Jeremiah 50
Modern English Version
Judgment on Babylon(A)
50 The word that the Lord spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet:
2 Declare among the nations and publish,
and set up a standard;
do not conceal it, but say,
Babylon has been captured.
Bel has been humiliated.
Marduk has been broken in pieces;
her idols have been humiliated;
her images have been broken in pieces.
3 For out of the north there comes up a nation against her,
which will make her land desolate,
and no one will dwell in it.
They will wander away;
they will depart,
both man and beast.
4 In those days and at that time,
says the Lord,
the sons of Israel will come,
they and the children of Judah together.
They will go along weeping as they go,
and seek the Lord their God.
5 They will ask for the way to Zion
with their faces in its direction.
They will come that they may join themselves to the Lord
in a perpetual covenant
that will not be forgotten.
6 My people have 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
and have forgotten their resting place.
7 All who found them have devoured them,
and their adversaries said, “We are not guilty,
because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice,
even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.”
8 Wander away out of the midst of Babylon,
and go out of the land of the Chaldeans,
and be as the male goats before the flocks.
9 For 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 there she shall be taken captive.
Their arrows will be like those of a skilled warrior;
no one shall return empty-handed.
10 Chaldea will become plunder;
all who destroy her will be satisfied,
says the Lord.
11 Because you were glad, because you rejoiced,
O you destroyers of My heritage,
because you have grown fat as the heifer at the grass,
and bellow as bulls,
12 your mother will be sorely humiliated;
she who bore you will be ashamed.
She will be the least of the nations,
a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of the Lord she will not be inhabited,
but shall be wholly desolate.
Everyone who goes by Babylon will be astonished
and hiss at all her wounds.
14 Put yourselves in battle 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 given herself up, her foundations have fallen,
her walls have been thrown down.
For this is the vengeance of the Lord.
Take vengeance on her;
as she has done, do to her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon,
and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest.
For fear of the oppressing sword
everyone will turn to his people,
and everyone will flee to his own land.
17 Israel is a scattered flock.
The lions have driven him away.
First the king of Assyria
devoured him;
and this last one who has broken his bones
is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
18 Therefore thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel:
I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,
as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19 I will bring Israel again to his habitation,
and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan,
and his soul will be satisfied
upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days and at that time,
says the Lord,
the iniquity of Israel will be sought for,
and there shall be none.
And the sins of Judah,
but they shall not be found;
for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it,
and against the inhabitants of Pekod.
Slay and utterly destroy them,
says the Lord,
and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 A noise of battle is in the land,
and great destruction.
23 How the hammer of the whole earth
has been cut asunder and broken!
How Babylon has become a desolation
among the nations!
24 I have laid a snare for you,
and you were also caught, O Babylon,
and you were not aware.
You have been found, and also caught,
because you have striven against the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened His armory
and has brought out 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 bulls,
let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them! For their day has come,
the time of their punishment.
28 There is the sound of those who 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 you who bend the bow,
encamp against it all around;
let no one escape.
Recompense her according to her work;
according to all that she has done, do to her,
for she has been proud against the Lord,
against the Holy One of Israel.
30 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 I am against you, O most proud,
says the Lord God of Hosts,
for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
32 The most proud will stumble and fall,
and no one will raise him up;
and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it will devour all all around him.
33 Thus says the Lord of Hosts:
The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah
were oppressed together;
and all who 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 will thoroughly plead their case,
that He may give rest to the land,
but disquiet to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword is against the Chaldeans,
says the Lord,
and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
and against her officials, and against her wise men.
36 A sword is against the oracle priests,
and they will become fools.
A sword is against her mighty men,
and they shall be dismayed.
37 A sword is against their horses, and against their chariots,
and against all the foreigners who are in her midst;
and they will become as women.
A sword is against her treasures,
and they will be robbed.
38 A drought is against her waters,
and they will be dried up.
For it is the land of graven images,
and they are mad over their idols.
39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert
with the wild beasts of the islands will dwell there,
and the ostriches will dwell in it.
It will be inhabited no more forever,
nor will it be lived in from generation to generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
and the neighboring cities,
says the Lord,
so no man will abide there,
nor will any son of man dwell in it.
41 Look! A people shall come from the north
and a great nation, and many kings
will be raised up from the remote parts of the earth.
42 They will hold the bow and the lance;
they are cruel and will not show mercy.
Their voice shall roar like the sea;
and they shall ride on horses,
everyone put in array, like a man to the battle,
against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard the report of them,
and his hands waxed feeble.
Anguish took hold of him,
and pangs as of a woman in labor.
44 He will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan
to the perpetually watered meadow.
But I will make them suddenly run away from it,
and whoever is chosen I will appoint over it.
For who is like Me? And who will summon Me into court?
And who is the shepherd that can stand before Me?
45 Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord that He has planned against Babylon,
and His purposes that He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans:
Surely the least of the flock will drag them out.
Surely He will make their habitation desolate because of them.
46 At the shout, “Babylon has been seized!” the earth is shaken,
and the outcry is heard among the nations.
Jeremiah 50
Lexham English Bible
A Message Concerning Babylon
50 The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet:
2 “Declare among the nations and proclaim,
and lift up a banner.
Proclaim, you must not conceal it.
Say, ‘Babylon is captured,
Bel is ashamed,
Merodach is filled with terror,
her idols are ashamed,
her idols are filled with terror.
3 For a nation will come up against her from the north.
It will make her land as a horror,
and an inhabitant will not be in her.
From humans[a] to animals[b] they all will wander off.
They will go away.
4 In those days and in that time,’” declares[c] Yahweh,
“the people[d] of Israel will come,
they and the people[e] of Judah together.
Weeping as they go,[f] they will go,
and Yahweh their God they will seek.
5 They will ask the way to Zion,
turning their faces there.
They will come and join themselves to Yahweh
by an everlasting covenant[g] that will not be forgotten.
6 My people have become lost sheep,
their shepherds have caused them to go astray.
They led them away to the mountains.
From mountain to hill they have gone,
they have forgotten their resting place.
7 All those who found them have devoured them.
And their foes have said, ‘We are not guilty,
because[h] they have sinned against Yahweh, the true pasture,[i]
even Yahweh, the hope of their ancestors.’[j]
8 Flee from the midst of Babylon,
and from the land of the Chaldeans.
Go out and be like he-goats
before[k] the flock.
9 For look, I am going to stir up,
and I am going to bring against Babylon
a contingent of great nations
from the land of the north.
And they will draw up a battle formation against her,
from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like a warrior who has achieved success,
he does not return without success.
10 And Chaldea will be as booty,
all those who plunder her will be satisfied,” declares[l] Yahweh.
11 “Though you rejoice, though you exult,
O plunderers of my inheritance,
though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass,
and you neigh like the powerful stallions,
12 your mother will be very ashamed.
She who gave birth to you will be humiliated.[m]
Look, she will be the least of the nations,
a desert,[n] dry land, and wilderness.[o]
13 Because of the anger of Yahweh she will not be inhabited,
but she will be a wasteland, all of her.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled
and will hiss because of all her wounds.
14 Draw up a battle formation at Babylon all around,
all those who bend the bow, shoot at her.
You must not spare arrows,[p]
for she has sinned against Yahweh.
15 Raise a war cry against her on all sides.
She has surrendered.[q]
Her towers have fallen,
her walls are ruined.
For this is the vengeance of Yahweh.
Take revenge on her.
As she has done to others,
so do to her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon,
and the one who uses the sickle in the time of harvest.
Because of[r] the sword of the oppressor
each one will turn to their people,
and each one will flee to their land.
17 Israel is a sheep scattered,
lions drove them away.
The first who devoured it was the king of Assyria,
and now at the end Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, gnawed its bones.”
18 Therefore[s] thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Look, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land
just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will restore Israel to its pasture,
and it will feed on Carmel, and in Bashan,
and on the hills[t] of Ephraim, and in Gilead
its hunger will be satisfied.
20 In those days and at that time,” declares[u] Yahweh,
“the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there is none,
and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found,
for I will forgive those I left behind.
21 To the land of Merathaim,
go up against her,
and against the inhabitants of Pekod,
massacre and destroy them,” declares[v] Yahweh,
“and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 The sound of battle is in the land,
and great destruction.
23 How the blacksmith’s hammer of all the earth is cut down and broken!
How Babylon has become as a horror among the nations!
24 I laid a bird snare for you, and you were caught, O Babylon.
But you yourself did not know.
You were discovered and seized,
because with Yahweh you measured yourself.
25 Yahweh has opened his armory,
and he has brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for it is a word for my Lord Yahweh of hosts
in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the end,
open her granaries.
Pile her up like heaps and destroy her.
Let there be no remnant for her.
27 Massacre all her bulls,
let them go down to the slaughtering.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
the time of their punishment.
28 There is the sound of fugitives and survivors
from the land of Babylon,
to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God,
the vengeance for his temple.
29 Summon archers against Babylon,
all those who bend the bow.
Encamp all around her,
there must not be for her an escape.
Take revenge on her according to her deeds.
According to all that she has done, so do to her.
For against Yahweh she has behaved insolently,
against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore[w] her young men will fall in her public squares,
and all her soldiers[x] will perish on that day,” declares[y] Yahweh.
31 “Look, I am against you, O arrogant one,”
declares[z] Lord Yahweh of hosts,
“for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
32 And the arrogant one will stumble and fall,
and there is no one who raises him up.
And I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it will devour everything around him.”
33 Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
“The people[aa] of Israel are oppressed,
and the people[ab] of Judah likewise,
for[ac] all their captors have seized them,
they refuse to let them go free.
34 Their redeemer is strong,
his name is Yahweh of hosts.
Surely he will plead their case,
in order to make peace for the earth,
but to cause unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares[ad] Yahweh,
“and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
and against her officials,
and against her wise men.
36 A sword against the oracle priests,
and they will become foolish.
A sword against her warriors,
and they will be filled with terror.
37 A sword against his horses,
and against his chariots,[ae]
and against all the foreign troops who are in the midst of her,
so that they may become as women.
A sword against her treasures,
so that they may be plundered.
38 A drought will come against her waters,
and they will dry up,
for it is a land of images,
and because of the frightful objects, they act like madmen.
39 Therefore[af] desert creatures will live there[ag] with jackals,
and daughters of ostriches[ah] will inhabit her.
And she will not be inhabited again forever,[ai]
and she will not be dwelt in for all generations.[aj]
40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighbors,” declares[ak] Yahweh,
“no one will live there,
and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in her.
41 Look, a people is about to come
from the north,
and a great nation and many kings are woken up
from the remotest part of the earth.
42 They keep hold of bow and short sword.
They are cruel and they have no mercy.
Their sound is like the sea, it roars,
and upon horses they ride.
Drawn up for battle as a man for the battle,
against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon heard their report
and his hands grew slack.
Anxiety has seized him,
fear and pain like the woman who gives birth.
44 Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets[al] of the Jordan
against a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream,[am]
so I will chase them away quickly[an] from her,
and I will appoint whoever is chosen over her.
For who is like me, and who can summon me,
and who is this shepherd who can stand before me?[ao]
45 Therefore[ap] hear the plan of Yahweh
that he has planned against Babylon,
and his plans
that he has planned against the land of the Chaldeans.
Surely[aq] they will drag them away,
the little ones of the flock.
Surely[ar] he will cause their grazing place
to be desolate over them.
46 At the sound, ‘Babylon has been captured,’
the earth will quake,
and a cry for help among the nations
will be heard.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 50:3 Hebrew “human”
- Jeremiah 50:3 Hebrew “animal”
- Jeremiah 50:4 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:4 Or “sons/children”
- Jeremiah 50:4 Or “sons/children”
- Jeremiah 50:4 Literally “They shall go and weeping”
- Jeremiah 50:5 Literally “a covenant of eternity”
- Jeremiah 50:7 Literally “under that”
- Jeremiah 50:7 Literally “settlement of righteousness”
- Jeremiah 50:7 Or “fathers”
- Jeremiah 50:8 Literally “to the face of”
- Jeremiah 50:10 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:12 Or “ashamed”
- Jeremiah 50:12 Or “wilderness”
- Jeremiah 50:12 Or “Arabah”
- Jeremiah 50:14 Hebrew “arrow”
- Jeremiah 50:15 Literally “She has given her hand”
- Jeremiah 50:16 Literally “From the face of”
- Jeremiah 50:18 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 50:19 Hebrew “hill”
- Jeremiah 50:20 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:21 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:30 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 50:30 Literally “her the men of war”
- Jeremiah 50:30 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:31 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:33 Or “sons/children”
- Jeremiah 50:33 Or “sons/children”
- Jeremiah 50:33 Literally “and”
- Jeremiah 50:35 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:37 Hebrew “chariot”
- Jeremiah 50:39 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 50:39 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Jeremiah 50:39 Hebrew “ostrich”
- Jeremiah 50:39 Literally “to eternity”
- Jeremiah 50:39 Literally “until generation and generation”
- Jeremiah 50:40 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:44 Hebrew “thicket”
- Jeremiah 50:44 Literally “a pasture of ever-flowing”
- Jeremiah 50:44 Literally “I will do in an instant I will cause them to run”
- Jeremiah 50:44 Literally “to the face of me”
- Jeremiah 50:45 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 50:45 Literally “If not”
- Jeremiah 50:45 Literally “If not”
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