Jeremiah 50
New American Standard Bible
Prophecy against Babylon
50 The word which the Lord spoke concerning (A)Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:
2 “(B)Declare and proclaim among the nations.
Proclaim it and (C)lift up a flag,
Do not conceal it. Say,
‘(D)Babylon has been captured,
(E)Bel has been put to shame, [a]Marduk has been [b]shattered;
Her (F)idols have been put to shame, her images have been shattered.’
3 For a nation has come up against her from the (G)north; it will make her land (H)an object of horror, and there will be (I)no inhabitant in it. Whether people or animals, they have wandered off, they have gone!
4 “In those days and at that time,” declares the Lord, “the sons of Israel will come, they and the sons of Judah (J)as well; they will go along (K)weeping as they go, and it will be (L)the Lord their God whom they will seek. 5 They will (M)ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces [c]in its direction; [d]they [e]will come so that they may join themselves to the Lord in an (N)everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.
6 “My people have become (O)lost sheep;
(P)Their shepherds have led them astray.
They have made them turn aside on the (Q)mountains.
They have gone from mountain to hill,
They have forgotten their (R)resting place.
7 All who found them have devoured them;
And their adversaries have said, ‘(S)We are not guilty,
Since they have sinned against the Lord who is the (T)habitation of righteousness,
The Lord, the (U)hope of their fathers.’
8 “Wander away from the (V)midst of Babylon
And [f]go out from the land of the Chaldeans;
Be like male goats [g]at the head of the flock.
9 For behold, I am going to (W)rouse and bring up against Babylon
A contingent of great nations from the land of the north,
And they will draw up their battle lines against her;
From there she will be taken captive.
Their arrows will be like [h]an expert warrior
Who does not return empty-handed.
10 [i](X)Chaldea will become plunder;
All who plunder her will have enough,” declares the Lord.
11 “Because you are glad, because you are jubilant,
You who (Y)pillage My heritage,
Because you skip about [j]like a threshing (Z)heifer
And neigh like [k]stallions,
12 Your (AA)mother [l]will be greatly ashamed,
She who gave you birth [m]will be humiliated.
Behold, she will be the least of the nations,
A (AB)wilderness, a dry land and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of the Lord she will (AC)not be inhabited,
But she will be (AD)completely desolate;
Everyone who passes by Babylon (AE)will be horrified
And will hiss because of all her wounds.
14 Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side,
All of you who [n]bend the bow;
Shoot at her, do not spare your arrows,
For she has (AF)sinned against the Lord.
15 Raise your battle cry against her on every side!
She has (AG)given [o]herself up, her towers have fallen,
Her (AH)walls have been torn down.
For this is the (AI)vengeance of the Lord:
Take vengeance on her;
(AJ)As she has done to others, so do to her.
16 Eliminate the (AK)sower from Babylon
And the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest;
From [p]the (AL)sword of the oppressor
(AM)Each of them will turn back to his own people
And each of them will flee to his own land.
17 “Israel is a (AN)scattered [q]flock, the (AO)lions have driven them away. The first one who devoured him was the (AP)king of Assyria, and this last one who has gnawed his bones is (AQ)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 18 Therefore this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I (AR)punished the king of Assyria. 19 And I will (AS)bring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his [r]desire will be satisfied in the (AT)hill country of Ephraim and Gilead. 20 In those days and at that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘search will be made for the wrongdoing of Israel, but (AU)there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will forgive those (AV)whom I leave as a remnant.’
21 “Against the land of [s]Merathaim, go up against it,
And against the inhabitants of [t](AW)Pekod.
Kill and [u]completely destroy them,” declares the Lord,
“And do according to everything that I have commanded you.
22 The (AX)noise of battle is in the land,
And great destruction.
23 How the (AY)hammer of the whole earth
Has been cut off and broken!
How Babylon has become
An object of horror among the nations!
24 I (AZ)set a trap for you and you were also (BA)caught, Babylon,
While you yourself were not aware;
You have been found and also seized
Because you have engaged in (BB)conflict with the Lord.”
25 The Lord has opened His armory
And has brought out the (BC)weapons of His indignation,
For it is a (BD)work of the Lord [v]God of armies
In the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come to her from the [w]farthest border;
(BE)Open up her barns,
Pile her up like heaps of grain
And [x](BF)completely destroy her,
Let nothing be left to her.
27 (BG)Put all her bulls to the sword;
Let them (BH)go down to the slaughter!
Woe be upon them, for their (BI)day has come,
The time of their punishment.
28 There is a (BJ)sound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon,
To declare in Zion the (BK)vengeance of the Lord our God,
Vengeance for His (BL)temple.
29 “Summon [y]many against Babylon,
All those who [z]bend the bow:
Encamp against her on every side,
Let there be no escape[aa].
Repay her according to her work;
(BM)According to all that she has done, so do to her;
For she has become (BN)arrogant against the Lord,
Against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore her (BO)young men will fall in her streets,
And all her men of war will (BP)perish on that day,” declares the Lord.
31 “Behold, (BQ)I am against you, [ab]arrogant one,”
Declares the Lord [ac]God of armies,
“For your day has come,
The time [ad]when I will punish you.
32 The [ae](BR)arrogant one will stumble and fall
With no one to raise him up;
And I will (BS)set fire to his cities,
And it will devour all his surroundings.”
33 This is what the Lord of armies says:
“The sons of Israel are oppressed,
And the sons of Judah as well;
And (BT)all who took them captive have held them firmly,
They have refused to let them go.
34 Their (BU)Redeemer is strong, (BV)the Lord of armies is His name;
He will vigorously (BW)plead their case
So that He may (BX)bring rest to their land,
But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A (BY)sword against the Chaldeans,” declares the Lord,
“And against the inhabitants of Babylon
And against her (BZ)leaders and her (CA)wise men!
36 A sword against the (CB)oracle priests, and they will become fools!
A sword against her (CC)warriors, and they will be [af](CD)shattered!
37 A sword against [ag]their (CE)horses, against [ah]their chariots,
And against all the [ai](CF)foreigners who are in the midst of her,
And they will become (CG)women!
A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!
38 A [aj](CH)drought on her waters, and they will be dried up!
For it is a land of (CI)idols,
And they go insane at frightful images.
39 “Therefore the (CJ)desert creatures will live there with the jackals;
The ostriches also will live in it.
It will (CK)never again be inhabited
Nor lived in from generation to generation.
40 As when God overthrew (CL)Sodom
And Gomorrah with its neighbors,” declares the Lord,
“No one will live there,
Nor will [ak]anyone of mankind reside in it.
41 “Behold, a people is coming (CM)from the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Will be roused from the remote parts of the earth.
42 They (CN)seize their bow and javelin;
They are (CO)cruel and have no mercy.
Their (CP)voice roars like the sea;
And they ride on (CQ)horses,
(CR)Drawn up like a man for the battle
Against you, daughter of Babylon.
43 The (CS)king of Babylon has heard the report about them,
And his hands hang limp;
(CT)Distress has gripped him,
Agony like a woman in childbirth.
44 “(CU)Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will chase them away from it, and I will appoint over it whoever is (CV)chosen. For who is (CW)like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can (CX)stand against Me?” 45 Therefore hear the (CY)plan of the Lord which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has in mind against the land of the Chaldeans: (CZ)they will certainly drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; He will certainly make their pasture desolate because of them. 46 At the [al]shout, “Babylon has been conquered!” the (DA)earth quakes, and an (DB)outcry is heard among the nations.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 50:2 Heb Merodach
- Jeremiah 50:2 Or dismayed
- Jeremiah 50:5 Lit toward here
- Jeremiah 50:5 MT come, that
- Jeremiah 50:5 Or will have come
- Jeremiah 50:8 Another reading is let them go out
- Jeremiah 50:8 Or in front of
- Jeremiah 50:9 As in some mss and ancient versions; MT a warrior who makes childless
- Jeremiah 50:10 Or the Chaldeans
- Jeremiah 50:11 Another reading is in the grass
- Jeremiah 50:11 Lit mighty ones
- Jeremiah 50:12 Or has become
- Jeremiah 50:12 Or has become
- Jeremiah 50:14 Lit step on (in order to string)
- Jeremiah 50:15 Lit her hand
- Jeremiah 50:16 Or the oppressing sword
- Jeremiah 50:17 Lit sheep
- Jeremiah 50:19 Lit soul
- Jeremiah 50:21 Or double rebellion
- Jeremiah 50:21 I.e., punishment (uncertain)
- Jeremiah 50:21 Lit put under the ban
- Jeremiah 50:25 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Jeremiah 50:26 Lit end
- Jeremiah 50:26 Lit put under the ban
- Jeremiah 50:29 Another reading is archers
- Jeremiah 50:29 Lit step on (in order to string)
- Jeremiah 50:29 Some mss add to her
- Jeremiah 50:31 Lit arrogance
- Jeremiah 50:31 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Jeremiah 50:31 Another reading is of your punishment
- Jeremiah 50:32 Lit arrogance
- Jeremiah 50:36 Or filled with terror
- Jeremiah 50:37 Lit his
- Jeremiah 50:37 Lit his
- Jeremiah 50:37 Lit mixed multitude
- Jeremiah 50:38 Another reading is sword
- Jeremiah 50:40 Lit a son of man
- Jeremiah 50:46 Lit voice
Jeremiah 50
Revised Standard Version
Judgment on Babylon
50 The word which the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chalde′ans, by Jeremiah the prophet:
2 “Declare among the nations and proclaim,
set up a banner and proclaim,
conceal it not, and say:
‘Babylon is taken,
Bel is put to shame,
Mer′odach is dismayed.
Her images are put to shame,
her idols are dismayed.’
3 “For out of the north a nation has come up against her, which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; both man and beast shall flee away.
4 “In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come; and they shall seek the Lord their God. 5 They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant which will never be forgotten.’
6 “My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains; from mountain to hill they have gone, they have forgotten their fold. 7 All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their true habitation, the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’
8 “Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chalde′ans, and be as he-goats before the flock. 9 For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a company of great nations, from the north country; and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. 10 Chalde′a shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, says the Lord.
11 “Though you rejoice, though you exult,
O plunderers of my heritage,
though you are wanton as a heifer at grass,
and neigh like stallions,
12 your mother shall be utterly shamed,
and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
Lo, she shall be the last of the nations,
a wilderness dry and desert.
13 Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited,
but shall be an utter desolation;
every one who passes by Babylon shall be appalled,
and hiss because of all her wounds.
14 Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about,
all you that bend the bow;
shoot at her, spare no arrows,
for she has sinned against the Lord.
15 Raise a shout against her round about,
she has surrendered;
her bulwarks have fallen,
her walls are thrown down.
For this is the vengeance of the Lord:
take vengeance on her,
do to her as she has done.
16 Cut off from Babylon the sower,
and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest;
because of the sword of the oppressor,
every one shall turn to his own people,
and every one shall flee to his own land.
17 “Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadrez′zar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones. 18 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, as I punished the king of Assyria. 19 I will restore Israel to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of E′phraim and in Gilead. 20 In those days and in that time, says the Lord, iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none; and sin in Judah, and none shall be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
21 “Go up against the land of Meratha′im,[a]
and against the inhabitants of Pekod.[b]
Slay, and utterly destroy after them,
says the Lord,
and do all that I have commanded you.
22 The noise of battle is in the land,
and great destruction!
23 How the hammer of the whole earth
is cut down and broken!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations!
24 I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon,
and you did not know it;
you were found and caught,
because you strove against the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his armory,
and brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do
in the land of the Chalde′ans.
26 Come against her from every quarter;
open her granaries;
pile her up like heaps of grain, and destroy her utterly;
let nothing be left of her.
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 “Hark! they flee and escape from the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for his temple.
29 “Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp round about her; let no one escape. Requite her according to her deeds, do to her according to all that she has done; for she has proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 30 Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, says the Lord.
31 “Behold, I am against you, O proud one,
says the Lord God of hosts;
for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
32 The proud one shall stumble and fall,
with none to raise him up,
and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it will devour all that is round about him.
33 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them; all who took them captive have held them fast, they refuse to let them go. 34 Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 “A sword upon the Chalde′ans, says the Lord,
and upon the inhabitants of Babylon,
and upon her princes and her wise men!
36 A sword upon the diviners,
that they may become fools!
A sword upon her warriors,
that they may be destroyed!
37 A sword upon her horses and upon her chariots,
and upon all the foreign troops in her midst,
that they may become women!
A sword upon all her treasures,
that they may be plundered!
38 A drought upon her waters,
that they may be dried up!
For it is a land of images,
and they are mad over idols.
39 “Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon, and ostriches shall dwell in her; she shall be peopled no more for ever, nor inhabited for all generations. 40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomor′rah and their neighbor cities, says the Lord, so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.
41 “Behold, a people comes from the north;
a mighty nation and many kings
are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
42 They lay hold of bow and spear;
they are cruel, and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;
they ride upon horses,
arrayed as a man for battle
against you, O daughter of Babylon!
43 “The king of Babylon heard the report of them,
and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
pain as of a woman in travail.
44 “Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a strong sheepfold, I will suddenly make them run away from her; and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me? 45 Therefore hear the plan which the Lord has made against Babylon, and the purposes which he has formed against the land of the Chalde′ans: Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. 46 At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 50:21 Or Double Rebellion
- Jeremiah 50:21 Or Punishment
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.