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50 The word that the Lord spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. 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. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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.

51 Thus saith the Lord;

Behold, I will raise up against Babylon,
and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me,
a destroying wind;
and will send unto Babylon fanners,
that shall fan her, and shall empty her land:
for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow,
and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine:
and spare ye not her young men;
destroy ye utterly all her host.
Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans,
and they that are thrust through in her streets.
For Israel hath not been forsaken,
nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of hosts;
though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

Flee out of the midst of Babylon,
and deliver every man his soul:
be not cut off in her iniquity;
for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance;
he will render unto her a recompence.

Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
that made all the earth drunken:
the nations have drunken of her wine;
therefore the nations are mad.
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed:
howl for her; take balm for her pain,
if so be she may be healed.
We would have healed Babylon,
but she is not healed:
forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country:
for her judgment reacheth unto heaven,
and is lifted up even to the skies.
10 The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness:
come, and let us declare in Zion
the work of the Lord our God.

11 Make bright the arrows;
gather the shields:
the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes:
for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it;
because it is the vengeance of the Lord,
the vengeance of his temple.
12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon,
make the watch strong, set up the watchmen,
prepare the ambushes:
for the Lord hath both devised and done
that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.

13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters,
abundant in treasures,
thine end is come,
and the measure of thy covetousness.
14 The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying,
Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers;
and they shall lift up a shout against thee.

15 He hath made the earth by his power,
he hath established the world by his wisdom,
and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
16 When he uttereth his voice,
there is a multitude of waters in the heavens;
and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth:
he maketh lightnings with rain,
and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

17 Every man is brutish by his knowledge;
every founder is confounded by the graven image:
for his molten image is falsehood,
and there is no breath in them.
18 They are vanity, the work of errors:
in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like them;
for he is the former of all things:
and Israel is the rod of his inheritance:
the Lord of hosts is his name.

20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war:
for with thee will I break in pieces the nations,
and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
21 and with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
22 with thee also will I break in pieces man and woman;
and with thee will I break in pieces old and young;
and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock;
and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen;
and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
24 And I will render unto Babylon
and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea
all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord.

25 Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord,
which destroyest all the earth:
and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee,
and roll thee down from the rocks,
and will make thee a burnt mountain.
26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner,
nor a stone for foundations;
but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the Lord.

27 Set ye up a standard in the land,
blow the trumpet among the nations,
prepare the nations against her,
call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz;
appoint a captain against her;
cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes,
the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof,
and all the land of his dominion.
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow:
for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon,
to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.

30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight,
they have remained in their holds:
their might hath failed;
they became as women:
they have burned her dwellingplaces;
her bars are broken.
31 One post shall run to meet another,
and one messenger to meet another,
to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
32 and that the passages are stopped,
and the reeds they have burned with fire,
and the men of war are affrighted.
33 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel;
The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor,
it is time to thresh her:
yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.

34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me,
he hath crushed me,
he hath made me an empty vessel,
he hath swallowed me up like a dragon,
he hath filled his belly with my delicates,
he hath cast me out.
35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,
shall the inhabitant of Zion say;
and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,
shall Jerusalem say.

36 Therefore thus saith the Lord;
Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee;
and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
37 And Babylon shall become heaps,
a dwellingplace for dragons,
an astonishment, and an hissing,
without an inhabitant.
38 They shall roar together like lions:
they shall yell as lions’ whelps.
39 In their heat I will make their feasts,
and I will make them drunken,
that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep,
and not wake, saith the Lord.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams with he goats.

41 How is Sheshach taken!
and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised!
how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
42 The sea is come up upon Babylon:
she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
43 Her cities are a desolation,
a dry land, and a wilderness,
a land wherein no man dwelleth,
neither doth any son of man pass thereby.

44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon,
and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up:
and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him:
yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her,
and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord.
46 And lest your heart faint,
and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land;
a rumour shall both come one year,
and after that in another year shall come a rumour,
and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
47 Therefore, behold, the days come,
that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon:
and her whole land shall be confounded,
and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon:
for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the Lord.
49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall,
so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

50 Ye that have escaped the sword,
go away, stand not still:
remember the Lord afar off,
and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach:
shame hath covered our faces:
for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord’s house.

52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
that I will do judgment upon her graven images:
and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven,
and though she should fortify the height of her strength,
yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord.

54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon,
and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
55 because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon,
and destroyed out of her the great voice;
when her waves do roar like great waters,
a noise of their voice is uttered:
56 because the spoiler is come upon her,
even upon Babylon,
and her mighty men are taken,
every one of their bows is broken:
for the Lord God of recompences shall surely requite.

57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men,
her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men:
and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake,
saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

58 Thus saith the Lord of hosts;
The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken,
and her high gates shall be burned with fire;
and the people shall labour in vain,
and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.

59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. 60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; 62 then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. 63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: 64 and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary.

Judgment on Babylon and Babylonia

50 The word that the Lord spoke (A)against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.

“Declare among the nations,
Proclaim, and [a]set up a standard;
Proclaim—do not conceal it
Say, ‘Babylon is (B)taken, (C)Bel is shamed.
[b]Merodach is broken in pieces;
(D)Her idols are humiliated,
Her images are broken in pieces.’
(E)For out of the north (F)a nation comes up against her,
Which shall make her land desolate,
And no one shall dwell therein.
They shall [c]move, they shall depart,
Both man and beast.

“In those days and in that time,” says the Lord,
“The children of Israel shall come,
(G)They and the children of Judah together;
(H)With continual weeping they shall come,
(I)And seek the Lord their God.
They shall ask the way to Zion,
With their faces toward it, saying,
‘Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord
In (J)a perpetual covenant
That will not be forgotten.’

“My people have been (K)lost sheep.
Their shepherds have led them (L)astray;
They have turned them away on (M)the mountains.
They have gone from mountain to hill;
They have forgotten their resting place.
All who found them have (N)devoured them;
And (O)their adversaries said, (P)‘We have not offended,
Because they have sinned against the Lord, (Q)the habitation of justice,
The Lord, (R)the hope of their fathers.’

“Move(S) from the midst of Babylon,
Go out of the land of the Chaldeans;
And be like the [d]rams before the flocks.
(T)For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon
An assembly of great nations from the north country,
And they shall array themselves against her;
From there she shall be captured.
Their arrows shall be like those of [e]an expert warrior;
(U)None shall return in vain.
10 And Chaldea shall become plunder;
(V)All who plunder her shall be satisfied,” says the Lord.

11 “Because(W) you were glad, because you rejoiced,
You destroyers of My heritage,
Because you have grown fat (X)like a heifer threshing grain,
And you [f]bellow like bulls,
12 Your mother shall be deeply ashamed;
She who bore you shall be ashamed.
Behold, the least of the nations shall be a (Y)wilderness,
A dry land and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of the Lord
She shall not be inhabited,
(Z)But she shall be wholly desolate.
(AA)Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified
And hiss at all her plagues.

14 “Put(AB) yourselves in array against Babylon all around,
All you who bend the bow;
Shoot at her, spare no arrows,
For she has sinned against the Lord.
15 Shout against her all around;
She has (AC)given her hand,
Her foundations have fallen,
(AD)Her walls are thrown down;
For (AE)it is the vengeance of the Lord.
Take vengeance on her.
As she has done, so do to her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon,
And him who handles the sickle at harvest time.
For fear of the oppressing sword
(AF)Everyone shall turn to his own people,
And everyone shall flee to his own land.

17 “Israel is like (AG)scattered sheep;
(AH)The lions have driven him away.
First (AI)the king of Assyria devoured him;
Now at last this (AJ)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”

18 Therefore thus says 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 (AK)Assyria.
19 (AL)But I will bring back Israel to his home,
And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan;
His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days and in that time,” says the Lord,
(AM)“The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none;
And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found;
For I will pardon those (AN)whom I preserve.

21 “Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it,
And against the inhabitants of (AO)Pekod.
[g]Waste and utterly destroy them,” says the Lord,
“And do (AP)according to all that I have commanded you.
22 (AQ)A sound of battle is in the land,
And of great destruction.
23 How (AR)the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken!
How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
24 I have laid a snare for you;
You have indeed been (AS)trapped, O Babylon,
And you were not aware;
You have been found and also caught,
Because you have (AT)contended against the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened His armory,
And has brought out (AU)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 farthest border;
Open her storehouses;
Cast her up as heaps of ruins,
And destroy her utterly;
Let nothing of her be left.
27 Slay all her (AV)bulls,
Let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them!
For their day has come, the time of (AW)their punishment.
28 The voice of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon
(AX)Declares in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God,
The vengeance of His temple.

29 “Call together the archers against Babylon.
All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around;
Let none of them [h]escape.
(AY)Repay her according to her work;
According to all she has done, do to her;
(AZ)For she has been proud against the Lord,
Against the Holy One of Israel.
30 (BA)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,
[i]The time that I will punish you.
32 The most (BB)proud shall stumble and fall,
And no one will raise him up;
(BC)I will kindle a fire in his cities,
And it will devour all around him.”

33 Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“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 (BD)Their Redeemer is strong;
(BE)The Lord of hosts is His name.
He will thoroughly plead their (BF)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 (BG)against her princes and (BH)her wise men.
36 A sword is (BI)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 (BJ)the mixed peoples who are in her midst;
And (BK)they will become like women.
A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed.
38 (BL)A [j]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(BM) the wild desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals,
And the ostriches shall dwell in it.
(BN)It shall be inhabited no more forever,
Nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 (BO)As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
And their neighbors,” says the Lord,
So no one shall reside there,
Nor son of man (BP)dwell in it.

41 “Behold,(BQ) 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 (BR)They shall hold the bow and the lance;
(BS)They are cruel and shall not show mercy.
(BT)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 (BU)heard the report about them,
And his hands grow feeble;
Anguish has taken hold of him,
Pangs as of a woman in (BV)childbirth.

44 “Behold,(BW) he shall come up like a lion from the [k]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 (BX)who is that shepherd
Who will withstand Me?”

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

The Utter Destruction of Babylon

51 Thus says the Lord:

“Behold, I will raise up against (CC)Babylon,
Against those who dwell in [l]Leb Kamai,
(CD)A destroying wind.
And I will send (CE)winnowers to Babylon,
Who shall winnow her and empty her land.
(CF)For in the day of doom
They shall be against her all around.
Against her (CG)let the archer bend his bow,
And lift himself up against her in his armor.
Do not spare her young men;
(CH)Utterly destroy all her army.
Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans,
(CI)And those thrust through in her streets.
For Israel is (CJ)not forsaken, nor Judah,
By his God, the Lord of hosts,
Though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.”

(CK)Flee from the midst of Babylon,
And every one save his life!
Do not be cut off in her iniquity,
For (CL)this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance;
(CM)He shall recompense her.
(CN)Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
That made all the earth drunk.
(CO)The nations drank her wine;
Therefore the nations (CP)are deranged.
Babylon has suddenly (CQ)fallen and been destroyed.
(CR)Wail for her!
(CS)Take balm for her pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.

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

11 (CX)Make[m] the arrows bright!
Gather the shields!
(CY)The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes.
(CZ)For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it,
Because it is (DA)the vengeance of the Lord,
The vengeance for His temple.
12 (DB)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 (DC)O you who dwell by many waters,
Abundant in treasures,
Your end has come,
The measure of your covetousness.
14 (DD)The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself:
“Surely I will fill you with men, (DE)as with locusts,
And they shall lift (DF)up a shout against you.”

15 (DG)He has made the earth by His power;
He has established the world by His wisdom,
And (DH)stretched out the heaven by His understanding.
16 When He utters His voice—
There is a multitude of waters in the heavens:
(DI)“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 (DJ)Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge;
Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image;
(DK)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(DL) 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 (DM)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(DN) 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, (DO)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,
(DP)And make you a burnt mountain.
26 They shall not take from you a stone for a corner
Nor a stone for a foundation,
(DQ)But you shall be desolate forever,” says the Lord.

27 (DR)Set up a banner in the land,
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
(DS)Prepare the nations against her,
Call (DT)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 (DU)purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon,
(DV)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,
(DW)They became like women;
They have burned her dwelling places,
(DX)The bars of her gate are broken.
31 (DY)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 (DZ)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 (EA)like a threshing floor
When (EB)it is time to thresh her;
Yet a little while
(EC)And the time of her harvest will come.”

34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon
Has (ED)devoured me, he has crushed me;
He has made me an (EE)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, (EF)I will plead your case and take vengeance for you.
(EG)I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.
37 (EH)Babylon shall become a heap,
A dwelling place for jackals,
(EI)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;
(EJ)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 (EK)Sheshach[n] is taken!
Oh, how (EL)the praise of the whole earth is seized!
How Babylon has become desolate among the nations!
42 (EM)The sea has come up over Babylon;
She is covered with the multitude of its waves.
43 (EN)Her cities are a desolation,
A dry land and a wilderness,
A land where (EO)no one dwells,
Through which no son of man passes.
44 I will punish (EP)Bel[o] in Babylon,
And I will bring out of his mouth what he has swallowed;
And the nations shall not stream to him anymore.
Yes, (EQ)the wall of Babylon shall fall.

45 “My(ER) people, go out of the midst of her!
And let everyone deliver [p]himself from the fierce anger of the Lord.
46 And lest your heart faint,
And you fear (ES)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 (ET)the heavens and the earth and all that is in them
Shall sing joyously over Babylon;
(EU)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 (EV)You who have escaped the sword,
Get away! Do not stand still!
(EW)Remember the Lord afar off,
And let Jerusalem come to your mind.

51 (EX)We are ashamed because we have heard reproach.
Shame has covered our faces,
For strangers (EY)have come into the [q]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 (EZ)Though Babylon were to [r]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 (FA)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;
(FB)For the Lord is the God of recompense,
He will surely repay.

57 “And I will make drunk
Her princes and (FC)wise men,
Her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men.
And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep
And not awake,” says (FD)the King,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts.

58 Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly (FE)broken,[s]
And her high gates shall be burned with fire;
(FF)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 (FG)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 (FH)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 (FI)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, (FJ)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

  1. Jeremiah 50:2 lift
  2. Jeremiah 50:2 Or Marduk; a Babylonian god
  3. Jeremiah 50:3 Or wander
  4. Jeremiah 50:8 male goats
  5. Jeremiah 50:9 So with some Heb. mss., LXX, Syr.; MT, Tg., Vg. a warrior who makes childless
  6. Jeremiah 50:11 Or neigh like steeds
  7. Jeremiah 50:21 Or Attack with the sword
  8. Jeremiah 50:29 Qr., some Heb. mss., LXX, Tg. add to her
  9. Jeremiah 50:31 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Vg. The time of your punishment
  10. Jeremiah 50:38 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; Syr. sword; LXX omits A drought is
  11. Jeremiah 50:44 Or thicket
  12. Jeremiah 51:1 Lit. The Midst of Those Who Rise Up Against Me; a code word for Chaldea, Babylonia
  13. Jeremiah 51:11 Polish the arrows!
  14. Jeremiah 51:41 A code word for Babylon, Jer. 25:26
  15. Jeremiah 51:44 A Babylonian god
  16. Jeremiah 51:45 Lit. his soul
  17. Jeremiah 51:51 holy places
  18. Jeremiah 51:53 ascend
  19. Jeremiah 51:58 Lit. laid utterly bare

Profecía sobre Babilonia

50 Palabra que habló Jehová contra Babilonia,(A) contra la tierra de los caldeos, por medio del profeta Jeremías. Anunciad en las naciones, y haced saber; levantad también bandera, publicad, y no encubráis; decid: Tomada es Babilonia, Bel es confundido, deshecho es Merodac; destruidas son sus esculturas, quebrados son sus ídolos. Porque subió contra ella una nación del norte, la cual pondrá su tierra en asolamiento, y no habrá ni hombre ni animal que en ella more; huyeron, y se fueron.

En aquellos días y en aquel tiempo, dice Jehová, vendrán los hijos de Israel, ellos y los hijos de Judá juntamente; e irán andando y llorando, y buscarán a Jehová su Dios. Preguntarán por el camino de Sion, hacia donde volverán sus rostros, diciendo: Venid, y juntémonos a Jehová con pacto eterno que jamás se ponga en olvido.

Ovejas perdidas fueron mi pueblo; sus pastores las hicieron errar, por los montes las descarriaron; anduvieron de monte en collado, y se olvidaron de sus rediles. Todos los que los hallaban, los devoraban; y decían sus enemigos: No pecaremos, porque ellos pecaron contra Jehová morada de justicia, contra Jehová esperanza de sus padres.

Huid de en medio de Babilonia,(B) y salid de la tierra de los caldeos, y sed como los machos cabríos que van delante del rebaño. Porque yo levanto y hago subir contra Babilonia reunión de grandes pueblos de la tierra del norte; desde allí se prepararán contra ella, y será tomada; sus flechas son como de valiente diestro, que no volverá vacío. 10 Y Caldea será para botín; todos los que la saquearen se saciarán, dice Jehová.

11 Porque os alegrasteis, porque os gozasteis destruyendo mi heredad, porque os llenasteis como novilla sobre la hierba, y relinchasteis como caballos. 12 Vuestra madre se avergonzó mucho, se afrentó la que os dio a luz; he aquí será la última de las naciones; desierto, sequedal y páramo. 13 Por la ira de Jehová no será habitada, sino será asolada toda ella; todo hombre que pasare por Babilonia se asombrará, y se burlará de sus calamidades. 14 Poneos en orden contra Babilonia alrededor, todos los que entesáis arco; tirad contra ella, no escatiméis las saetas, porque pecó contra Jehová. 15 Gritad contra ella en derredor; se rindió; han caído sus cimientos, derribados son sus muros, porque es venganza de Jehová. Tomad venganza de ella; haced con ella como ella hizo. 16 Destruid en Babilonia al que siembra, y al que mete hoz en tiempo de la siega; delante de la espada destructora cada uno volverá el rostro hacia su pueblo, cada uno huirá hacia su tierra.

17 Rebaño descarriado es Israel; leones lo dispersaron; el rey de Asiria lo devoró primero, Nabucodonosor rey de Babilonia lo deshuesó después. 18 Por tanto, así ha dicho Jehová de los ejércitos, Dios de Israel: Yo castigo al rey de Babilonia y a su tierra, como castigué al rey de Asiria. 19 Y volveré a traer a Israel a su morada, y pacerá en el Carmelo y en Basán; y en el monte de Efraín y en Galaad se saciará su alma. 20 En aquellos días y en aquel tiempo, dice Jehová, la maldad de Israel será buscada, y no aparecerá; y los pecados de Judá, y no se hallarán; porque perdonaré a los que yo hubiere dejado.

21 Sube contra la tierra de Merataim,[a] contra ella y contra los moradores de Pecod;[b] destruye y mata en pos de ellos, dice Jehová, y haz conforme a todo lo que yo te he mandado. 22 Estruendo de guerra en la tierra, y quebrantamiento grande. 23 ¡Cómo fue cortado y quebrado el martillo de toda la tierra! ¡Cómo se convirtió Babilonia en desolación entre las naciones! 24 Te puse lazos, y fuiste tomada, oh Babilonia, y tú no lo supiste; fuiste hallada, y aun presa, porque provocaste a Jehová. 25 Abrió Jehová su tesoro, y sacó los instrumentos de su furor; porque esta es obra de Jehová, Dios de los ejércitos, en la tierra de los caldeos. 26 Venid contra ella desde el extremo de la tierra; abrid sus almacenes, convertidla en montón de ruinas, y destruidla; que no le quede nada. 27 Matad a todos sus novillos; que vayan al matadero. ¡Ay de ellos! pues ha venido su día, el tiempo de su castigo.

28 Voz de los que huyen y escapan de la tierra de Babilonia, para dar en Sion las nuevas de la retribución de Jehová nuestro Dios, de la venganza de su templo.

29 Haced juntar contra Babilonia flecheros, a todos los que entesan arco; acampad contra ella alrededor; no escape de ella ninguno; pagadle según su obra;(C) conforme a todo lo que ella hizo, haced con ella; porque contra Jehová se ensoberbeció, contra el Santo de Israel. 30 Por tanto, sus jóvenes caerán en sus plazas, y todos sus hombres de guerra serán destruidos en aquel día, dice Jehová.

31 He aquí yo estoy contra ti, oh soberbio, dice el Señor, Jehová de los ejércitos; porque tu día ha venido, el tiempo en que te castigaré. 32 Y el soberbio tropezará y caerá, y no tendrá quien lo levante; y encenderé fuego en sus ciudades, y quemaré todos sus alrededores.

33 Así ha dicho Jehová de los ejércitos: Oprimidos fueron los hijos de Israel y los hijos de Judá juntamente; y todos los que los tomaron cautivos los retuvieron; no los quisieron soltar. 34 El redentor de ellos es el Fuerte; Jehová de los ejércitos es su nombre; de cierto abogará la causa de ellos para hacer reposar la tierra, y turbar a los moradores de Babilonia.

35 Espada contra los caldeos, dice Jehová, y contra los moradores de Babilonia, contra sus príncipes y contra sus sabios. 36 Espada contra los adivinos, y se entontecerán; espada contra sus valientes, y serán quebrantados. 37 Espada contra sus caballos, contra sus carros, y contra todo el pueblo que está en medio de ella, y serán como mujeres; espada contra sus tesoros, y serán saqueados. 38 Sequedad sobre sus aguas, y se secarán; porque es tierra de ídolos, y se entontecen con imágenes.

39 Por tanto, allí morarán fieras del desierto y chacales,(D) morarán también en ella polluelos de avestruz; nunca más será poblada ni se habitará por generaciones y generaciones. 40 Como en la destrucción que Dios hizo de Sodoma y de Gomorra y de sus ciudades vecinas,(E) dice Jehová, así no morará allí hombre, ni hijo de hombre la habitará. 41 He aquí viene un pueblo del norte, y una nación grande y muchos reyes se levantarán de los extremos de la tierra. 42 Arco y lanza manejarán; serán crueles, y no tendrán compasión; su voz rugirá como el mar, y montarán sobre caballos; se prepararán contra ti como hombres a la pelea, oh hija de Babilonia. 43 Oyó la noticia el rey de Babilonia, y sus manos se debilitaron; angustia le tomó, dolor como de mujer de parto.

44 He aquí que como león subirá de la espesura del Jordán a la morada fortificada; porque muy pronto le haré huir de ella, y al que yo escoja la encargaré; porque ¿quién es semejante a mí?, ¿y quién me emplazará?, ¿o quién será aquel pastor que podrá resistirme? 45 Por tanto, oíd la determinación que Jehová ha acordado contra Babilonia, y los pensamientos que ha formado contra la tierra de los caldeos: Ciertamente a los más pequeños de su rebaño los arrastrarán, y destruirán sus moradas con ellos. 46 Al grito de la toma de Babilonia la tierra tembló, y el clamor se oyó entre las naciones.

Juicios de Jehová contra Babilonia

51 Así ha dicho Jehová: He aquí que yo levanto un viento destruidor contra Babilonia, y contra sus moradores que se levantan contra mí. Y enviaré a Babilonia aventadores que la avienten, y vaciarán su tierra; porque se pondrán contra ella de todas partes en el día del mal. Diré al flechero que entesa su arco, y al que se enorgullece de su coraza: No perdonéis a sus jóvenes, destruid todo su ejército. Y caerán muertos en la tierra de los caldeos, y alanceados en sus calles. Porque Israel y Judá no han enviudado de su Dios, Jehová de los ejércitos, aunque su tierra fue llena de pecado contra el Santo de Israel.

Huid de en medio de Babilonia, y librad cada uno su vida, para que no perezcáis a causa de su maldad; porque el tiempo es de venganza de Jehová; le dará su pago. Copa de oro fue Babilonia en la mano de Jehová, que embriagó a toda la tierra; de su vino bebieron los pueblos;(F) se aturdieron, por tanto, las naciones. En un momento cayó Babilonia, y se despedazó; gemid sobre ella; tomad bálsamo para su dolor, quizá sane. Curamos a Babilonia, y no ha sanado; dejadla, y vámonos cada uno a su tierra; porque ha llegado hasta el cielo su juicio,(G) y se ha alzado hasta las nubes. 10 Jehová sacó a luz nuestras justicias; venid, y contemos en Sion la obra de Jehová nuestro Dios.

11 Limpiad las saetas, embrazad los escudos; ha despertado Jehová el espíritu de los reyes de Media; porque contra Babilonia es su pensamiento para destruirla; porque venganza es de Jehová, y venganza de su templo. 12 Levantad bandera sobre los muros de Babilonia, reforzad la guardia, poned centinelas, disponed celadas; porque deliberó Jehová, y aun pondrá en efecto lo que ha dicho contra los moradores de Babilonia. 13 Tú, la que moras entre muchas aguas,(H) rica en tesoros, ha venido tu fin, la medida de tu codicia. 14 Jehová de los ejércitos juró por sí mismo, diciendo: Yo te llenaré de hombres como de langostas, y levantarán contra ti gritería.

15 Él es el que hizo la tierra con su poder, el que afirmó el mundo con su sabiduría, y extendió los cielos con su inteligencia. 16 A su voz se producen tumultos de aguas en los cielos, y hace subir las nubes de lo último de la tierra; él hace relámpagos con la lluvia, y saca el viento de sus depósitos. 17 Todo hombre se ha infatuado, y no tiene ciencia; se avergüenza todo artífice de su escultura, porque mentira es su ídolo, no tiene espíritu. 18 Vanidad son, obra digna de burla; en el tiempo del castigo perecerán. 19 No es como ellos la porción de Jacob; porque él es el Formador de todo, e Israel es el cetro de su herencia; Jehová de los ejércitos es su nombre.

20 Martillo me sois, y armas de guerra; y por medio de ti quebrantaré naciones, y por medio de ti destruiré reinos. 21 Por tu medio quebrantaré caballos y a sus jinetes, y por medio de ti quebrantaré carros y a los que en ellos suben. 22 Asimismo por tu medio quebrantaré hombres y mujeres, y por medio de ti quebrantaré viejos y jóvenes, y por tu medio quebrantaré jóvenes y vírgenes. 23 También quebrantaré por medio de ti al pastor y a su rebaño; quebrantaré por tu medio a labradores y a sus yuntas; a jefes y a príncipes quebrantaré por medio de ti.

24 Y pagaré a Babilonia y a todos los moradores de Caldea, todo el mal que ellos hicieron en Sion delante de vuestros ojos, dice Jehová. 25 He aquí yo estoy contra ti, oh monte destruidor, dice Jehová, que destruiste toda la tierra; y extenderé mi mano contra ti, y te haré rodar de las peñas, y te reduciré a monte quemado. 26 Y nadie tomará de ti piedra para esquina, ni piedra para cimiento; porque perpetuo asolamiento serás, ha dicho Jehová.

27 Alzad bandera en la tierra, tocad trompeta en las naciones, preparad pueblos contra ella; juntad contra ella los reinos de Ararat, de Mini y de Askenaz; señalad contra ella capitán, haced subir caballos como langostas erizadas. 28 Preparad contra ella naciones; los reyes de Media, sus capitanes y todos sus príncipes, y todo territorio de su dominio. 29 Temblará la tierra, y se afligirá; porque es confirmado contra Babilonia todo el pensamiento de Jehová, para poner la tierra de Babilonia en soledad, para que no haya morador en ella. 30 Los valientes de Babilonia dejaron de pelear, se encerraron en sus fortalezas; les faltaron las fuerzas, se volvieron como mujeres; incendiadas están sus casas, rotos sus cerrojos. 31 Correo se encontrará con correo, mensajero se encontrará con mensajero, para anunciar al rey de Babilonia que su ciudad es tomada por todas partes. 32 Los vados fueron tomados, y los baluartes quemados a fuego, y se consternaron los hombres de guerra. 33 Porque así ha dicho Jehová de los ejércitos, Dios de Israel: La hija de Babilonia es como una era cuando está de trillar; de aquí a poco le vendrá el tiempo de la siega.

34 Me devoró, me desmenuzó Nabucodonosor rey de Babilonia, y me dejó como vaso vacío; me tragó como dragón, llenó su vientre de mis delicadezas, y me echó fuera. 35 Sobre Babilonia caiga la violencia hecha a mí y a mi carne, dirá la moradora de Sion; y mi sangre caiga sobre los moradores de Caldea, dirá Jerusalén. 36 Por tanto, así ha dicho Jehová: He aquí que yo juzgo tu causa y haré tu venganza; y secaré su mar, y haré que su corriente quede seca. 37 Y será Babilonia montones de ruinas, morada de chacales, espanto y burla, sin morador.

38 Todos a una rugirán como leones; como cachorros de leones gruñirán. 39 En medio de su calor les pondré banquetes, y haré que se embriaguen, para que se alegren, y duerman eterno sueño y no despierten, dice Jehová. 40 Los haré traer como corderos al matadero, como carneros y machos cabríos.

41 ¡Cómo fue apresada Babilonia, y fue tomada la que era alabada por toda la tierra! ¡Cómo vino a ser Babilonia objeto de espanto entre las naciones! 42 Subió el mar sobre Babilonia; de la multitud de sus olas fue cubierta. 43 Sus ciudades fueron asoladas, la tierra seca y desierta, tierra en que no morará nadie, ni pasará por ella hijo de hombre. 44 Y juzgaré a Bel en Babilonia, y sacaré de su boca lo que se ha tragado; y no vendrán más naciones a él, y el muro de Babilonia caerá.

45 Salid de en medio de ella, pueblo mío, y salvad cada uno su vida del ardor de la ira de Jehová. 46 Y no desmaye vuestro corazón, ni temáis a causa del rumor que se oirá por la tierra; en un año vendrá el rumor, y después en otro año rumor, y habrá violencia en la tierra, dominador contra dominador.

47 Por tanto, he aquí vienen días en que yo destruiré los ídolos de Babilonia, y toda su tierra será avergonzada, y todos sus muertos caerán en medio de ella. 48 Los cielos y la tierra y todo lo que está en ellos cantarán de gozo sobre Babilonia;(I) porque del norte vendrán contra ella destruidores, dice Jehová. 49 Por los muertos de Israel caerá Babilonia, como por Babilonia cayeron los muertos de toda la tierra.(J)

50 Los que escapasteis de la espada, andad, no os detengáis; acordaos por muchos días de Jehová, y acordaos de Jerusalén. 51 Estamos avergonzados, porque oímos la afrenta; la confusión cubrió nuestros rostros, porque vinieron extranjeros contra los santuarios de la casa de Jehová.

52 Por tanto, vienen días, dice Jehová, en que yo destruiré sus ídolos, y en toda su tierra gemirán los heridos. 53 Aunque suba Babilonia hasta el cielo, y se fortifique en las alturas, de mí vendrán a ella destruidores, dice Jehová.

54 ¡Óyese el clamor de Babilonia, y el gran quebrantamiento de la tierra de los caldeos! 55 Porque Jehová destruirá a Babilonia, y quitará de ella la mucha jactancia; y bramarán sus olas, y como sonido de muchas aguas será la voz de ellos. 56 Porque vino destruidor contra ella, contra Babilonia, y sus valientes fueron apresados; el arco de ellos fue quebrado; porque Jehová, Dios de retribuciones, dará la paga. 57 Y embriagaré a sus príncipes y a sus sabios, a sus capitanes, a sus nobles y a sus fuertes; y dormirán sueño eterno y no despertarán, dice el Rey, cuyo nombre es Jehová de los ejércitos.

58 Así ha dicho Jehová de los ejércitos: El muro ancho de Babilonia será derribado enteramente, y sus altas puertas serán quemadas a fuego; en vano trabajaron los pueblos, y las naciones se cansaron solo para el fuego.

59 Palabra que envió el profeta Jeremías a Seraías hijo de Nerías, hijo de Maasías, cuando iba con Sedequías rey de Judá a Babilonia, en el cuarto año de su reinado. Y era Seraías el principal camarero. 60 Escribió, pues, Jeremías en un libro todo el mal que había de venir sobre Babilonia, todas las palabras que están escritas contra Babilonia. 61 Y dijo Jeremías a Seraías: Cuando llegues a Babilonia, y veas y leas todas estas cosas, 62 dirás: Oh Jehová, tú has dicho contra este lugar que lo habías de destruir, hasta no quedar en él morador, ni hombre ni animal, sino que para siempre ha de ser asolado. 63 Y cuando acabes de leer este libro, le atarás una piedra, y lo echarás en medio del Éufrates, 64 y dirás: Así se hundirá Babilonia, y no se levantará(K) del mal que yo traigo sobre ella; y serán rendidos.

Hasta aquí son las palabras de Jeremías.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremías 50:21 O, doble rebelión.
  2. Jeremías 50:21 O, castigo.

50 The word that the Lord spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

51 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;

And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.

Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.

Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.

For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.

Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

10 The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.

11 Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.

12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.

13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.

14 The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.

15 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.

16 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

17 Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

18 They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

19 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.

20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;

21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;

22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;

23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.

24 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord.

25 Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.

26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the Lord.

27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.

28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.

29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.

30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.

31 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,

32 And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.

33 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.

34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.

35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.

36 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.

37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.

38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.

39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord.

40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.

41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!

42 The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.

43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.

44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord.

46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the Lord.

49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.

51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's house.

52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.

53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord.

54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:

55 Because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:

56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the Lord God of recompences shall surely requite.

57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

58 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.

59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.

60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.

61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;

62 Then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.

63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:

64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

50 The word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet:

`Declare ye among nations, and sound, And lift up an ensign, sound, do not hide, Say ye: Captured hath been Babylon, Put to shame hath been Bel, Broken hath been Merodach, Put to shame have been her grievous things, Broken have been her idols.

For come up against her hath a nation from the north, It maketh her land become a desolation, And there is not an inhabitant in it. From man even unto beast, They have moved, they have gone.

In those days, and at that time, An affirmation of Jehovah, Come in do sons of Israel, They and sons of Judah together, Going on and weeping they go, And Jehovah their God they seek.

[To] Zion they ask the way, Thitherward [are] their faces: Come in, and we are joined unto Jehovah, A covenant age-during -- not forgotten.

A perishing flock hath My people been, Their shepherds have caused them to err, [To] the mountains causing them to go back, From mountain unto hill they have gone, They have forgotten their crouching-place.

All finding them have devoured them, And their adversaries have said: We are not guilty, Because that they sinned against Jehovah, The habitation of righteousness, And the hope of their fathers -- Jehovah.

Move ye from the midst of Babylon, And from the land of the Chaldeans go out. And be as he-goats before a flock.

For, lo, I am stirring up, And am causing to come up against Babylon, An assembly of great nations from a land of the north, And they have set in array against her, From thence she is captured, Its arrow -- as a skilful hero -- returneth not empty,

10 And Chaldea hath been for a spoil, All her spoilers are satisfied, An affirmation of Jehovah.

11 Because thou rejoicest, because thou exultest, O spoilers of Mine inheritance, Because thou increasest as a heifer [at] the tender grass, And dost cry aloud as bulls,

12 Ashamed hath been your mother greatly, Confounded hath she been that bare you, Lo, the hindermost of nations [is] a wilderness, A dry land, and a desert.

13 Because of the wrath of Jehovah it is not inhabited, And it hath been a desolation -- all of it. Every passer by at Babylon is astonished, And doth hiss because of all her plagues.

14 Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, All ye treading a bow, Shoot at her, have no pity on the arrow, For against Jehovah she hath sinned.

15 Shout against her round about, She hath given forth her hand, Fallen have her foundations, Thrown down have been her walls, For it [is] the vengeance of Jehovah, Be avenged of her, as she did -- do ye to her.

16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, And him handling the sickle in the time of harvest, Because of the oppressing sword, Each unto his people -- they turn, And each to his land -- they flee.

17 A scattered sheep is Israel, lions have driven away, At first, devour him did the king of Asshur, And now, at last, broken his bone Hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.

18 Therefore thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am seeing after the king of Babylon, And after his land, As I have seen after the king of Asshur;

19 And I have brought back Israel unto his habitation, And he hath fed on Carmel, and on Bashan. And in mount Ephraim, and on Gilead is his soul satisfied.

20 In those days, and at that time, An affirmation of Jehovah, Sought is the iniquity of Israel, and it is not, And the sin of Judah, and it is not found, For I am propitious to those whom I leave!

21 Against the land of Merathaim: Go up against it, and unto the inhabitants of Pekod, Waste and devote their posterity, An affirmation of Jehovah, And do according to all that I have commanded thee.

22 A noise of battle [is] in the land, and of great destruction.

23 How hath it been cut and broken, The hammer of the whole earth! How hath Babylon been for a desolation among nations!

24 I have laid a snare for thee, And also -- thou art captured, O Babylon, And thou -- thou hast known, Thou hast been found, and also art caught, For against Jehovah thou hast stirred thyself up.

25 Jehovah hath opened His treasury, And He bringeth out the weapons of His indignation, For a work [is] to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, In the land of the Chaldeans.

26 Come ye in to her from the extremity, Open ye her storehouses, Raise her up as heaps, and devote her, Let her have no remnant.

27 Slay all her kine, they go down to slaughter, Wo [is] on them, for come hath their day, The time of their inspection.

28 A voice of fugitives and escaped ones [Is] from the land of Babylon, To declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, The vengeance of His temple.

29 Summon unto Babylon archers, all treading the bow, Encamp against her round about, Let [her] have no escape; Recompense to her according to her work, According to all that she did -- do to her, For unto Jehovah she hath been proud, Unto the Holy One of Israel.

30 Therefore fall do her young men in her broad places, And all her men of war are cut off in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah.

31 Lo, I [am] against thee, O pride, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, For thy day hath come, the time of thy inspection.

32 And stumbled hath pride, And he hath fallen, and hath no raiser up, And I have kindled a fire in his cities, And it hath devoured all round about him.

33 Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Oppressed are the sons of Israel, And the sons of Judah together, And all their captors have kept hold on them, They have refused to send them away.

34 Their Redeemer [is] strong, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name, He doth thoroughly plead their cause, So as to cause the land to rest, And He hath given trouble to the inhabitants of Babylon.

35 A sword [is] for the Chaldeans, An affirmation of Jehovah, And it [is] on the inhabitants of Babylon, And on her heads, and on her wise men;

36 A sword [is] on the princes, And they have become foolish; A sword [is] on her mighty ones, And they have been broken down;

37 A sword [is] on his horses and on his chariot, And on all the rabble who [are] in her midst, And they have become women; A sword [is] on her treasuries, And they have been spoiled;

38 A sword [is] on her waters, and they have been dried up, For it [is] a land of graven images, And in idols they do boast themselves.

39 Therefore dwell do Ziim with Iim, Yea, dwelt in her have daughters of the ostrich, And it is not inhabited any more for ever, Nor dwelt in unto all generations.

40 As overthrown by God with Sodom, And with Gomorrah, and with its neighbours, An affirmation of Jehovah, none doth dwell there, Nor sojourn in her doth a son of man.

41 Lo, a people hath come from the north, Even a great nation, And many kings are stirred up from the sides of the earth.

42 Bow and halbert they seize, Cruel [are] they, and they have no mercy, Their voice as a sea soundeth, and on horses they ride, Set in array as a man for battle, Against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

43 Heard hath the king of Babylon their report, And feeble have been his hands, Distress hath seized him; pain as a travailing woman.

44 Lo, as a lion he cometh up, Because of the rising of the Jordan, Unto the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause them to run from off her. And who is chosen? on her I lay a charge, For who [is] like Me? And who doth convene Me? And who [is] this shepherd who standeth before Me?

45 Therefore, hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, That He counselled concerning Babylon, And His devices that He hath devised Concerning the land of the Chaldeans; Drag them out do not little ones of the flock, Doth He not make desolate over them the habitation?

46 From the voice: Captured was Babylon, Hath the earth been shaken, And a cry among nations hath been heard!

51 Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am stirring up against Babylon, And the inhabitants of Leb -- My withstanders, A destroying wind,

And I have sent to Babylon fanners, And they have fanned it, and they empty its land, For they have been against it, Round about -- in the day of evil.

Let not the treader tread his bow, Nor lift himself up in his coat of mail, Nor have ye pity on her young men, Devote ye to destruction all her host.

And fallen have the wounded in the land of the Chaldeans, And the pierced-through in her streets.

For, not forsaken is Israel and Judah, By its God -- by Jehovah of Hosts, For their land hath been full of guilt, Against the Holy One of Israel.

Flee ye from the midst of Babylon, And deliver ye each his soul, Be not cut off in its iniquity, For a time of vengeance it [is] to Jehovah, Recompence He is rendering to her.

A golden cup [is] Babylon in the hand of Jehovah, Making drunk all the earth, Of its wine drunk have nations, Therefore boast themselves do nations.

Suddenly hath Babylon fallen, Yea, it is broken, howl ye for it, Take balm for her pain, if so be it may be healed.

We healed Babylon, and she was not healed, Forsake her, and we go, each to his land, For come unto the heavens hath its judgment, And it hath been lifted up unto the clouds.

10 Jehovah hath brought forth our righteousnesses, Come, and we recount in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.

11 Cleanse ye the arrows, fill the shields, Stirred up hath Jehovah the spirit of the kings of Madia, For against Babylon His device [is] to destroy it, For the vengeance of Jehovah it [is], The vengeance of His temple.

12 Unto the walls of Babylon lift up an ensign, Strengthen the watch, Establish the watchers, prepare the ambush, For Jehovah hath both devised and done that which He spake, Concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

13 O dweller on many waters, abundant in treasures, Come in hath thine end, the measure of thy dishonest gain.

14 Sworn hath Jehovah of Hosts by Himself, That, Surely I have filled thee [with] men as the cankerworm, And they have cried against thee -- shouting.

15 The maker of earth by His power, The establisher of the world by His wisdom, Who by His understanding stretched out the heavens,

16 At the voice He giveth forth, A multitude of waters [are] in the heavens, And He causeth vapours to come up from the end of the earth, Lightnings for rain He hath made, And He bringeth out wind from His treasures.

17 Brutish hath been every man by knowledge, Put to shame hath been every refiner by a graven image, For false [is] his molten image, And there is no breath in them.

18 Vanity [are] they -- work of errors, In the time of their inspection they perish.

19 Not like these [is] the portion of Jacob, For He [is] former of all things, And [Israel is] the rod of His inheritance, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name.

20 An axe [art] thou to me -- weapons of war, And I have broken in pieces by thee nations, And I have destroyed by thee kingdoms,

21 And I have broken in pieces by thee horse and its rider, And I have broken in pieces by thee chariot and its charioteer,

22 And I have broken in pieces by thee man and woman, And I have broken in pieces by thee old and young, And I have broken in pieces by thee young man and virgin,

23 And I have broken in pieces by thee shepherd and his drove, And I have broken in pieces by thee husbandman and his team, And I have broken in pieces by thee governors and prefects.

24 And I have recompensed to Babylon, And to all inhabitants of Chaldea, All the evil that they have done in Zion, Before your eyes -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

25 Lo, I [am] against thee, O destroying mount, An affirmation of Jehovah, That is destroying all the earth, And I have stretched out My hand against thee, And I have rolled thee from the rocks, And given thee for a burnt mountain.

26 And they take not out of thee a stone for a corner, And a stone for foundations, For desolations age-during art thou, An affirmation of Jehovah.

27 Lift ye up an ensign in the land, Blow a trumpet among nations, Sanctify against it nations, Summon against it the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz, Appoint against it an infant head, Cause the horse to ascend as the rough cankerworm.

28 Sanctify against it the nations with the kings of Media, Its governors and all its prefects, And all the land of its dominion.

29 And shake doth the land, and it is pained, For stood against Babylon have the purposes of Jehovah, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.

30 Ceased have the mighty of Babylon to fight, They have remained in strongholds, Failed hath their might, they have become woman, They have burnt her tabernacles, Broken have been her bars.

31 Runner to meet runner doth run, And announcer to meet announcer, To announce to the king of Babylon, For, captured hath been his city -- at the extremity.

32 And the passages have been captured, And the reeds they have burnt with fire, And the men of war have been troubled.

33 For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, The daughter of Babylon [is] as a threshing-floor, The time of her threshing -- yet a little, And come hath the time of her harvest.

34 Devoured us, crushed us, hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, He hath set us [as] an empty vessel, He hath swallowed us as a dragon, He hath filled his belly with my dainties, He hath driven us away.

35 My wrong, and [that of] my flesh [is] on Babylon, Say doth the inhabitant of Zion, And my blood [is] on the inhabitants of Chaldea, Say doth Jerusalem.

36 Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am pleading thy cause, And I have avenged thy vengeance, And dried up its sea, and made its fountains dry.

37 And Babylon hath been for heaps, A habitation of dragons, An astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.

38 Together as young lions they roar, They have shaken themselves as lions' whelps.

39 In their heat I make their banquets, And I have caused them to drink, so that they exult, And have slept a sleep age-during, And awake not -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

40 I cause them to go down as lambs to slaughter, As rams with he-goats.

41 How hath Sheshach been captured, Yea, caught is the praise of the whole earth, How hath Babylon been for an astonishment among nations.

42 Come up against Babylon hath the sea, With a multitude of its billows it hath been covered.

43 Its cities have been for a desolation, A dry land, and a wilderness, A land -- none doth dwell in them, Nor pass over into them doth a son of man.

44 And I have seen after Bel in Babylon, And I have brought forth that which he swallowed -- from his mouth, And flow no more unto him do nations, Also the wall of Babylon hath fallen.

45 Go forth from its midst, O My people, And deliver ye, each his soul, Because of the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah,

46 And lest your heart be tender, And ye be afraid of the report that is heard in the land, And come in a year hath the report, And after it in a year the report, And violence [is] in the land, ruler against ruler;

47 Therefore, lo, days are coming, And I have seen after the graven images of Babylon. And all its land is ashamed, And all its pierced ones do fall in its midst.

48 And cried aloud against Babylon Have heavens and earth, and all that [is] in them, For, from the north come to it do the spoilers, An affirmation of Jehovah.

49 Even Babylon [is] to fall, ye pierced of Israel, Even they of Babylon have fallen, Ye pierced of all the earth.

50 Ye escaped of the sword, go on, stand not, Remember ye from afar Jehovah, And let Jerusalem come up on your heart.

51 We have been ashamed, for we heard reproach, Covered hath shame our faces, For come in have strangers, against the sanctuaries of the house of Jehovah.

52 Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have seen after its graven images, And in all its land groan doth the wounded.

53 Because Babylon goeth up to the heavens, And because it fenceth the high place of its strength, From Me come into it do spoilers, An affirmation of Jehovah.

54 A voice of a cry [is] from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldean.

55 For Jehovah is spoiling Babylon, And hath destroyed out of it a great voice, And sounded have its billows as many waters, Given forth a noise hath their voice.

56 For come in against it -- against Babylon -- hath a spoiler, And captured have been its mighty ones, Broken have been their bows, For the God of recompences -- Jehovah -- doth certainly repay.

57 And I have caused its princes to drink, And its wise men, its governors, And its prefects, and its mighty ones, And they have slept a sleep age-during, And they awake not -- an affirmation of the king, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name.

58 Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, the wall of Babylon -- The broad one -- is utterly made bare, And her high gates with fire are burnt, And peoples labour in vain, And nations in fire, and have been weary!

59 The word that Jeremiah the prophet hath commanded Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, in his going with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign -- and Seraiah [is] a quiet prince;

60 and Jeremiah writeth all the evil that cometh unto Babylon on one book -- all these words that are written concerning Babylon.

61 And Jeremiah saith unto Seraiah, `When thou dost enter Babylon, then thou hast seen, and hast read all these words,

62 and hast said: Jehovah, Thou, Thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that there is none dwelling in it, from man even unto cattle, for it is a desolation age-during.

63 And it hath come to pass, when thou dost finish reading this book, thou dost bind to it a stone, and hast cast it into the midst of Phrat,

64 and said, Thus sink doth Babylon, and it doth not arise, because of the evil that I am bringing in against it, and they have been weary.' Hitherto [are] words of Jeremiah.