That is the place where the Lord confused the language of the whole world. That is why it is called Babel. And it was from there that the Lord caused the people to spread out to all the other places on earth.
Cry out, you people of Jerusalem, and feel the pain, as if you were giving birth. You must go out of the city and live in the fields. You will go away to Babylon, but you will also be saved from that place. The Lord will come and rescue you there. He will take you away from your enemies.
With swords in hand our leaders will defeat the Assyrians and rule the land of Nimrod. They will save us from the Assyrians when they come into our land and march through our territory.
Go look at Calneh. From there, go to the large city Hamath. Go to the Philistine city of Gath. Are you better than these kingdoms? Their countries are larger than yours.
The Lord says, “Attack the country of Merathaim! Attack the people living in Pekod! Attack them! Kill them and destroy them completely! Do everything I commanded you!
At that time Merodach Baladan son of Baladan was king of Babylon. He sent some men with letters and a gift to Hezekiah when he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
At that time the Lord will again reach out and take his people who are left in countries like Assyria, North Egypt, South Egypt, Ethiopia, Elam, Babylonia, Hamath, and other faraway countries around the world.
The Lord allowed Nebuchadnezzar to defeat Jehoiakim king of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar took all the dishes and other things from God’s Temple and carried them to Babylon. He put those things in the temple of his gods.
They said to Jeremiah, “Pray to the Lord for us. Ask him what will happen. We want to know, because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will do great things for us, as he did in the past. Maybe he will make Nebuchadnezzar stop attacking us and leave.”