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Yahweh Sends Calamity to Babylon

51 Thus says Yahweh:

“Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon
And against the inhabitants of [a]Leb-kamai
[b]The (A)spirit of a destroyer.
I will send [c]strangers to Babylon that they may (B)winnow her
And may empty her land to destruction;
For on every side they will be against her
In the day of her calamity.
[d]Let not [e]him who [f](C)bends his bow [g]bend it,
[h]Nor let him rise up in his (D)scale-armor;
So do not spare her young men;
Devote all her army to destruction.
They will fall down [i]slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
And (E)pierced through in their streets.”

For (F)neither Israel nor Judah has been widowed
By his God, by Yahweh of hosts,
Although their land is (G)full of guilt
[j]Before the Holy One of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:1 Cryptic name for Chaldea; or the heart of those who rise up against Me
  2. Jeremiah 51:1 Or A destroying wind
  3. Jeremiah 51:2 Some versions winnowers
  4. Jeremiah 51:3 M.T. Against him who
  5. Jeremiah 51:3 The Chaldean defender
  6. Jeremiah 51:3 Lit tread(s) (in order to string)
  7. Jeremiah 51:3 Lit tread(s) (in order to string)
  8. Jeremiah 51:3 M.T. Against him who
  9. Jeremiah 51:4 Or wounded
  10. Jeremiah 51:5 Lit From

51 This is what the Lord says:

“See, I will stir(A) up the spirit of a destroyer
    against Babylon(B) and the people of Leb Kamai.[a]
I will send foreigners(C) to Babylon
    to winnow(D) her and to devastate her land;
they will oppose her on every side
    in the day(E) of her disaster.
Let not the archer string his bow,(F)
    nor let him put on his armor.(G)
Do not spare her young men;
    completely destroy[b] her army.
They will fall(H) down slain in Babylon,[c]
    fatally wounded in her streets.(I)
For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken(J)
    by their God, the Lord Almighty,
though their land[d] is full of guilt(K)
    before the Holy One of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:1 Leb Kamai is a cryptogram for Chaldea, that is, Babylonia.
  2. Jeremiah 51:3 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  3. Jeremiah 51:4 Or Chaldea
  4. Jeremiah 51:5 Or Almighty, / and the land of the Babylonians