WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.840 Nancy: Welcome to immerse: the daily bible reading experience. 00:00:02.920 --> 00:00:04.270 day 200 and 68 00:00:04.681 --> 00:00:08.731 the Lord gave Jeremiah the prophet, this message concerning Babylon 00:00:08.881 --> 00:00:10.321 and the land of the Babylonians. 00:00:11.281 --> 00:00:12.631 This is what the Lord says. 00:00:13.681 --> 00:00:16.291 Tell the whole world and keep nothing back. 00:00:16.891 --> 00:00:20.851 Raise a signal flag to tell everyone that Babylon will fall. 00:00:21.421 --> 00:00:23.911 Her images and idols will be shattered. 00:00:24.541 --> 00:00:28.321 Her God's bell and Marduke will be utterly disgraced. 00:00:29.206 --> 00:00:33.706 For a nation will attack her from the north and bring such destruction 00:00:33.916 --> 00:00:35.686 that no one will live there again. 00:00:36.106 --> 00:00:37.486 Everything will be gone. 00:00:37.726 --> 00:00:43.066 Both people and animals will flee in those coming days, says the Lord. 00:00:43.336 --> 00:00:47.086 The people of Israel will return home together with the people of Judah. 00:00:47.746 --> 00:00:50.896 They will come weeping and seeking the Lord their God. 00:00:51.616 --> 00:00:55.636 They will ask the way to Jerusalem and will start back home again. 00:00:56.221 --> 00:00:59.641 They will bind themselves to the Lord with an eternal covenant 00:00:59.791 --> 00:01:01.081 that will never be forgotten. 00:01:02.311 --> 00:01:04.111 My people have been lost sheep. 00:01:04.651 --> 00:01:08.521 Their shepherds have led them astray and turned them loose in the mountains. 00:01:09.061 --> 00:01:11.371 They have lost their way and can't remember how to 00:01:11.371 --> 00:01:12.871 get back to the sheep fold. 00:01:13.381 --> 00:01:15.541 All who found them devoured them. 00:01:16.021 --> 00:01:19.441 Their enemies said We did nothing wrong in attacking them. 00:01:19.561 --> 00:01:22.651 For they sinned against the Lord, their true place of rest 00:01:22.891 --> 00:01:24.481 and the hope of their ancestors. 00:01:25.276 --> 00:01:27.586 Now flee from Babylon. 00:01:28.276 --> 00:01:32.986 Leave the land of the Babylonians like male goats at the head of the flock. 00:01:33.346 --> 00:01:37.786 Lead my people home again for I am raising up an army of 00:01:37.786 --> 00:01:39.376 great nations from the north. 00:01:39.946 --> 00:01:43.846 They will join forces to attack Babylon, and she will be captured. 00:01:44.626 --> 00:01:47.086 The enemy's arrows will go straight to the mark. 00:01:47.506 --> 00:01:48.616 They will not miss. 00:01:49.396 --> 00:01:53.116 Babylonia, will be looted until the attackers are glutted with loot. 00:01:53.971 --> 00:01:55.741 I the Lord have spoken. 00:01:56.821 --> 00:02:00.721 You, rejoice and are glad you who plundered my chosen people. 00:02:01.381 --> 00:02:05.281 You frisk about like a calf in a meadow and nay like a stallion. 00:02:05.971 --> 00:02:09.541 But your homeland will be overwhelmed with shame and disgrace. 00:02:09.991 --> 00:02:11.941 You'll become the least of nations. 00:02:12.331 --> 00:02:15.241 A wilderness, a dry and desolate land. 00:02:15.961 --> 00:02:19.831 Because of the Lord's anger, Babylon will become a deserted wasteland. 00:02:20.506 --> 00:02:23.866 All who passed by will be horrified and will gasp at the 00:02:23.866 --> 00:02:25.096 destruction they see there. 00:02:26.056 --> 00:02:26.566 Yes. 00:02:26.866 --> 00:02:30.076 Prepare to attack Babylon all you surrounding nations. 00:02:30.616 --> 00:02:32.206 Let your archers shoot at her. 00:02:32.686 --> 00:02:36.106 Spare no arrows for she has sinned against the Lord. 00:02:36.736 --> 00:02:37.216 Shout. 00:02:37.221 --> 00:02:39.616 War cries against her from every side. 00:02:40.696 --> 00:02:42.646 Look she surrenders. 00:02:43.216 --> 00:02:44.716 Her walls have fallen. 00:02:45.766 --> 00:02:49.156 It is the Lord's vengeance, so take vengeance on her. 00:02:49.951 --> 00:02:52.171 Due to her as she has done to others. 00:02:52.831 --> 00:02:57.751 Take from Babylon, all those who plant crops send all the harvesters away. 00:02:58.531 --> 00:03:01.891 Because of the sword of the enemy, everyone will run away 00:03:02.041 --> 00:03:03.871 and rush back to their own lands. 00:03:04.951 --> 00:03:08.071 The Israelites are like sheep that have been scattered by lions. 00:03:08.851 --> 00:03:11.131 First, the King of Assyria ate them up. 00:03:11.611 --> 00:03:15.061 Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon cracked their bones. 00:03:15.841 --> 00:03:20.191 Therefore, This is what the Lord of Heaven's armies, the God of Israel says. 00:03:21.361 --> 00:03:25.771 Now I will punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the 00:03:25.771 --> 00:03:30.511 King of Assyria, and I will bring Israel home again to its own land, 00:03:30.871 --> 00:03:35.611 to feed in the fields of Carmel and Basin, and to be satisfied once 00:03:35.611 --> 00:03:41.821 more in the hill country of Iram and Gilead in those days says the Lord. 00:03:42.331 --> 00:03:45.361 No sin will be found in Israel or in Judah. 00:03:45.931 --> 00:03:48.361 For I will forgive the remnant I preserve. 00:03:49.201 --> 00:03:54.211 Go up my warriors against the land of mith and against the people of 00:03:54.211 --> 00:04:00.151 peacock pursue, kill and completely destroy them as I have commanded you. 00:04:00.511 --> 00:04:01.351 Says the Lord. 00:04:02.101 --> 00:04:03.181 Let the battle cry. 00:04:03.181 --> 00:04:04.351 Be heard in the land. 00:04:04.531 --> 00:04:07.741 A shout of great destruction Babylon. 00:04:08.161 --> 00:04:11.941 The mightiest hammer in all the earth lies broken and shattered. 00:04:12.661 --> 00:04:15.421 Babylon is desolate among the nations. 00:04:16.201 --> 00:04:19.021 Listen, Babylon, for I have set a trap for you. 00:04:19.861 --> 00:04:22.981 You are caught for you have fought against the Lord. 00:04:23.911 --> 00:04:27.961 The Lord has opened his armory and brought out weapons to vent his fury. 00:04:28.621 --> 00:04:32.221 The terror that falls upon the Babylonians will be the work of the 00:04:32.221 --> 00:04:33.931 sovereign Lord of heaven's armies. 00:04:34.771 --> 00:04:37.741 Yes, come against her from distant lands. 00:04:38.131 --> 00:04:42.961 Break open her granaries, crush her walls and houses into heaps of rubble. 00:04:43.681 --> 00:04:48.091 Destroy her completely and leave nothing destroy. 00:04:48.091 --> 00:04:49.501 Even her young bulls. 00:04:50.191 --> 00:04:51.871 It will be terrible for them too. 00:04:52.681 --> 00:04:55.411 Slaughter them all for Babylon's. 00:04:55.411 --> 00:04:56.851 Day of Reckoning has come. 00:04:57.721 --> 00:05:00.181 Listen to the people who have escaped from Babylon. 00:05:00.571 --> 00:05:05.431 As they tell in Jerusalem how the Lord our God has taken vengeance against 00:05:05.431 --> 00:05:06.931 those who destroyed his temple. 00:05:08.251 --> 00:05:12.421 Send out a call for archers to come to Babylon, surround the city so 00:05:12.426 --> 00:05:18.061 none can escape due to her as she has done to others, for she has defied 00:05:18.066 --> 00:05:20.341 the Lord, the holy one of Israel. 00:05:21.151 --> 00:05:23.971 Her young men will fall in the streets and die. 00:05:24.241 --> 00:05:28.141 Her soldiers will all be killed, says the Lord. 00:05:29.311 --> 00:05:31.291 See, I am your enemy. 00:05:31.441 --> 00:05:33.931 You arrogant people, says the Lord. 00:05:34.051 --> 00:05:35.491 The Lord of heaven's armies. 00:05:36.331 --> 00:05:39.961 Your day of reckoning has arrived the day when I will punish you. 00:05:40.621 --> 00:05:42.151 Oh, land of arrogance. 00:05:42.151 --> 00:05:47.161 You will stumble and fall and no one will raise you up for I will light 00:05:47.161 --> 00:05:51.331 a fire in the cities of Babylon that will burn up everything around them. 00:05:52.741 --> 00:05:54.811 This is what the Lord of Heaven's armies says. 00:05:55.606 --> 00:05:57.856 The people of Israel and Judah have been wronged. 00:05:58.336 --> 00:06:01.936 Their captors hold them and refuse to let them go, but the 00:06:01.936 --> 00:06:04.186 one who redeems them is strong. 00:06:04.546 --> 00:06:07.156 His name is the Lord of Heaven's armies. 00:06:07.876 --> 00:06:11.326 He will defend them and give them rest again in Israel. 00:06:12.136 --> 00:06:15.286 But for the people of Babylon, there will be no rest. 00:06:16.336 --> 00:06:20.356 The sword of destruction will strike the Babylonians, says the Lord. 00:06:20.986 --> 00:06:22.966 It will strike the people of Babylon. 00:06:23.401 --> 00:06:25.501 Her officials and wise men too. 00:06:26.251 --> 00:06:30.391 The sword will strike her wise counselors and they will become fools. 00:06:31.051 --> 00:06:35.341 The sword will strike her mightiest warriors and panic will seize them. 00:06:36.181 --> 00:06:40.861 The sword will strike her horses and chariots and her allies from other lands 00:06:41.101 --> 00:06:42.931 and they will all become like women. 00:06:43.681 --> 00:06:47.521 The sword will strike her treasures and they all will be plundered. 00:06:48.301 --> 00:06:51.931 A drought will strike her water supply, causing it to dry up. 00:06:53.266 --> 00:06:53.686 Why? 00:06:54.316 --> 00:06:58.276 Because the whole land is filled with idols and the people 00:06:58.276 --> 00:06:59.836 are madly in love with them. 00:07:01.186 --> 00:07:05.236 Soon Babylon will be inhabited by desert animals and hyenas. 00:07:05.806 --> 00:07:07.516 It will be a home for owls. 00:07:07.996 --> 00:07:09.916 Never again will people live there. 00:07:10.396 --> 00:07:12.076 It will lie desolate forever. 00:07:13.006 --> 00:07:16.396 I will destroy it as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and their 00:07:16.396 --> 00:07:18.676 neighboring towns says the Lord. 00:07:19.246 --> 00:07:20.536 No one will live there. 00:07:20.971 --> 00:07:22.351 No one will inhabit it. 00:07:23.521 --> 00:07:29.461 Look, a great army is coming from the north, a great nation, and many kings are 00:07:29.461 --> 00:07:31.891 rising against you from far off lands. 00:07:32.611 --> 00:07:34.621 They are armed with bows and spears. 00:07:35.161 --> 00:07:39.841 They are cruel and show no mercy as they ride forward on horses. 00:07:39.931 --> 00:07:41.581 They sound like a roaring sea. 00:07:42.241 --> 00:07:46.441 They're coming in battle formation, planning to destroy you, Babylon. 00:07:47.401 --> 00:07:49.951 The King of Babylon has heard reports about the enemy, 00:07:50.011 --> 00:07:51.571 and he is weak with fright. 00:07:52.321 --> 00:07:56.461 Pangs of anguish have gripped him, like those of a woman in labor. 00:07:57.751 --> 00:08:01.351 I will come like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan leaping 00:08:01.351 --> 00:08:02.761 on the sheep in the pasture. 00:08:03.301 --> 00:08:08.791 I will chase Babylon from its land and I will appoint the leader of my choice for 00:08:08.791 --> 00:08:11.161 who is like me and who can challenge me. 00:08:11.611 --> 00:08:13.951 What ruler can oppose my will. 00:08:15.346 --> 00:08:19.186 Listen to the Lord's plans against Babylon and the land of the Babylonians. 00:08:20.176 --> 00:08:23.536 Even the little children will be dragged off like sheep and 00:08:23.536 --> 00:08:25.036 their homes will be destroyed. 00:08:25.636 --> 00:08:27.526 The earth will shake with the shout. 00:08:27.946 --> 00:08:32.626 Babylon has been taken and its cry of despair will be heard around the world. 00:08:32.896 --> 00:08:34.906 This is what the Lord says. 00:08:36.196 --> 00:08:40.246 I will stir up a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Babylonia. 00:08:40.846 --> 00:08:44.836 Foreigners will come and winnow her, blowing her away as chaff. 00:08:45.646 --> 00:08:49.066 They will come from every side to rise against her in her day of trouble. 00:08:49.786 --> 00:08:52.846 Don't let the archers put on their armor or draw their bows. 00:08:53.356 --> 00:08:54.106 Don't spare. 00:08:54.106 --> 00:08:58.456 Even her best soldiers let her army be completely destroyed. 00:08:59.296 --> 00:09:05.026 They will fall dead in the land of the babylonians slash to death in her streets. 00:09:05.701 --> 00:09:09.781 For the Lord of Heaven's, armies has not abandoned Israel and Judah. 00:09:10.141 --> 00:09:11.701 He is still their God. 00:09:12.211 --> 00:09:16.081 Even though their land was filled with sin against the holy one of Israel. 00:09:17.161 --> 00:09:18.421 Flee from Babylon. 00:09:18.751 --> 00:09:19.831 Save yourselves. 00:09:20.311 --> 00:09:22.021 Don't get trapped in her punishment. 00:09:22.711 --> 00:09:24.871 It is the Lord's time for vengeance. 00:09:24.931 --> 00:09:26.821 He will repay her in full. 00:09:27.751 --> 00:09:30.241 Babylon has been a gold cup in the Lord's hands. 00:09:30.511 --> 00:09:32.911 A cup that made the whole earth drunk. 00:09:33.526 --> 00:09:37.156 The nations drank Babylon's wine and it drove them all mad. 00:09:38.266 --> 00:09:44.686 But suddenly, Babylon two has fallen, weep for her, give her medicine. 00:09:45.286 --> 00:09:47.056 Perhaps she can yet be healed. 00:09:47.686 --> 00:09:51.196 We would have helped her if we could, but nothing can save her now. 00:09:52.096 --> 00:09:52.906 Let her go. 00:09:52.996 --> 00:09:53.956 Abandon her. 00:09:54.706 --> 00:09:59.716 Return now to your own land for her punishment reaches to the heavens. 00:10:00.136 --> 00:10:01.186 It is so great. 00:10:01.306 --> 00:10:02.476 It cannot be measured. 00:10:03.406 --> 00:10:05.086 The Lord has vindicated us. 00:10:05.776 --> 00:10:10.486 Come let us announce in Jerusalem everything the Lord our God has done. 00:10:11.626 --> 00:10:12.706 Sharpen the arrows. 00:10:12.886 --> 00:10:14.176 Lift up the shields. 00:10:14.536 --> 00:10:17.776 For the Lord has inspired the kings of the meads to march 00:10:17.776 --> 00:10:19.606 against Babylon and destroy her. 00:10:20.296 --> 00:10:23.716 This is his vengeance against those who desecrated his temple. 00:10:24.526 --> 00:10:26.836 Raise the battle flag against Babylon. 00:10:27.286 --> 00:10:29.806 Reinforce the guard and station the watchmen. 00:10:30.256 --> 00:10:31.366 Prepare an ambush. 00:10:31.951 --> 00:10:35.431 For the Lord will fulfill all his plans against Babylon. 00:10:36.421 --> 00:10:42.001 You are a city by a great river, a great center of commerce, but your end has come. 00:10:42.541 --> 00:10:44.521 The thread of your life is cut. 00:10:45.211 --> 00:10:50.281 The Lord of heaven's armies has taken this vow and has sworn to it by his own name. 00:10:50.911 --> 00:10:55.981 Your cities will be filled with enemies like fields swarming with locusts, and 00:10:55.981 --> 00:10:57.871 they will shout in triumph over you. 00:10:59.176 --> 00:11:04.306 The Lord made the earth by his power and he preserves it by his wisdom. 00:11:04.936 --> 00:11:08.086 With his own understanding, he stretched out the heavens. 00:11:08.656 --> 00:11:12.166 When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. 00:11:12.856 --> 00:11:15.346 He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. 00:11:16.066 --> 00:11:20.506 He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses. 00:11:21.376 --> 00:11:25.036 The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge. 00:11:25.861 --> 00:11:29.881 The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make for their 00:11:29.881 --> 00:11:32.521 carefully shaped works are a fraud. 00:11:33.211 --> 00:11:35.461 These idols have no breath or power. 00:11:35.851 --> 00:11:37.081 Idols are worthless. 00:11:37.831 --> 00:11:39.571 They are ridiculous Lies. 00:11:40.441 --> 00:11:43.111 On the day of reckoning, they will all be destroyed. 00:11:43.651 --> 00:11:45.841 But the God of Israel is no idol. 00:11:46.711 --> 00:11:50.821 He is the creator of everything that exists, including his people, 00:11:51.331 --> 00:11:52.921 his own special possession. 00:11:54.031 --> 00:11:56.851 The Lord of Heaven's armies is his name. 00:11:58.081 --> 00:12:01.111 You are my battleax and sword, says the Lord. 00:12:01.711 --> 00:12:06.361 With you, I will shatter nations and destroy many kingdoms with you. 00:12:06.361 --> 00:12:10.231 I will shatter armies, destroying the horse and rider, the 00:12:10.231 --> 00:12:12.991 chariot and charioteer with you. 00:12:13.231 --> 00:12:18.781 I will shatter men and women, old people and children, young men and young women. 00:12:19.561 --> 00:12:20.101 With you. 00:12:20.101 --> 00:12:25.501 I will shatter shepherds and flocks, farmers and oxen, captains and officers. 00:12:26.401 --> 00:12:31.051 I will repay Babylon and the people of Babylonia for all the wrong they have done 00:12:31.051 --> 00:12:33.871 to my people in Jerusalem, says the Lord. 00:12:35.281 --> 00:12:38.761 Look almighty mountain, destroyer of the earth. 00:12:39.511 --> 00:12:41.971 I am your enemy, says the Lord. 00:12:42.691 --> 00:12:44.701 I will raise my fist against you. 00:12:45.001 --> 00:12:46.891 To knock you down from the heights. 00:12:47.386 --> 00:12:50.956 When I am finished, you will be nothing but a heap of burnt rubble. 00:12:51.706 --> 00:12:53.236 You will be desolate forever. 00:12:53.686 --> 00:12:56.806 Even your stones will never again be used for building. 00:12:57.226 --> 00:13:00.496 You'll be completely wiped out, says the Lord. 00:13:01.936 --> 00:13:02.866 Raise a signal. 00:13:02.866 --> 00:13:04.126 Flag to the nations. 00:13:04.336 --> 00:13:05.656 Sound the battle cry. 00:13:06.106 --> 00:13:08.466 Mobilized them all against Babylon. 00:13:09.186 --> 00:13:10.996 Prepare them to fight against her. 00:13:11.686 --> 00:13:15.796 Bring out the armies of Ara, Minai and Ashkenaz. 00:13:16.531 --> 00:13:21.151 Appoint a commander and bring a multitude of horses like swarming, locusts 00:13:21.841 --> 00:13:26.191 bring against her, the armies of the nations led by the kings of the Meads 00:13:26.431 --> 00:13:28.261 and all their captains and officers. 00:13:29.971 --> 00:13:32.461 The earth trembles and rides in pain. 00:13:32.971 --> 00:13:37.351 For everything the Lord has planned against Babylon stands unchanged. 00:13:38.191 --> 00:13:41.251 Babylon will be left desolate without a single inhabitant. 00:13:41.701 --> 00:13:44.041 Her mightiest warriors no longer fight. 00:13:44.881 --> 00:13:47.251 They stay in their barracks, their courage gone. 00:13:48.031 --> 00:13:49.321 They have become like women. 00:13:49.951 --> 00:13:53.671 The invaders have burned the houses and broken down the city gates. 00:13:54.271 --> 00:13:56.821 The news is passed from one runner to the next. 00:13:57.061 --> 00:14:01.021 As the messengers hurry to tell the king that his city has been captured. 00:14:01.831 --> 00:14:03.631 All the escape routes are blocked. 00:14:04.111 --> 00:14:07.831 The marshes have been set a flame, and the army is in a panic. 00:14:08.581 --> 00:14:11.941 This is what the Lord of Heaven's armies, the God of Israel says. 00:14:12.856 --> 00:14:17.986 Babylon is like wheat on a threshing floor, about to be trampled in just a 00:14:17.986 --> 00:14:20.686 little while, her harvest will begin. 00:14:21.856 --> 00:14:27.076 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has eaten and crushed us and drained us of strength. 00:14:27.736 --> 00:14:32.476 He has swallowed us like a great monster and filled his belly with our riches. 00:14:33.106 --> 00:14:35.176 He has thrown us out of our own country. 00:14:35.746 --> 00:14:38.716 Make Babylon suffer as she made us suffer. 00:14:39.286 --> 00:14:40.636 Say the people of Zion. 00:14:41.566 --> 00:14:46.516 Make the people of Babylonia pay for spilling our blood says Jerusalem. 00:14:48.016 --> 00:14:50.146 This is what the Lord says to Jerusalem. 00:14:51.076 --> 00:14:54.886 I will be your lawyer to plead your case and I will aven you. 00:14:55.666 --> 00:15:00.196 I will dry up her river as well as her springs and Babylon 00:15:00.226 --> 00:15:01.786 will become a heap of ruins. 00:15:01.906 --> 00:15:03.226 Haunted by jackals. 00:15:04.036 --> 00:15:06.436 She will be an object of horror and contempt. 00:15:06.586 --> 00:15:08.116 A place where no one lives. 00:15:08.581 --> 00:15:11.641 Her people will roar together like strong lions. 00:15:11.941 --> 00:15:16.411 They will growl like lion cubs, and while they lie inflamed with 00:15:16.411 --> 00:15:19.921 all their wine, I will prepare a different kind of feast for them. 00:15:20.521 --> 00:15:24.031 I will make them drink until they fall asleep and they will never 00:15:24.031 --> 00:15:26.431 wake up again, says the Lord. 00:15:27.631 --> 00:15:32.371 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats to 00:15:32.371 --> 00:15:35.821 be sacrificed how Babylon is fallen. 00:15:36.451 --> 00:15:39.601 Great Babylon praised throughout the earth. 00:15:40.321 --> 00:15:43.741 Now she has become an object of horror among the nations. 00:15:44.371 --> 00:15:46.531 The sea has risen over Babylon. 00:15:47.131 --> 00:15:49.261 She is covered by its crashing waves. 00:15:49.681 --> 00:15:51.601 Her city's now lie in ruins. 00:15:52.171 --> 00:15:56.251 She is a dry wasteland where no one lives or even passes by. 00:15:57.571 --> 00:16:03.361 And I will punish Bell the God of Babylon, and make him vomit up all he has eaten. 00:16:03.931 --> 00:16:06.361 The nations will no longer come and worship him. 00:16:07.171 --> 00:16:09.271 The wall of Babylon has fallen. 00:16:10.861 --> 00:16:11.401 Come out. 00:16:11.401 --> 00:16:13.831 My people flee from Babylon. 00:16:14.071 --> 00:16:15.181 Save yourselves. 00:16:15.811 --> 00:16:20.011 Run from the Lord's fierce anger, but do not panic. 00:16:20.581 --> 00:16:24.571 Don't be afraid when you hear the first rumor of approaching forces 00:16:25.381 --> 00:16:27.001 for rumors will keep coming. 00:16:27.006 --> 00:16:31.411 Year by year, violence will erupt in the land as the leaders 00:16:31.411 --> 00:16:32.551 fight against each other. 00:16:33.226 --> 00:16:34.756 For the time is surely coming. 00:16:34.876 --> 00:16:39.136 When I will punish this great city and all her idols, her whole 00:16:39.136 --> 00:16:43.516 land will be disgraced and her dead will lie in the streets. 00:16:44.386 --> 00:16:49.516 Then the heavens and earth will rejoice for out of the north, will come destroying 00:16:49.516 --> 00:16:52.876 armies against Babylon, says the Lord. 00:16:53.986 --> 00:16:57.706 Just as Babylon killed the people of Israel and others throughout the 00:16:57.706 --> 00:17:00.556 world, so must her people be killed. 00:17:01.636 --> 00:17:04.576 Get out all you who have escaped the sword. 00:17:05.206 --> 00:17:06.676 Do not stand and watch. 00:17:06.916 --> 00:17:08.266 Flee while you can. 00:17:09.136 --> 00:17:14.356 Remember the Lord, though you are in a far off land and think about your 00:17:14.356 --> 00:17:18.226 home in Jerusalem, we are ashamed. 00:17:18.496 --> 00:17:23.626 The people say we are insulted and disgraced because the Lord's temple 00:17:23.631 --> 00:17:25.336 has been defiled by foreigners. 00:17:26.416 --> 00:17:27.886 Yes, says the Lord. 00:17:28.831 --> 00:17:32.041 But the time is coming when I will destroy Babylon's idols. 00:17:32.611 --> 00:17:36.121 The groans of her wounded people will be heard throughout the land. 00:17:36.931 --> 00:17:41.191 Though Babylon reaches as high as the heavens and makes her fortifications 00:17:41.191 --> 00:17:45.151 incredibly strong, I will still send enemies to plunder her. 00:17:45.901 --> 00:17:52.411 I, the Lord have spoken, listen, hear the cry of Babylon, the 00:17:52.411 --> 00:17:55.561 sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians. 00:17:56.326 --> 00:17:58.576 For the Lord is destroying Babylon. 00:17:59.146 --> 00:18:01.156 He will silence her loud voice. 00:18:01.576 --> 00:18:03.706 Waves of enemies pound against her. 00:18:04.066 --> 00:18:09.466 The noise of battle rings through the city destroying armies come against Babylon. 00:18:09.946 --> 00:18:13.816 Her mighty men are captured and their weapons break in their hands. 00:18:14.506 --> 00:18:17.176 For the Lord is a God who gives just punishment. 00:18:17.566 --> 00:18:19.456 He always repays in full. 00:18:20.611 --> 00:18:25.201 I will make her officials and wise men drunk along with her captains, 00:18:25.381 --> 00:18:30.751 officers and warriors, they will fall asleep and never wake up again. 00:18:31.381 --> 00:18:35.281 Says the king whose name is the Lord of Heaven's armies. 00:18:36.571 --> 00:18:38.791 This is what the Lord of Heaven's armies says. 00:18:39.481 --> 00:18:43.051 The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground and her 00:18:43.051 --> 00:18:44.821 massive gates will be burned. 00:18:45.661 --> 00:18:48.331 The builders from many lands have worked in vain. 00:18:48.766 --> 00:18:51.466 For their work will be destroyed by fire. 00:18:53.026 --> 00:18:58.366 The prophet Jeremiah gave this message to Soraya son of Neriah and grandson of 00:18:58.366 --> 00:19:04.186 Macia, a staff officer, when Soraya went to Babylon with Kings Akia of Judah. 00:19:05.086 --> 00:19:07.546 This was during the fourth year of Zeke's reign. 00:19:08.086 --> 00:19:12.136 Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the terrible disasters that 00:19:12.136 --> 00:19:13.666 would soon come upon Babylon. 00:19:14.296 --> 00:19:17.536 All the words written here, he said to Soraya. 00:19:18.181 --> 00:19:22.081 When you get to Babylon, read aloud everything on this scroll. 00:19:22.771 --> 00:19:27.991 Then say, Lord, you have said that you will destroy Babylon so that neither 00:19:27.991 --> 00:19:29.971 people nor animals will remain here. 00:19:30.391 --> 00:19:32.911 She will lie empty and abandoned forever. 00:19:34.381 --> 00:19:38.161 When you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone and 00:19:38.161 --> 00:19:39.781 throw it into the Euphrates River. 00:19:40.711 --> 00:19:47.071 Then say, in this same way, Babylon and her people will sink never again to rise. 00:19:47.866 --> 00:19:50.266 Because of the disasters I will bring upon her. 00:19:51.766 --> 00:19:53.896 This is the end of Jeremiah's messages. 00:19:56.536 --> 00:20:02.686 Zeek was 21 years old when he became King, and he reigned in Jerusalem 11 years. 00:20:03.286 --> 00:20:08.506 His mother was Hamal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libya, but Zeek 00:20:08.506 --> 00:20:12.466 did what was evil in the Lord's sight just as JE Hoya Kim had done. 00:20:13.306 --> 00:20:16.756 These things happened because of the Lord's anger against the people 00:20:16.756 --> 00:20:20.566 of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his 00:20:20.566 --> 00:20:23.176 presence and sent them into exile. 00:20:24.676 --> 00:20:26.836 Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 00:20:27.436 --> 00:20:31.756 So on January 15th, during the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, 00:20:32.146 --> 00:20:36.346 king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. 00:20:37.186 --> 00:20:40.666 They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. 00:20:41.551 --> 00:20:46.141 Jerusalem was kept under siege until the 11th year of King Zia's reign. 00:20:46.951 --> 00:20:52.171 By July 18th, in the 11th year of Zia's Reign, the famine in the city 00:20:52.171 --> 00:20:56.251 had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. 00:20:57.211 --> 00:21:01.981 Then a section of the city wall was broken down and all the soldiers fled. 00:21:02.881 --> 00:21:06.901 Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians, they waited for nightfall. 00:21:07.336 --> 00:21:11.176 Then they slipped through the gate between the two walls, behind the King's Garden 00:21:11.566 --> 00:21:13.186 and headed toward the Jordan Valley. 00:21:13.906 --> 00:21:17.776 But the Babylonian troops chased Kings atia, and overtook 00:21:17.776 --> 00:21:19.186 him on the planes of Jericho. 00:21:19.636 --> 00:21:23.896 For his men, had all deserted him and scattered, they captured the king 00:21:24.106 --> 00:21:27.706 and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath. 00:21:28.756 --> 00:21:31.576 There, the King of Babylon, pronounced judgment upon Zetia. 00:21:32.896 --> 00:21:37.096 The King of Babylon made Zeek watch as he slaughtered his sons. 00:21:37.666 --> 00:21:40.936 He also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah. 00:21:41.686 --> 00:21:47.146 Then he gouged out Zeek CA's eyes and bound him in bronze chains, and the 00:21:47.151 --> 00:21:49.726 King of Babylon led him away to Babylon. 00:21:51.046 --> 00:21:54.076 Zeek remained there in prison until the day of his death 00:21:55.126 --> 00:21:57.226 on August 17th of that year. 00:21:57.781 --> 00:22:00.841 Which was the 19th year of King Nebuchadnezzar's reign. 00:22:01.411 --> 00:22:05.371 Neba Arain, the captain of the Guard and an official of the Babylonian 00:22:05.376 --> 00:22:07.501 king, arrived in Jerusalem. 00:22:08.161 --> 00:22:12.541 He burned down the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and 00:22:12.541 --> 00:22:14.041 all the houses of Jerusalem. 00:22:14.581 --> 00:22:17.341 He destroyed all the important buildings in the city. 00:22:17.911 --> 00:22:22.141 Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down 00:22:22.141 --> 00:22:24.481 the walls of Jerusalem on every side. 00:22:25.276 --> 00:22:30.196 Then Neba Zain, the captain of the guard, took as exiles some of the poorest of 00:22:30.196 --> 00:22:35.026 the people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors, who 00:22:35.031 --> 00:22:39.016 had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon and the rest of the craftsmen. 00:22:39.976 --> 00:22:44.056 But Neba Zain allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to 00:22:44.056 --> 00:22:45.766 care for the vineyards and fields. 00:22:46.756 --> 00:22:50.086 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the Lord's 00:22:50.086 --> 00:22:52.576 Temple, the bronze water carts. 00:22:52.981 --> 00:22:57.121 And the great bronze Basin called the Sea, and they carried all 00:22:57.121 --> 00:22:58.741 the bronze away to Babylon. 00:22:59.281 --> 00:23:05.041 They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp, snuffers, basins, dishes, 00:23:05.341 --> 00:23:09.481 and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the temple. 00:23:10.291 --> 00:23:14.251 The captain of the guard also took the small bowls, incense, burners, 00:23:14.401 --> 00:23:20.521 basins, pots, lampstands, ladles bowls used for liquid offerings. 00:23:21.046 --> 00:23:24.076 And all the other articles made of pure gold or silver. 00:23:25.066 --> 00:23:29.326 The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the sea, with the 12 00:23:29.326 --> 00:23:34.006 bronze oxen beneath it, and the water carts was too great to be measured. 00:23:34.786 --> 00:23:38.806 These things had been made for the Lord's temple in the days of King Solomon. 00:23:39.886 --> 00:23:44.956 Each of the pillars was 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference. 00:23:45.586 --> 00:23:48.586 They were hollow with walls, three inches thick. 00:23:49.351 --> 00:23:53.521 The bronze capital on top of each pillar was seven and a half feet high 00:23:53.911 --> 00:23:57.811 and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around. 00:23:58.531 --> 00:24:02.731 There were 96 pomegranates on the sides and a total of 100 00:24:02.731 --> 00:24:04.351 pomegranates on the network. 00:24:04.351 --> 00:24:09.511 Around the top Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard took with him 00:24:09.511 --> 00:24:14.851 as prisoners, Sreya, the high priest, Zephaniah, the priest of the second 00:24:14.851 --> 00:24:17.371 rank and the three chief gatekeepers. 00:24:17.776 --> 00:24:22.006 And from among the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer who 00:24:22.006 --> 00:24:25.756 had been in charge of the Judean Army, seven of the King's personal 00:24:25.756 --> 00:24:30.346 advisors, the Army commander's chief secretary, who was in charge of 00:24:30.351 --> 00:24:33.046 recruitment and 60 other citizens. 00:24:33.766 --> 00:24:37.036 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them all to the king of 00:24:37.036 --> 00:24:42.736 Babylon at Riblah, and there at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of 00:24:42.736 --> 00:24:44.656 Babylon, had them all put to death. 00:24:45.736 --> 00:24:49.126 The people of Judah were sent into exile from their land. 00:24:50.236 --> 00:24:53.266 The number of captives taken to Babylon in the seventh year of 00:24:53.266 --> 00:24:56.626 Nebuchadnezzar's reign was 3023. 00:24:57.256 --> 00:25:03.826 Then in Nebuchadnezzar's 18th year, he took 832 more in Nebuchadnezzar's. 00:25:03.856 --> 00:25:10.096 23rd year, he sent Neba Zain, the captain of the guard who took 745 00:25:10.096 --> 00:25:14.536 more a total of 4,600 captives in all. 00:25:16.066 --> 00:25:21.376 In the 37th year of the exile of King Je Hoa, kin of Judah evil, MEOC 00:25:21.586 --> 00:25:23.446 ascended to the Babylonian throne. 00:25:24.286 --> 00:25:29.806 He was kind to je Hoa kin and released him from prison on March 31st of that year. 00:25:30.256 --> 00:25:34.696 He spoke kindly to JE Hoya kin and gave him a higher place than all 00:25:34.696 --> 00:25:36.616 the other exiled kings in Babylon. 00:25:37.126 --> 00:25:41.146 He supplied JE Hoya kin with new clothes to replace his prison garb 00:25:41.506 --> 00:25:45.016 and allowed him to dine in the King's presence for the rest of his life. 00:25:45.706 --> 00:25:50.236 So the Babylonian king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived. 00:25:51.016 --> 00:25:53.686 This continued until the day of his death. 00:25:57.826 --> 00:26:00.676 This concludes today's Immerse Reading experience. 00:26:00.796 --> 00:26:02.026 Thank you for joining us.