耶利米書 51
Revised Chinese Union Version (Traditional Script) Shen Edition
再審判巴比倫
51 耶和華如此說：
看哪，我必颳起毀滅的風，
攻擊巴比倫和住在立加米的人。
2 我要差陌生人[a]來到巴比倫，
他們要簸揚它，使它的地空無一物。
在它遭禍的日子，
他們要四圍攻擊它。
3 不要叫拉弓的拉弓，
不要叫他佩戴盔甲[b]；
不要憐惜巴比倫的壯丁，
要滅盡它的全軍。
4 他們必在迦勒底人之地被殺仆倒，
在巴比倫的街市上被刺透。
5 以色列和猶大境內雖然充滿違背以色列聖者的罪，
卻沒有被他的 神—萬軍之耶和華所遺棄。
6 你們要奔逃，離開巴比倫，
各救自己的性命！
不要陷在它的罪孽中一同滅亡，
因為這是耶和華報仇的時刻，
他必向巴比倫施行報應。
7 巴比倫素來是耶和華手中的金杯，
使全地沉醉，
列國喝了它的酒就顛狂。
8 巴比倫忽然傾覆毀壞；
要為它哀號，
拿乳香來止它的疼痛，
或者可以治好。
9 我們想醫治巴比倫，
它卻未獲痊癒。
離開它吧！讓我們各人歸回本國，
因為它受的審判通於上天，達到穹蒼。
10 耶和華已經彰顯出我們的義。
來吧！我們要在錫安
傳揚耶和華—我們 神的作為。
11 你們要磨尖箭頭，
抓住盾牌。
論到巴比倫，耶和華定意要毀滅它，所以激起瑪代君王的心；這是耶和華報仇，為他的聖殿報仇。
12 你們要豎立大旗，
攻擊巴比倫的城牆；
要堅固瞭望臺，
派定守望的設下埋伏；
因為耶和華指着巴比倫居民所說的，
他不但這樣定意，也已成就。
13 住在眾水之上多有財寶的啊，
你的結局已到！
你貪婪之量已滿盈[c]！
14 萬軍之耶和華指着自己起誓說：
我必使人遍滿各處像蝗蟲一樣，
他們必吶喊攻擊你。
頌讚 神的詩歌
15 耶和華以能力創造大地，
以智慧建立世界，
以聰明鋪張穹蒼。
16 他一出聲，天上就有眾水澎湃；
他使雲霧從地極上騰，
造電隨雨而閃，
從倉庫中吹出風來。
17 人人都如同畜牲，毫無知識；
銀匠都因偶像羞愧，
他所鑄的偶像本為虛假，
它們裏面並無氣息。
18 它們都是虛無的，
是迷惑人的東西，
到它們受罰的時刻必被除滅。
19 雅各所得的福分不是這樣，
因主[d]是那創造萬有的，
以色列[e]是他產業的支派，
萬軍之耶和華是他的名。
耶和華的大錘
20 你是我爭戰的斧子和打仗的兵器。
我要用你打碎列邦，
毀滅列國；
21 用你打碎馬和騎馬的，
打碎戰車和坐在其上的；
22 用你打碎男人和女人，
打碎老人和少年，
打碎壯丁和少女；
23 用你打碎牧人和他的羊羣，
打碎農夫和他的一對耕牛，
打碎省長和官員。
懲罰巴比倫
24 我必在你們眼前報復巴比倫人和迦勒底居民在錫安所做的一切惡事。這是耶和華說的。
25 行毀滅的山，看哪，我與你為敵，
你毀滅全地，
我必伸手攻擊你，
將你從山巖滾下去，
使你成為燒燬了的山。
這是耶和華說的。
26 人必不從你那裏取石頭為房角石，
也不取石頭來作根基，
因為你必永遠荒廢。
這是耶和華說的。
27 你們要在境內豎立大旗，
在列邦中吹角，
使列邦預備攻擊巴比倫。
要招集亞拉臘、米尼、亞實基拿各國前來攻擊它，
派將軍攻擊它，
使馬匹上來如粗暴的蝗蟲；
28 使列邦和瑪代君王，省長和官員，
他們所管的全地，都預備攻擊它。
29 地必震動而移轉；
因耶和華向巴比倫旨意已確定，
要使巴比倫土地荒涼，無人居住。
30 巴比倫的勇士停止爭戰，
躲在堡壘之中。
他們的力氣耗盡，
他們變成與婦女一樣。
巴比倫的住處焚燒，
門閂都折斷了。
31 通報的彼此相遇，
送信的彼此相遇，
報告巴比倫王，
城的四方都被攻下了，
32 渡口被佔據了，
蘆葦被火焚燒，
戰士都驚慌。
33 萬軍之耶和華—以色列的 神如此說：
巴比倫[f]好像踹穀的禾場；
再過片時，它收割的時候就到了。
34 巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒吞滅我，壓碎我，
使我成為空器皿。
他如大魚將我吞下，
以我的美物充滿他的肚腹，
又把我趕出去。
35 錫安的居民要說：
願我和我骨肉之親所受的殘暴
歸給巴比倫。
耶路撒冷人要說：
願我們所流的血
歸給迦勒底的居民。
耶和華要幫助以色列
36 所以，耶和華如此說：
看哪，我必為你伸冤，為你報仇；
我必使巴比倫的海枯竭，
使它的泉源乾涸。
37 巴比倫必成為廢墟，
為野狗的住處，
令人驚駭、嗤笑，
並且無人居住。
38 他們要像少壯獅子一同咆哮，
像小獅子吼叫。
39 他們食慾一來的時候，
我必為他們擺設酒席，
使他們沉醉，好叫他們快樂；
他們睡了長覺，永不醒起。
這是耶和華說的。
40 我必使他們像羔羊、
像公綿羊和公山羊被牽去宰殺。
巴比倫的命運
41 示沙克[g]竟然被攻取！
全地所稱讚的被佔據！
巴比倫在列國中竟然變為荒涼！
42 海水漲起，漫過巴比倫；
澎湃的海浪遮蓋了它。
43 它的城鎮變廢墟，
地變乾旱，成為沙漠，
成為無人居住、
無人經過之地。
44 我要懲罰巴比倫的彼勒[h]，
使它吐出所吞之物。
列國必不再流歸到它那裏，
巴比倫的城牆也必坍塌。
45 我的子民哪，你們要離開巴比倫！
各人逃命，躲避耶和華的烈怒。
46 不要因境內所聽見的風聲
心驚膽怯或懼怕；
因為這年有風聲傳來，
那年也有風聲傳來；
境內有殘暴的事，
官長攻擊官長。
47 所以，看哪，日子將到，
我必懲罰巴比倫雕刻的偶像。
它的全地必然抱愧，
它被殺的人必仆倒在其上。
48 那時，天地和其中所有的，
必因巴比倫歡呼，
因為行毀滅的要從北方來到它那裏。
這是耶和華說的。
49 巴比倫要因以色列被殺的人而仆倒，
正如全地被刺殺的人是因巴比倫仆倒一般。
給在巴比倫以色列人的信息
50 你們躲避刀劍的要快走，
不要站住！
要在遠方懷念耶和華，
心中追想耶路撒冷。
51 我們聽見辱罵就蒙羞，滿面慚愧，
因為外邦人進入耶和華殿的聖所。
52 所以，看哪，日子將到，
我必懲罰巴比倫雕刻的偶像，
在全境內到處都有刺傷的人在呻吟。
這是耶和華說的。
53 巴比倫雖升到天上，
雖使它堅固的高處更堅固，
我也要差毀滅者到它那裏。
這是耶和華說的。
巴比倫滅亡
54 有哀號的聲音從巴比倫出來，
有大毀滅從迦勒底人之地而來。
55 耶和華使巴比倫變為廢墟，
使其中喧嘩的大聲滅絕。
仇敵彷彿眾水，
波浪澎湃，發出響聲；
56 這是行毀滅的臨到巴比倫。
巴比倫的勇士被捉住，
他們的弓折斷了；
因為耶和華是施行報應的 神，
他必施行報應。
57 我必使巴比倫的領袖、
智慧人、省長、官員和勇士都喝醉，
使他們永遠沉睡，不再醒起。
這是名為萬軍之耶和華的君王說的。
58 萬軍之耶和華如此說：
巴比倫寬闊的城牆要夷為平地，
它高大的城門必被火焚燒。
萬民所勞碌的必致虛空，
萬族所勞碌的被火焚燒，
他們都必困乏。
耶利米的信息傳到巴比倫
59 猶大王西底家在位第四年，瑪西雅的孫子，尼利亞的兒子西萊雅與王同去巴比倫，西萊雅是王宮的大臣，耶利米先知有話吩咐他。 60 耶利米把一切要臨到巴比倫的災禍，就是論到巴比倫的這一切話，寫在一書卷上。 61 耶利米對西萊雅說：「你到了巴比倫，務要宣讀這一切話， 62 說：『耶和華啊，你曾論到這地方說：要剪除它，不再有人與牲畜居住此地，必永遠荒涼。』 63 你讀完這書卷，就要把一塊石頭拴在其上，投入幼發拉底河中， 64 說：『巴比倫因耶和華所要降與它的災禍，必如此沉下去，不再浮起來，百姓也必困乏。』」
耶利米的話到此為止。
Jeremiah 51
New King James Version
The Utter Destruction of Babylon
51 Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will raise up against (A)Babylon,
Against those who dwell in [a]Leb Kamai,
(B)A destroying wind.
2 And I will send (C)winnowers to Babylon,
Who shall winnow her and empty her land.
(D)For in the day of doom
They shall be against her all around.
3 Against her (E)let the archer bend his bow,
And lift himself up against her in his armor.
Do not spare her young men;
(F)Utterly destroy all her army.
4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans,
(G)And those thrust through in her streets.
5 For Israel is (H)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 (I)Flee from the midst of Babylon,
And every one save his life!
Do not be cut off in her iniquity,
For (J)this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance;
(K)He shall recompense her.
7 (L)Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
That made all the earth drunk.
(M)The nations drank her wine;
Therefore the nations (N)are deranged.
8 Babylon has suddenly (O)fallen and been destroyed.
(P)Wail for her!
(Q)Take balm for her pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon,
But she is not healed.
Forsake her, and (R)let us go everyone to his own country;
(S)For her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies.
10 The Lord has (T)revealed our righteousness.
Come and let us (U)declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.
11 (V)Make[b] the arrows bright!
Gather the shields!
(W)The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes.
(X)For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it,
Because it is (Y)the vengeance of the Lord,
The vengeance for His temple.
12 (Z)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 (AA)O you who dwell by many waters,
Abundant in treasures,
Your end has come,
The measure of your covetousness.
14 (AB)The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself:
“Surely I will fill you with men, (AC)as with locusts,
And they shall lift (AD)up a shout against you.”
15 (AE)He has made the earth by His power;
He has established the world by His wisdom,
And (AF)stretched out the heaven by His understanding.
16 When He utters His voice—
There is a multitude of waters in the heavens:
(AG)“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 (AH)Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge;
Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image;
(AI)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(AJ) 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;
22 With you also I will break in pieces man and woman;
With you I will break in pieces (AK)old and young;
With you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden;
23 With you also I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;
With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen;
And with you I will break in pieces governors and rulers.
24 “And(AL) I will repay Babylon
And all the inhabitants of Chaldea
For all the evil they have done
In Zion in your sight,” says the Lord.
25 “Behold, I am against you, (AM)O destroying mountain,
Who destroys all the earth,” says the Lord.
“And I will stretch out My hand against you,
Roll you down from the rocks,
(AN)And make you a burnt mountain.
26 They shall not take from you a stone for a corner
Nor a stone for a foundation,
(AO)But you shall be desolate forever,” says the Lord.
27 (AP)Set up a banner in the land,
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
(AQ)Prepare the nations against her,
Call (AR)the kingdoms together against her:
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a general against her;
Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts.
28 Prepare against her the nations,
With the kings of the Medes,
Its governors and all its rulers,
All the land of his dominion.
29 And the land will tremble and sorrow;
For every (AS)purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon,
(AT)To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting,
They have remained in their strongholds;
Their might has failed,
(AU)They became like women;
They have burned her dwelling places,
(AV)The bars of her gate are broken.
31 (AW)One runner will run to meet another,
And one messenger to meet another,
To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides;
32 (AX)The passages are blocked,
The reeds they have burned with fire,
And the men of war are terrified.
33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“The daughter of Babylon is (AY)like a threshing floor
When (AZ)it is time to thresh her;
Yet a little while
(BA)And the time of her harvest will come.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon
Has (BB)devoured me, he has crushed me;
He has made me an (BC)empty vessel,
He has swallowed me up like a monster;
He has filled his stomach with my delicacies,
He has spit me out.
35 Let the violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon,”
The inhabitant of Zion will say;
“And my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!”
Jerusalem will say.
36 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, (BD)I will plead your case and take vengeance for you.
(BE)I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.
37 (BF)Babylon shall become a heap,
A dwelling place for jackals,
(BG)An astonishment and a hissing,
Without an inhabitant.
38 They shall roar together like lions,
They shall growl like lions’ whelps.
39 In their excitement I will prepare their feasts;
(BH)I will make them drunk,
That they may rejoice,
And sleep a perpetual sleep
And not awake,” says the Lord.
40 “I will bring them down
Like lambs to the slaughter,
Like rams with male goats.
41 “Oh, how (BI)Sheshach[c] is taken!
Oh, how (BJ)the praise of the whole earth is seized!
How Babylon has become desolate among the nations!
42 (BK)The sea has come up over Babylon;
She is covered with the multitude of its waves.
43 (BL)Her cities are a desolation,
A dry land and a wilderness,
A land where (BM)no one dwells,
Through which no son of man passes.
44 I will punish (BN)Bel[d] in Babylon,
And I will bring out of his mouth what he has swallowed;
And the nations shall not stream to him anymore.
Yes, (BO)the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45 “My(BP) people, go out of the midst of her!
And let everyone deliver [e]himself from the fierce anger of the Lord.
46 And lest your heart faint,
And you fear (BQ)for the rumor that will be heard in the land
(A rumor will come one year,
And after that, in another year
A rumor will come,
And violence in the land,
Ruler against ruler),
47 Therefore behold, the days are coming
That I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon;
Her whole land shall be ashamed,
And all her slain shall fall in her midst.
48 Then (BR)the heavens and the earth and all that is in them
Shall sing joyously over Babylon;
(BS)For the plunderers shall come to her from the north,” says the Lord.
49 As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall,
So at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall.
50 (BT)You who have escaped the sword,
Get away! Do not stand still!
(BU)Remember the Lord afar off,
And let Jerusalem come to your mind.
51 (BV)We are ashamed because we have heard reproach.
Shame has covered our faces,
For strangers (BW)have come into the [f]sanctuaries of the Lord’s house.
52 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“That I will bring judgment on her carved images,
And throughout all her land the wounded shall groan.
53 (BX)Though Babylon were to [g]mount up to heaven,
And though she were to fortify the height of her strength,
Yet from Me plunderers would come to her,” says the Lord.
54 (BY)The sound of a cry comes from Babylon,
And great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans,
55 Because the Lord is plundering Babylon
And silencing her loud voice,
Though her waves roar like great waters,
And the noise of their voice is uttered,
56 Because the plunderer comes against her, against Babylon,
And her mighty men are taken.
Every one of their bows is broken;
(BZ)For the Lord is the God of recompense,
He will surely repay.
57 “And I will make drunk
Her princes and (CA)wise men,
Her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men.
And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep
And not awake,” says (CB)the King,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts.
58 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly (CC)broken,[h]
And her high gates shall be burned with fire;
(CD)The people will labor in vain,
And the nations, because of the fire;
And they shall be weary.”
Jeremiah’s Command to Seraiah
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of (CE)Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60 So Jeremiah (CF)wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, 62 then you shall say, ‘O Lord, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that (CG)none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.’ 63 Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, (CH)that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates. 64 Then you shall say, ‘Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary.’ ”
Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 51:1 Lit. The Midst of Those Who Rise Up Against Me; a code word for Chaldea, Babylonia
- Jeremiah 51:11 Polish the arrows!
- Jeremiah 51:41 A code word for Babylon, Jer. 25:26
- Jeremiah 51:44 A Babylonian god
- Jeremiah 51:45 Lit. his soul
- Jeremiah 51:51 holy places
- Jeremiah 51:53 ascend
- Jeremiah 51:58 Lit. laid utterly bare
Jeremiah 51
English Standard Version
The Utter Destruction of Babylon
51 Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will stir up (A)the spirit of a destroyer
against Babylon,
against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai,[a]
2 and I will send to Babylon winnowers,
and (B)they shall winnow her,
and they shall empty her land,
when they come against her from every side
(C)on the day of trouble.
3 (D)Let not the archer bend his bow,
and let him not stand up in his armor.
Spare not her young men;
(E)devote to destruction[b] all her army.
4 They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
(F)and wounded in her streets.
5 (G)For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
by their God, the Lord of hosts,
but the land of the Chaldeans[c] is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.
6 (H)“Flee from the midst of Babylon;
let every one save his life!
(I)Be not cut off in her punishment,
(J)for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance,
the repayment he is rendering her.
7 Babylon was (K)a golden cup in the Lord's hand,
(L)making all the earth drunken;
(M)the nations drank of her wine;
therefore the nations went mad.
8 (N)Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
(O)wail for her!
(P)Take balm for her pain;
perhaps she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon,
but she was not healed.
(Q)Forsake her, and (R)let us go
each to his own country,
for (S)her judgment has reached up to heaven
and has been lifted up even to the skies.
10 (T)The Lord has brought about our vindication;
(U)come, let us declare in Zion
the work of the Lord our God.
11 (V)“Sharpen the arrows!
Take up the shields!
(W)The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of (X)the Medes, because (Y)his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, (Z)for that is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for (AA)his temple.
12 (AB)“Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon;
(AC)make the watch strong;
set up watchmen;
prepare the ambushes;
(AD)for the Lord has both planned and done
what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 (AE)O you who dwell by many waters,
rich in treasures,
your end has come;
the thread of your life is cut.
14 (AF)The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself:
Surely I will fill you with men, (AG)as many as locusts,
(AH)and they shall raise the shout of victory over you.
15 (AI)“It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
16 When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
17 Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
and there is no breath in them.
18 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
19 Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
20 “You are my hammer and weapon of war:
with you I (AJ)break nations in pieces;
with you I destroy kingdoms;
21 with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer;
22 with you I break in pieces man and woman;
with you I break in pieces (AK)the old man and the youth;
with you I break in pieces (AL)the young man and the young woman;
23 with you I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;
with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team;
with you I break in pieces (AM)governors and commanders.
24 (AN)“I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the Lord.
25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,
declares the Lord,
which destroys the whole earth;
I will stretch out my hand against you,
and roll you down from the crags,
(AO)and make you a burnt mountain.
26 No (AP)stone shall be taken from you for a corner
and no stone for a foundation,
but you shall be (AQ)a perpetual waste,
declares the Lord.
27 (AR)“Set up a standard on the earth;
(AS)blow the trumpet among the nations;
(AT)prepare (AU)the nations for war against her;
summon against her (AV)the kingdoms,
(AW)Ararat, Minni, and (AX)Ashkenaz;
appoint a (AY)marshal against her;
(AZ)bring up horses like bristling locusts.
28 (BA)Prepare (BB)the nations for war against her,
the kings of (BC)the Medes, (BD)with their governors (BE)and deputies,
and every (BF)land under their dominion.
29 (BG)The land trembles and writhes in pain,
(BH)for the Lord's purposes against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon a desolation,
without inhabitant.
30 The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting;
they remain in their strongholds;
their strength has failed;
(BI)they have become women;
(BJ)her dwellings are on fire;
(BK)her bars are broken.
31 One (BL)runner runs to meet another,
and one messenger to meet another,
to tell the king of Babylon
that his city is taken on every side;
32 the fords have been (BM)seized,
the marshes are burned with fire,
and the soldiers are in panic.
33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
(BN)The daughter of Babylon is like (BO)a threshing floor
at the time when it is trodden;
yet a little while
and (BP)the time of her harvest will come.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon (BQ)has devoured me;
he has crushed me;
he has made me an empty vessel;
(BR)he has swallowed me like (BS)a monster;
he has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
he has rinsed me out.[d]
35 The violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon,”
let the inhabitant of Zion say.
“My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
let Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, (BT)I will plead your cause
and take vengeance for you.
(BU)I will dry up her sea
and (BV)make her fountain dry,
37 and Babylon shall become (BW)a heap of ruins,
(BX)the haunt of jackals,
(BY)a horror (BZ)and a hissing,
without inhabitant.
38 (CA)“They shall roar together (CB)like lions;
they shall growl like lions' cubs.
39 (CC)While they are inflamed (CD)I will prepare them a feast
and (CE)make them drunk, that they may become merry,
(CF)then sleep a perpetual sleep
and not wake, declares the Lord.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and male goats.
41 “How (CG)Babylon[e] is taken,
(CH)the praise of the whole earth (CI)seized!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations!
42 (CJ)The sea has come up on Babylon;
she is covered with its tumultuous waves.
43 Her cities have become a horror,
(CK)a land of drought and a desert,
(CL)a land in which no one dwells,
and through which no son of man passes.
44 And I will punish (CM)Bel in Babylon,
and (CN)take out of his mouth (CO)what he has swallowed.
(CP)The nations shall no longer flow to him;
(CQ)the wall of Babylon has fallen.
45 “Go out of the midst of her, (CR)my people!
Let every one save his life
from (CS)the fierce anger of the Lord!
46 Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful
(CT)at the report heard in the land,
(CU)when a report comes in one year
and afterward a report in another year,
and violence is in the land,
(CV)and ruler is against ruler.
47 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming
when (CW)I will punish the images of Babylon;
(CX)her whole land shall be put to shame,
and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 (CY)Then the heavens and the earth,
and all that is in them,
shall sing for joy over Babylon,
(CZ)for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north,
declares the Lord.
49 Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel,
(DA)just as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.
50 (DB)“You who have escaped from the sword,
go, do not stand still!
Remember the Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come into your mind:
51 (DC)‘We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach;
(DD)dishonor has covered our face,
(DE)for foreigners have come
into the holy places of the Lord's house.’
52 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when (DF)I will execute judgment upon her images,
(DG)and through all her land
the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should (DH)mount up to heaven,
and though she should (DI)fortify her strong height,
yet destroyers would come from me against her,
declares the Lord.
54 (DJ)“A voice! A cry from Babylon!
The noise of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For the Lord is laying Babylon waste
and stilling her mighty voice.
(DK)Their waves roar like many waters;
the noise of their voice is raised,
56 for a destroyer has come upon her,
upon Babylon;
her warriors are taken;
their bows are broken in pieces,
(DL)for the Lord is a God of recompense;
he will surely repay.
57 (DM)I will make drunk her officials and her wise men,
(DN)her governors, her commanders, and her warriors;
they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake,
declares (DO)the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
58 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
The broad (DP)wall of Babylon
shall be leveled to the ground,
(DQ)and her high gates
shall be burned with fire.
(DR)The peoples labor for nothing,
and (DS)the nations weary themselves only for fire.”
59 The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah (DT)the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, (DU)in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60 (DV)Jeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon, (DW)all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, 62 and say, ‘O Lord, you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off, so (DX)that nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be (DY)desolate forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this book, (DZ)(EA)tie a stone to it (EB)and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, 64 and say, (EC)‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, (ED)and they shall become exhausted.’”
Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 51:1 A code name for Chaldea
- Jeremiah 51:3 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
- Jeremiah 51:5 Hebrew their land
- Jeremiah 51:34 Or he has expelled me
- Jeremiah 51:41 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon
和合本修訂版經文 © 2006, 2010, 2017 香港聖經公會。蒙允許使用。 Scripture Text of Revised Chinese Union Version © 2006, 2010, 2017 Hong Kong Bible Society. www.hkbs.org.hk/en/ Used by permission.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
