Week 42, Day 5 in the LEB

Oct 18, 2024

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The reading for today is Jeremiah 50-51; 2 Peter 3.

Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.

Jeremiah 50

The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet:

"Declare among the nations and proclaim,
    and lift up a banner.
Proclaim, you must not conceal it.
Say, ‘Babylon is captured,
    Bel is ashamed,
    Merodach is filled with terror,
her idols are ashamed,
    her idols are filled with terror.
For a nation will come up against her from the north.
It will make her land as a horror,
    and an inhabitant will not be in her.
From humans to animals they all will wander off.
    They will go away.
In those days and in that time,’" declares Yahweh,
    "the people of Israel will come,
    they and the people of Judah together.
Weeping as they go, they will go,
    and Yahweh their God they will seek.
They will ask the way to Zion,
    turning their faces there.
They will come and join themselves to Yahweh
    by an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.
My people have become lost sheep,
    their shepherds have caused them to go astray.
They led them away to the mountains.
From mountain to hill they have gone,
    they have forgotten their resting place.
All those who found them have devoured them.
    And their foes have said, ‘We are not guilty,
because they have sinned against Yahweh, the true pasture,
    even Yahweh, the hope of their ancestors.’
Flee from the midst of Babylon,
    and from the land of the Chaldeans.
Go out and be like he-goats
    before the flock.
For look, I am going to stir up,
    and I am going to bring against Babylon
a contingent of great nations
    from the land of the north.
And they will draw up a battle formation against her,
    from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like a warrior who has achieved success,
    he does not return without success.
And Chaldea will be as booty,
    all those who plunder her will be satisfied," declares Yahweh.
"Though you rejoice, though you exult,
    O plunderers of my inheritance,
though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass,
    and you neigh like the powerful stallions,
your mother will be very ashamed.
    She who gave birth to you will be humiliated.
Look, she will be the least of the nations,
    a desert, dry land, and wilderness.
Because of the anger of Yahweh she will not be inhabited,
    but she will be a wasteland, all of her.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled
    and will hiss because of all her wounds.
Draw up a battle formation at Babylon all around,
    all those who bend the bow, shoot at her.
You must not spare arrows,
    for she has sinned against Yahweh.
Raise a war cry against her on all sides.
    She has surrendered.
Her towers have fallen,
    her walls are ruined.
For this is the vengeance of Yahweh.
    Take revenge on her.
As she has done to others,
    so do to her.
Cut off the sower from Babylon,
    and the one who uses the sickle in the time of harvest.
Because of the sword of the oppressor
    each one will turn to their people,
    and each one will flee to their land.
Israel is a sheep scattered,
    lions drove them away.
The first who devoured it was the king of Assyria,
    and now at the end Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, gnawed its bones."

Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,

"Look, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land
    just as I punished the king of Assyria.
And I will restore Israel to its pasture,
    and it will feed on Carmel, and in Bashan,
and on the hills of Ephraim, and in Gilead
    its hunger will be satisfied.
In those days and at that time," declares Yahweh,
    "the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there is none,
and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found,
    for I will forgive those I left behind.
To the land of Merathaim,
    go up against her,
and against the inhabitants of Pekod,
    massacre and destroy them," declares Yahweh,
"and do according to all that I have commanded you.
The sound of battle is in the land,
    and great destruction.
How the blacksmith’s hammer of all the earth is cut down and broken!
    How Babylon has become as a horror among the nations!
I laid a bird snare for you, and you were caught, O Babylon.
    But you yourself did not know.
You were discovered and seized,
    because with Yahweh you measured yourself.
Yahweh has opened his armory,
    and he has brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for it is a word for my Lord Yahweh of hosts
    in the land of the Chaldeans.
Come against her from the end,
    open her granaries.
Pile her up like heaps and destroy her.
    Let there be no remnant for her.
Massacre all her bulls,
    let them go down to the slaughtering.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
    the time of their punishment.
There is the sound of fugitives and survivors
    from the land of Babylon,
to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God,
    the vengeance for his temple.
Summon archers against Babylon,
    all those who bend the bow.
Encamp all around her,
    there must not be for her an escape.
Take revenge on her according to her deeds.
    According to all that she has done, so do to her.
For against Yahweh she has behaved insolently,
    against the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore her young men will fall in her public squares,
    and all her soldiers will perish on that day," declares Yahweh.
"Look, I am against you, O arrogant one,"
    declares Lord Yahweh of hosts,
"for your day has come,
    the time when I will punish you.
And the arrogant one will stumble and fall,
    and there is no one who raises him up.
And I will kindle a fire in his cities,
    and it will devour everything around him."

Thus says Yahweh of hosts:

"The people of Israel are oppressed,
    and the people of Judah likewise,
for all their captors have seized them,
    they refuse to let them go free.
Their redeemer is strong,
    his name is Yahweh of hosts.
Surely he will plead their case,
    in order to make peace for the earth,
but to cause unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.
A sword against the Chaldeans," declares Yahweh,
    "and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
and against her officials,
    and against her wise men.
A sword against the oracle priests,
    and they will become foolish.
A sword against her warriors,
    and they will be filled with terror.
A sword against his horses,
    and against his chariots,
and against all the foreign troops who are in the midst of her,
    so that they may become as women.
A sword against her treasures,
    so that they may be plundered.
A drought will come against her waters,
    and they will dry up,
for it is a land of images,
    and because of the frightful objects, they act like madmen.
Therefore desert creatures will live there with jackals,
    and daughters of ostriches will inhabit her.
And she will not be inhabited again forever,
    and she will not be dwelt in for all generations.
As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
    and their neighbors," declares Yahweh,
"no one will live there,
    and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in her.
Look, a people is about to come
    from the north,
and a great nation and many kings are woken up
    from the remotest part of the earth.
They keep hold of bow and short sword.
    They are cruel and they have no mercy.
Their sound is like the sea, it roars,
    and upon horses they ride.
Drawn up for battle as a man for the battle,
    against you, O daughter of Babylon.
The king of Babylon heard their report
    and his hands grew slack.
Anxiety has seized him,
    fear and pain like the woman who gives birth.
Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets of the Jordan
    against a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream,
so I will chase them away quickly from her,
    and I will appoint whoever is chosen over her.
For who is like me, and who can summon me,
    and who is this shepherd who can stand before me?
Therefore hear the plan of Yahweh
    that he has planned against Babylon,
and his plans
    that he has planned against the land of the Chaldeans.
Surely they will drag them away,
    the little ones of the flock.
Surely he will cause their grazing place
    to be desolate over them.
At the sound, ‘Babylon has been captured,’
    the earth will quake,
and a cry for help among the nations
    will be heard."

Jeremiah 51

Thus says Yahweh:

"Look, I am going to stir up against Babylon
    and against the inhabitants of Leb-qamai a destructive wind.
And I will send winnowers to Babylon,
    and they will winnow her,
and they will lay waste her land,
    for they will be against her from all sides on the day of disaster.
Let not him who bends the bow shoot his bow,
    and let him not rise high in his body armor.
And you must not spare her young men;
    destroy her whole army.
And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
    and pierced through in her streets.
For neither Israel nor Judah is a widower from their God,
    from Yahweh of hosts,
though their land is full of guilt
    against the Holy One of Israel."
Flee from the midst of Babylon and save each one his life.
    You must not perish because of her guilt.
For this is the time of vengeance for Yahweh,
    he will repay her what is deserved.
Babylon was a cup of gold in the hand of Yahweh,
    making drunk all the earth.
The nations drank of her wine.
    Therefore the nations acted like madmen.
Suddenly Babylon has fallen and she is shattered.
    Wail over her!
Take balm for her wounds,
    perhaps she may be healed.
We tried to heal Babylon, and she was not healed.
    Forsake her and let us go each one to his country,
for her judgment has reached to the heavens,
    and it has been lifted up to the skies.
Yahweh has brought forth our vindication.
    Come and let us make known in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.
Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
    Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes.
Because his plan concerning Babylon is to destroy it,
    for that is the vengeance of Yahweh,
    the vengeance for his temple.
Against the walls of Babylon raise a banner;
    post a strong watch, post watchmen, prepare the ambushes,
for Yahweh has both planned as well as performed
    what he has spoken concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
O you who live by mighty waters, rich in treasures,
    your end has come, the measure of your life.
Yahweh of hosts has sworn by himself,
    "Surely I will fill you with troops like the creeping locusts,
    and they will sing over you a war cry."
He is the one who made the earth by his power,
    the one who created the world by his wisdom,
    and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens.
At the giving of his voice
    there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
and he causes the patches of mist
    to go up from the end of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
    and he brings out the wind from his storehouses.
All humankind turns out to be stupid,
    without knowledge.
Every goldsmith is put to shame
    by the divine image.
For his cast image is a lie,
    and there is no breath in them.
They are worthless,
    a work of mockery.
At the time of their punishment,
    they will perish.
The portion of Jacob is not like these,
    for he is the creator of everything,
    and the tribe of his inheritance.
Yahweh of hosts is his name.
He says, "You are a war club for me,
    a weapon of battle,
and I smash nations with you,
    and I destroy kingdoms with you.
And I smash the horse with you,
    and its rider,
and I smash the chariot with you,
    and its rider.
And I smash man and woman with you,
    and I smash the old man and the boy with you,
    and I smash the young man and the young woman with you.
And I smash the shepherd and his flock with you,
    and I smash the farmer and his team with you,
    and I smash the governors and the officials with you.
And I will repay Babylon,
    and all the inhabitants of Chaldea,
all their wickedness that they have done in Zion
    before your eyes," declares Yahweh.
"Look, I am against you,
    O mountain of the destruction," declares Yahweh,
    "the one that destroys the whole earth.
And I will stretch out my hand against you,
    and I will roll you down from the cliffs,
    and I will make you as a mountain burned away.
They will not take from you
    a stone for a corner,
and a stone for a foundation,
    for you will be an everlasting desolation," declares Yahweh.
Raise a banner in the land;
    blow a horn among the nations;
prepare for holy war against her;
    summon the nations against her,
the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz;
    summon against her an official;
    bring up horses like bristling creeping locusts.
Prepare the nations for holy war against her,
    the kings of the Medes,
with their governors and all their officials,
    and every land of their dominion.
And the land quakes and writhes,
    for the plans of Yahweh against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon as a horror,
    without inhabitant.
The warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight,
    they remain in the strongholds,
their power has dried up,
    they have become as women.
Her dwelling places are set on fire,
    her bars are broken.
one runner runs to meet another runner,
    and one messenger to meet another messenger,
to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been captured,
    from end to end.
And the fords have been seized,
    and the reed marshes have been burned with fire,
    and the soldiers are horrified.

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,

"The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor
    at the time it is trodden down,
just a little while
    and the time of the harvest will come for her."
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon
    has devoured me and sucked me dry;
he has made me an empty vessel;
    he has swallowed me like the sea monster;
he has filled his belly with my delicacies;
    he has rinsed me.
"May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon,"
    the inhabitants of Zion will say;
and "My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,"
    Jerusalem will say.

Therefore thus says Yahweh,

"Look, I am going to contend your case,
    and I will avenge your vengeance,
and I will cause her sea to dry up,
    and I will cause her fountain to dry up.
And Babylon will become as a heap of stones,
    a lair of jackals,
an object of horror, and an object of hissing,
    without inhabitants.
They will roar together like the young lions,
    they will growl like the cubs of lions.
At their becoming hot I will set their banquets,
    and I will make them drunk,
so that they will fall into a swoon,
    and they will sleep an everlasting sleep,
    and they will not wake up," declares Yahweh.
"I will bring them down like young rams to slaughter,
    like rams and goats.
How Sheshach is captured,
    and the glory of all the earth is seized!
How Babylon has become as an object of horror
    among the nations!
The sea has risen over Babylon,
    she has been covered by the roar of its waves.
Her cities have become as an object of horror,
    a dry land and a wilderness,
a land in which no person lives,
    nor does a son of humankind pass through it.
And I will punish Bel in Babylon,
    and I will wrench out from his mouth what he has swallowed.
And the nations will not stream towards him any longer
    what’s worse, the wall of Babylon has fallen.
Come out from her midst, my people,
    and save each one his life
    from the burning anger of Yahweh.
Now so that you are not fainthearted,
    and you are afraid at the rumors that are heard in the land—
and in the year the rumor comes,
    and in the year after it the rumor,
and violence is in the land,
    with ruler against ruler—
therefore look, days are coming,
    and I will punish the images of Babylon,
and all her land will be put to shame,
    and all her slain ones will fall in the midst of her.
Then the heaven and the earth and all that is in them
    will shout for joy over Babylon,
for from the north
    the destroyers will come to it," declares Yahweh.
Babylon must fall not only because of the slain ones of Israel,
    but also because of Babylon the slain ones of all the earth have fallen.
Survivors of the sword, go!
    You must not linger!
Remember Yahweh from far away,
    and let Jerusalem come to your mind.
We are ashamed,
    for we have heard taunts,
disgrace covers our faces,
    for strangers have come to the holy places of the house of Yahweh.
"Therefore look, days are coming," declares Yahweh,
    "and I will punish her images,
    and the fatally wounded will sigh through all her land.
Though Babylon goes up to the heavens,
    and though she fortifies the high place of her strength,
    from me destroyers will come to her," declares Yahweh.
The sound of a cry for help from Babylon,
    and a great collapse from the land of the Chaldeans.
For Yahweh is devastating Babylon,
    and he obliterates her loud noise from her.
Their waves roar like mighty waters,
    the roar of their voices resounds.
For a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
    and her warriors are captured.
Their bows are broken;
    for Yahweh is a God of recompense,
    certainly he will repay.
"And I will make drunk her officials, and her wise men,
    her governors, and her officials, and her warriors,
and they will sleep an everlasting sleep,
    and they will not wake up,"
declares the King, Yahweh of hosts is his name.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts:

"The broad walls of Babylon will be utterly demolished,
    and her high gates will burn with fire,
and the peoples will labor for nothing,
    and the nations for fire,
and they will grow weary."

The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, at his going with Zedekiah, the king of Judah, to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was the quartermaster. And Jeremiah wrote all the disasters that would come on Babylon in one scroll, all these words that are written concerning Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "At your coming to Babylon, then you must see that you read aloud all these words. And you must say, ‘Yahweh, you yourself spoke against this place, to destroy it, so that there will not be in it anything living, from humankind to animals, for it will be an everlasting desolation.’ And then when you finish reading aloud this scroll, you must tie a stone on it, and you must throw it into the middle of the Euphrates. And you must say, ‘Babylon will sink, and she will not rise, because of the face of the disasters that I am bringing on her, and they will grow weary.’" Thus far the words of Jeremiah.

2 Peter 3

Dear friends, this is already the second letter I am writing to you, in both of which I am attempting to stir up your sincere mind by a reminder, to remember the words proclaimed beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, above all knowing this, that in the last days scoffers will come with scoffing, following according to their own desires and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued just as they have been from the beginning of creation." For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that the heavens existed long ago and the earth held together out of water and through water by the word of God, by means of which things the world that existed at that time was destroyed by being inundated with water. But by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.

Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that one day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. The Lord is not delaying the promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will disappear with a rushing noise, and the celestial bodies will be destroyed by being burned up, and the earth and the deeds done on it will be disclosed. Because all these things are being destroyed in this way, what sort of people must you be in holy behavior and godliness, while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by being burned up and the celestial bodies will melt as they are consumed by heat! But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness resides.

Therefore, dear friends, because you are waiting for these things, make every effort to be found at peace, spotless and unblemished in him. And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom that was given to him, as he does also in all his letters, speaking in them about these things, in which there are some things hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, as they also do the rest of the scriptures. Therefore, dear friends, because you know this beforehand, guard yourselves so that you do not lose your own safe position because you have been led away by the error of lawless persons. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.