Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests?

他岂可屡次倒空网罗，将列国的人时常杀戮，毫不顾惜呢？

但他岂可因此屡屡倒空罗网，时常杀戮列国的人，毫不顾惜呢？

但他岂可因此屡屡倒空罗网，时常杀戮列国的人，毫不顾惜呢？

难道他们要无休止地撒网，无情地毁灭列国吗？

这样，他们倒空自己的网，毫不留情地继续杀戮列国。

他豈可屢次倒空網羅，將列國的人時常殺戮，毫不顧惜呢？

但他豈可因此屢屢倒空羅網，時常殺戮列國的人，毫不顧惜呢？

但他豈可因此屢屢倒空羅網，時常殺戮列國的人，毫不顧惜呢？

難道他們要無休止地撒網，無情地毀滅列國嗎？

這樣，他們倒空自己的網，毫不留情地繼續殺戮列國。

因此他不斷地拔刀，殺戮列國人、毫不顧惜。

彼傾其網、恆戮列邦、而不之惜、可乎哉、

即罄斯網、復出害人、戮民無厭、爾何聽其然乎。

彼傾空其網、以復張害人、恆殺人民、毫不顧惜、何時為止、

Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy?

Are you going to let them keep on emptying their nets? Will they go on destroying nations without showing them any mercy?

Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever?

Will they therefore empty their net and continually slaughter nations without mercy?

Will they therefore empty their net, And continually slay nations without sparing?

Shall they therefore empty their net, And continue to slay nations without pity?

Shall he therefore empty his net, and spare not to slay the nations continually?

Will they therefore empty their net and continually slaughter nations without mercy?

Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

Will he then continue to fill and empty his throw net? Will he always destroy nations and spare none?

Will he therefore continually empty his net, and kill the nations without mercy?

The following messages were given to Jeremiah the prophet from the Lord concerning foreign nations.This message concerning Egypt was given in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, the king of Judah, on the occasion of the battle of Carchemish when Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, and his army were defeated beside the Euphrates River by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.“ Prepare your shields, and advance into battle!Harness the horses, and mount the stallions. Take your positions. Put on your helmets. Sharpen your spears, and prepare your armor.But what do I see? The Egyptian army flees in terror. The bravest of its fighting men run without a backward glance. They are terrorized at every turn,” says the Lord.“ The swiftest runners cannot flee; the mightiest warriors cannot escape. By the Euphrates River to the north, they stumble and fall.“ Who is this, rising like the Nile at floodtime, overflowing all the land?It is the Egyptian army, overflowing all the land, boasting that it will cover the earth like a flood, destroying cities and their people.Charge, you horses and chariots; attack, you mighty warriors of Egypt! Come, all you allies from Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia who are skilled with the shield and bow!For this is the day of the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, a day of vengeance on his enemies. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, yes, until it is drunk with your blood! The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will receive a sacrifice today in the north country beside the Euphrates River.“ Go up to Gilead to get medicine, O virgin daughter of Egypt! But your many treatments will bring you no healing.The nations have heard of your shame. The earth is filled with your cries of despair. Your mightiest warriors will run into each other and fall down together.”Then the Lord gave the prophet Jeremiah this message about King Nebuchadnezzar’s plans to attack Egypt.“ Shout it out in Egypt! Publish it in the cities of Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes! Mobilize for battle, for the sword will devour everyone around you.Why have your warriors fallen? They cannot stand, for the Lord has knocked them down.They stumble and fall over each other and say among themselves,‘ Come, let’s go back to our people, to the land of our birth. Let’s get away from the sword of the enemy!’There they will say,‘ Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is a loudmouth who missed his opportunity!’“ As surely as I live,” says the King, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,“ one is coming against Egypt who is as tall as Mount Tabor, or as Mount Carmel by the sea!Pack up! Get ready to leave for exile, you citizens of Egypt! The city of Memphis will be destroyed, without a single inhabitant.Egypt is as sleek as a beautiful heifer, but a horsefly from the north is on its way!Egypt’s mercenaries have become like fattened calves. They, too, will turn and run, for it is a day of great disaster for Egypt, a time of great punishment.Egypt flees, silent as a serpent gliding away. The invading army marches in; they come against her with axes like woodsmen.They will cut down her people like trees,” says the Lord,“ for they are more numerous than locusts.Egypt will be humiliated; she will be handed over to people from the north.”The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:“ I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes, and all the other gods of Egypt. I will punish its rulers and Pharaoh, too, and all who trust in him.I will hand them over to those who want them killed— to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his army. But afterward the land will recover from the ravages of war. I, the Lord, have spoken!“ But do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel. For I will bring you home again from distant lands, and your children will return from their exile. Israel will return to a life of peace and quiet, and no one will terrorize them.Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, for I am with you,” says the Lord.“ I will completely destroy the nations to which I have exiled you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you, but with justice; I cannot let you go unpunished.”

Wealth is treacherous, and the arrogant are never at rest. They open their mouths as wide as the grave, and like death, they are never satisfied. In their greed they have gathered up many nations and swallowed many peoples.“ But soon their captives will taunt them. They will mock them, saying,‘ What sorrow awaits you thieves! Now you will get what you deserve! You’ve become rich by extortion, but how much longer can this go on?’Suddenly, your debtors will take action. They will turn on you and take all you have, while you stand trembling and helpless.Because you have plundered many nations, now all the survivors will plunder you. You committed murder throughout the countryside and filled the towns with violence.

“ On they come, all bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind, sweeping captives ahead of them like sand.They scoff at kings and princes and scorn all their fortresses. They simply pile ramps of earth against their walls and capture them!

I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever.I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out.This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.“ Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins,” says the Lord.“ I will make the country of the Babylonians a wasteland forever.I will bring upon them all the terrors I have promised in this book— all the penalties announced by Jeremiah against the nations.Many nations and great kings will enslave the Babylonians, just as they enslaved my people. I will punish them in proportion to the suffering they cause my people.”This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me:“ Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.When they drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against them.”So I took the cup of anger from the Lord and made all the nations drink from it— every nation to which the Lord sent me.I went to Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah, and their kings and officials drank from the cup. From that day until this, they have been a desolate ruin, an object of horror, contempt, and cursing.I gave the cup to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials, and all his people,along with all the foreigners living in that land. I also gave it to all the kings of the land of Uz and the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod.Then I gave the cup to the nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon,and the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings of the regions across the sea.I gave it to Dedan, Tema, and Buz, and to the people who live in distant places.I gave it to the kings of Arabia, the kings of the nomadic tribes of the desert,and to the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media.And I gave it to the kings of the northern countries, far and near, one after the other— all the kingdoms of the world. And finally, the king of Babylon himself drank from the cup of the Lord’s anger.

You cut down the forests of Lebanon. Now you will be cut down. You destroyed the wild animals, so now their terror will be yours. You committed murder throughout the countryside and filled the towns with violence.

Everyone there will stare at you and ask,‘ Can this be the one who shook the earth and made the kingdoms of the world tremble?Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wasteland? Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?’

Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.But Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Jehoiakim had done.These things happened because of the Lord’s anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.So on January 15, during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls.Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone.Then a section of the city wall was broken down, and all the soldiers fled. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians, they waited for nightfall. Then they slipped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden and headed toward the Jordan Valley.But the Babylonian troops chased King Zedekiah and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered.They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath. There the king of Babylon pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah.The king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as he slaughtered his sons. He also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah.Then he gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in bronze chains, and the king of Babylon led him away to Babylon. Zedekiah remained there in prison until the day of his death.On August 17 of that year, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem.He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings in the city.Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side.Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the Lord’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon.They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, basins, dishes, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple.The captain of the guard also took the small bowls, incense burners, basins, pots, lampstands, ladles, bowls used for liquid offerings, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver.The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea with the twelve bronze oxen beneath it, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the Lord’s Temple in the days of King Solomon.Each of the pillars was 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference. They were hollow, with walls 3 inches thick.The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7 1/2 feet high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around.There were 96 pomegranates on the sides, and a total of 100 pomegranates on the network around the top.Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took with him as prisoners Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three chief gatekeepers.And from among the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer who had been in charge of the Judean army; seven of the king’s personal advisers; the army commander’s chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment; and sixty other citizens.Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah.And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them all put to death. So the people of Judah were sent into exile from their land.The number of captives taken to Babylon in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign was 3,023.Then in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year he took 832 more.In Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty third year he sent Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who took 745 more— a total of 4,600 captives in all.In the thirty seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to Jehoiachin and released him from prison on March 31 of that year.He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon.He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the rest of his life.So the Babylonian king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived. This continued until the day of his death.

Then this message came to me from the Lord:“ Son of man, turn and face the land of Ammon and prophesy against its people.Give the Ammonites this message from the Sovereign Lord: Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord! Because you cheered when my Temple was defiled, mocked Israel in her desolation, and laughed at Judah as she went away into exile,I will allow nomads from the eastern deserts to overrun your country. They will set up their camps among you and pitch their tents on your land. They will harvest all your fruit and drink the milk from your livestock.And I will turn the city of Rabbah into a pasture for camels, and all the land of the Ammonites into a resting place for sheep and goats. Then you will know that I am the Lord.“ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you clapped and danced and cheered with glee at the destruction of my people,I will raise my fist of judgment against you. I will give you as plunder to many nations. I will cut you off from being a nation and destroy you completely. Then you will know that I am the Lord.“ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because the people of Moab have said that Judah is just like all the other nations,I will open up their eastern flank and wipe out their glorious frontier towns— Beth jeshimoth, Baal meon, and Kiriathaim.And I will hand Moab over to nomads from the eastern deserts, just as I handed over Ammon. Yes, the Ammonites will no longer be counted among the nations.In the same way, I will bring my judgment down on the Moabites. Then they will know that I am the Lord.“ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Edom have sinned greatly by avenging themselves against the people of Judah.Therefore, says the Sovereign Lord, I will raise my fist of judgment against Edom. I will wipe out its people and animals with the sword. I will make a wasteland of everything from Teman to Dedan.I will accomplish this by the hand of my people of Israel. They will carry out my vengeance with anger, and Edom will know that this vengeance is from me. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!“ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Philistia have acted against Judah out of bitter revenge and long standing contempt.Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will raise my fist of judgment against the land of the Philistines. I will wipe out the Kerethites and utterly destroy the people who live by the sea.I will execute terrible vengeance against them to punish them for what they have done. And when I have inflicted my revenge, they will know that I am the Lord.”

The fishermen will lament for lack of work. Those who cast hooks into the Nile will groan, and those who use nets will lose heart.

You struck the people with endless blows of rage and held the nations in your angry grip with unrelenting tyranny.