Jeremiah 50
New International Reader's Version
A Message About Babylon
50 Here is the message the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. It was about the city of Babylon and the land of Babylon. He said,
2 “Announce this message among the nations.
Lift up a banner.
Let the nations hear the message.
Do not keep anything back.
Say, ‘Babylon will be captured.
The god named Bel will be put to shame.
The god named Marduk will be filled with terror.
Babylon’s gods will be put to shame.
The gods its people made will be filled with terror.’
3 A nation from the north will attack it.
That nation will destroy Babylon.
No one will live there.
People and animals alike will run away.
4 “The days are coming,”
announces the Lord.
“At that time the people of Israel and Judah will gather together.
They will come in tears to me.
I am the Lord their God.
5 They will ask how to get to Zion.
Then they will turn their faces toward it.
They will come and join themselves to me.
They will enter into the covenant I make with them.
It will last forever.
It will never be forgotten.
6 “My people have been like lost sheep.
Their shepherds have led them astray.
They have caused them to wander in the mountains.
They have wandered over mountains and hills.
They have forgotten that I am their true resting place.
7 Everyone who found them destroyed them.
Their enemies said, ‘We aren’t guilty.
They sinned against the Lord.
He gave them everything they needed.
He has always been Israel’s hope.’
8 “People of Judah, run away from Babylon.
Leave the land of Babylon.
Be like the goats that lead the flock.
9 I will stir up great nations
that will join forces against Babylon.
I will bring them from the land of the north.
They will take up their battle positions against Babylon.
They will come from the north and capture it.
Their arrows will be like skilled soldiers.
They will not miss their mark.
10 So the riches of Babylon will be taken away.
All those who steal from it will have more than enough,”
announces the Lord.
11 “People of Babylon, you have stolen what belongs to me.
That has made you glad and full of joy.
You dance around like a young cow on a threshing floor.
You neigh like stallions.
12 Because of that, you will bring great shame on your land.
Your whole nation will be dishonored.
It will become the least important of the nations.
It will become a dry and empty desert.
13 Because I am angry with it, no one will live there.
It will be completely deserted.
All those who pass by Babylon will be shocked.
They will make fun of it because of all its wounds.
14 “All you who shoot arrows,
take up your battle positions around Babylon.
Shoot at it! Do not spare any arrows!
Its people have sinned against me.
15 Shout against them on every side!
They are giving up.
The towers of the city are falling.
Its walls are being pulled down.
The Lord is paying back its people.
So pay them back yourselves.
Do to them what they have done to others.
16 Do not leave anyone in Babylon to plant the fields.
Do not leave anyone to harvest the grain.
Let each of them return to their own people.
Let them run away to their own land.
If they don’t, their enemy’s sword will bring them great harm.
17 “Israel is like a scattered flock
that lions have chased away.
The first lion that ate them up
was the king of Assyria.
The last one that broke their bones
was Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.”
18 The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,
“I punished the king of Assyria.
In the same way, I will punish
the king of Babylon and his land.
19 But I will bring Israel back to their own grasslands.
I will feed them on Mount Carmel and in Bashan.
I will satisfy their hunger
on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 The days are coming,”
announces the Lord.
“At that time people will search for Israel’s guilt.
But they will not find any.
They will search for Judah’s sins.
But they will not find any.
That is because I will forgive the people I have spared.
21 “Enemies of Babylon, attack their land of Merathaim.
Make war against those who live in Pekod.
Chase them and kill them. Destroy them completely,”
announces the Lord.
“Do everything I have commanded you to do.
22 The noise of battle is heard in the land.
It is the noise of a great city being destroyed!
23 It has been broken to pieces.
It was the hammer that broke the whole earth.
How empty Babylon is among the nations!
24 Babylon, I set a trap for you.
And you were caught before you knew it.
You were found and captured.
That is because you opposed me.
25 I have opened up my storeroom.
I have brought out the weapons I use when I am angry.
I am the Lord and King who rules over all.
I have work to do in the land of the Babylonians.
26 So come against it from far away.
Open up its storerooms.
Stack everything up like piles of grain.
Completely destroy that country.
Do not leave anyone alive there.
27 Kill all Babylon’s strongest warriors.
Let them die in battle.
How terrible it will be for them!
Their time to be judged has come.
Now they will be punished.
28 Listen to those who have escaped.
Listen to those who have returned from Babylon.
They are announcing in Zion
how I have paid Babylon back.
I have paid it back for destroying my temple.
29 “Send for men armed with bows and arrows.
Send them against Babylon.
Set up camp all around it.
Do not let anyone escape.
Pay it back for what its people have done.
Do to them what they have done to others.
They have dared to disobey me.
I am the Holy One of Israel.
30 You can be sure its young men will fall dead in the streets.
All its soldiers will be put to death at that time,”
announces the Lord.
31 “Proud Babylonians, I am against you,”
announces the Lord.
The Lord who rules over all says,
“Your day to be judged has come.
It is time for you to be punished.
32 You proud people will trip and fall.
No one will help you up.
I will start a fire in your towns.
It will burn up everyone around you.”
33 The Lord who rules over all says,
“The people of Israel are being treated badly.
So are the people of Judah.
Those who have captured them are holding them.
They refuse to let them go.
34 But I am strong and will save them.
My name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
I will stand up for them.
I will bring peace and rest to their land.
But I will bring trouble to those who live in Babylon.
35 “A sword is coming against the Babylonians!”
announces the Lord.
“It is coming against those who live in Babylon.
It is coming against their officials and wise men.
36 A sword is coming against their prophets.
But they are not really prophets at all!
So they will look foolish.
A sword is coming against their soldiers!
They will be filled with terror.
37 A sword is coming against their horses and chariots!
It is coming against all the hired soldiers in their armies.
They will become weak.
A sword is coming against their treasures!
They will be stolen.
38 There will not be any rain for their rivers.
So they will dry up.
Those things will happen because their land is full of statues of gods.
Those gods will go crazy with terror.
39 “Desert creatures and hyenas will live in Babylon.
And so will owls.
People will never live there again.
It will not be lived in for all time to come.
40 I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
I also destroyed the towns that were near them,”
announces the Lord.
“Babylon will be just like them.
No one will live there.
No human beings will stay there.
41 “Look! An army is coming from the north.
I am stirring up a great nation and many kings.
They are coming from a land that is very far away.
42 Their soldiers are armed with bows and spears.
They are mean.
They do not show any mercy at all.
They come riding in on their horses.
They sound like the roaring ocean.
They are lined up for battle.
They are coming to attack you, city of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard reports about them.
His hands can’t help him.
He is in great pain.
It is like the pain of a woman having a baby.
44 I will be like a lion coming up from the bushes by the Jordan River.
I will hunt in rich grasslands.
I will chase the people of Babylon from their land in an instant.
What nation will I choose to do this?
Which one will I appoint?
Is anyone like me? Who would dare to argue with me?
What leader can stand against me?”
45 So listen to what the Lord has planned against Babylon.
Hear what he has planned against the land of the Babylonians.
Their young people will be dragged away.
Their grasslands will be shocked at their fate.
46 At the news of Babylon’s capture,
the earth will shake.
The people’s cries will be heard among the nations.
Jeremia 50
Het Boek
50 Dit is de boodschap van de Here over Babel en de Chaldeeën, uitgesproken door de profeet Jeremia: 2 ‘Vertel heel de wereld dat de stad Babel zal worden ingenomen, haar god Bel zal voor schut worden gezet en Marduk zal worden vernederd! Hun beelden zijn machteloos, liggen in stukken. 3 Want uit het noorden zal een volk haar aanvallen met zoʼn vernietigende kracht dat er nooit meer iemand zal wonen: alles zal verdwijnen, mens en dier zullen vluchten.
4,5 Dan zullen de inwoners van Israël en Juda bijeenkomen. Zij zullen huilen en de Here, hun God, zoeken, zij zullen de weg vragen naar Sion en beginnen aan de terugweg naar huis. “Vooruit,” zullen zij zeggen, “laten we ons met de Here verenigen door een eeuwig verbond dat we nooit zullen vergeten.” 6 De mensen van mijn volk leken op een kudde verdwaalde schapen. Hun herders hebben hen weggeleid en in de bergen losgelaten. Zij raakten de weg kwijt, dwaalden wat rond en wisten niet meer hoe zij terug moesten komen bij de weide. 7 Ze waren een gemakkelijke prooi voor iedereen die hen tegenkwam. Er werd gezegd: “Wij kunnen deze mensen ongestraft aanvallen, want zij hebben gezondigd tegen de Here, de God van gerechtigheid, de hoop van hun voorouders.”
8 Maar nu, vlucht weg uit Babel, uit het land van de Chaldeeën. Leid mijn volk weer naar huis, net als bokken die in de kudde voorop gaan. 9 Want kijk, Ik verzamel een leger van grote volken uit het noorden dat Babel zal aanvallen en vernietigen. De pijlen van de vijand gaan recht op hun doel af, zij missen niet! 10 Babel zal worden leeggeroofd, totdat iedere plunderaar genoeg heeft,’ zegt de Here. 11 ‘Ook al was u blij, Chaldeeën, plunderaars van mijn volk, al huppelt u als uitgelaten kalveren die in malse weiden grazen en al hinnikt u als hengsten, 12 toch zal uw moeder worden overladen met schaamte, want zij zal de minste onder de volken worden, een wildernis, een droog en woest land. 13 Door de toorn van de Here zal Babel een troosteloze woestenij worden waar geen mens zal wonen. Voorbijgangers zullen het hoofd schudden en vol verbijstering zien welke rampen u overkomen.
14 Ja, maak u klaar voor het gevecht tegen Babel, alle volken rondom, laten uw boogschutters op haar schieten, spaar geen pijlen, want zij heeft gezondigd tegen de Here. 15 Schreeuw naar haar van alle kanten. Kijk! Zij geeft zich al over! Haar muren worden omvergetrokken. De Here heeft wraak genomen. Neem nu zelf wraak en behandel haar zoals zij anderen heeft behandeld! 16 Dood de zaaiers en maaiers van Babel. Laat iedereen voor het geweld vluchten, naar zijn eigen land.
17 Israël lijkt op een schaap dat door de leeuwen wordt opgejaagd. Eerst at de koning van Assyrië hem op, toen verbrijzelde koning Nebukadnezar van Babel zijn beenderen.’ 18 Daarom zegt de Here van de hemelse legers, de God van Israël: ‘Nu zal Ik de koning van Babel en zijn land net zo straffen als de koning van Assyrië. 19 Ik zal Israël weer terugbrengen naar zijn eigen land, naar de vruchtbare velden van Karmel en Basan, waar het zijn hongerige maag weer kan vullen op de bergen van Efraïm en Gilead. 20 In die dagen,’ zegt de Here, ‘zal geen schuld worden gevonden in Israël of Juda, want Ik vergeef het restant dat Ik heb beschermd.
21 Strijders van Mij, trek op tegen het land Merathaïm en tegen het volk van Pekod. Ja, marcheer naar Babel, laat daar niets heel en doodt de bevolking, zoals Ik u heb opgedragen. 22 Laat de oorlogskreet door dat land klinken, de kreet van de totale vernietiging. 23 Babel, de machtigste hamer van de hele aarde, is nu zelf gebroken en ligt in stukken. Babel is een schrikbeeld voor alle volken! 24 O Babel, Ik heb een val voor u gezet en u bent erin gelopen, want u hebt tegen de Here gevochten. 25 De Here heeft zijn arsenaal geopend en de wapens van zijn toorn tevoorschijn gehaald. De straf die over Babel komt, zal het werk zijn van de Here, de God van de hemelse legers. 26 Ja, val haar aan vanuit verre landen, breek haar opslagplaatsen open, maak haar muren en huizen met de grond gelijk en verwoest haar helemaal. Laat niets heel. 27 Zelfs haar jonge vee niet! Dood alles! De tijd is gekomen om Babel te straffen.
28 Maar mijn volk zal vluchten, de mensen zullen ontsnappen naar hun eigen land en daar vertellen hoe de Here, hun God, in zijn toorn wraak neemt op degenen die zijn tempel hebben verwoest. 29 Laat een oproep uitgaan voor boogschutters om naar Babel te komen, omsingel de stad, zodat niemand kan ontkomen. Behandel haar zoals zij anderen behandelde, want zij heeft zich verzet tegen de Here, de Heilige van Israël. 30 Haar mannen zullen in de straten neervallen en sterven, al haar strijders zullen worden gedood,’ zegt de Here. 31 ‘Want kijk, Ik ben tegen u. U bent een arrogant volk en nu is de dag van de afrekening gekomen. 32 Trots land, u zult struikelen en vallen en niemand zal u helpen opstaan, want de Here zal in de steden van Babel een vuur aansteken dat alles zal verbranden.’
33 De Here van de hemelse legers zegt: ‘Het volk van Israël en Juda wordt onrecht aangedaan. Degenen die hen gevangen hebben genomen, houden hen vast en weigeren hen te laten gaan. 34 Maar hun verlosser is sterk. Zijn naam is Here van de hemelse legers. Hij zal hun recht verdedigen en ervoor zorgen dat zij worden bevrijd en weer in rust en vrede in Israël kunnen wonen. Maar wat de Babyloniërs betreft: voor hen zal er geen rust zijn! 35 Het zwaard van de vernietiging zal de Chaldeeën slaan,’ zegt de Here. ‘Het zal het volk van Babel slaan en ook haar bewindslieden en wijze mannen. 36 Al haar valse profeten zullen hun verstand verliezen! Haar dapperste strijders zullen in paniek raken! 37 Haar paarden en wagens zullen in de oorlog vernietigd worden en alle buitenlanders in haar leger zullen zwak worden als vrouwen. Haar schatten zullen allemaal worden geroofd, 38 zelfs haar watervoorraden zullen opdrogen. En waarom? Omdat dit hele land vol staat met afgodsbeelden waardoor haar inwoners zich laten misleiden. 39 Daarom zal de stad Babel struisvogels en jakhalzen als inwoners krijgen, zij zal het thuis worden van de wilde dieren uit de woestijn. Zij zal nooit meer worden bewoond door mensen, de stad zal voor altijd uitgestorven zijn. 40 De Here verklaart dat Hij Babel zal vernietigen, net zoals Hij deed met Sodom en Gomorra en de nabijgelegen steden. Sinds die tijd heeft daar niemand meer gewoond en ook in Babel zal niemand meer wonen.
41 Kijk, een groot leger uit het noorden is in aantocht! Het wordt geleid door vele koningen die God uit verre landen heeft opgeroepen. 42 Zij zijn volledig bewapend, zij zijn wreed en meedogenloos. Het hoefgetrappel van hun paarden klinkt als het bulderen van de zee. O Babel, zij vallen u aan, tot de tanden gewapend en klaar voor de strijd. 43 De koning van Babel heeft het bericht ontvangen, zijn handen trillen van angst, de angst die hem overvalt als de weeën een bevallende vrouw. 44 Ik zal een aanvaller op hen afsturen die hen plotseling zal overvallen, net als een leeuw uit de wildernis van de Jordaan die op de grazende schapen loert. In een oogwenk zal Ik Babel wegjagen. Wie kan zich met Mij vergelijken? Welke heerser kan tegen mijn wil ingaan? Wie kan Mij ter verantwoording roepen? 45 Luister naar het plan van de Here tegen Babel, het land van de Chaldeeën. Want zelfs kleine kinderen zullen als slaven worden weggesleept. O, wat een verschrikking, wat een angst zal er zijn! 46 De hele aarde zal beven door de val van Babel en haar kreet van vertwijfeling zal over de hele wereld worden gehoord.’
Jeremiah 50
King James Version
50 The word that the Lord spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
2 Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
4 In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God.
5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
6 My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
7 All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.
8 Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.
9 For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.
10 And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord.
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
14 Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the Lord.
15 Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
17 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
18 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.
21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the Lord, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord.
25 The Lord hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord God of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.
27 Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple.
29 Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord.
31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.
32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.
33 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.
34 Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
36 A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
38 A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
41 Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
42 They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation 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? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
45 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.
46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Het Boek Copyright © 1979, 1988, 2007 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.