Bible in a Year.

On day 256, Jeremiah 51 details the fall of Babylon as a consequence of injustice. Lamentations 4-5 expresses pain and a cry for restoration, reinforcing the need for persistent faith. Proverbs 18:9-12 offers lessons on humility, prudence, and the importance of avoiding the ruin caused by recklessness.

1. Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will raise up as it were a pestilential wind against Babylon and against the inhabitants thereof, who have lifted up their heart against me.

2. And I will send to Babylon fanners, and they shall fan her, and shall destroy her land: for they are come upon her on every side in the day of her affliction.

3. Let not him that bendeth, bend his bow, and let not, him go up that is armed with a coat of mail: spare not her young men, destroy all her army.

4. And the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and the wounded in the regions thereof.

5. For Israel and Juda have not been forsaken by their God the Lord of hosts: but their land hath been filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

6. Flee ye from the midst of Babylon, and let every one save his own life: be not silent upon her iniquity: for it is the time of revenge from the Lord, he will I render unto her what she hath deserved.

7. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, that made all the earth drunk: the nations have drunk of her wine, and therefore they have staggered.

8. Babylon is suddenly fallen, and destroyed: howl for her, take balm for her pain, if so she may be healed.

9. We would have cured Babylon, but she is not healed: let us forsake her, and let us go every man to his own land: because her judgment hath reached even to the heavens, and is lifted up to the clouds.

10. The Lord hath brought forth our justices: Come, and let us declare in Sion the work of the Lord our God.

11. Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers, the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: and his mind is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.

12. Upon the walls of Babylon set up the standard, strengthen the watch: set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both purposed, and done all that he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.

13. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, rich in treasures, thy end is come for thy entire destruction.

14. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying : I will fill thee with men as with locusts, and they shall lift up a joyful shout against thee.

15. He that made the earth by his power, that hath prepared the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

16. When he uttereth his voice the waters are multiplied in heaven: he lifteth up the clouds from the ends of the earth, he hath turned lightning into rain: and hath brought forth the wind out of his treasures.

17. Every man is become foolish by his knowledge: every founder is confounded by his idol, for what he hath cast is a lie, and there is no breath in them.

18. They are vain works, and worthy to be laughed at, in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

19. The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he that made all things he it is, and Israel is the sceptre of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.

20. Thou dashest together for me the weapons of war, and with thee I will dash nations together, and with thee I will destroy kingdoms:

21. And with thee I will break in pieces the horse, and his rider, and with thee I will break in pieces the chariot, and him that getteth up into it:

22. And with thee I will break in pieces man and woman, and with thee I will break in pieces the old man and the child, and with thee I will break in pieces the young man and the virgin:

23. And with thee I will break in pieces the shepherd and his dock, and with thee I will break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen, and with thee I will break in pieces captains and rulers.

24. And I will render to Babylon, and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil, that they have done in Sion, before your eyes, saith the Lord.

25. Behold I come against thee, thou destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which corruptest the whole earth: and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and will roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.

26. And they shall not take of thee a stone for the corner, nor a stone for foundations, but thou shalt be destroyed for ever, saith the Lord.

27. Set ye up a standard in the land: sound with the trumpet among the nations: prepare the nations against her: call together against her the kings of Ararat, Menni, and Ascenez: number Taphsar against her, bring the horse as the stinging locust.

28. Prepare the nations against her, the kings of Media, their captains, and all their rulers, and all the land of their dominion.

29. And the land shall be in a commotion, and shall be troubled: for the design of the Lord against Babylon shall awake, to make the land of Babylon desert and uninhabitable.

30. The valiant men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have dwelt in holds: their strength hath failed, and they are become as women: her dwelling places are burnt, her bars are broken.

31. One running post shall meet another, and messenger shall meet messenger: to tell the king of Babylon that his city is taken from one end to the other:

32. And that the fords are taken, and the marshes are burnt with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.

33. For thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a thrashingfloor, this is the time of her thrashing: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.

34. Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon hath eaten me up, he hath devoured me: he hath made me as an empty vessel: he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicate meats, and he hath cast me out.

35. The wrong done to me, and my flesh be upon Babylon, saith the habitation of Sion : and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, saith Jerusalem.

36. Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold I will judge thy cause, and will take vengeance for thee, and I will make her sea desolate, and will dry up her spring.

37. And Babylon shall be reduced to heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment and a hissing, because there is no inhabitant.

38. They shall roar together like lions, they shall shake their manes like young lions.

39. In their heat I will set them drink: and I will make them drunk, that they may slumber, and sleep an everlasting sleep, and awake no more, saith the Lord.

40. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, and like rams with kids.

41. How is Sesach taken, and the renowned one of all the earth surprised? How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations?

42. The sea is come up over Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.

43. Her cities are become an astonishment, a land uninhabited and desolate, a land wherein none can dwell, nor son of man pass through it.

44. And I will visit against Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he had swallowed down: and the rations shall no more flow together to him, for the wall also of Babylon shall fall.

45. Go out of the midst of her, my people: that every man may save his life from the fierce wrath of the Lord.

46. And lest your hearts faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land : and a rumour shall come in one year, and after this year another rumour: and iniquity in the land, and ruler upon ruler.

47. Therefore behold the days come, and I will visit the idols of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

48. And the heavens and the earth, and all things that are in them shall give praise for Babylon: for spoilers shall come to her from the north, saith the Lord.

49. And as Babylon caused that there should fall slain in Israel: so of Babylon there shall fall slain in all the earth.

50. You that have escaped the sword, come away, stand not still: remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.

51. We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: because strangers are come upon the sanctuaries of the house of the Lord.

52. Therefore behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will visit her graven things, and in all her land the wounded shall groan:

53. If Babylon should mount up to heaven, and establish her strength on high: from me there should come spoilers upon her, saith the Lord.

54. The noise of a cry from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans :

55. Because the Lord hath laid Babylon waste, and destroyed out of her the great voice: and their wave shall roar like many waters: their voice hath made a noise:

56. Because the spoiler is come upon her, that is, upon Babylon, and her valiant men are taken, and their bow is weakened, because the Lord, who is a strong revenger, will surely repay.

57. And I will make her princes drunk. and her wise men, and her captains, and her rulers, and her valiant men: and they shall sleep an everlasting sleep, and shall awake no more, saith the whose name is Lord of hosts.

58. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: That broad wall of Babylon shall be utterly broken down, and her high gates shall be burnt with fire, and the labours of the people shall come to nothing, and of the nations shall go to the fire, and shall perish.

59. The word that Jeremias the prophet commanded Saraias the son of Nerias, the son of Maasias, when he went with king Sedecias to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign: now Saraias was chief over the prophecy.

60. And Jeremias wrote in one book all the evil that was to come upon Babylon: all these words that are written against Babylon.

61. And Jeremias said to Saraias: When thou shalt come into Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words,

62. Thou shalt say: O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place to destroy it: so that there should be neither man nor beast to dwell therein, and that it should be desolate for ever.

63. And when thou shalt have made an end of reading this book, thou shalt tie a stone to it, and shalt throw it into the midst of the Euphrates:

64. And thou shalt say: Thus shall Babylon sink, and she shall not rise up from the affliction that I will bring upon her, and she shall be utterly destroyed. Thus far are the words of Jeremias.

Chapter 4

1. Aleph. How is the gold become dim, the finest colour is changed, the stones of the sanctuary are scattered in the top of every street?

2. Beth. The noble sons of Sion, and they that were clothed with the best gold: how are they esteemed as earthen vessels, the work of the potter's hands?

3. Ghimel. Even the sea monsters have drawn out the breast, they have given suck to their young: the daughter of my people is cruel, like the ostrich in the desert.

4. Daleth. The tongue of the sucking child hath stuck to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the little ones have asked for bread, and there was none to break it unto them.

5. He. They that were fed delicately have died in the streets; they that were brought up in scarlet have embraced the dung.

6. Vau. And the iniquity of the daughter of my people is made greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and hands took nothing in her.

7. Zain. Her Nazarites were whiter than snow, purer than milk, more ruddy than the old ivory, fairer than the sapphire.

8. Heth. Their face is now made blacker than coals, and they are not known in the streets: their skin hath stuck to their bones, it is withered, and is become like wood.

9. Teth. It was better with them that were slain by the sword, than with them that died with hunger: for these pined away being consumed for want of the fruits of the earth.

10. Jod. The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

11. Caph. The Lord hath accomplished his wrath, he hath poured out his fierce anger: and he hath kindled a fire in Sion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.

12. Lamed. The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world would not have believed, that the adversary and the enemy should enter in by the gates of Jerusalem.

13. Mem. For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.

14. Nun. They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they were defiled with blood: and when they could not help walking in it, they held up their skirts.

15. Samech. Depart you that are defiled, they cried out to them: Depart, get ye hence, touch not: for they quarrelled, and being removed, they said among the Gentiles: He will no more dwell among them.

16. Phe. The face of the Lord hath divided them, he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, neither had they pity on the ancient.

17. Ain. While we were yet standing, our eyes failed, expecting help for us in vain, when we looked attentively towards a nation that was not able to save.

18. Sade. Our steps have slipped in the way of our streets, our end draweth near: our days are fulfilled, for our end is come.

19. Coph. Our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of the air: they pursued us upon the mountains, they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

20. Res. The breath of our mouth, Christ the Lord, is taken in our sins: to whom we said: Under thy shadow we shall live among the Gentiles.

21. Sin. Rejoice, and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Hus: to thee also shall the cup come, thou shalt be made drunk, and naked.

22. Thau. Thy iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Sion, he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he visited thy iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he hath discovered thy sins. The Prayer of Jeremias the Prophet.

Chapter 5

1. Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider and behold our reproach.

2. Our inheritance is turned to aliens: our houses to strangers.

3. We are become orphans without a father: our mothers are as widows.

4. We have drunk our water for money: we have bought our wood.

5. We were dragged by the necks, we were weary and no rest was given us.

6. We have given our hand to Egypt, and to the Assyrians, that we might be satisfied with bread.

7. Our fathers have sinned, and are not: and we have borne their iniquities.

8. Servants have ruled over us: there was none to redeem us out of their hand.

9. We fetched our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the desert.

10. Our skin was burnt as an oven, by reason of the violence of the famine.

11. They oppressed the women in Sion, and the virgins in the cities of Juda.

12. The princes were hanged up by their hand: they did not respect the persons of the ancient.

13. They abused the young men indecently: and the children fell under the wood.

14. The ancients have ceased from the gates: the young men from the choir of the singers.

15. The joy of our heart is ceased, our dancing is turned into mourning.

16. The crown is fallen from our head woe to us, because we have sinned.

17. Therefore is our heart sorrowful, therefore are our eyes become dim,

18. For mount Sion, because it is destroyed, foxes have walked upon it.

19. But thou, O Lord, shalt remain for ever, thy throne from generation to generation.

20. Why wilt thou forget us for ever? why wilt thou forsake us for a long time?

21. Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted: renew our days, as from the beginning.

22. But thou hast utterly rejected us, thou art exceedingly angry against us.

9. He that is loose and slack in his work, is the brother of him that wasteth his own works.

10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the just runneth to it, and shall be exalted.

11. The substance of the rich man is the city of his strength, and as a strong wall compassing him about.

12. Before destruction, the heart of a man is exalted: and before he be glorified, it is humbled.