1 Thus says Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up a destroying wind against Babylon, and against those dwelling in their midst who rise up against Me.2 And I will send strangers into Babylon who shall winnow her and shall empty her land. For in the day of calamity they shall be against her all around.3 Do not let the archer tread and bend his bow; nor lift himself up in his armor. And do not spare her young men; utterly destroy all her army.4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, those thrust through in her streets.5 For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God, Jehovah of Hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.6 Flee out of the middle of Babylon, and each man deliver his soul. Do not be cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of Jehovah’s vengeance; He will make good her recompense.7 Babylon has been a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, which made all the earth drunk. The nations have drunk her wine; therefore the nations are deranged.8 Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her; take balm for her pain, if perhaps she may be healed.9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her and let us go, each one into his own land; for her judgment reaches to the heavens and is lifted up to the skies.10 Jehovah has brought forth our righteousness; come and let us declare in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.11 Polish the arrows; gather the shields. Jehovah 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 Jehovah, the vengeance of His temple.12 Set up the banner on the walls of Babylon; make the guard strong; set up the watchmen; prepare the ambushes. For Jehovah has both planned and done that which He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.13 O you who live on many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, and the measure of your unjust gain.14 Jehovah of Hosts has sworn by Himself, saying, Surely I will fill you with men as with locust caterpillars; 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 has stretched out the heavens by His understanding.16 When He utters His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and He causes the mists to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings with rain and brings forth the wind out of His treasures.17 Every man is stupid in knowledge; every refiner is put to shame by graven images. For his molten image is deception, and there is no breath in them.18 They are vanity, the work of errors; in the time of their judgment they shall perish.19 The Portion of Jacob is not like them; for He is the Former of all things, and Israel is the offshoot of His inheritance. Jehovah of Hosts is His name.20 You are My battle-ax and weapons of war; for with you I will shatter nations; and with you I will destroy kingdoms.21 And with you I will shatter the horse and his rider; and with you I will shatter the chariot and his rider.22 Also with you I will shatter man and woman; and with you I will shatter old and young; and with you I will shatter the young man and the maiden.23 I will also shatter the shepherd and his flock with you. And with you I will shatter the farmer and his yoke of oxen; and with you I will shatter governors and rulers.24 And I will recompense unto Babylon, and unto all the inhabitants of Chaldea, all the evil that they have done in Zion in your eyes, says Jehovah.25 Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, says Jehovah, who destroys all the earth. And I will stretch out My hand upon you and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.26 And they shall not take a stone from you for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be a waste forever, says Jehovah.27 Set up a banner in the land; blow the shofar among the nations; prepare the nations against her. Call the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz together against her; appoint a commander against her. Cause the horses to come up as the bristling caterpillars.28 Consecrate nations against her, with the kings of the Medes, her governors and all her rulers, and all the land of his realm.29 And the land shall tremble and writhe. For every purpose of Jehovah shall be fulfilled against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a waste without inhabitant.30 The mighty men of Babylon have stopped fighting; they have remained in strongholds; their might has failed. They became like women; they have burned her dwellings; the bars of her gates are broken.31 A runner shall run to meet a runner, and a herald to a herald, to report to the king of Babylon that his city is captured from end to end;32 and that the passages are blocked; and they have burned the reeds with fire, and the men of war are frightened.33 For thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor, and it is time to thresh her. Yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.34 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 dragon; he has filled his stomach with my delicacies; he has rinsed me out.35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, the inhabitant of Zion shall say. And, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, Jerusalem shall say.36 Therefore thus says Jehovah: Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, a horror and a hissing, without inhabitant.38 They shall roar together like lions; they shall growl like lions’ cubs.39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunk so that they may rejoice and sleep a never-ending sleep, and not wake up, says Jehovah.40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with the male goats.41 How Sheshach is captured! And how the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become a waste among the nations!42 The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of its waves.43 Her cities are desolate, a dry land and a wilderness, a land in which no man dwells, nor does any son of man pass by it.44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up. And the nations shall not flow together to him any more; yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.45 My people, go out of her midst; and let each man deliver his soul from the fierce anger of Jehovah.46 And let not your heart faint, nor fear the rumor that shall be heard in the land. The report shall come in a year. And after that a report shall come in another year; and violence shall be in the land, ruler against ruler.47 Therefore, behold, the days are coming that I will punish the graven images of Babylon. And all her land shall be put to shame, and all her slain shall fall in her midst.48 And the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, shall shout for joy over Babylon; for the plunderers shall come to her from the north, says Jehovah.49 As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall.50 You who have escaped the sword, go away! Do not stand still! Remember Jehovah from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.51 We are confounded because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of Jehovah’s house.52 Therefore behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that I will punish her graven images, and throughout all her land the wounded shall groan.53 Though Babylon should mount up to the heavens, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet plunderers shall come unto her from Me, says Jehovah.54 The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans,55 because Jehovah is plundering Babylon, and the loud voice has been blotted out of her. Her waves are turbulent like great waters, they have made a great roaring sound;56 because the plunderer has come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are captured. Every one of their bows is broken, for Jehovah, the Mighty God of recompenses, makes good the recompense.57 And I will make her rulers drunk, along with her wise ones, her governors, and her officials, and her mighty men. And they shall sleep a never-ending sleep and not wake up, says the King whose name is Jehovah of Hosts.58 Thus says Jehovah of Hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be completely broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the nation shall labor in vain, and the people shall be in the fire, and they shall be weary.59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was a quiet leader.60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon.61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you arrive in Babylon, and have seen, and have read all these words,62 then you shall say, O Jehovah, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that no one shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be a waste forever.63 And it shall be when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates.64 And you shall say, In this way shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise, from the evil that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

1 The Lord seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal reise on Babiloyne, and on the dwelleris therof, that reisiden her herte ayens me, as a wynd of pestilence.2 And Y schal sende in to Babiloyne wyndeweris, and thei schulen wyndewe it, and thei schulen destrie the lond of it; for thei camen on it on ech side, in the dai of the turment therof.3 He that beendith his bowe, beende not, and a man clothid in haburioun, stie not; nyle ye spare the yonge men therof, sle ye al the chyualrie therof.4 And slayn men schulen falle in the lond of Caldeis, and woundid men in the cuntreis therof.5 For whi Israel and Juda was not maad widewe fro her God, the Lord of oostis; but the lond of hem was fillid with trespas of the hooli of Israel.6 Fle ye fro the myddis of Babiloyne, that ech man saue his soule; nyle ye be stille on the wickidnesse therof, for whi tyme of veniaunce therof is to the Lord; he schal yelde while to it.7 Babiloyne is a goldun cuppe in the hond of the Lord, and fillith al erthe; hethene men drunken of the wyn therof, and therfor thei ben mouyd.8 Babiloyne felle doun sudenli, and is al to-brokun; yelle ye on it, take ye recyn to the sorewe therof, if perauenture it be heelid.9 We heeliden Babiloyne, and it is not maad hool; forsake we it and go we ech in to his lond; for the doom therof cam `til to heuenes, and is reisid `til to cloudis.10 The Lord hath brouyt forth oure riytfulnessis; come ye, and telle we in Sion the werk of oure Lord God.11 Scharpe ye arowis, fille ye arowe caasis; the Lord reiside the spirit of the kyngis of Medeis, and his mynde is ayen Babiloyne, that he leese it, for it is the veniaunce of the Lord, the veniaunce of his temple. The kyng of Medeis is reisid of the Lord ayens Babiloyne.12 Reise ye a signe on the wallis of Babiloyne, encreesse ye kepyng, reise ye keperis, make ye redi buyschementis; for the Lord thouyte, and dide, what euer thing he spak ayens the dwelleris of Babiloyne.13 A! thou Babiloyne, that dwellist on many watris, riche in thi tresours, thin ende cometh, the foote mesure of thi kittyng doun.14 The Lord of oostis swoor bi his soule, that Y schal fille thee with men, as with bruke, and a myry song schal be sungun on thee.15 The Lord swoor, which made erthe bi his strengthe, made redy the world bi his wisdom, and stretchide forth heuenes bi his prudence.16 Whanne he yyueth vois, watris ben multiplied in heuene; which Lord reisith cloudis fro the laste of erthe, made leitis in to reyn, and brouyt forth wynd of hise tresouris.17 Ech man is maad a fool of kunnyng, ech wellere togidere is schent in a grauun ymage; for his wellyng togidere is fals, and a spirit is not in tho.18 The werkis ben veyn, and worthi of scorn; tho schulen perische in the tyme of her visityng.19 The part of Jacob is not as these thingis; for he that made alle thingis is the part of Jacob, and Israel is the septre of his eritage; the Lord of oostis is his name.20 Thou hurtlist doun to me the instrumentis of batel, and Y schal hurtle doun folkis in thee, and Y schal leese rewmes in thee;21 and Y schal hurtle doun in thee an hors, and the ridere therof; and Y schal hurtle doun in thee a chare, and the stiere therof;22 and Y schal hurtle doun in thee a man and womman; and Y schal hurtle doun in thee an elde man and a child; and Y schal hurtle doun in thee a yong man and a virgyn;23 and Y schal hurtle doun in thee a scheepherde and his floc; and Y schal hurtle doun in thee an erthetiliere and his yok beestis; and Y schal hurtle doun in thee duykis and magistratis.24 And Y schal yelde, seith the Lord, to Babiloyne, and to alle the dwelleris of Caldee, al her yuel, which thei diden in Sion, bifore youre iyen.25 Lo! Y, seith the Lord, to thee, thou hil berynge pestilence, which corrumpist al erthe. Y schal stretche forth myn hond on thee, and Y schal vnwlappe thee fro stoonys, and Y schal yyue thee in to an hil of brennyng.26 And Y schal not take of thee a stoon in to a corner, and a stoon in to foundementis; but thou schalt be lost with outen ende, seith the Lord.27 Reise ye a signe in the lond, sowne ye with a clarioun in hillis; halewe ye folkis on it, telle ye to the kyngis of Ararath, of Menny, and of Ascheneth ayens it; noumbre ye Tapser ayens it, and bringe ye an hors, as a bruke hauynge a pricke.28 Halowe ye folkis ayens it, the kyngis of Medey, the duykis therof, and alle magistratis therof, and al the lond of his power.29 And the erthe schal be mouyd, and schal be disturblid; for the thouyt of the Lord schal fulli wake ayens Babiloyne, that he sette the lond of Babiloyne desert, and vnhabitable.30 The stronge men of Babiloyne ceessiden of batel, thei dwelliden in stronge holdis; the strengthe of hem is deuourid, and thei ben maad as wymmen; the tabernaclis therof ben brent, the barris therof ben al to-brokun.31 A rennere schal come ayens a rennere, and a messanger ayens a messanger, to telle to the kyng of Babiloyne, that his citee is takun fro the toon ende `til to the tother ende;32 and the forthis ben bifore ocupied, and the mareisis ben brent with fier, and the men werryours ben disturblid.33 For the Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, The douyter of Babiloyne is as a corn floor, the tyme of threischyng therof; yit a litil, and the tyme of repyng therof schal come.34 Nabugodonosor, the kyng of Babiloyne, eet me, and deuouride me; he made me as a voide vessel, he as a dragoun swolewide me; he fillide his wombe with my tendirnesse, and he castide me out.35 Wickidnesse ayens me, and my fleisch on Babiloyne, seith the dwellyng of Sion; and my blood on the dwelleris of Caldee, seith Jerusalem.36 Therfor the Lord seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal deme thi cause, and Y schal venge thi veniaunce; and Y schal make the see therof forsakun, and Y schal make drie the veyne therof.37 And Babiloyne schal be in to biriels, it schal be the dwellyng of dragouns, wondryng and hissyng, for that no dwellere is.38 Thei schulen rore togidere as liouns, and thei schulen schake lockis, as the whelpis of liouns.39 In the heete of hem Y schal sette the drynkis of hem; and Y schal make hem drunkun, that thei be brouyt asleepe, and that thei slepe euerlastynge sleep, and rise not, seith the Lord.40 Y schal lede forth hem, as lambren to slayn sacrifice, and as wetheris with kidis. Hou is Sesac takun, and the noble citee of al erthe is takun?41 Hou is Babiloyne made in to wondre among hethene men?42 And the see stiede on Babiloyne, it was hilid with the multitude of hise wawis.43 The citees therof ben maad in to wondryng, the lond is maad vnhabitable and forsakun; the lond wherynne no man dwellith, and the sone of man schal not passe bi it.44 And Y schal visite on Bel in to Babiloyne, and Y schal caste out of hise mouth that, that he hadde swolewid, and folkis schulen no more flowe to it; for also the wal of Babiloyne schal falle doun.45 Mi puple, go ye out fro the myddis therof, that ech man saue his soule fro the wraththe of the strong veniaunce of the Lord;46 and lest perauenture youre herte wexe neische, and lest ye dreden the heryng, that schal be herd in the lond; and heryng schal come in a yeer, and aftir this yeer schal come heryng and wickidnesse in the lond, and a lord on a lord.47 Therfor lo! daies comen, seith the Lord, and Y schal visite on the grauun ymagis of Babiloyne; and al the lond therof schal be schent, and alle slayn men therof schulen falle doun in the myddis therof.48 And heuenes, and erthis, and alle thingis that ben in tho, schulen herie on Babiloyne; for rauynours schulen come fro the north to it, seith the Lord.49 And as Babiloyne dide, that slayn men felle doun in Israel, so of Babiloyne slayn men schulen falle doun and in al the lond.50 Come ye, that fledden the swerd, nyle ye stonde; haue ye mynde afer on the Lord, and Jerusalem stie on youre herte.51 We ben schent, for we herden schenschipe; schame hilide oure faces, for aliens comen on the halewyng of the hous of the Lord.52 Therfor lo! daies comen, seith the Lord, and Y schal visite on the grauun ymagis of Babiloyne, and in al the lond therof a woundid man schal loowe.53 If Babiloyne stieth in to heuene, and makith stidfast his strengthe an hiy, distrieris therof schulen come on me, seith the Lord.54 The vois of a criere of Babiloyne, and greet sorewe of the lond of Caldeis,55 for the Lord distriede Babiloyne, and lost of it a greet vois; and the wawis of hem schulen sowne as many watris. The vois of hem yaf sown,56 for a rauenour cam on it, that is, on Babiloyne; and the stronge men therof ben takun, and the bouwe of hem welewide, for the stronge vengere the Lord yeldynge schal yelde.57 And Y schal make drunkun the princis therof, and the wise men therof, the duykis therof, and the magistratis therof, and the stronge men therof; and thei schulen slepe euerlastynge sleep, and thei schulen not be awakid, seith the kyng, the Lord of oostis is name of hym.58 The Lord God of oostis seith these thingis, Thilke brodeste wal of Babiloyne schal be mynyd with mynyng, and the hiye yatis therof schulen be brent with fier; and the trauels of puples schulen be to nouyt, and the trauels of hethene men schulen be in to fier, and schulen perische.59 The word which Jeremye, the profete, comaundide to Saraie, sone of Nerie, sone of Maasie, whanne he yede with Sedechie, the kyng, in to Babiloyne, in the fourthe yeer of his rewme; forsothe Saraie was prynce of profesie.60 And Jeremye wroot al the yuel, that was to comynge on Babiloyne, in a book, alle these wordis that weren writun ayens Babiloyne.61 And Jeremye seide to Saraie, Whanne thou comest in to Babiloyne, and seest, and redist alle these wordis,62 thou schalt seie, Lord, thou spakist ayens this place, that thou schuldist leese it, that noon be that dwelle therynne, fro man `til to beeste, and that it be an euerlastynge wildirnesse.63 And whanne thou hast fillid to rede this book, thou schalt bynde to it a stoon, and thou schalt caste it forth in to the myddis of Eufrates; and thou schalt seie,64 So Babiloyne schal be drenchid, and it schal not rise fro the face of turment, which Y brynge on it, and it schal be distried. Hidurto ben the wordis of Jeremye.