Jeremiah 51
Legacy Standard Bible
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.
2 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.
3 [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.
4 They will fall down [i]slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
And (E)pierced through in their streets.”
5 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.
6 (H)Flee from the midst of Babylon,
And each of you escape with his life!
Do not be [k](I)silenced in her [l]iniquity,
For this is (J)Yahweh’s time of vengeance;
He is going to (K)render recompense to her.
7 Babylon has been a golden (L)cup in the hand of Yahweh,
Intoxicating all the earth.
The (M)nations have drunk of her wine;
Therefore the nations are (N)going mad.
8 Suddenly (O)Babylon has fallen and been broken;
(P)Wail over her!
(Q)Take [m]balm for her pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.
9 We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed;
Forsake her and (R)let us each go to his own country,
For her judgment has (S)touched heaven
And lifts up to the very skies.
10 Yahweh has (T)brought [n]about our righteousness;
Come and let us (U)recount in Zion
The work of Yahweh our God!
11 (V)Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
Yahweh has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes
Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it;
For it is the (W)vengeance of Yahweh, vengeance for His temple.
12 (X)Lift up a standard against the walls of Babylon;
Make strong the watch;
Raise up [o]watchmen;
Establish men in ambush!
For Yahweh has both (Y)purposed and performed
What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O you who (Z)dwell by abundant waters,
Abundant in (AA)treasures,
Your end has come,
The [p]measure of your [q](AB)end.
14 (AC)Yahweh of hosts has sworn by Himself:
“Surely I will fill you with a [r]population like (AD)locusts,
And they will cry out with [s]shouts of victory over you.”
15 It is (AE)He who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom,
And by His understanding He (AF)stretched out the heavens.
16 When He gives forth His (AG)voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
And He causes the (AH)clouds to ascend from the end of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain
And brings forth the (AI)wind from His storehouses.
17 (AJ)All mankind is senseless, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image,
For his molten images are (AK)a lie,
And there is no breath in them.
18 They are (AL)vanity, a work of mockery;
In the time of their punishment they will perish.
19 The (AM)portion of Jacob is not like these;
For the [t]Maker of all is He,
And of the [u]tribe of His inheritance;
(AN)Yahweh of hosts is His name.
20 He says, “You are My (AO)instrument of shattering, My weapon of war;
And with you I (AP)shatter nations,
And with you I destroy kingdoms.
21 With you I (AQ)shatter the horse and his rider,
And with you I shatter the (AR)chariot and its rider,
22 And with you I shatter (AS)man and woman,
And with you I shatter old man and (AT)youth,
And with you I shatter choice man and virgin,
23 And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock,
And with you I shatter the farmer and his pair of oxen,
And with you I shatter governors and prefects.
24 “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of (AU)Chaldea for (AV)all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares Yahweh.
25 “Behold, (AW)I am against you, (AX)O destroying mountain,
Who destroys the whole earth,” declares Yahweh,
“And I will stretch out My hand against you
And roll you down from the crags,
And I will make you a (AY)burnt out mountain.
26 They will not take from you even a stone for a corner
Nor a stone for foundations,
But you will be a perpetual (AZ)desolation,” declares Yahweh.
27 (BA)Lift up a standard in the land,
Blow a trumpet among the nations!
Set apart the nations against her;
Summon against her the (BB)kingdoms of (BC)Ararat, Minni, and (BD)Ashkenaz;
Appoint a marshal against her;
Bring up the (BE)horses like bristly locusts.
28 Set apart the nations against her,
The kings of the Medes,
[v]Their governors and all [w]their [x]prefects
And every land of [y]their rule.
29 So the (BF)land quakes and writhes,
For the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon stand,
To make the land of Babylon
[z]A (BG)desolation without inhabitants.
30 The (BH)mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting;
They inhabit the strongholds;
(BI)Their might is dried up;
They are becoming (BJ)like women;
Their dwelling places are set on fire;
The (BK)bars of her gates are broken.
31 One (BL)runner runs to meet [aa]another,
And one (BM)messenger to meet [ab]another,
To give a message to the king of Babylon
That his city has been captured from end to end;
32 The fords also have been seized,
And they have burned the marshes with fire,
And the men of war are terrified.
33 For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel:
“The daughter of Babylon is like a (BN)threshing floor
At the time [ac]it is stamped firm;
Yet in a little while the time of (BO)harvest will come for her.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has (BP)devoured me and brought me into confusion;
He has set me down like an (BQ)empty vessel;
He has (BR)swallowed me like a sea monster;
He has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
He has rinsed me away.
35 May the (BS)violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,”
The [ad]inhabitant of Zion will say;
And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
Jerusalem will say.
36 Therefore thus says Yahweh,
“Behold, I am going to (BT)plead your case
And (BU)exact full vengeance for you;
And (BV)I will dry up her [ae]sea
And make her fountain dry.
37 (BW)Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals,
An (BX)object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.
38 They will roar together like (BY)young lions;
They will growl like lions’ cubs.
39 When they become heated up, I will set before them their feast
And (BZ)make them drunk, that they may exult
And may (CA)sleep a perpetual sleep
And not wake up,” declares Yahweh.
40 “I will bring them down like [af]lambs (CB)to the slaughter,
Like rams together with male goats.
41 “How [ag](CC)Sheshak has been captured,
And (CD)the praise of the whole earth been seized!
How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!
42 The [ah](CE)sea has come up over Babylon;
She has been covered with its tumultuous waves.
43 Her cities have become an (CF)object of horror,
A parched land, and a desert,
A land in which (CG)no man lives
And through which no son of man passes.
44 (CH)I will punish Bel in Babylon,
And I will make what he has swallowed (CI)come out of his mouth;
And the nations will no longer (CJ)stream to him.
Even the (CK)wall of Babylon has fallen down!
45 “(CL)Come forth from her midst, My people,
And each of you (CM)escape with his life
From the burning anger of Yahweh.
46 Now (CN)lest your heart grow faint,
And you fear the (CO)report that will be heard in the land—
For the report will come [ai]one year,
And after that [aj]another report in [ak]another year,
And violence will be in the land
With (CP)ruler against ruler—
47 Therefore behold, days are coming
When I will punish the (CQ)graven images of Babylon;
And her whole land will be (CR)put to shame,
And all her slain will fall in her midst.
48 Then (CS)heaven and earth and all that is in them
Will shout for joy over Babylon,
For (CT)the destroyers will come to her from the north,”
Declares Yahweh.
49 (CU)Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel,
As also for Babylon (CV)the slain of all the earth have fallen.
50 You (CW)who have escaped the sword,
Go! Do not stand around!
(CX)Remember Yahweh from afar,
And let Jerusalem come upon your heart.
51 (CY)We are ashamed because we have heard reproach;
Dishonor has covered our faces,
For (CZ)strangers have entered
The holy places of the house of Yahweh.
52 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh,
“When I will punish her (DA)graven images,
And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.
53 Though Babylon should (DB)ascend to the heavens,
And though she should fortify [al]her lofty stronghold,
From (DC)Me destroyers will come to her,” declares Yahweh.
54 The (DD)sound of an outcry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For Yahweh is going to destroy Babylon,
And He will make her loud [am]noise [an]vanish from her.
And their (DE)waves will roar like many waters;
The rumbling of their voices [ao]sounds forth.
56 For the (DF)destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
And her mighty men will be captured;
Their (DG)bows are shattered;
For Yahweh is a God of (DH)recompense,
He will fully repay.
57 “I will (DI)make her princes and her wise men drunk,
Her governors, her prefects, and her mighty men,
That they may sleep a (DJ)perpetual sleep and not wake up,”
(DK)Declares the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts.
58 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“The broad (DL)wall of Babylon will be completely razed,
And her high (DM)gates will be set on fire;
So the peoples will (DN)toil for nothing,
And the nations become (DO)weary only for fire.”
59 The [ap]message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of (DP)Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with (DQ)Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (Now Seraiah was quartermaster.) 60 So Jeremiah (DR)wrote in a single [aq]scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon. 61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud, 62 and then you will say, ‘You, O Yahweh, have [ar]promised concerning this place to (DS)cut it off, so that there will be (DT)nothing inhabiting it, [as]whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.’ 63 And as soon as you finish reading this [at]scroll, you will tie a stone to it and (DU)throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64 and then you will say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and (DV)not rise again because of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become (DW)utterly weary.’” (DX)Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 51:1 Cryptic name for Chaldea; or the heart of those who rise up against Me
- Jeremiah 51:1 Or A destroying wind
- Jeremiah 51:2 Some versions winnowers
- Jeremiah 51:3 M.T. Against him who
- Jeremiah 51:3 The Chaldean defender
- Jeremiah 51:3 Lit tread(s) (in order to string)
- Jeremiah 51:3 Lit tread(s) (in order to string)
- Jeremiah 51:3 M.T. Against him who
- Jeremiah 51:4 Or wounded
- Jeremiah 51:5 Lit From
- Jeremiah 51:6 Or made lifeless
- Jeremiah 51:6 Or penalty for iniquity
- Jeremiah 51:8 Or balsam resin
- Jeremiah 51:10 Lit forth
- Jeremiah 51:12 Or sentries
- Jeremiah 51:13 Lit cubit
- Jeremiah 51:13 Lit being cut off
- Jeremiah 51:14 Or mankind
- Jeremiah 51:14 Something like the song of grape treaders
- Jeremiah 51:19 Lit Fashioner
- Jeremiah 51:19 Or Scepter, cf. Num 24:17
- Jeremiah 51:28 Lit Her
- Jeremiah 51:28 Lit Her
- Jeremiah 51:28 Lieutenant governors
- Jeremiah 51:28 Lit his
- Jeremiah 51:29 Or An object of horror
- Jeremiah 51:31 Lit runner
- Jeremiah 51:31 Or messenger; lit announcer
- Jeremiah 51:33 Lit of treading it
- Jeremiah 51:35 Lit inhabitress
- Jeremiah 51:36 Or broad river
- Jeremiah 51:40 Or young rams
- Jeremiah 51:41 Cryptic name for Babylon
- Jeremiah 51:42 Or broad river
- Jeremiah 51:46 Lit in the
- Jeremiah 51:46 Lit the
- Jeremiah 51:46 Lit the
- Jeremiah 51:53 Lit the height of her strength
- Jeremiah 51:55 Or voice
- Jeremiah 51:55 Lit perish
- Jeremiah 51:55 Lit is given
- Jeremiah 51:59 Lit word
- Jeremiah 51:60 Or book
- Jeremiah 51:62 Lit spoken
- Jeremiah 51:62 Lit from man even to beast
- Jeremiah 51:63 Or book
Jeremiah 51
English Standard Version
The Utter Destruction of Babylon
51 Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will stir up (A)the spirit of a destroyer
against Babylon,
against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai,[a]
2 and I will send to Babylon winnowers,
and (B)they shall winnow her,
and they shall empty her land,
when they come against her from every side
(C)on the day of trouble.
3 (D)Let not the archer bend his bow,
and let him not stand up in his armor.
Spare not her young men;
(E)devote to destruction[b] all her army.
4 They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
(F)and wounded in her streets.
5 (G)For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
by their God, the Lord of hosts,
but the land of the Chaldeans[c] is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.
6 (H)“Flee from the midst of Babylon;
let every one save his life!
(I)Be not cut off in her punishment,
(J)for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance,
the repayment he is rendering her.
7 Babylon was (K)a golden cup in the Lord's hand,
(L)making all the earth drunken;
(M)the nations drank of her wine;
therefore the nations went mad.
8 (N)Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
(O)wail for her!
(P)Take balm for her pain;
perhaps she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon,
but she was not healed.
(Q)Forsake her, and (R)let us go
each to his own country,
for (S)her judgment has reached up to heaven
and has been lifted up even to the skies.
10 (T)The Lord has brought about our vindication;
(U)come, let us declare in Zion
the work of the Lord our God.
11 (V)“Sharpen the arrows!
Take up the shields!
(W)The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of (X)the Medes, because (Y)his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, (Z)for that is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for (AA)his temple.
12 (AB)“Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon;
(AC)make the watch strong;
set up watchmen;
prepare the ambushes;
(AD)for the Lord has both planned and done
what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 (AE)O you who dwell by many waters,
rich in treasures,
your end has come;
the thread of your life is cut.
14 (AF)The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself:
Surely I will fill you with men, (AG)as many as locusts,
(AH)and they shall raise the shout of victory over you.
15 (AI)“It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
16 When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
17 Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
and there is no breath in them.
18 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
19 Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
20 “You are my hammer and weapon of war:
with you I (AJ)break nations in pieces;
with you I destroy kingdoms;
21 with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer;
22 with you I break in pieces man and woman;
with you I break in pieces (AK)the old man and the youth;
with you I break in pieces (AL)the young man and the young woman;
23 with you I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;
with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team;
with you I break in pieces (AM)governors and commanders.
24 (AN)“I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the Lord.
25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,
declares the Lord,
which destroys the whole earth;
I will stretch out my hand against you,
and roll you down from the crags,
(AO)and make you a burnt mountain.
26 No (AP)stone shall be taken from you for a corner
and no stone for a foundation,
but you shall be (AQ)a perpetual waste,
declares the Lord.
27 (AR)“Set up a standard on the earth;
(AS)blow the trumpet among the nations;
(AT)prepare (AU)the nations for war against her;
summon against her (AV)the kingdoms,
(AW)Ararat, Minni, and (AX)Ashkenaz;
appoint a (AY)marshal against her;
(AZ)bring up horses like bristling locusts.
28 (BA)Prepare (BB)the nations for war against her,
the kings of (BC)the Medes, (BD)with their governors (BE)and deputies,
and every (BF)land under their dominion.
29 (BG)The land trembles and writhes in pain,
(BH)for the Lord's purposes against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon a desolation,
without inhabitant.
30 The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting;
they remain in their strongholds;
their strength has failed;
(BI)they have become women;
(BJ)her dwellings are on fire;
(BK)her bars are broken.
31 One (BL)runner runs to meet another,
and one messenger to meet another,
to tell the king of Babylon
that his city is taken on every side;
32 the fords have been (BM)seized,
the marshes are burned with fire,
and the soldiers are in panic.
33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
(BN)The daughter of Babylon is like (BO)a threshing floor
at the time when it is trodden;
yet a little while
and (BP)the time of her harvest will come.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon (BQ)has devoured me;
he has crushed me;
he has made me an empty vessel;
(BR)he has swallowed me like (BS)a monster;
he has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
he has rinsed me out.[d]
35 The violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon,”
let the inhabitant of Zion say.
“My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
let Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, (BT)I will plead your cause
and take vengeance for you.
(BU)I will dry up her sea
and (BV)make her fountain dry,
37 and Babylon shall become (BW)a heap of ruins,
(BX)the haunt of jackals,
(BY)a horror (BZ)and a hissing,
without inhabitant.
38 (CA)“They shall roar together (CB)like lions;
they shall growl like lions' cubs.
39 (CC)While they are inflamed (CD)I will prepare them a feast
and (CE)make them drunk, that they may become merry,
(CF)then sleep a perpetual sleep
and not wake, declares the Lord.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and male goats.
41 “How (CG)Babylon[e] is taken,
(CH)the praise of the whole earth (CI)seized!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations!
42 (CJ)The sea has come up on Babylon;
she is covered with its tumultuous waves.
43 Her cities have become a horror,
(CK)a land of drought and a desert,
(CL)a land in which no one dwells,
and through which no son of man passes.
44 And I will punish (CM)Bel in Babylon,
and (CN)take out of his mouth (CO)what he has swallowed.
(CP)The nations shall no longer flow to him;
(CQ)the wall of Babylon has fallen.
45 “Go out of the midst of her, (CR)my people!
Let every one save his life
from (CS)the fierce anger of the Lord!
46 Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful
(CT)at the report heard in the land,
(CU)when a report comes in one year
and afterward a report in another year,
and violence is in the land,
(CV)and ruler is against ruler.
47 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming
when (CW)I will punish the images of Babylon;
(CX)her whole land shall be put to shame,
and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 (CY)Then the heavens and the earth,
and all that is in them,
shall sing for joy over Babylon,
(CZ)for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north,
declares the Lord.
49 Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel,
(DA)just as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.
50 (DB)“You who have escaped from the sword,
go, do not stand still!
Remember the Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come into your mind:
51 (DC)‘We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach;
(DD)dishonor has covered our face,
(DE)for foreigners have come
into the holy places of the Lord's house.’
52 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when (DF)I will execute judgment upon her images,
(DG)and through all her land
the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should (DH)mount up to heaven,
and though she should (DI)fortify her strong height,
yet destroyers would come from me against her,
declares the Lord.
54 (DJ)“A voice! A cry from Babylon!
The noise of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For the Lord is laying Babylon waste
and stilling her mighty voice.
(DK)Their waves roar like many waters;
the noise of their voice is raised,
56 for a destroyer has come upon her,
upon Babylon;
her warriors are taken;
their bows are broken in pieces,
(DL)for the Lord is a God of recompense;
he will surely repay.
57 (DM)I will make drunk her officials and her wise men,
(DN)her governors, her commanders, and her warriors;
they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake,
declares (DO)the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
58 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
The broad (DP)wall of Babylon
shall be leveled to the ground,
(DQ)and her high gates
shall be burned with fire.
(DR)The peoples labor for nothing,
and (DS)the nations weary themselves only for fire.”
59 The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah (DT)the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, (DU)in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60 (DV)Jeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon, (DW)all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, 62 and say, ‘O Lord, you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off, so (DX)that nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be (DY)desolate forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this book, (DZ)(EA)tie a stone to it (EB)and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, 64 and say, (EC)‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, (ED)and they shall become exhausted.’”
Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 51:1 A code name for Chaldea
- Jeremiah 51:3 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
- Jeremiah 51:5 Hebrew their land
- Jeremiah 51:34 Or he has expelled me
- Jeremiah 51:41 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
