“ So listen, you who love pleasure. You think you are safe and secure. You say to yourself,‘ I am like a god. No one is greater than I am. I’ll never be a widow. And my children will never be taken away from me.’

你这专好宴乐、安然居住的，现在当听这话。你心中说：“惟有我，除我以外再没有别的。我必不致寡居，也不遭丧子之事。”

你这专好宴乐、以为地位稳固的，现在当听这话。你心中说：“惟有我，除我以外再没有别的。我必不致寡居，也不经历丧子之痛。”

你这专好宴乐、以为地位稳固的，现在当听这话。你心中说：“惟有我，除我以外再没有别的。我必不致寡居，也不经历丧子之痛。”

“淫逸安舒的人啊，听着！你以为天地间唯你独尊，你必不致寡居，也不会遭丧子之痛。

因此，你这淫逸、安居的，现在要听这话。你曾心里说：‘只有我，除我以外再没有别的；我必不会寡居，也不会经历丧子的事。’

“因此，你这骄奢的人哪——你安然居住，心里说：‘只有我，除我以外再没有别的；我必不会寡居，也不会经历丧子之事。’——现在你要听这话：

你這專好宴樂、安然居住的，現在當聽這話。你心中說：惟有我，除我以外再沒有別的。我必不致寡居，也不遭喪子之事。

你這專好宴樂、以為地位穩固的，現在當聽這話。你心中說：「惟有我，除我以外再沒有別的。我必不致寡居，也不經歷喪子之痛。」

你這專好宴樂、以為地位穩固的，現在當聽這話。你心中說：「惟有我，除我以外再沒有別的。我必不致寡居，也不經歷喪子之痛。」

「淫逸安舒的人啊，聽著！你以為天地間唯你獨尊，你必不致寡居，也不會遭喪子之痛。

因此，你這淫逸、安居的，現在要聽這話。你曾心裡說：‘只有我，除我以外再沒有別的；我必不會寡居，也不會經歷喪子的事。’

故此現在呢、你這專愛宴樂、陶陶自得而居住的人哪，你要聽這話！你心裏說：『我，我以外再沒有別的；我必不至於寡居，必不至於經驗喪子之苦』；

「因此，你這驕奢的人哪——你安然居住，心裡說：『只有我，除我以外再沒有別的；我必不會寡居，也不會經歷喪子之事。』——現在你要聽這話：

爾宴樂安居、自謂有我、我外無他、必不孤坐為嫠、亦不喪子、爾其聽諸、

然爾淫佚之婦、僣稱主母、自謂無能比儗、必不夫亡子喪。吾語汝、

今爾當聽、爾如逸樂之婦、安然而居、心自妄思、惟獨有我、再無他國、不至為嫠、永不喪子、

“ Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure, lounging in your security and saying to yourself,‘ I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.’

Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart,“ I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children”:

“ Listen to this, you pleasure loving kingdom, living at ease and feeling secure. You say,‘ I am the only one, and there is no other. I will never be a widow or lose my children.’

“ So now hear this, lover of luxury, who sits securely, who says to herself,‘ I am, and there is no one else. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.’

“ Now, then, hear this, you luxuriant one, Who lives securely, Who says in her heart,‘ I am, and there is no one besides me. I will not sit as a widow, Nor know the loss of children.’

“ Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, Who dwell securely, Who say in your heart,‘ I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, Nor shall I know the loss of children’;

Now therefore hear this, thou that art given to pleasures, that sittest securely, that sayest in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:

“ So now hear this, lover of luxury, who sits securely, who says to herself,‘ I exist, and there is no one else. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.’

Therefore hear now this,[ thou that art] given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I[ am], and none else beside me; I shall not sit[ as] a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:

So now, listen to this, O one who lives so lavishly, who lives securely, who says to herself,‘ I am unique! No one can compare to me! I will never have to live as a widow; I will never lose my children.’

“ Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart,‘ I am, and there is no one else besides me. I won’t sit as a widow, neither will I know the loss of children.’

Nineveh was a carefree city. It lived in safety. It said to itself,“ I am the one! No one is greater than I am.” But it has been destroyed. Wild animals make their home there. All those who pass by laugh and shake their fists at it.

You women who are so contented, pay attention to me. You who feel so secure, listen to what I have to say.

Then people will know there is no God but me. Everyone from where the sun rises in the east to where it sets in the west will know it. I am the Lord. There is no other Lord.

“ People of Babylon, you have stolen what belongs to me. That has made you glad and full of joy. You dance around like a young cow on a threshing floor. You neigh like stallions.

You have felt secure in your evil ways. You have said,‘ No one sees what I’m doing.’ Your wisdom and knowledge lead you astray. You say to yourself,‘ I am like a god. No one is greater than I am.’

The Lord created the heavens. He is God. He formed the earth and made it. He set it firmly in place. He didn’t create it to be empty. Instead, he formed it for people to live on. He says,“ I am the Lord. There is no other Lord.

So the five men left. They came to Laish. There they saw that the people felt secure. They were living in safety. Like the people in Sidon, they were at peace. Their land had everything they needed. Things were going very well for them. They lived a long way from the people of Sidon. And they didn’t think they would ever need help from anyone else.

“ Then he said,‘ This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. I will store my extra grain in them.I’ll say to myself,“ You have plenty of grain stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time.” ’“ But God said to him,‘ You foolish man! Tonight I will take your life away from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

Everything always goes well for him. So he is proud. He doesn’t want to have anything to do with God’s laws. He makes fun of all his enemies.He says to himself,“ I will always be secure.” He promises himself,“ No one will ever harm me.”

“ A certain king will do as he pleases. He will honor himself. He will put himself above every god. He will say things against the greatest God of all. Those things have never been heard before. He will have success until God is not angry anymore. What God has decided to do must take place.

The Lord who rules over all called out to you at that time. The Lord told you to weep and cry. He told you to tear your hair out. And he told you to put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad.Instead, you are enjoying yourselves at wild parties! You are killing cattle and sheep. You are eating their meat and drinking wine. You are saying,“ Let’s eat and drink, because tomorrow we’ll die.”

“ Wine makes the Babylonians do foolish things. They are proud. They never rest. Like the grave, they are always hungry for more. Like death, they are never satisfied. They gather all the nations to themselves. They take all those people away as prisoners.“ Won’t those people laugh at the Babylonians? Won’t they make fun of them? They will say to them,“‘ How terrible it will be for you who pile up stolen goods! You get rich by cheating others. How long will this go on?’Those you owe money to will suddenly rise up. They will wake up and make you tremble with fear. Then they will take away everything you have.You have robbed many nations. So the nations that are left will rob you. You have spilled human blood. You have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

What if Babylon reached all the way to the heavens? What if it made its high walls even stronger? I would still send destroyers against it,” announces the Lord.

His enemies will be tangled up among thorns. Their wine will make them drunk. They’ll be burned up like dry straw.

All the nations have drunk the strong wine of her terrible sins. The kings of the earth took part in her evil ways. The traders of the world grew rich from her great wealth.”Then I heard another voice from heaven. It said,“‘ Come out of her, my people.’( Jeremiah 51:45) Then you will not take part in her sins. You will not suffer from any of her plagues.Her sins are piled up to heaven. God has remembered her crimes.Do to her as she has done to others. Pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double dose of what she has poured for others.Give her as much pain and suffering as the glory and wealth she gave herself. She brags to herself,‘ I rule on a throne like a queen. I am not a widow. I will never mourn.’( Isaiah 47:7, 8)But she will be plagued by death, sadness and hunger. In a single day she will suffer all these plagues. She will be burned up by fire. That’s because the Lord God who judges her is mighty.

He will oppose everything that is called God. He will oppose everything that is worshiped. He will give himself power over everything. He will set himself up in God’s temple. He will announce that he himself is God.

“ Proud Babylonians, I am against you,” announces the Lord. The Lord who rules over all says,“ Your day to be judged has come. It is time for you to be punished.You proud people will trip and fall. No one will help you up. I will start a fire in your towns. It will burn up everyone around you.”

My heart grows weak. Fear makes me tremble. I longed for evening to come. But it brought me horror instead of rest.In my vision the Babylonians set the tables. They spread out the rugs. They eat and drink. Get up, you officers! Rub your shields with oil!

Your Majesty, you are that tree! You have become great and strong. Your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky. Your rule has spread to all parts of the earth.

He said,“ Isn’t this the great Babylon I have built as a place for my royal palace? I used my mighty power to build it. It shows how glorious my majesty is.”

You have taken your stand against the Lord of heaven. You had your servants bring cups from his temple to you. You and your nobles drank wine from them. So did your wives and concubines. You praised your gods. The statues of those gods are made out of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood or stone. They can’t see or hear or understand anything. But you didn’t honor God. He holds in his hand your very life and everything you do.

The people of Dan took what Micah had made. They also took his priest. They continued on their way to Laish. They went there to fight against a people who were at peace and secure. The people of Dan struck them down with their swords. They burned down their city.

People were eating and drinking. They were getting married. They were giving their daughters to be married. They did all those things right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.“ It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking. They were buying and selling. They were planting and building.But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven. And all the people were destroyed.

That very night Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, was killed.

King Belshazzar gave a huge banquet. He invited a thousand of his nobles to it. He drank wine with them.While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to his servants. He commanded them to bring in some gold and silver cups. They were the cups his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. Belshazzar had them brought in so everyone could drink from them. That included the king himself, his nobles, his wives and his concubines.So the servants brought in the gold cups. The cups had been taken from God’s temple in Jerusalem. The king and his nobles drank from them. So did his wives and concubines.As they drank the wine, they praised their gods. The statues of those gods were made out of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood or stone.