Jeremiah 50:31-46

New King James Version

³¹“Behold, I am against you,
O most haughty one!” says the Lord God of hosts;
“For your day has come,
^[a]The time that I will punish you.
³²The most ^(A)proud shall stumble and fall,
And no one will raise him up;
^(B)I will kindle a fire in his cities,
And it will devour all around him.”

³³Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“The children of Israel were oppressed,
Along with the children of Judah;
All who took them captive have held them fast;
They have refused to let them go.
³⁴^(C)Their Redeemer is strong;
^(D)The Lord of hosts is His name.
He will thoroughly plead their ^(E)case,
That He may give rest to the land,
And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵“A sword is against the Chaldeans,” says the Lord,
“Against the inhabitants of Babylon,
And ^(F)against her princes and ^(G)her wise men.
³⁶A sword is ^(H)against the soothsayers, and they will be fools.
A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.
³⁷A sword is against their horses,
Against their chariots,
And against all ^(I)the mixed peoples who are in her midst;
And ^(J)they will become like women.
A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed.
³⁸^(K)A ^[b]drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up.
For it is the land of carved images,
And they are insane with their idols.

³⁹“Therefore^(L) the wild desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals,
And the ostriches shall dwell in it.
^(M)It shall be inhabited no more forever,
Nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
⁴⁰^(N)As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
And their neighbors,” says the Lord,
“So no one shall reside there,
Nor son of man ^(O)dwell in it.

⁴¹“Behold,^(P) a people shall come from the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Shall be raised up from the ends of the earth.
⁴²^(Q)They shall hold the bow and the lance;
^(R)They are cruel and shall not show mercy.
^(S)Their voice shall roar like the sea;
They shall ride on horses,
Set in array, like a man for the battle,
Against you, O daughter of Babylon.

⁴³“The king of Babylon has ^(T)heard the report about them,
And his hands grow feeble;
Anguish has taken hold of him,
Pangs as of a woman in ^(U)childbirth.

⁴⁴“Behold,^(V) he shall come up like a lion from the ^[c]floodplain of the Jordan
Against the dwelling place of the strong;
But I will make them suddenly run away from her.
And who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her?
For who is like Me?
Who will arraign Me?
And ^(W)who is that shepherd
Who will withstand Me?”

⁴⁵Therefore hear ^(X)the counsel of the Lord that He has taken against Babylon,
And His ^(Y)purposes that He has proposed against the land of the Chaldeans:
^(Z)Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out;
Surely He will make their dwelling place desolate with them.
⁴⁶^(AA)At the noise of the taking of Babylon
The earth trembles,
And the cry is heard among the nations.