Judgment on Babylon

1Thus hath the LORDE sayde: Beholde, I will rayse vp a perlous wynde agaynst Babilon & hir citesens, yt beare euell will agaynst me.

2I wil sende also in to Babilo fanners, to fanne her out, & to destroye hir londe: for in the daye of hir trouble they shalbe aboute her on euery syde.

3Morouer, the LORDE hath sayde vnto the bowe men, & to them yt clymme ouer the walles in brest plates: Ye shal not spare hir yongeme, kyll downe all hir hoost.

4Thus the slayne shal fall downe in the londe of the Caldees, and the wounded in the stretes.

5As for Israel & Iuda, they shall not be forsake of their God, of the LORDE of hoostes, of the holyone of Israel: no, though they haue fylled all their londe full of synne.

6Fle awaye from Babilon, euery man saue his life. Let no man holde his tunge to hir wickednes, for the tyme of the LORDES vengeaunce is come, yee he shal rewarde her agayne.

7Babilon hath bene in the LORDES honde a golden cuppe, yt maketh all londes droncken. Of hir wyne haue all people droncken, therfore are they out of their wittes.

8But sodenly is Babilon fallen, and destroyed. Mourne for her, brynge plasters for hir woundes, yf she maye peraduenture be healed agayne.

9We wolde haue made Babilon whole (saye they) but she is not recouered. Therfore wil we let her alone, & go euery ma in to his owne countre. For hir iudgmet is come in to heauen, & is gone vp to the cloudes.

10And therfore come on, we will shewe Sion the worke of the LORDE oure God.

11Make sharpe the arowes, and fyll the quyuers: for the LORDE shall rayse vp the sprete of the kynge of the Meedes, which hath allready a desyre to destroye Babilon. This shalbe the vengeaunce of the LORDES, and the vengeaunce of his temple.

12Set vp tokens vpon the walles of Babilon, make youre watch stronge, set yor watch men in araye, yee holde preuye watches: & yet for all that shall the LORDE go forth with the deuyce, which he hath taken vpon them that dwell in Babilon.

13O thou that dwellest by the greate waters, o thou that hast so greate treasure and riches, thyne ende is come: & the rekenynge of thy wynnynges.

14The LORDE of hoostes hath sworne by himself, that he wil ouer whelme the with men like greshoppers in nombre, which with a corage shall crie Alarum Alarum agaynst the.

Praise to the God of Jacob
(Isaiah 25:1–12)

15Yee euen the LORDE of hoostes, that with his power made the earth, with his wisdome prepayred ye rounde worlde, & with his discrecion spred out the heauens.

16As soone as he letteth his voyce be herde, the waters in the ayre waxe fearce: He draweth vp the cloudes from the endes of the earth. He turneth ye lightenynges to rayne, he bringeth the wyndes out of their secrete places

17By the reason of wysdome, all men are become fooles. Confounded be all the casters of ymages: for ye thinge that they make, is but disceate, & hath no breath.

18Vayne is it, & worthy to be laughed at: & in the tyme of visitacion it shal perish.

19Neuertheles, the porcion of Iacob is none soch: but he that made all thinges, whose name is the LORDE of hoostes, he is the rodde of his enheritaunce.

Babylon’s Punishment

20Thou breakest my weapens of warre, & yet thorow the I haue scatred the nacions & kyngdomes:

21Thorow the haue I scatred horse & horseman, yee the charettes, & soch as sat vpon them:

22Thorow the I haue scatred man & woman, olde and yonge, bacheler & mayden.

23Thorow the I haue scatred the shepherde & his flocke, the husbond man & his catell, the prynces & the rulers.

24Therfore wil I rewarde the cite of Babilon & all his citesyns the Caldees, with all the euell which they haue done vnto Sion: Yee that ye youre selues shall se it, saieth the LORDE.

25Beholde, I come vpon the (thou noysome hill) saieth the LORDE, thou that destroyest all londes. I wil stretch out my honde ouer the, & cast the downe from the stony rockes: & wil make the a brente hill,

26so that nether corner stones, ner pinnacles, ner foundacion stones shalbe taken enymore out of the but waist & desolate shalt thou lie for euermore, saieth the LORDE.

27Set vp a toke in the londe: blowe the trompettes amonge the Heithen, prouoke the nacions agaynst her, call the kyngdomes, of Ararat, Menni & Ascanes agaynst her: nombre out Taphsar agaynst her, bringe as greate a sorte of horses agaynst her, as yf they were greshoppers.

28Prepare agaynst them ye people of the Meedes wt their kynges, prynces & all their chefe rulers, yee and the whole londe that is vnder them.

29The londe also shal shake & be afrayed, when the deuyce of the LORDE shall come forth agaynst Babilon: to make the londe of Babilon so waist, that no ma shal dwell eny more therin.

30The Worthies of Babilon shal leaue the batell, & kepe themselues in stronge holdes, their strength hath fayled them, they shalbe like women. Their dwellinge places shal be brent vp, their barres shalbe broken.

31One purseuaunt shal mete another, yee one poste shal come by another, to bringe the kinge of Babilon tydinges: that his cite is taken in on euery syde,

32the foordes occupyde, the fennes brent vp, and the souldyers sore afrayed.

33For thus saieth the LORDE of hoostes the God of Israel: The doughter of Babilon hath bene in hir tyme like as a thresshinge floore, but shortly shal hir haruest come.

34Nabuchodonosor the kinge of Babilon hath deuoured and distroyed me, he hath made me an emptie vessell. He swalowed me vp like a Dragon, and fylled his bely with my delicates: he hath cast me out,

35he hath take my substaunce awaye, & the thinge that was left me hath he caried vnto Babilon, saieth the doughter, that dwelleth in Sion: Yee & my bloude also, vnto the Caldees, saieth Ierusalem.

36Therfore thus saieth the LORDE: Beholde, I wil defende thy cause, & avenge the: I will drynke vp hir see, & drye vp hir water sprynges.

37Babilon shal become an heape of stones, a dwellinge place for dragons, a fearfulnes & wondringe, because no man dwelleth there.

38They shall roare together like lyons, & as the yonge lyons when they be angrie, so shal they bede them selues.

39In their heate I shal set drynke before the, & they shalbe droncken for ioye: Then shal they slepe an euerlastinge slepe, & neuer wake, saieth the LORDE.

40I shal carie them downe to be slayne like shepe, like wethers & gootes.

41O, how was Sesah wonne? O, how was the glory of ye whole londe taken? how happeneth it, that Babilon is so wondred at amonge the Heithe?

42The see is rysen ouer Babilon, & hath couered her with his greate wawes.

43Hir cities are layed waist, the londe lieth vnbuylded and voyde: it is a londe, where no man dwelleth, & where no ma traueleth thorow.

44Morouer, I wil vyset Bel at Babilo: & the thinge that he hath swalowed vp, that same shal I plucke out of his mouth. The Gentiles also shall runne nomore vnto him, yee and the walles of Babilon shal fall.

45O my people, come out of Babilon, that euery man maye saue his life, from the fearfull wrath of the LORDE.

46Be not faynte herted, & feare not at euery rumoure that shalbe herde in the londe: for euery yeare bringeth new tydinges, yee straunge wickednes and lordshipe.

47And lo, the tyme commeth that I wil vyset the ymages of Babilo, and the whole londe shalbe confounded, yee and hir slayne shal lie in the myddest of her.

48Heauen and earth with all that is therin, shall reioyce ouer Babilon, when the destroyers shal come vpon her from the north, saieth ye LORDE.

49Like as Babilo hath beaten downe and slayne many out of Israel, so shal there fall many, and be slayne in all hir kyngdome.

50Ye that haue escaped the swearde, haist you, stode not still, remembre the LORDE afarre of: and thinke vpon Ierusalem,

51for we were ashamed to heare the blasphemies: oure faces were couered with shame, because the straunge aleauntes came in to the Sanctuary of the LORDE.

52Wherfore beholde (saieth the LORDE) the tyme commeth, that I wil vyset the ymages of Babilon, and thorow the whole lode they shal mourne and fall.

53Though Babilon clymmed vp in to heaue, and kepte her power an hie: yet shal I sende her destroyers saieth the LORDE.

54A piteous crie shall be herde from Babilon, and a greate mysery from the londe of the Caldees:

55when the LORDE destroyeth them, and when he dryueth out the hie stomack & proude boostinge, where with they haue bene as furious, as the wawes of greate water floudes, and made greate crakes with their wordes

56For the destroyers shall come vpon her (euen vpon Babilon) which shal take hir worthies, and brake their bowes: for God is disposed to avenge him self vpon them, & sufficiently to recompence the.

57Yee (saieth the LORDE) I will make their prynces, their wyse men, their chefe rulers & all their worthies, droncke: so that they shal slepe an euerlastinge slepe, and neuer wake: Thus saieth the kinge, whose name is ye LORDE of hoostes.

58Morouer, thus saieth the LORDE of hoostes: The thicke wall of Babilon shalbe broken, and hir proude gates shalbe brente vp. And the thinge that the Getiles and the people haue wrought with greate trauayle and laboure, shal come to naught, and be consumed in the fyre.

Jeremiah’s Message to Seraiah

59This is the charge that Ieremy gaue vnto Sarias the sonne of Nerias, the sonne of Maasia, when he wente towarde Babilon with Sedechias the kinge of Iuda, in the fourth yeare of his reigne. Now this Sarias was a peaceable prynce. 60Ieremy wrote in a boke, all the misery that shulde come vpon Babilon, yee and all these sermons that be written agaynst Babilon, 61and gaue Sarias this charge: When thou commest vnto Babilon, se that thou rede all these wordes, 62and saye: O LORDE, thou art determed to rote out this place, so that nether people ner catell shal dwell there eny more, but to lie waist for euer: 63and when thou hast redde out the boke, bynde a stone to it, and cast it in the myddest of Euphrates, 64and saye: Euethus shal Babilon syncke, & be thrust downe with the burthen of trouble, that I will bringe vpon her: so that she shal neuer come vp agayne. Thus farre are ye preachinges of Ieremy.