耶利米書 50
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
審判巴比倫的預言
50 論到迦勒底人居住的巴比倫，耶和華對耶利米先知說：
2 「你要向列國宣告，
你要豎起旗幟毫不隱瞞地宣告，
『巴比倫要淪陷了！
它的神明彼勒必蒙羞，
米羅達必驚慌；
巴比倫的神像都蒙羞，
偶像都必驚慌。
3 因為有一個來自北方的國家要攻擊它，
使它荒涼、人畜絕跡。』」
4 耶和華說：「那時，以色列人要與猶大人一同哭著來尋求他們的上帝耶和華。 5 他們必打聽前往錫安的路，朝錫安走去。他們必憑不會被遺忘的永恆之約歸附耶和華。 6 我的子民成了一群迷路的羊，他們的牧人使他們步入歧途，在高山丘陵間流浪，忘了自己的安歇之處。 7 敵人遇見他們，就吞噬他們，還說，『我們沒有錯！這是因為他們冒犯了他們真正的安歇之處——耶和華，他們祖先的盼望——耶和華。』 8 我的子民啊，你們要逃離巴比倫，離開迦勒底人的土地，要像帶領羊群的公山羊一樣離開。 9 看啊，我要使來自北方的列強聯合起來攻打巴比倫，他們要列陣攻佔它，他們的勇士箭術高超，百發百中。 10 他們要在迦勒底肆意擄掠，直到心滿意足。這是耶和華說的。
11 「搶奪我產業的巴比倫人啊，
你們歡喜快樂，
像草場上歡跳的母牛犢，
又像嘶鳴的公馬。
12 生養你們的母親巴比倫將羞愧難當，
蒙受恥辱，
排在列國之末，
淪為乾旱的荒漠。
13 由於耶和華的憤怒，
巴比倫必無人居住，
荒涼不堪。
她滿目瘡痍，
令路人驚懼、嗤笑。
14 弓箭手啊，你們要列陣圍攻巴比倫，
向她猛射，
不要吝嗇箭枝，
因為她得罪了耶和華。
15 你們要從四面向她吶喊，
她必投降，
她的堡壘將傾倒，
城牆將坍塌，
因為耶和華要報應她。
你們要向她復仇，
她怎樣對待別人，
你們也要怎樣對待她。
16 你們要剷除在巴比倫撒種的和收割的。
為躲避敵人的刀劍，
人們各自逃到故土親族那裡。
17 「以色列人是一群被獅子驅散的羊，先被亞述王吞噬，後被巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒咬碎骨頭。」 18 以色列的上帝——萬軍之耶和華說：「看啊，我要像懲罰亞述王一樣懲罰巴比倫王和他的國家。 19 我要帶領以色列人返回他們的草場，讓他們在迦密和巴珊吃草，在以法蓮和基列的山上吃得飽足。 20 那時，在以色列必找不到過犯，在猶大必找不到罪惡，因為我必赦免我保留下來的餘民。這是耶和華說的。
21 「你們要去攻打米拉大翁和比割的居民，
照我的命令徹底消滅他們。
這是耶和華說的。
22 巴比倫境內傳來戰爭和大毀滅的聲音。
23 威震天下的錘子巴比倫怎麼被砍斷、打碎了！
它的下場令列國震驚。
24 巴比倫啊，我給你設下了陷阱，
你在懵然不知中被捉住，
因為你與耶和華為敵。
25 耶和華已打開祂的軍庫，
取出傾瀉祂憤怒的兵器。
因為主——萬軍之耶和華要懲罰迦勒底人。
26 你們要從遠方前來攻打巴比倫，
打開她的糧倉，
使她淪為一堆廢墟，
徹底毀滅她，不留一物。
27 你們要殺掉她所有的士兵，
把他們全部屠殺。
他們大禍臨頭了，
懲罰他們的日子到了。
28 「從巴比倫逃出來的人在錫安述說我們的上帝耶和華如何報仇，為祂的聖殿報仇。
29 「要召集所有的弓箭手來攻打巴比倫，在她四圍紮營，不讓一人漏網。要照她的所作所為報應她；她怎樣對待別人，也要怎樣對待她，因為她藐視耶和華——以色列的聖者。 30 她的青年要倒斃街頭，那時她所有的戰士都要滅亡」。這是耶和華說的。
31 「主——萬軍之耶和華說，
『狂傲的人啊，我要與你為敵，
我懲罰你的時候到了。
32 狂傲的人要踉踉蹌蹌，
跌倒在地，無人扶起。
我要焚燒她的城邑，
使她周圍的一切化為灰燼。』」
33 萬軍之耶和華說：「以色列人和猶大人要一同受壓迫，擄走他們的人必控制他們，不肯釋放他們。 34 但他們的救贖主——萬軍之耶和華有偉大的能力，祂必為他們伸冤，使他們的家園安寧，使巴比倫的居民不得安寧。」
35 耶和華說：
「敵人要攻擊巴比倫的居民及其首領和謀士；
36 敵人要攻擊巴比倫的假先知，
使他們顯出愚昧；
敵人要攻擊巴比倫的勇士，
使他們充滿恐懼；
37 敵人要攻擊巴比倫人的戰車戰馬和他們的盟軍，
使他們柔弱得像婦女；
敵人要攻打他們的庫房，
肆意搶奪他們的財寶。
38 旱災必臨到巴比倫，
使那裡的河流乾涸，
因為那裡偶像遍地，
人們都沉迷於祭拜神像。
39 「因此，巴比倫必杳無人煙，永遠荒涼，成為豺狼等野獸出沒之地、鴕鳥的棲身之所。 40 上帝要毀滅巴比倫，像毀滅所多瑪、蛾摩拉及其周圍的城邑一樣，使那裡人煙絕跡。這是耶和華說的。
41 「看啊，大軍要從北方而來，
一個強國及其盟軍要從地極而來。
42 巴比倫人啊，他們殘忍無道，
手持弓箭和矛槍，
騎著戰馬，
列陣攻擊你們，
聲勢如翻騰的大海。
43 巴比倫王聞風喪膽，
四肢發軟，
像分娩的婦人一樣痛苦不堪。
44 「看啊，我必在瞬間把巴比倫人趕離家園，如約旦河邊叢林中跳出的獅子趕散草場的羊群。我要派我揀選的人統治這地方。誰能與我相比？誰能與我較量？哪位首領能抵抗我？」
45 因此，你們要聽聽耶和華攻擊巴比倫的策略，聽聽祂攻擊迦勒底人的計劃。他們的孩子要被拖走，他們的家園要被毀滅。 46 巴比倫被毀滅的消息震動天下，呼喊聲傳到列國。
Jeremiah 50
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Judgment on Babylon
50 The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the prophet Jeremiah:(A)
2 Declare among the nations and proclaim;
set up a banner and proclaim;
do not conceal it, say:
“Babylon is taken;
Bel is put to shame;
Merodach is dismayed.
Her images are put to shame;
her idols are dismayed.”(B)
3 For out of the north a nation has come up against her; it shall make her land a desolation, and no one shall live in it; both humans and animals shall flee away.(C)
4 In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the people of Israel shall come, they and the people of Judah together; they shall come weeping as they seek the Lord their God.(D) 5 They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, and they shall come and join themselves to the Lord by an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
6 My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains; from mountain to hill they have gone, they have forgotten their fold.(E) 7 All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, “We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the Lord, the true pasture, the Lord, the hope of their ancestors.”(F)
8 Flee from Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be like male goats leading the flock.(G) 9 For I am going to stir up and bring against Babylon a company of great nations from the land of the north, and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like the arrows of a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed.(H) 10 Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, says the Lord.
11 Though you rejoice, though you exult,
O plunderers of my heritage,
though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass
and neigh like stallions,(I)
12 your mother shall be utterly shamed,
and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
She shall be the last of the nations,
a wilderness, dry land, and a desert.(J)
13 Because of the wrath of the Lord, she shall not be inhabited
but shall be an utter desolation;
everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled
and hiss because of all her wounds.(K)
14 Take up your positions around Babylon,
all you who bend the bow;
shoot at her; spare no arrows,
for she has sinned against the Lord.(L)
15 Raise a shout against her from all sides,
“She has surrendered;
her bulwarks have fallen;
her walls are thrown down.”
For this is the vengeance of the Lord:
take vengeance on her;
do to her as she has done.(M)
16 Cut off from Babylon the sower
and the wielder of the sickle in time of harvest;
because of the destroying sword,
all of them shall return to their own people,
and all of them shall flee to their own land.(N)
17 Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured it, and now at the end King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon has gnawed its bones.(O) 18 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria. 19 I will restore Israel to its pasture, and it shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan, and on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead its hunger shall be satisfied.(P) 20 In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and none shall be found, for I will pardon the remnant that I have spared.(Q)
21 Go up to the land of Merathaim;[a]
go up against her,
and attack the inhabitants of Pekod[b]
and utterly destroy the last of them,[c]
says the Lord;
do all that I have commanded you.(R)
22 The noise of battle is in the land
and great destruction!(S)
23 How the hammer of the whole earth
is cut down and broken!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations!(T)
24 I set a snare for you, and you were caught, O Babylon,
but you did not know it;
you were discovered and seized
because you challenged the Lord.(U)
25 The Lord has opened his armory
and brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for the Lord God of hosts has a task
in the land of the Chaldeans.(V)
26 Come against her from every quarter;
open her granaries;
pile her up like heaps of grain, and destroy her utterly;
let nothing be left of her.(W)
27 Kill all her bulls;
let them go down to the slaughter.
Alas for them, their day has come,
the time of their punishment!(X)
28 Listen! Fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon are coming to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for his temple.(Y)
29 Summon archers against Babylon, all who bend the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; just as she has done, do to her—for she has arrogantly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.(Z) 30 Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, says the Lord.(AA)
31 I am against you, O arrogant one,
says the Lord God of hosts,
for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.(AB)
32 The arrogant one shall stumble and fall,
with no one to raise him up,
and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it will devour everything around him.(AC)
33 Thus says the Lord of hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, and so also are the people of Judah; all their captors have held them fast and refuse to let them go.(AD) 34 Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.(AE)
35 A sword against the Chaldeans, says the Lord,
and against the inhabitants of Babylon
and against her officials and her sages!(AF)
36 A sword against the diviners,
so that they may become fools!
A sword against her warriors,
so that they may be dismayed!(AG)
37 A sword against her[d] horses and against her[e] chariots
and against all the foreign troops in her midst,
so that they may become women!
A sword against her treasures,
that they may be plundered!(AH)
38 A drought against her waters,
that they may be dried up!
For it is a land of images,
and they go mad over idols.(AI)
39 Therefore wild animals shall live with hyenas in Babylon,[f] and ostriches shall inhabit her; she shall never again be peopled or inhabited for all generations.(AJ) 40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, says the Lord, so no one shall live there, nor shall anyone settle in her.(AK)
41 Look, a people is coming from the north;
a mighty nation and many kings
are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.(AL)
42 They wield bow and spear;
they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring sea;
they ride upon horses,
set in array as a warrior for battle,
against you, O daughter Babylon!(AM)
43 The king of Babylon heard news of them,
and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.(AN)
44 Like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan to a perennial pasture, I will suddenly chase them away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose.[g] For who is like me? Who can summon me? Who is the shepherd who can stand before me?(AO) 45 Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away; surely the fold shall be appalled at their fate. 46 At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and a cry shall be heard among the nations.(AP)
Jeremiah 50
King James Version
50 The word that the Lord spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
2 Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
4 In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God.
5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
6 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 restingplace.
7 All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.
8 Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.
9 For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.
10 And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord.
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
14 Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the Lord.
15 Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
17 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
18 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.
21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the Lord, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord.
25 The Lord hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord God of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.
27 Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple.
29 Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord.
31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.
32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.
33 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.
34 Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
36 A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
38 A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
41 Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
42 They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation 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? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
45 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.
46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.