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Jeremiah 50-52
New Living Translation
Jeremiah 50-52
New Living Translation
A Message about Babylon
50 The Lord gave Jeremiah the prophet this message concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians.[a] 2 This is what the Lord says:
“Tell the whole world,
and keep nothing back.
Raise a signal flag
to tell everyone that Babylon will fall!
Her images and idols[b] will be shattered.
Her gods Bel and Marduk will be utterly disgraced.
3 For a nation will attack her from the north
and bring such destruction that no one will live there again.
Everything will be gone;
both people and animals will flee.
Hope for Israel and Judah
4 “In those coming days,”
says the Lord,
“the people of Israel will return home
together with the people of Judah.
They will come weeping
and seeking the Lord their God.
5 They will ask the way to Jerusalem[c]
and will start back home again.
They will bind themselves to the Lord
with an eternal covenant that will never be forgotten.
6 “My people have been lost sheep.
Their shepherds have led them astray
and turned them loose in the mountains.
They have lost their way
and can’t remember how to get back to the sheepfold.
7 All who found them devoured them.
Their enemies said,
‘We did nothing wrong in attacking them,
for they sinned against the Lord,
their true place of rest,
and the hope of their ancestors.’
8 “But now, flee from Babylon!
Leave the land of the Babylonians.
Like male goats at the head of the flock,
lead my people home again.
9 For I am raising up an army
of great nations from the north.
They will join forces to attack Babylon,
and she will be captured.
The enemies’ arrows will go straight to the mark;
they will not miss!
10 Babylonia[d] will be looted
until the attackers are glutted with loot.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Babylon’s Sure Fall
11 “You rejoice and are glad,
you who plundered my chosen people.
You frisk about like a calf in a meadow
and neigh like a stallion.
12 But your homeland[e] will be overwhelmed
with shame and disgrace.
You will become the least of nations—
a wilderness, a dry and desolate land.
13 Because of the Lord’s anger,
Babylon will become a deserted wasteland.
All who pass by will be horrified
and will gasp at the destruction they see there.
14 “Yes, prepare to attack Babylon,
all you surrounding nations.
Let your archers shoot at her; spare no arrows.
For she has sinned against the Lord.
15 Shout war cries against her from every side.
Look! She surrenders!
Her walls have fallen.
It is the Lord’s vengeance,
so take vengeance on her.
Do to her as she has done to others!
16 Take from Babylon all those who plant crops;
send all the harvesters away.
Because of the sword of the enemy,
everyone will run away and rush back to their own lands.
Hope for God’s People
17 “The Israelites are like sheep
that have been scattered by lions.
First the king of Assyria ate them up.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar[f] of Babylon cracked their bones.”
18 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
the God of Israel, says:
“Now I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,
just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will bring Israel home again to its own land,
to feed in the fields of Carmel and Bashan,
and to be satisfied once more
in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days,” says the Lord,
“no sin will be found in Israel or in Judah,
for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.
The Lord’s Judgment on Babylon
21 “Go up, my warriors, against the land of Merathaim
and against the people of Pekod.
Pursue, kill, and completely destroy[g] them,
as I have commanded you,” says the Lord.
22 “Let the battle cry be heard in the land,
a shout of great destruction.
23 Babylon, the mightiest hammer in all the earth,
lies broken and shattered.
Babylon is desolate among the nations!
24 Listen, Babylon, for I have set a trap for you.
You are caught, for you have fought against the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his armory
and brought out weapons to vent his fury.
The terror that falls upon the Babylonians
will be the work of the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
26 Yes, come against her from distant lands.
Break open her granaries.
Crush her walls and houses into heaps of rubble.
Destroy her completely, and leave nothing!
27 Destroy even her young bulls—
it will be terrible for them, too!
Slaughter them all!
For Babylon’s day of reckoning has come.
28 Listen to the people who have escaped from Babylon,
as they tell in Jerusalem
how the Lord our God has taken vengeance
against those who destroyed his Temple.
29 “Send out a call for archers to come to Babylon.
Surround the city so none can escape.
Do to her as she has done to others,
for she has defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
30 Her young men will fall in the streets and die.
Her soldiers will all be killed,”
says the Lord.
31 “See, I am your enemy, you arrogant people,”
says the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“Your day of reckoning has arrived—
the day when I will punish you.
32 O land of arrogance, you will stumble and fall,
and no one will raise you up.
For I will light a fire in the cities of Babylon
that will burn up everything around them.”
33 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“The people of Israel and Judah have been wronged.
Their captors hold them and refuse to let them go.
34 But the one who redeems them is strong.
His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
He will defend them
and give them rest again in Israel.
But for the people of Babylon
there will be no rest!
35 “The sword of destruction will strike the Babylonians,”
says the Lord.
“It will strike the people of Babylon—
her officials and wise men, too.
36 The sword will strike her wise counselors,
and they will become fools.
The sword will strike her mightiest warriors,
and panic will seize them.
37 The sword will strike her horses and chariots
and her allies from other lands,
and they will all become like women.
The sword will strike her treasures,
and they all will be plundered.
38 A drought[h] will strike her water supply,
causing it to dry up.
And why? Because the whole land is filled with idols,
and the people are madly in love with them.
39 “Soon Babylon will be inhabited by desert animals and hyenas.
It will be a home for owls.
Never again will people live there;
it will lie desolate forever.
40 I will destroy it as I[i] destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighboring towns,” says the Lord.
“No one will live there;
no one will inhabit it.
41 “Look! A great army is coming from the north.
A great nation and many kings
are rising against you from far-off lands.
42 They are armed with bows and spears.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
As they ride forward on horses,
they sound like a roaring sea.
They are coming in battle formation,
planning to destroy you, Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard reports about the enemy,
and he is weak with fright.
Pangs of anguish have gripped him,
like those of a woman in labor.
44 “I will come like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan,
leaping on the sheep in the pasture.
I will chase Babylon from its land,
and I will appoint the leader of my choice.
For who is like me, and who can challenge me?
What ruler can oppose my will?”
45 Listen to the Lord’s plans against Babylon
and the land of the Babylonians.
Even the little children will be dragged off like sheep,
and their homes will be destroyed.
46 The earth will shake with the shout, “Babylon has been taken!”
and its cry of despair will be heard around the world.
51 This is what the Lord says:
“I will stir up a destroyer against Babylon
and the people of Babylonia.[j]
2 Foreigners will come and winnow her,
blowing her away as chaff.
They will come from every side
to rise against her in her day of trouble.
3 Don’t let the archers put on their armor
or draw their bows.
Don’t spare even her best soldiers!
Let her army be completely destroyed.[k]
4 They will fall dead in the land of the Babylonians,[l]
slashed to death in her streets.
5 For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
has not abandoned Israel and Judah.
He is still their God,
even though their land was filled with sin
against the Holy One of Israel.”
6 Flee from Babylon! Save yourselves!
Don’t get trapped in her punishment!
It is the Lord’s time for vengeance;
he will repay her in full.
7 Babylon has been a gold cup in the Lord’s hands,
a cup that made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank Babylon’s wine,
and it drove them all mad.
8 But suddenly Babylon, too, has fallen.
Weep for her.
Give her medicine.
Perhaps she can yet be healed.
9 We would have helped her if we could,
but nothing can save her now.
Let her go; abandon her.
Return now to your own land.
For her punishment reaches to the heavens;
it is so great it cannot be measured.
10 The Lord has vindicated us.
Come, let us announce in Jerusalem[m]
everything the Lord our God has done.
11 Sharpen the arrows!
Lift up the shields![n]
For the Lord has inspired the kings of the Medes
to march against Babylon and destroy her.
This is his vengeance against those
who desecrated his Temple.
12 Raise the battle flag against Babylon!
Reinforce the guard and station the watchmen.
Prepare an ambush,
for the Lord will fulfill all his plans against Babylon.
13 You are a city by a great river,
a great center of commerce,
but your end has come.
The thread of your life is cut.
14 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has taken this vow
and has sworn to it by his own name:
“Your cities will be filled with enemies,
like fields swarming with locusts,
and they will shout in triumph over you.”
A Hymn of Praise to the Lord
15 The Lord made the earth by his power,
and he preserves it by his wisdom.
With his own understanding
he stretched out the heavens.
16 When he speaks in the thunder,
the heavens roar with rain.
He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain
and releases the wind from his storehouses.
17 The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge!
The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make,
for their carefully shaped works are a fraud.
These idols have no breath or power.
18 Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies!
On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.
19 But the God of Israel[o] is no idol!
He is the Creator of everything that exists,
including his people, his own special possession.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name!
Babylon’s Great Punishment
20 “You[p] are my battle-ax and sword,”
says the Lord.
“With you I will shatter nations
and destroy many kingdoms.
21 With you I will shatter armies—
destroying the horse and rider,
the chariot and charioteer.
22 With you I will shatter men and women,
old people and children,
young men and young women.
23 With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks,
farmers and oxen,
captains and officers.
24 “I will repay Babylon
and the people of Babylonia[q]
for all the wrong they have done
to my people in Jerusalem,” says the Lord.
25 “Look, O mighty mountain, destroyer of the earth!
I am your enemy,” says the Lord.
“I will raise my fist against you,
to knock you down from the heights.
When I am finished,
you will be nothing but a heap of burnt rubble.
26 You will be desolate forever.
Even your stones will never again be used for building.
You will be completely wiped out,”
says the Lord.
27 Raise a signal flag to the nations.
Sound the battle cry!
Mobilize them all against Babylon.
Prepare them to fight against her!
Bring out the armies of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a commander,
and bring a multitude of horses like swarming locusts!
28 Bring against her the armies of the nations—
led by the kings of the Medes
and all their captains and officers.
29 The earth trembles and writhes in pain,
for everything the Lord has planned against Babylon stands unchanged.
Babylon will be left desolate without a single inhabitant.
30 Her mightiest warriors no longer fight.
They stay in their barracks, their courage gone.
They have become like women.
The invaders have burned the houses
and broken down the city gates.
31 The news is passed from one runner to the next
as the messengers hurry to tell the king
that his city has been captured.
32 All the escape routes are blocked.
The marshes have been set aflame,
and the army is in a panic.
33 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
the God of Israel, says:
“Babylon is like wheat on a threshing floor,
about to be trampled.
In just a little while
her harvest will begin.”
34 “King Nebuchadnezzar[r] of Babylon has eaten and crushed us
and drained us of strength.
He has swallowed us like a great monster
and filled his belly with our riches.
He has thrown us out of our own country.
35 Make Babylon suffer as she made us suffer,”
say the people of Zion.
“Make the people of Babylonia pay for spilling our blood,”
says Jerusalem.
The Lord’s Vengeance on Babylon
36 This is what the Lord says to Jerusalem:
“I will be your lawyer to plead your case,
and I will avenge you.
I will dry up her river,
as well as her springs,
37 and Babylon will become a heap of ruins,
haunted by jackals.
She will be an object of horror and contempt,
a place where no one lives.
38 Her people will roar together like strong lions.
They will growl like lion cubs.
39 And while they lie inflamed with all their wine,
I will prepare a different kind of feast for them.
I will make them drink until they fall asleep,
and they will never wake up again,”
says the Lord.
40 “I will bring them down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats to be sacrificed.
41 “How Babylon[s] is fallen—
great Babylon, praised throughout the earth!
Now she has become an object of horror
among the nations.
42 The sea has risen over Babylon;
she is covered by its crashing waves.
43 Her cities now lie in ruins;
she is a dry wasteland
where no one lives or even passes by.
44 And I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon,
and make him vomit up all he has eaten.
The nations will no longer come and worship him.
The wall of Babylon has fallen!
A Message for the Exiles
45 “Come out, my people, flee from Babylon.
Save yourselves! Run from the Lord’s fierce anger.
46 But do not panic; don’t be afraid
when you hear the first rumor of approaching forces.
For rumors will keep coming year by year.
Violence will erupt in the land
as the leaders fight against each other.
47 For the time is surely coming
when I will punish this great city and all her idols.
Her whole land will be disgraced,
and her dead will lie in the streets.
48 Then the heavens and earth will rejoice,
for out of the north will come destroying armies
against Babylon,” says the Lord.
49 “Just as Babylon killed the people of Israel
and others throughout the world,
so must her people be killed.
50 Get out, all you who have escaped the sword!
Do not stand and watch—flee while you can!
Remember the Lord, though you are in a far-off land,
and think about your home in Jerusalem.”
51 “We are ashamed,” the people say.
“We are insulted and disgraced
because the Lord’s Temple
has been defiled by foreigners.”
52 “Yes,” says the Lord, “but the time is coming
when I will destroy Babylon’s idols.
The groans of her wounded people
will be heard throughout the land.
53 Though Babylon reaches as high as the heavens
and makes her fortifications incredibly strong,
I will still send enemies to plunder her.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Babylon’s Complete Destruction
54 “Listen! Hear the cry of Babylon,
the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.
55 For the Lord is destroying Babylon.
He will silence her loud voice.
Waves of enemies pound against her;
the noise of battle rings through the city.
56 Destroying armies come against Babylon.
Her mighty men are captured,
and their weapons break in their hands.
For the Lord is a God who gives just punishment;
he always repays in full.
57 I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
along with her captains, officers, and warriors.
They will fall asleep
and never wake up again!”
says the King, whose name is
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
58 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground,
and her massive gates will be burned.
The builders from many lands have worked in vain,
for their work will be destroyed by fire!”
Jeremiah’s Message Sent to Babylon
59 The prophet Jeremiah gave this message to Seraiah son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah, a staff officer, when Seraiah went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah. This was during the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign.[t] 60 Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the terrible disasters that would soon come upon Babylon—all the words written here. 61 He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, read aloud everything on this scroll. 62 Then say, ‘Lord, you have said that you will destroy Babylon so that neither people nor animals will remain here. She will lie empty and abandoned forever.’ 63 When you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone and throw it into the Euphrates River. 64 Then say, ‘In this same way Babylon and her people will sink, never again to rise, because of the disasters I will bring upon her.’”
This is the end of Jeremiah’s messages.
The Fall of Jerusalem
52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 2 But Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3 These things happened because of the Lord’s anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile.
Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 So on January 15,[u] during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar[v] of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. 5 Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.
6 By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign,[w] the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. 7 Then a section of the city wall was broken down, and all the soldiers fled. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians,[x] they waited for nightfall. Then they slipped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden and headed toward the Jordan Valley.[y]
8 But the Babylonian troops chased King Zedekiah and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered. 9 They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath. There the king of Babylon pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. 10 The king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as he slaughtered his sons. He also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah. 11 Then he gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in bronze chains, and the king of Babylon led him away to Babylon. Zedekiah remained there in prison until the day of his death.
The Temple Destroyed
12 On August 17 of that year,[z] which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. 13 He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings[aa] in the city. 14 Then he supervised the entire Babylonian[ab] army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. 15 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.
17 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the Lord’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon. 18 They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, basins, dishes, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple. 19 The captain of the guard also took the small bowls, incense burners, basins, pots, lampstands, ladles, bowls used for liquid offerings, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver.
20 The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea with the twelve bronze oxen beneath it, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the Lord’s Temple in the days of King Solomon. 21 Each of the pillars was 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference.[ac] They were hollow, with walls 3 inches thick.[ad] 22 The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7 1⁄2 feet[ae] high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around. 23 There were 96 pomegranates on the sides, and a total of 100 pomegranates on the network around the top.
24 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took with him as prisoners Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three chief gatekeepers. 25 And from among the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer who had been in charge of the Judean army; seven of the king’s personal advisers; the army commander’s chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment; and sixty other citizens. 26 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them all put to death. So the people of Judah were sent into exile from their land.
28 The number of captives taken to Babylon in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign[af] was 3,023. 29 Then in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year[ag] he took 832 more. 30 In Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year[ah] he sent Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who took 745 more—a total of 4,600 captives in all.
Hope for Israel’s Royal Line
31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to[ai] Jehoiachin and released him from prison on March 31 of that year.[aj] 32 He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon. 33 He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 34 So the Babylonian king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived. This continued until the day of his death.
Footnotes
- 50:1 Or Chaldeans; also in 50:8, 25, 35, 45.
- 50:2 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.
- 50:5 Hebrew Zion; also in 50:28.
- 50:10 Or Chaldea.
- 50:12 Hebrew your mother.
- 50:17 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.
- 50:21 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
- 50:38 Or sword; the Hebrew words for drought and sword are very similar.
- 50:40 Hebrew as God.
- 51:1 Hebrew of Leb-kamai, a code name for Babylonia.
- 51:3 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
- 51:4 Or Chaldeans; also in 51:54.
- 51:10 Hebrew Zion; also in 51:24.
- 51:11 Greek version reads Fill up the quivers.
- 51:19 Hebrew the Portion of Jacob. See note on 5:20.
- 51:20 Possibly Cyrus, whom God used to conquer Babylon. Compare Isa 44:28; 45:1.
- 51:24 Or Chaldea; also in 51:35.
- 51:34 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.
- 51:41 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon.
- 51:59 The fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign was 593 B.c.
- 52:4a Hebrew on the tenth day of the tenth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. A number of events in Jeremiah can be cross-checked with dates in surviving Babylonian records and related accurately to our modern calendar. This day was January 15, 588 B.c.
- 52:4b Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar; also in 52:12, 28, 29, 30.
- 52:6 Hebrew By the ninth day of the fourth month [in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign]. This day was July 18, 586 B.c.; also see note on 52:4a.
- 52:7a Or the Chaldeans; similarly in 52:8, 17.
- 52:7b Hebrew the Arabah.
- 52:12 Hebrew On the tenth day of the fifth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was August 17, 586 B.c.; also see note on 52:4a.
- 52:13 Or destroyed the houses of all the important people.
- 52:14 Or Chaldean.
- 52:21a Hebrew 18 cubits [8.3 meters] tall and 12 cubits [5.5 meters] in circumference.
- 52:21b Hebrew 4 fingers thick [8 centimeters].
- 52:22 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters].
- 52:28 This exile in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 597 B.c.
- 52:29 This exile in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 586 B.c.
- 52:30 This exile in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 581 B.c.
- 52:31a Hebrew He raised the head of.
- 52:31b Hebrew on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was March 31, 561 B.c.; also see note on 52:4a.
Jeremiah 50-52
New International Version
Jeremiah 50-52
New International Version
A Message About Babylon(A)
50 This is the word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon(B) and the land of the Babylonians[a]:
2 “Announce and proclaim(C) among the nations,
lift up a banner(D) and proclaim it;
keep nothing back, but say,
‘Babylon will be captured;(E)
Bel(F) will be put to shame,(G)
Marduk(H) filled with terror.
Her images will be put to shame
and her idols(I) filled with terror.’
3 A nation from the north(J) will attack her
and lay waste her land.
No one will live(K) in it;
both people and animals(L) will flee away.
4 “In those days, at that time,”
declares the Lord,
“the people of Israel and the people of Judah together(M)
will go in tears(N) to seek(O) the Lord their God.
5 They will ask the way(P) to Zion
and turn their faces toward it.
They will come(Q) and bind themselves to the Lord
in an everlasting covenant(R)
that will not be forgotten.
6 “My people have been lost sheep;(S)
their shepherds(T) have led them astray(U)
and caused them to roam on the mountains.
They wandered over mountain and hill(V)
and forgot their own resting place.(W)
7 Whoever found them devoured(X) them;
their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty,(Y)
for they sinned against the Lord, their verdant pasture,
the Lord, the hope(Z) of their ancestors.’
8 “Flee(AA) out of Babylon;(AB)
leave the land of the Babylonians,
and be like the goats that lead the flock.
9 For I will stir(AC) up and bring against Babylon
an alliance of great nations(AD) from the land of the north.(AE)
They will take up their positions against her,
and from the north she will be captured.(AF)
Their arrows(AG) will be like skilled warriors
who do not return empty-handed.
10 So Babylonia[b] will be plundered;(AH)
all who plunder her will have their fill,”
declares the Lord.
11 “Because you rejoice and are glad,
you who pillage my inheritance,(AI)
because you frolic like a heifer(AJ) threshing grain
and neigh like stallions,
12 your mother will be greatly ashamed;
she who gave you birth will be disgraced.(AK)
She will be the least of the nations—
a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.(AL)
13 Because of the Lord’s anger she will not be inhabited
but will be completely desolate.(AM)
All who pass Babylon will be appalled;(AN)
they will scoff(AO) because of all her wounds.(AP)
14 “Take up your positions around Babylon,
all you who draw the bow.(AQ)
Shoot at her! Spare no arrows,(AR)
for she has sinned against the Lord.
15 Shout(AS) against her on every side!
She surrenders, her towers fall,
her walls(AT) are torn down.
Since this is the vengeance(AU) of the Lord,
take vengeance on her;
do to her(AV) as she has done to others.(AW)
16 Cut off from Babylon the sower,
and the reaper with his sickle at harvest.
Because of the sword(AX) of the oppressor
let everyone return to their own people,(AY)
let everyone flee to their own land.(AZ)
17 “Israel is a scattered flock(BA)
that lions(BB) have chased away.
The first to devour(BC) them
was the king(BD) of Assyria;
the last to crush their bones(BE)
was Nebuchadnezzar(BF) king(BG) of Babylon.”
18 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“I will punish the king of Babylon and his land
as I punished the king(BH) of Assyria.(BI)
19 But I will bring(BJ) Israel back to their own pasture,
and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
their appetite will be satisfied(BK)
on the hills(BL) of Ephraim and Gilead.(BM)
20 In those days, at that time,”
declares the Lord,
“search will be made for Israel’s guilt,
but there will be none,(BN)
and for the sins(BO) of Judah,
but none will be found,
for I will forgive(BP) the remnant(BQ) I spare.
21 “Attack the land of Merathaim
and those who live in Pekod.(BR)
Pursue, kill and completely destroy[c] them,”
declares the Lord.
“Do everything I have commanded you.
22 The noise(BS) of battle is in the land,
the noise of great destruction!
23 How broken and shattered
is the hammer(BT) of the whole earth!(BU)
How desolate(BV) is Babylon
among the nations!
24 I set a trap(BW) for you, Babylon,
and you were caught before you knew it;
you were found and captured(BX)
because you opposed(BY) the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his arsenal
and brought out the weapons(BZ) of his wrath,
for the Sovereign Lord Almighty has work to do
in the land of the Babylonians.(CA)
26 Come against her from afar.(CB)
Break open her granaries;
pile her up like heaps of grain.(CC)
Completely destroy(CD) her
and leave her no remnant.
27 Kill all her young bulls;(CE)
let them go down to the slaughter!(CF)
Woe to them! For their day(CG) has come,
the time(CH) for them to be punished.
28 Listen to the fugitives(CI) and refugees from Babylon
declaring in Zion(CJ)
how the Lord our God has taken vengeance,(CK)
vengeance for his temple.(CL)
29 “Summon archers against Babylon,
all those who draw the bow.(CM)
Encamp all around her;
let no one escape.(CN)
Repay(CO) her for her deeds;(CP)
do to her as she has done.
For she has defied(CQ) the Lord,
the Holy One(CR) of Israel.
30 Therefore, her young men(CS) will fall in the streets;
all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,”
declares the Lord.
31 “See, I am against(CT) you, you arrogant one,”
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
“for your day(CU) has come,
the time for you to be punished.
32 The arrogant(CV) one will stumble and fall(CW)
and no one will help her up;(CX)
I will kindle a fire(CY) in her towns
that will consume all who are around her.”
33 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“The people of Israel are oppressed,(CZ)
and the people of Judah as well.
All their captors hold them fast,
refusing to let them go.(DA)
34 Yet their Redeemer(DB) is strong;
the Lord Almighty(DC) is his name.
He will vigorously defend their cause(DD)
so that he may bring rest(DE) to their land,
but unrest to those who live in Babylon.
35 “A sword(DF) against the Babylonians!”(DG)
declares the Lord—
“against those who live in Babylon
and against her officials and wise(DH) men!
36 A sword against her false prophets!
They will become fools.
A sword against her warriors!(DI)
They will be filled with terror.(DJ)
37 A sword against her horses and chariots(DK)
and all the foreigners in her ranks!
They will become weaklings.(DL)
A sword against her treasures!(DM)
They will be plundered.
38 A drought on[d] her waters!(DN)
They will dry(DO) up.
For it is a land of idols,(DP)
idols that will go mad with terror.
39 “So desert creatures(DQ) and hyenas will live there,
and there the owl will dwell.
It will never again be inhabited
or lived in from generation to generation.(DR)
40 As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah(DS)
along with their neighboring towns,”
declares the Lord,
“so no one will live there;
no people will dwell in it.(DT)
41 “Look! An army is coming from the north;(DU)
a great nation and many kings
are being stirred(DV) up from the ends of the earth.(DW)
42 They are armed with bows(DX) and spears;
they are cruel(DY) and without mercy.(DZ)
They sound like the roaring sea(EA)
as they ride on their horses;
they come like men in battle formation
to attack you, Daughter Babylon.(EB)
43 The king of Babylon has heard reports about them,
and his hands hang limp.(EC)
Anguish has gripped him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.(ED)
44 Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets(EE)
to a rich pastureland,
I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant.
Who is the chosen(EF) one I will appoint for this?
Who is like me and who can challenge me?(EG)
And what shepherd can stand against me?”
45 Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Babylon,
what he has purposed(EH) against the land of the Babylonians:(EI)
The young of the flock will be dragged away;
their pasture will be appalled at their fate.
46 At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble;(EJ)
its cry(EK) will resound among the nations.
51 This is what the Lord says:
“See, I will stir(EL) up the spirit of a destroyer
against Babylon(EM) and the people of Leb Kamai.[e]
2 I will send foreigners(EN) to Babylon
to winnow(EO) her and to devastate her land;
they will oppose her on every side
in the day(EP) of her disaster.
3 Let not the archer string his bow,(EQ)
nor let him put on his armor.(ER)
Do not spare her young men;
completely destroy[f] her army.
4 They will fall(ES) down slain in Babylon,[g]
fatally wounded in her streets.(ET)
5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken(EU)
by their God, the Lord Almighty,
though their land[h] is full of guilt(EV)
before the Holy One of Israel.
6 “Flee(EW) from Babylon!
Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of her sins.(EX)
It is time(EY) for the Lord’s vengeance;(EZ)
he will repay(FA) her what she deserves.
7 Babylon was a gold cup(FB) in the Lord’s hand;
she made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore they have now gone mad.
8 Babylon will suddenly fall(FC) and be broken.
Wail over her!
Get balm(FD) for her pain;
perhaps she can be healed.
9 “‘We would have healed Babylon,
but she cannot be healed;
let us leave(FE) her and each go to our own land,
for her judgment(FF) reaches to the skies,
it rises as high as the heavens.’
11 “Sharpen the arrows,(FI)
take up the shields!(FJ)
The Lord has stirred up the kings(FK) of the Medes,(FL)
because his purpose(FM) is to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will take vengeance,(FN)
vengeance for his temple.(FO)
12 Lift up a banner(FP) against the walls of Babylon!
Reinforce the guard,
station the watchmen,(FQ)
prepare an ambush!(FR)
The Lord will carry out his purpose,(FS)
his decree against the people of Babylon.
13 You who live by many waters(FT)
and are rich in treasures,(FU)
your end has come,
the time for you to be destroyed.(FV)
14 The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself:(FW)
I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts,(FX)
and they will shout(FY) in triumph over you.
15 “He made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom(FZ)
and stretched(GA) out the heavens by his understanding.(GB)
16 When he thunders,(GC) the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain(GD)
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.(GE)
17 “Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;(GF)
they have no breath in them.
18 They are worthless,(GG) the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.
19 He who is the Portion(GH) of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including the people of his inheritance(GI)—
the Lord Almighty is his name.
20 “You are my war club,(GJ)
my weapon for battle—
with you I shatter(GK) nations,(GL)
with you I destroy kingdoms,
21 with you I shatter horse and rider,(GM)
with you I shatter chariot(GN) and driver,
22 with you I shatter man and woman,
with you I shatter old man and youth,
with you I shatter young man and young woman,(GO)
23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
with you I shatter governors and officials.(GP)
24 “Before your eyes I will repay(GQ) Babylon(GR) and all who live in Babylonia[i] for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.
25 “I am against(GS) you, you destroying mountain,
you who destroy the whole earth,”(GT)
declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand(GU) against you,
roll you off the cliffs,
and make you a burned-out mountain.(GV)
26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
nor any stone for a foundation,
for you will be desolate(GW) forever,”
declares the Lord.
27 “Lift up a banner(GX) in the land!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
summon against her these kingdoms:(GY)
Ararat,(GZ) Minni and Ashkenaz.(HA)
Appoint a commander against her;
send up horses like a swarm of locusts.(HB)
28 Prepare the nations for battle against her—
the kings of the Medes,(HC)
their governors and all their officials,
and all the countries they rule.(HD)
29 The land trembles(HE) and writhes,
for the Lord’s purposes(HF) against Babylon stand—
to lay waste(HG) the land of Babylon
so that no one will live there.(HH)
30 Babylon’s warriors(HI) have stopped fighting;
they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
they have become weaklings.(HJ)
Her dwellings are set on fire;(HK)
the bars(HL) of her gates are broken.
31 One courier(HM) follows another
and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his entire city is captured,(HN)
32 the river crossings seized,
the marshes set on fire,(HO)
and the soldiers terrified.(HP)”
33 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Daughter Babylon(HQ) is like a threshing floor(HR)
at the time it is trampled;
the time to harvest(HS) her will soon come.(HT)”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar(HU) king of Babylon has devoured(HV) us,(HW)
he has thrown us into confusion,
he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
and then has spewed(HX) us out.
35 May the violence(HY) done to our flesh[j] be on Babylon,”
say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
says Jerusalem.(HZ)
36 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“See, I will defend your cause(IA)
and avenge(IB) you;
I will dry up(IC) her sea
and make her springs dry.
37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
a haunt(ID) of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,(IE)
a place where no one lives.(IF)
38 Her people all roar like young lions,(IG)
they growl like lion cubs.
39 But while they are aroused,
I will set out a feast for them
and make them drunk,(IH)
so that they shout with laughter—
then sleep forever(II) and not awake,”
declares the Lord.(IJ)
40 “I will bring them down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats.(IK)
41 “How Sheshak[k](IL) will be captured,(IM)
the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate(IN) Babylon will be
among the nations!
42 The sea will rise over Babylon;
its roaring waves(IO) will cover her.
43 Her towns will be desolate,
a dry and desert(IP) land,
a land where no one lives,
through which no one travels.(IQ)
44 I will punish Bel(IR) in Babylon
and make him spew out(IS) what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
And the wall(IT) of Babylon will fall.
45 “Come out(IU) of her, my people!
Run(IV) for your lives!
Run from the fierce anger(IW) of the Lord.
46 Do not lose heart(IX) or be afraid(IY)
when rumors(IZ) are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
rumors of violence in the land
and of ruler against ruler.
47 For the time will surely come
when I will punish the idols(JA) of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced(JB)
and her slain will all lie fallen within her.(JC)
48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will shout(JD) for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north(JE)
destroyers(JF) will attack her,”
declares the Lord.
49 “Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain,
just as the slain in all the earth
have fallen because of Babylon.(JG)
50 You who have escaped the sword,
leave(JH) and do not linger!
Remember(JI) the Lord in a distant land,(JJ)
and call to mind Jerusalem.”
51 “We are disgraced,(JK)
for we have been insulted
and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s house.”(JL)
52 “But days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will punish her idols,(JM)
and throughout her land
the wounded will groan.(JN)
53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens(JO)
and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
I will send destroyers(JP) against her,”
declares the Lord.
54 “The sound of a cry(JQ) comes from Babylon,
the sound of great destruction(JR)
from the land of the Babylonians.[l]
55 The Lord will destroy Babylon;
he will silence(JS) her noisy din.
Waves(JT) of enemies will rage like great waters;
the roar of their voices will resound.
56 A destroyer(JU) will come against Babylon;
her warriors will be captured,
and their bows will be broken.(JV)
For the Lord is a God of retribution;
he will repay(JW) in full.
57 I will make her officials(JX) and wise(JY) men drunk,(JZ)
her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep(KA) forever and not awake,”
declares the King,(KB) whose name is the Lord Almighty.
58 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Babylon’s thick wall(KC) will be leveled
and her high gates(KD) set on fire;
the peoples(KE) exhaust(KF) themselves for nothing,
the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”(KG)
59 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah,(KH) the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah(KI) king of Judah in the fourth(KJ) year of his reign. 60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll(KK) about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. 61 He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62 Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate(KL) forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.(KM) 64 Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more(KN) because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people(KO) will fall.’”(KP)
The words of Jeremiah end(KQ) here.
The Fall of Jerusalem(KR)(KS)(KT)
52 Zedekiah(KU) was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.(KV) 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim(KW) had done. 3 It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah,(KX) and in the end he thrust them from his presence.(KY)
Now Zedekiah rebelled(KZ) against the king of Babylon.
4 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth(LA) day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem(LB) with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege works(LC) all around it.(LD) 5 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
6 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.(LE) 7 Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled.(LF) They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians[m] were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,[n] 8 but the Babylonian[o] army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, 9 and he was captured.(LG)
He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah(LH) in the land of Hamath,(LI) where he pronounced sentence on him. 10 There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons(LJ) of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. 11 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.(LK)
12 On the tenth day of the fifth(LL) month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan(LM) commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13 He set fire(LN) to the temple(LO) of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses(LP) of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 14 The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls(LQ) around Jerusalem. 15 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile(LR) some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen[p] and those who had deserted(LS) to the king of Babylon. 16 But Nebuzaradan left behind(LT) the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
17 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars,(LU) the movable stands(LV) and the bronze Sea(LW) that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.(LX) 18 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls,(LY) dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.(LZ) 19 The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers,(MA) sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands,(MB) dishes(MC) and bowls used for drink offerings(MD)—all that were made of pure gold or silver.(ME)
20 The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls(MF) under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed.(MG) 21 Each pillar was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference[q]; each was four fingers thick, and hollow.(MH) 22 The bronze capital(MI) on top of one pillar was five cubits[r] high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates(MJ) of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates(MK) above the surrounding network was a hundred.(ML)
24 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah(MM) the chief priest, Zephaniah(MN) the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers.(MO) 25 Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the secretary(MP) who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land, sixty of whom were found in the city. 26 Nebuzaradan(MQ) the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 There at Riblah,(MR) in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.
So Judah went into captivity, away(MS) from her land. 28 This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile:(MT)
in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year,
832 people from Jerusalem;
30 in his twenty-third year,
745 Jews taken into exile(MU) by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard.
There were 4,600 people in all.(MV)
Jehoiachin Released(MW)
31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin(MX) king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison. 32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table.(MY) 34 Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance(MZ) as long as he lived, till the day of his death.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 50:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 8, 25, 35 and 45
- Jeremiah 50:10 Or Chaldea
- Jeremiah 50:21 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 26.
- Jeremiah 50:38 Or A sword against
- Jeremiah 51:1 Leb Kamai is a cryptogram for Chaldea, that is, Babylonia.
- Jeremiah 51:3 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
- Jeremiah 51:4 Or Chaldea
- Jeremiah 51:5 Or Almighty, / and the land of the Babylonians
- Jeremiah 51:24 Or Chaldea; also in verse 35
- Jeremiah 51:35 Or done to us and to our children
- Jeremiah 51:41 Sheshak is a cryptogram for Babylon.
- Jeremiah 51:54 Or Chaldeans
- Jeremiah 52:7 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 17
- Jeremiah 52:7 Or the Jordan Valley
- Jeremiah 52:8 Or Chaldean; also in verse 14
- Jeremiah 52:15 Or the populace
- Jeremiah 52:21 That is, about 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference or about 8.1 meters high and 5.4 meters in circumference
- Jeremiah 52:22 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.