Jeremiah 51-52 - The Thread of Your Life

From today's Bible reading:

Jeremiah 51:

Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
by their God, the LORD of hosts,
but the land of the Chaldeans is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.

Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD's hand,
making all the earth drunken;
the nations drank of her wine;
therefore the nations went mad.

The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, for that is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance for his temple.

O you who dwell by many waters,
rich in treasures,
your end has come;
the thread of your life is cut.

The LORD of hosts has sworn by himself:
Surely I will fill you with men, as many as locusts,
and they shall raise the shout of victory over you.

It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
and there is no breath in them.

You are my hammer and weapon of war:
with you I break nations in pieces;
with you I destroy kingdoms;
with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer;
with you I break in pieces man and woman;
with you I break in pieces the old man and the youth;
with you I break in pieces the young man and the young woman;
with you I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;
with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team;
with you I break in pieces governors and commanders.

Go out of the midst of her, my people!
Let every one save his life
from the fierce anger of the LORD!

When you finish reading this book, tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and say, Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, and they shall become exhausted.

Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 52:

In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.

And he burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down.

And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poorest of the people and the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the artisans.

But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans; in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832 persons; in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Judeans 745 persons; all the persons were 4,600.