The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou {wast} not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; {and} when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, {even} glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. {uttermost...: Heb. wing} {My leanness: Heb. Leanness to me, or, My secret to me}

Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.

He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men {and} horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. {uncovered: Heb. made naked}

And I am very sore displeased with the heathen {that are} at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device {is} against Babylon, to destroy it; because it {is} the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple. {bright: Heb. pure}

Their Redeemer {is} strong; the LORD of hosts {is} his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

{Is} Ephraim my dear son? {is he} a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD. {are...: Heb. sound}

Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and {as for} gold, they shall not delight in it.

Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die; {thy...: Heb. thine arm} {preserve...: Heb. reserve the children of death}

As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.

I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the LORD hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.

Against {him that} bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against {him that} lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.

For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.

The ram which thou sawest having {two} horns {are} the kings of Media and Persia.

Then the heaven and the earth, and all that {is} therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.

For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.

Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors {is} hard.

Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.

Let all their wickedness come before thee; and do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions: for my sighs {are} many, and my heart {is} faint.

For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of {him that was} stronger than he.

Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD {shall be} a light unto me.

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, {yet} from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set {him} in safety {from him that} puffeth at him. {puffeth...: or, would ensnare him}

Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and {as for} gold, they shall not delight in it.

PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, {even} glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. {uttermost...: Heb. wing} {My leanness: Heb. Leanness to me, or, My secret to me}

In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor {by} the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come {one} year, and after that in {another} year {shall come} a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. {lest: or, let not}

And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men {and} horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. {uncovered: Heb. made naked}

The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, {being} before him:

Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied. {countenance: Chaldee, brightnesses}

Then {wrote} Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, {and} the Elamites, {companions: Chaldee, societies}

And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I {was} at Shushan {in} the palace, which {is} in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.

{Thou art} of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, {and} holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth {the man that is} more righteous than he? {iniquity: or, grievance}

Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou {wast} not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; {and} when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

I have raised up {one} from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as {upon} morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.

Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;

If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour; {in fellowship: or, in dealing} {fellowship: Heb. putting of the hand}

The sons of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech. {Meshech: or, Mash}

Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time {that} thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows {shall be} as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. {expert...: or, destroyer}

A sound of battle {is} in the land, and of great destruction.

Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device {is} against Babylon, to destroy it; because it {is} the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple. {bright: Heb. pure}

Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.

Because the spoiler is come upon her, {even} upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.

Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. {countenance: Chaldee, brightnesses} {was changed: Chaldee, changed it} {joints: or, girdles: Chaldee, bindings, or, knots}

Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had {two} horns: and the {two} horns {were} high; but one {was} higher than the other, and the higher came up last. {the other: Heb. the second}

The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. {Arphaxad: Heb. Arpachshad}

Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, {and} Hezekiah, kings of Judah.