Jeremiah 50:1-20

English Standard Version

Judgment on Babylon

50 The word that the Lord spoke concerning ^(A)Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, ^(B)by Jeremiah the prophet:

²“Declare among the nations and proclaim,
    set up a banner and proclaim,
    conceal it not, and say:
^(C)‘Babylon is taken,
    ^(D)Bel is put to shame,
    Merodach is dismayed.
^(E)Her images are put to shame,
    her idols are dismayed.’

³“For ^(F)out of the north a nation has come up against her, ^(G)which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; ^(H)both man and beast shall flee away.

⁴^(I)“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, ^(J)the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, ^(K)weeping as they come, and they ^(L)shall seek the Lord their God. ⁵^(M)They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, ^(N)saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an ^(O)everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’

⁶^(P)“My people have been lost sheep. ^(Q)Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. ⁷All who found them have devoured them, ^(R)and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for ^(S)they have sinned against the Lord, ^(T)their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, ^(U)the hope of their fathers.’

⁸^(V)“Flee from the midst of Babylon, ^(W)and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. ⁹For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon ^(X)a gathering 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^(Y)Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord.

¹¹^(Z)“Though you rejoice, though you exult,
    O plunderers of my heritage,
though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture,
    and neigh like stallions,
¹²your mother shall be utterly shamed,
    and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
Behold, she shall be the last of the nations,
    ^(AA)a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
¹³^(AB)Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited
    but shall be an utter desolation;
^(AC)everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled,
    ^(AD)and hiss because of all her wounds.
¹⁴^(AE)Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around,
    ^(AF)all you who bend the bow;
shoot at her, spare no arrows,
    ^(AG)for she has sinned against the Lord.
¹⁵^(AH)Raise a shout against her all around;
    she has surrendered;
her bulwarks have fallen;
    ^(AI)her walls are thrown down.
For ^(AJ)this is the vengeance of the Lord:
    take vengeance on her;
    ^(AK)do to her as she has done.
¹⁶Cut off from Babylon the sower,
    and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest;
^(AL)because of the sword of the oppressor,
    ^(AM)every one shall turn to his own people,
    and every one shall flee to his own land.

¹⁷^(AN)“Israel is a hunted sheep ^(AO)driven away by lions. ^(AP)First the king of Assyria ^(AQ)devoured him, and now at last ^(AR)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^(AS)has gnawed his bones. ¹⁸Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, ^(AT)I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, ^(AU)as I punished the king of Assyria. ¹⁹^(AV)I will restore Israel to his pasture, and ^(AW)he shall feed on ^(AX)Carmel and in ^(AY)Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in ^(AZ)Gilead. ²⁰In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, ^(BA)iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for ^(BB)I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.

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Jeremiah 50:33-40

English Standard Version

³³“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(A)The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; ^(B)they refuse to let them go. ³⁴^(C)Their Redeemer is strong; ^(D)the Lord of hosts is his name. ^(E)He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵“A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord,
    and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
    and against ^(F)her officials and her ^(G)wise men!
³⁶A sword against the diviners,
    that they may become fools!
A sword against her ^(H)warriors,
    that they may be destroyed!
³⁷A sword against her horses and against her chariots,
    and against all ^(I)the foreign troops in her midst,
    that ^(J)they may become women!
^(K)A sword against all her treasures,
    that they may be plundered!
³⁸^(L)A drought against her waters,
    that they may be dried up!
^(M)For it is a land of images,
    and they are mad over idols.

³⁹^(N)“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon,^[a] and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations. ⁴⁰^(O)As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the Lord, ^(P)so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.