Jeremiah 50:25-51:21

New King James Version

²⁹ “Call together the archers against Babylon.
All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around;
Let none of them ^[a]escape.
^(E)Repay her according to her work;
According to all she has done, do to her;
^(F)For she has been proud against the Lord,
Against the Holy One of Israel.
^30 (G)Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets,
And all her men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the Lord.
³¹ “Behold, I am against you,
O most haughty one!” says the Lord God of hosts;
“For your day has come,
^[b]The time that I will punish you.
³² The most ^(H)proud shall stumble and fall,
And no one will raise him up;
^(I)I will kindle a fire in his cities,
And it will devour all around him.”

“The children of Israel were oppressed,
Along with the children of Judah;
All who took them captive have held them fast;
They have refused to let them go.
^34 (J)Their Redeemer is strong;
^(K)The Lord of hosts is His name.
He will thoroughly plead their ^(L)case,
That He may give rest to the land,
And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵ “A sword is against the Chaldeans,” says the Lord,
“Against the inhabitants of Babylon,
And ^(M)against her princes and ^(N)her wise men.
³⁶ A sword is ^(O)against the soothsayers, and they will be fools.
A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.
³⁷ A sword is against their horses,
Against their chariots,
And against all ^(P)the mixed peoples who are in her midst;
And ^(Q)they will become like women.
A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed.
^38 (R)A ^[c]drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up.
For it is the land of carved images,
And they are insane with their idols.

³⁹ “Therefore^(S) the wild desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals,
And the ostriches shall dwell in it.
^(T)It shall be inhabited no more forever,
Nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
^40 (U)As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
And their neighbors,” says the Lord,
“So no one shall reside there,
Nor son of man ^(V)dwell in it.

⁴¹ “Behold,^(W) a people shall come from the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Shall be raised up from the ends of the earth.
^42 (X)They shall hold the bow and the lance;
^(Y)They are cruel and shall not show mercy.
^(Z)Their voice shall roar like the sea;
They shall ride on horses,
Set in array, like a man for the battle,
Against you, O daughter of Babylon.

⁴³ “The king of Babylon has ^(AA)heard the report about them,
And his hands grow feeble;
Anguish has taken hold of him,
Pangs as of a woman in ^(AB)childbirth.

⁴⁴ “Behold,^(AC) he shall come up like a lion from the ^[d]floodplain of the Jordan
Against the dwelling place of the strong;
But I will make them suddenly run away from her.
And who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her?
For who is like Me?
Who will arraign Me?
And ^(AD)who is that shepherd
Who will withstand Me?”

⁴⁵ Therefore hear ^(AE)the counsel of the Lord that He has taken against Babylon,
And His ^(AF)purposes that He has proposed against the land of the Chaldeans:
^(AG)Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out;
Surely He will make their dwelling place desolate with them.
^46 (AH)At the noise of the taking of Babylon
The earth trembles,
And the cry is heard among the nations.

“Behold, I will raise up against ^(AI)Babylon,
Against those who dwell in ^[e]Leb Kamai,
^(AJ)A destroying wind.
² And I will send ^(AK)winnowers to Babylon,
Who shall winnow her and empty her land.
^(AL)For in the day of doom
They shall be against her all around.
³ Against her ^(AM)let the archer bend his bow,
And lift himself up against her in his armor.
Do not spare her young men;
^(AN)Utterly destroy all her army.
⁴ Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans,
^(AO)And those thrust through in her streets.
⁵ For Israel is ^(AP)not forsaken, nor Judah,
By his God, the Lord of hosts,
Though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.”

^6 (AQ)Flee from the midst of Babylon,
And every one save his life!
Do not be cut off in her iniquity,
For ^(AR)this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance;
^(AS)He shall recompense her.
^7 (AT)Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
That made all the earth drunk.
^(AU)The nations drank her wine;
Therefore the nations ^(AV)are deranged.
⁸ Babylon has suddenly ^(AW)fallen and been destroyed.
^(AX)Wail for her!
^(AY)Take balm for her pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.

⁹ We would have healed Babylon,
But she is not healed.
Forsake her, and ^(AZ)let us go everyone to his own country;
^(BA)For her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies.
¹⁰ The Lord has ^(BB)revealed our righteousness.
Come and let us ^(BC)declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.

^11 (BD)Make^[f] the arrows bright!
Gather the shields!
^(BE)The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes.
^(BF)For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it,
Because it is ^(BG)the vengeance of the Lord,
The vengeance for His temple.
^12 (BH)Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon;
Make the guard strong,
Set up the watchmen,
Prepare the ambushes.
For the Lord has both devised and done
What He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
^13 (BI)O you who dwell by many waters,
Abundant in treasures,
Your end has come,
The measure of your covetousness.
^14 (BJ)The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself:
“Surely I will fill you with men, ^(BK)as with locusts,
And they shall lift ^(BL)up a shout against you.”

^15 (BM)He has made the earth by His power;
He has established the world by His wisdom,
And ^(BN)stretched out the heaven by His understanding.
¹⁶ When He utters His voice—
There is a multitude of waters in the heavens:
^(BO)“He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
He makes lightnings for the rain;
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

^17 (BP)Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge;
Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image;
^(BQ)For his molded image is falsehood,
And there is no breath in them.
¹⁸ They are futile, a work of errors;
In the time of their punishment they shall perish.
¹⁹ The Portion of Jacob is not like them,
For He is the Maker of all things;
And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance.
The Lord of hosts is His name.

²⁰ “You^(BR) are My battle-ax and weapons of war:
For with you I will break the nation in pieces;
With you I will destroy kingdoms;
²¹ With you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider;
With you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider;