Jeremiah 50:21-46

English Standard Version

²¹“Go up against the land of Merathaim,^[a]
    and against the inhabitants of Pekod.^[b]
Kill, ^(A)and devote them to destruction,^[c]
declares the Lord,
    and do all that I have commanded you.
²²^(B)The noise of battle is in the land,
    and great destruction!
²³^(C)How the hammer of the whole earth
    is cut down and broken!
^(D)How Babylon ^(E)has become
    a horror among the nations!
²⁴^(F)I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon,
    and ^(G)you did not know it;
you were found and caught,
    because you opposed the Lord.
²⁵The Lord has opened his armory
    and brought out ^(H)the weapons of his wrath,
for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do
    in the land of the Chaldeans.
²⁶Come against her from every quarter;
    open her granaries;
^(I)pile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction;
    let nothing be left of her.
²⁷Kill all ^(J)her bulls;
    let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
    ^(K)the time of their punishment.

²⁸“A voice! They ^(L)flee and escape from the land of Babylon, ^(M)to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for ^(N)his temple.

²⁹^(O)“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. ^(P)Encamp around her; let no one escape. ^(Q)Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has ^(R)proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰^(S)Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, declares the Lord.

³¹“Behold, I am against you, O ^(T)proud one,
    declares the Lord God of hosts,
^(U)for your day has come,
    the time when I will punish you.
³²^(V)The proud one shall stumble and fall,
    with none to raise him up,
^(W)and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
    and it will devour all that is around him.

³³“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(X)The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; ^(Y)they refuse to let them go. ³⁴^(Z)Their Redeemer is strong; ^(AA)the Lord of hosts is his name. ^(AB)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 ^(AC)her officials and her ^(AD)wise men!
³⁶A sword against the diviners,
    that they may become fools!
A sword against her ^(AE)warriors,
    that they may be destroyed!
³⁷A sword against her horses and against her chariots,
    and against all ^(AF)the foreign troops in her midst,
    that ^(AG)they may become women!
^(AH)A sword against all her treasures,
    that they may be plundered!
³⁸^(AI)A drought against her waters,
    that they may be dried up!
^(AJ)For it is a land of images,
    and they are mad over idols.

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

⁴¹^(AN)“Behold, a people comes from the north;
    a mighty nation and many kings
    are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
⁴²They lay hold of bow and spear;
    they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;
    they ride on horses,
arrayed as a man for battle
    against you, O daughter of Babylon!

⁴³“The king of Babylon heard the report of them,
and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
pain as of a woman in labor.

⁴⁴^(AO)“Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd ^(AP)can stand before me? ⁴⁵Therefore hear ^(AQ)the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon, ^(AR)and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: ^(AS)Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. ⁴⁶^(AT)At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.”

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 50:21 Merathaim means double rebellion
Jeremiah 50:21 Pekod means punishment
Jeremiah 50:21 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
Jeremiah 50:39 Hebrew lacks in Babylon