6“My people have become lost sheep;
         Their shepherds have led them astray.
         They have made them turn aside on the mountains;
         They have gone along from mountain to hill
         And have forgotten their resting place.

7“All who came upon them have devoured them;
         And their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty,
         Inasmuch as they have sinned against the LORD who is the habitation of righteousness,
         Even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’

8“Wander away from the midst of Babylon
         And go forth from the land of the Chaldeans;
         Be also like male goats at the head of the flock.

9“For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon
         A horde of great nations from the land of the north,
         And they will draw up their battle lines against her;
         From there she will be taken captive.
         Their arrows will be like an expert warrior
         Who does not return empty-handed.

10“Chaldea will become plunder;
         All who plunder her will have enough,” declares the LORD.

11“Because you are glad, because you are jubilant,
         O you who pillage My heritage,
         Because you skip about like a threshing heifer
         And neigh like stallions,

12Your mother will be greatly ashamed,
         She who gave you birth will be humiliated.
         Behold, she will be the least of the nations,
         A wilderness, a parched land and a desert.

13“Because of the indignation of the LORD she will not be inhabited,
         But she will be completely desolate;
         Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified
         And will hiss because of all her wounds.

14“Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side,
         All you who bend the bow;
         Shoot at her, do not be sparing with your arrows,
         For she has sinned against the LORD.

15“Raise your battle cry against her on every side!
         She has given herself up, her pillars have fallen,
         Her walls have been torn down.
         For this is the vengeance of the LORD:
         Take vengeance on her;
         As she has done to others, so do to her.

16“Cut off the sower from Babylon
         And the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest;
         From before the sword of the oppressor
         They will each turn back to his own people
         And they will each flee to his own land.

      17“Israel is a scattered flock, the lions have driven them away. The first one who devoured him was the king of Assyria, and this last one who has broken his bones is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 18“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria. 19‘And I will bring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead. 20‘In those days and at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.’

21“Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it,
         And against the inhabitants of Pekod.
         Slay and utterly destroy them,” declares the LORD,
         “And do according to all that I have commanded you.

22“The noise of battle is in the land,
         And great destruction.

23“How the hammer of the whole earth
         Has been cut off and broken!
         How Babylon has become
         An object of horror among the nations!

24“I set a snare for you and you were also caught, O Babylon,
         While you yourself were not aware;
         You have been found and also seized
         Because you have engaged in conflict with the LORD.”

25The LORD has opened His armory
         And has brought forth the weapons of His indignation,
         For it is a work of the Lord GOD of hosts
         In the land of the Chaldeans.

26Come to her from the farthest border;
         Open up her barns,
         Pile her up like heaps
         And utterly destroy her,
         Let nothing be left to her.

27Put all her young bulls to the sword;
         Let them go down to the slaughter!
         Woe be upon them, for their day has come,
         The time of their punishment.

28There is a sound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon,
         To declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God,
         Vengeance for His temple.

29“Summon many against Babylon,
         All those who bend the bow:
         Encamp against her on every side,
         Let there be no escape.
         Repay her according to her work;
         According to all that she has done, so do to her;
         For she has become arrogant against the LORD,
         Against the Holy One of Israel.

30“Therefore her young men will fall in her streets,
         And all her men of war will be silenced in that day,” declares the LORD.

31“Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,”
         Declares the Lord GOD of hosts,
         “For your day has come,
         The time when I will punish you.

32“The arrogant one will stumble and fall
         With no one to raise him up;
         And I will set fire to his cities
         And it will devour all his environs.”

33Thus says the LORD of hosts,
         “The sons of Israel are oppressed,
         And the sons of Judah as well;
         And all who took them captive have held them fast,
         They have refused to let them go.

34“Their Redeemer is strong, the LORD of hosts is His name;
         He will vigorously plead their case
         So that He may bring rest to the earth,
         But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

35“A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares the LORD,
         “And against the inhabitants of Babylon
         And against her officials and her wise men!

36“A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become fools!
         A sword against her mighty men, and they will be shattered!

37“A sword against their horses and against their chariots
         And against all the foreigners who are in the midst of her,
         And they will become women!
         A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!

38“A drought on her waters, and they will be dried up!
         For it is a land of idols,
         And they are mad over fearsome idols.

39“Therefore the desert creatures will live there along with the jackals;
         The ostriches also will live in it,
         And it will never again be inhabited
         Or dwelt in from generation to generation.

40“As when God overthrew Sodom
         And Gomorrah with its neighbors,” declares the LORD,
         “No man will live there,
         Nor will any son of man reside in it.

41“Behold, a people is coming from the north,
         And a great nation and many kings
         Will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.

42“They seize their bow and javelin;
         They are cruel and have no mercy.
         Their voice roars like the sea;
         And they ride on horses,
         Marshalled like a man for the battle
         Against you, O daughter of Babylon.

43“The king of Babylon has heard the report about them,
         And his hands hang limp;
         Distress has gripped him,
         Agony like a woman in childbirth.

      44“Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make them run away from it, and whoever is chosen I will appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand before Me?” 45Therefore hear the plan of the LORD which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them. 46At the shout, “Babylon has been seized!” the earth is shaken, and an outcry is heard among the nations.

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting-place.

Douay-Rheims Bible
My people have been a lost flock, their shepherds have caused them to go astray, and have made them wander in the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.

Darby Bible Translation
My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they turned them away on the mountains: they went from mountain to hill, they forgot their resting-place.

English Revised Version
My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.

Webster's Bible Translation
My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting-place.

World English Bible
My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.

Young's Literal Translation
A perishing flock hath My people been, Their shepherds have caused them to err, To the mountains causing them to go back, From mountain unto hill they have gone, They have forgotten their crouching-place.The Kinsman-Redeemer
'Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of Hosts is His name: He shall thoroughly plead their cause.'--JER. l. 34. Among the remarkable provisions of the Mosaic law there were some very peculiar ones affecting the next-of-kin. The nearest living blood relation to a man had certain obligations and offices to discharge, under certain contingencies, in respect of which he received a special name; which is sometimes translated in the Old Testament 'Redeemer,' and sometimes 'Avenger' of blood. What the etymological …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Moses' Prayer to be Blotted Out of God's Book.
"And Moses returned unto the Lord and said. Oh! this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou--wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray they, out of thy book which than hast written." In the preceding discourse we endeavored to show that the idea of being willing to be damned for the glory of God is not found in the text--that the sentiment is erroneous and absurd--then adduced the constructions which have been put on the text by sundry expositors, …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Covenanting Confers Obligation.
As it has been shown that all duty, and that alone, ought to be vowed to God in covenant, it is manifest that what is lawfully engaged to in swearing by the name of God is enjoined in the moral law, and, because of the authority of that law, ought to be performed as a duty. But it is now to be proved that what is promised to God by vow or oath, ought to be performed also because of the act of Covenanting. The performance of that exercise is commanded, and the same law which enjoins that the duties …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Old Testament Canon from Its Beginning to Its Close.
The first important part of the Old Testament put together as a whole was the Pentateuch, or rather, the five books of Moses and Joshua. This was preceded by smaller documents, which one or more redactors embodied in it. The earliest things committed to writing were probably the ten words proceeding from Moses himself, afterwards enlarged into the ten commandments which exist at present in two recensions (Exod. xx., Deut. v.) It is true that we have the oldest form of the decalogue from the Jehovist …
Samuel Davidson—The Canon of the Bible

"If So be that the Spirit of God Dwell in You. Now if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ, He is None of His. "
Rom. viii. 9.--"If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?" 2 Chron. vi. 18. It was the wonder of one of the wisest of men, and indeed, considering his infinite highness above the height of heavens, his immense and incomprehensible greatness, that the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, and then the baseness, emptiness, and worthlessness of man, it may be a wonder to the …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Scriptures Showing the Sin and Danger of Joining with Wicked and Ungodly Men.
Scriptures Showing The Sin And Danger Of Joining With Wicked And Ungodly Men. When the Lord is punishing such a people against whom he hath a controversy, and a notable controversy, every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one joined with them shall fall, Isa. xiii. 15. They partake in their judgment, not only because in a common calamity all shares, (as in Ezek. xxi. 3.) but chiefly because joined with and partakers with these whom God is pursuing; even as the strangers that join …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Being Made Archbishop of Armagh, He Suffers Many Troubles. Peace Being Made, from Being Archbishop of Armagh He Becomes Bishop of Down.
[Sidenote: 1129] 19. (12). Meanwhile[365] it happened that Archbishop Cellach[366] fell sick: he it was who ordained Malachy deacon, presbyter and bishop: and knowing that he was dying he made a sort of testament[367] to the effect that Malachy ought to succeed him,[368] because none seemed worthier to be bishop of the first see. This he gave in charge to those who were present, this he commanded to the absent, this to the two kings of Munster[369] and to the magnates of the land he specially enjoined …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

The Godly are in Some Sense Already Blessed
I proceed now to the second aphorism or conclusion, that the godly are in some sense already blessed. The saints are blessed not only when they are apprehended by God, but while they are travellers to glory. They are blessed before they are crowned. This seems a paradox to flesh and blood. What, reproached and maligned, yet blessed! A man that looks upon the children of God with a carnal eye and sees how they are afflicted, and like the ship in the gospel which was covered with waves' (Matthew 8:24), …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Saved by Grace;
OR, A DISCOURSE OF THE GRACE OF GOD: SHOWING-- I. WHAT IT IS TO BE SAVED. II. WHAT IT IS TO BE SAVED BY GRACE. III. WHO THEY AEE THAT ABE SAVED BY GRACE. IV. HOW IT APPEARS THAT THEY ARE SAVED BY GRACE. V. WHAT SHOULD BE THE REASON THAT GOD SHOULD CHOOSE TO SAVE SINNERS BY GRACE RATHER THAN BY ANY OTHER MEANS. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. THIS admirable Treatise upon the most important of all subjects, that of the soul's salvation, was first published in a pocket volume, in the year 1675. This has …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Covenanting Performed in Former Ages with Approbation from Above.
That the Lord gave special token of his approbation of the exercise of Covenanting, it belongs to this place to show. His approval of the duty was seen when he unfolded the promises of the Everlasting Covenant to his people, while they endeavoured to perform it; and his approval thereof is continually seen in his fulfilment to them of these promises. The special manifestations of his regard, made to them while attending to the service before him, belonged to one or other, or both, of those exhibitions …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

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