Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear.<n id="1" /> Do not be afraid of him because I will be with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="2" />

You must not say, &#8216;No, we will not stay. Instead we will go and live in the land of Egypt where we will not face war,<n id="1" /> or hear the enemy&#8217;s trumpet calls,<n id="2" /> or starve for lack of food.&#8217;<n id="3" />

&#8220;Take some large stones<n id="1" /> and bury them in the mortar of the clay pavement<n id="2" /> at the entrance of Pharaoh&#8217;s residence<n id="3" /> here in Tahpanhes. Do it while the people of Judah present there are watching.<n id="4" />

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="1" /> says, &#8220;I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes.<n id="2" /> I will punish Egypt, its gods, and its kings. I will punish Pharaoh and all who trust in him.<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">Fathers will hear the hoofbeats of the enemies&#8217; horses,p> <p class="poetry">the clatter of their chariots and the rumbling of their wheels.p> <p class="poetry">They will not turn back to save their childrenp> <p class="poetry">because they will be paralyzed with fear.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;From its earliest days Moab has lived undisturbed.p> <p class="poetry">It has never been taken into exile.p> <p class="poetry">Its people are like wine allowed to settle undisturbed on its dregs,p> <p class="poetry">never poured out from one jar to another.p> <p class="poetry">They are like wine which tastes like it always did,p> <p class="poetry">whose aroma has remained unchanged.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Joy and gladness will disappearp> <p class="poetry">from the fruitful land of Moab.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will stop the flow of wine from the winepresses.p> <p class="poetry">No one will stomp on the grapes there and shout for joy.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">The shouts there will be shouts of soldiers,p> <p class="poetry">not the shouts of those making wine.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will bring terror on you from every side,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says the Lord <sc>Godsc> who rules over all.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;You will be scattered in every direction.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">No one will gather the fugitives back together.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> spoke about Kedar<n id="1" /> and the kingdoms of Hazor<n id="2" /> that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Army of Babylon,<n id="3" /> go and attack Kedar.p> <p class="poetry">Lay waste those who live in the eastern desert.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will cause enemies to blow through Elam from every directionp> <p class="poetry">like the winds blowing in from the four quarters of heaven.p> <p class="poetry">I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds.p> <p class="poetry">There will not be any nation where the refugees of Elam will not go.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">After I vent my wrath on it Babylon will be uninhabited.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">It will be totally desolate.p> <p class="poetry">All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scornp> <p class="poetry">because of all the disasters that have happened to it.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Attack<n id="2" /> the land of Merathaimp> <p class="poetry">and the people who live in Pekod!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Do just as I have commanded you!<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="1" /> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The people of Israel are oppressed.p> <p class="poetry">So too are the people of Judah.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">All those who took them captive are holding them prisoners.p> <p class="poetry">They refuse to set them free.p>

<p class="poetry">Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there.p> <p class="poetry">Ostriches<n id="1" /> will dwell in it too.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">But no people will ever live there again.p> <p class="poetry">No one will dwell there for all time to come.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc>, who is the portion of the descendants of Jacob, is not like them.p> <p class="poetry">For he is the one who created everything,p> <p class="poetry">including the people of Israel whom he claims as his own.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He is known as the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">On the tenth<n id="1" /> day of the fifth month,<n id="2" /> in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard<n id="3" /> who served<n id="4" /> the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem.

in Nebuchadnezzar&#8217;s twenty-third year,<n id="1" /> Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, carried into exile 745 Judeans. In all 4,600 people went into exile.p>

For I will soon summon all the peoples of the kingdoms of the north,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>. &#8220;They will come and their kings will set up their thrones<n id="1" /> near the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem.<n id="2" /> They will attack all the walls surrounding it, and all the towns in Judah.<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">Your own wickedness will bring about your punishment.p> <p class="poetry">Your unfaithful acts will bring down discipline on you.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Know, then, and realize how utterly harmful<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">it was for you to reject me, the <sc>Lordsc> your God,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">to show no respect for me,&#8221;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">says the Lord <sc>Godsc> who rules over all.<n id="5" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The people say,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Why are we just sitting here?p> <p class="poetry">Let us gather together inside the fortified cities.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Let us at least die there fighting,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">since the <sc>Lordsc> our God has condemned us to die.p> <p class="poetry">He has condemned us to drink the poison waters of judgment<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">because we have sinned against him.<n id="5" />p>