And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets. {by: Heb. by the hand of}

Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. {fetters: or, chains}

Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave {them} all into his hand.

Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it {is} a mighty nation, it {is} an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, {as swift} as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; {understand: Heb. hear}

Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. {retire: or, strengthen} {destruction: Heb. breaking}

Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, {till} the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; {and} he brought it to ruin.

Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.

For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

Behold, the days come, that all that {is} in thine house, and {that} which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.

Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that {are} in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and {against} the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.

And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.

Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

While he {was} yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. {fell: Heb. rushed}

Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where {is} the flock {that} was given thee, thy beautiful flock?

The first {was} like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. {and it: or, wherewith it}

They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.

And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, {and} skilful to destroy. {brutish: or, burning}

The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, {as swift} as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; {understand: Heb. hear}

Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, {till} the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; {and} he brought it to ruin.

Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up {as} the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. {their...: or, the supping up of their faces, etc: or, their faces shall look (Heb. the opposition of their faces) toward the east}

And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving {is} like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. {driving: or, marching} {furiously: Heb. in madness}

For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:

They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they {are} cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.

Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, {and} a den of dragons.

They shall hold the bow and the lance: they {are} cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, {every one} put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled. {their holy...: or, they shall inherit their holy places}

Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;

He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.

By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.

Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.

And he took {and sent} messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him. {were...: Heb. drank largely}

A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let {them} slip. {let...: Gr. run out as leaking vessels}