Woman's Remains Found in Babylon After Claiming Jeremiah 29:11 as Her Life Verse

Archaeologists have made a shocking discovery in the ancient city of Babylon: the remains of a woman who apparently traveled back in time after claiming Jeremiah 29:11 as her life verse.

The woman, identified as Karen Smith, a 35-year-old soccer mom from Ohio, was found buried under a pile of rubble near the Ishtar Gate. She was wearing a T-shirt that read "God has a plan for me" and a necklace with a cross pendant.

According to her diary, which was miraculously preserved, Smith had been struggling with some personal issues and decided to read her Bible for comfort. She came across Jeremiah 29:11, which says:

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Smith was so inspired by this verse that she decided to make it her life motto. She wrote it on her mirror, posted it on her Facebook wall, and tattooed it on her lower back.

She also prayed fervently that God would reveal his plan for her life and make it happen soon. She hoped that it would involve a promotion at work, a bigger house, a nicer car, and a handsome husband.

However, things did not go as she expected. The next day, she woke up in a strange place surrounded by people speaking a foreign language. She realized that she had somehow been transported to Babylon during the time of the Jewish exile.

She tried to explain her situation to the locals, but they thought she was crazy and took her to King Nebuchadnezzar. The king was intrigued by her appearance and presumably asked her who she was and where she came from.

Smith told him that she was a Christian from America. Unfortunately, nobody understood modern day English and decided that she was possessed by a demon. King Nebuchadnezzar exiled her from the city.

According to her journal entries, Smith died not long after from contracting an illness, presumably from drinking contaminated water. Scientists believe that she may have contracted an ancient strain of e. coli, which would have been commonly found in untreated water. Though most people in that time would have been regularly exposed and built a resistance, in Smith the ancient strain would have acted as an opportunistic pathogen—that is, a pathogen that likely won’t cause disease in a healthy host, but that can cause disease in a host with a weakened immune system(1). In such an unlikely circumstance, the e. coli infection would have almost certainly led to Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), a rare but serious disease that destroys red blood cells and leads to kidney failure.

Smith's last entry concluded: "Perhaps I was wrong to consider that those plans I had hoped for were merely for physical things and not more of a spiritual nature. Through experiencing the hardship of Babylonian captivity, no toilet paper, and not even a single Instagram picture, I have even learned what Paul actually meant in Philippians 4:13, in being able to 'do all things through Christ who strengthens me.' My hope is in the promise of an eternal future in Christ. Also, if anyone ever finds this diary before 2022, buy Bitcoin and hodl it until it hits $60k and bet on the Astros this year."

(1) Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-e-coli-16th-century-mummy-180980293/