "swords" falsities were meant.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

Jeremiah 51

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1 Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.

2 I will send to Babylon strangers, who shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her around.

3 Against [him who] bends let the archer bend his bow, and against [him who] lifts himself up in his coat of mail: and don't spare her young men; utterly destroy all her army.

4 They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets.

5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of Yahweh of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.

6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; don't be cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of Yahweh's vengeance; he will render to her a recompense.

7 Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh's hand, who made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go everyone into his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

10 Yahweh has brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.

11 Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance of his temple.

12 Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Yahweh has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

13 You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness.

14 Yahweh of Armies has sworn by himself, [saying], Surely I will fill you with men, as with the canker worm; and they shall lift up a shout against you.

15 He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:

16 when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightning for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.

17 Every man is become brutish [and is] without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

18 They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

19 The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and [Israel] is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name.

20 You are my battle axe and weapons of war: and with you will I break in pieces the nations; and with you will I destroy kingdoms;

21 and with you will I break in pieces the horse and his rider;

22 and with you will I break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein; and with you will I break in pieces man and woman; and with you will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with you will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin;

23 and with you will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with you will I break in pieces the farmer and his yoke [of oxen]; and with you will I break in pieces governors and deputies.

24 I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, says Yahweh.

25 Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain, says Yahweh, which destroys all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand on you, and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.

26 They shall not take of you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be desolate for ever, says Yahweh.

27 Set up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker worm.

28 Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion.

29 The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.

30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might has failed; they are become as women: her dwelling places are set on fire; her bars are broken.

31 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 every quarter:

32 and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are frightened.

33 For thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her.

34 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has, like a monster, swallowed me up, he has filled his maw with my delicacies; he has cast me out.

35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.

36 Therefore thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.

37 Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.

38 They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions' cubs.

39 When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says Yahweh.

40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.

41 How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

42 The sea is come up on Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of its waves.

43 Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells, neither does any son of man pass thereby.

44 I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow any more to him: yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

45 My people, go away from the midst of her, and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of Yahweh.

46 Don't let your heart faint, neither fear for the news that shall be heard in the land; for news shall come one year, and after that in another year [shall come] news, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will execute judgment on the engraved images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

48 Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come to her from the north, says Yahweh.

49 As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land.

50 You who have escaped the sword, go, don't stand still; remember Yahweh from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.

51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach; confusion has covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Yahweh's house.

52 Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will execute judgment on her engraved images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan.

53 Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come to her, says Yahweh.

54 The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!

55 For Yahweh lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered:

56 for the destroyer is come on her, even on Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces; for Yahweh is a God of recompenses, he will surely requite.

57 I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies.

58 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they shall be weary.

59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief quartermaster.

60 Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon.

61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words,

62 and say, Yahweh, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor animal, but that it shall be desolate forever.

63 It shall be, when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates:

64 and you shall say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

   

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