Jeremiah 50:1-20

Common English Bible

Prophecy against Babylon

50 This is what the Lord said concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians through the prophet Jeremiah:

²Tell the nations;
    proclaim it far and wide!
Set up a flag;
    proclaim it far and wide!
Hold nothing back;
    just shout it:
“Babylon is captured;
    Bel is shamed;
Marduk is panic-stricken.
    Her images are shamed;
        her idols are panic-stricken.”
³A nation from the north
    has risen up against her.
It will decimate her land,
    and no one will live in it.
        Every living thing will flee.
⁴In those days and at that time,
        declares the Lord,
    the people of Israel and Judah
        will come out of Babylon^[a] together;
    with weeping they will leave
        as they seek the Lord their God.
⁵They will search for Zion,
    turning their faces toward it.
They will come^[b] and
    unite with the Lord,
    in an everlasting covenant
        that will never be forgotten.
⁶My people were lost sheep;
        their shepherds led them astray;
    they deserted them on the mountains,
        where they wandered off among the hills,
                forgetting their resting place.
⁷All who found them devoured them;
        and their attackers said,
    “It’s not our fault,
        because they have sinned against the Lord,
            the true pasture,^[c]
            the hope of their ancestors—the Lord.”
⁸Now wander far from Babylon.
        Get out of that country.
    Like rams of the flock,
        lead the way home.
⁹I’m stirring up against Babylon
    a coalition of mighty nations.
It will mobilize in the north,
    and from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like those of an expert archer
    who does not return empty-handed.
¹⁰Babylon will be defeated;
    its attackers will carry off all that they want,
        declares the Lord.

¹¹Sure, you gloat and rejoice,
        you plunderers of my possession.
Sure, you dance around like a calf
    and neigh like a stallion.
¹²But Mother Babylon^[d] will be humiliated;
    the one who bore you will be disgraced.
She will become the least of the nations:
    a wilderness, a desert, and parched land.
¹³Because of the Lord’s anger,
    no one will live there;
        she will be reduced to total ruin.
All who pass by Babylon will be shocked;
    they will gasp at all her injuries.
¹⁴Take up your positions around Babylon,
        all you archers;
    now shoot at her;
        save none of your arrows,
        because she’s sinned against the Lord.
¹⁵Raise a victory shout against her on every side!
    She’s surrendered;
        her towers have collapsed;
        her walls are destroyed.
This is the Lord’s retribution;
    now pay her back:
        do to her what she’s done to others!
¹⁶Cut Babylon off from those who plant
    and those who harvest the crops,
        because of its ruthless sword.^[e]
Now return, all of you, to your people;
    flee to your homeland!

¹⁷Israelites are scattered sheep,
driven away by lions.
First the king of Assyria devoured them,
and now Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar has ravaged them.^[f]

¹⁸Therefore, the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims:

I’m going to punish the king of Babylon and his land,
    just as I punished the king of Assyria.
¹⁹But I will restore Israel to their pasture;
    they will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
    they will eat their fill
        in the highlands of Ephraim and Gilead.
²⁰In those days and at that time,
        declares the Lord,
    if one searches for the sin of Israel,
        they will find nothing;
    if one seeks out the wrongdoing of Judah,
        they will look in vain.
            I will forgive those I have spared.