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Jeremiah 50
Lexham English Bible
Jeremiah 50
Lexham English Bible
A Message Concerning Babylon
50 The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet:
2 “Declare among the nations and proclaim,
and lift up a banner.
Proclaim, you must not conceal it.
Say, ‘Babylon is captured,
Bel is ashamed,
Merodach is filled with terror,
her idols are ashamed,
her idols are filled with terror.
3 For a nation will come up against her from the north.
It will make her land as a horror,
and an inhabitant will not be in her.
From humans[a] to animals[b] they all will wander off.
They will go away.
4 In those days and in that time,’” declares[c] Yahweh,
“the people[d] of Israel will come,
they and the people[e] of Judah together.
Weeping as they go,[f] they will go,
and Yahweh their God they will seek.
5 They will ask the way to Zion,
turning their faces there.
They will come and join themselves to Yahweh
by an everlasting covenant[g] that will not be forgotten.
6 My people have become lost sheep,
their shepherds have caused them to go astray.
They led them away to the mountains.
From mountain to hill they have gone,
they have forgotten their resting place.
7 All those who found them have devoured them.
And their foes have said, ‘We are not guilty,
because[h] they have sinned against Yahweh, the true pasture,[i]
even Yahweh, the hope of their ancestors.’[j]
8 Flee from the midst of Babylon,
and from the land of the Chaldeans.
Go out and be like he-goats
before[k] the flock.
9 For look, I am going to stir up,
and I am going to bring against Babylon
a contingent of great nations
from the land of the north.
And they will draw up a battle formation against her,
from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like a warrior who has achieved success,
he does not return without success.
10 And Chaldea will be as booty,
all those who plunder her will be satisfied,” declares[l] Yahweh.
11 “Though you rejoice, though you exult,
O plunderers of my inheritance,
though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass,
and you neigh like the powerful stallions,
12 your mother will be very ashamed.
She who gave birth to you will be humiliated.[m]
Look, she will be the least of the nations,
a desert,[n] dry land, and wilderness.[o]
13 Because of the anger of Yahweh she will not be inhabited,
but she will be a wasteland, all of her.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled
and will hiss because of all her wounds.
14 Draw up a battle formation at Babylon all around,
all those who bend the bow, shoot at her.
You must not spare arrows,[p]
for she has sinned against Yahweh.
15 Raise a war cry against her on all sides.
She has surrendered.[q]
Her towers have fallen,
her walls are ruined.
For this is the vengeance of Yahweh.
Take revenge on her.
As she has done to others,
so do to her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon,
and the one who uses the sickle in the time of harvest.
Because of[r] the sword of the oppressor
each one will turn to their people,
and each one will flee to their land.
17 Israel is a sheep scattered,
lions drove them away.
The first who devoured it was the king of Assyria,
and now at the end Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, gnawed its bones.”
18 Therefore[s] thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Look, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land
just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will restore Israel to its pasture,
and it will feed on Carmel, and in Bashan,
and on the hills[t] of Ephraim, and in Gilead
its hunger will be satisfied.
20 In those days and at that time,” declares[u] Yahweh,
“the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there is none,
and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found,
for I will forgive those I left behind.
21 To the land of Merathaim,
go up against her,
and against the inhabitants of Pekod,
massacre and destroy them,” declares[v] Yahweh,
“and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 The sound of battle is in the land,
and great destruction.
23 How the blacksmith’s hammer of all the earth is cut down and broken!
How Babylon has become as a horror among the nations!
24 I laid a bird snare for you, and you were caught, O Babylon.
But you yourself did not know.
You were discovered and seized,
because with Yahweh you measured yourself.
25 Yahweh has opened his armory,
and he has brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for it is a word for my Lord Yahweh of hosts
in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the end,
open her granaries.
Pile her up like heaps and destroy her.
Let there be no remnant for her.
27 Massacre all her bulls,
let them go down to the slaughtering.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
the time of their punishment.
28 There is the sound of fugitives and survivors
from the land of Babylon,
to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God,
the vengeance for his temple.
29 Summon archers against Babylon,
all those who bend the bow.
Encamp all around her,
there must not be for her an escape.
Take revenge on her according to her deeds.
According to all that she has done, so do to her.
For against Yahweh she has behaved insolently,
against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore[w] her young men will fall in her public squares,
and all her soldiers[x] will perish on that day,” declares[y] Yahweh.
31 “Look, I am against you, O arrogant one,”
declares[z] Lord Yahweh of hosts,
“for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
32 And the arrogant one will stumble and fall,
and there is no one who raises him up.
And I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it will devour everything around him.”
33 Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
“The people[aa] of Israel are oppressed,
and the people[ab] of Judah likewise,
for[ac] all their captors have seized them,
they refuse to let them go free.
34 Their redeemer is strong,
his name is Yahweh of hosts.
Surely he will plead their case,
in order to make peace for the earth,
but to cause unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares[ad] Yahweh,
“and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
and against her officials,
and against her wise men.
36 A sword against the oracle priests,
and they will become foolish.
A sword against her warriors,
and they will be filled with terror.
37 A sword against his horses,
and against his chariots,[ae]
and against all the foreign troops who are in the midst of her,
so that they may become as women.
A sword against her treasures,
so that they may be plundered.
38 A drought will come against her waters,
and they will dry up,
for it is a land of images,
and because of the frightful objects, they act like madmen.
39 Therefore[af] desert creatures will live there[ag] with jackals,
and daughters of ostriches[ah] will inhabit her.
And she will not be inhabited again forever,[ai]
and she will not be dwelt in for all generations.[aj]
40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighbors,” declares[ak] Yahweh,
“no one will live there,
and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in her.
41 Look, a people is about to come
from the north,
and a great nation and many kings are woken up
from the remotest part of the earth.
42 They keep hold of bow and short sword.
They are cruel and they have no mercy.
Their sound is like the sea, it roars,
and upon horses they ride.
Drawn up for battle as a man for the battle,
against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon heard their report
and his hands grew slack.
Anxiety has seized him,
fear and pain like the woman who gives birth.
44 Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets[al] of the Jordan
against a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream,[am]
so I will chase them away quickly[an] from her,
and I will appoint whoever is chosen over her.
For who is like me, and who can summon me,
and who is this shepherd who can stand before me?[ao]
45 Therefore[ap] hear the plan of Yahweh
that he has planned against Babylon,
and his plans
that he has planned against the land of the Chaldeans.
Surely[aq] they will drag them away,
the little ones of the flock.
Surely[ar] he will cause their grazing place
to be desolate over them.
46 At the sound, ‘Babylon has been captured,’
the earth will quake,
and a cry for help among the nations
will be heard.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 50:3 Hebrew “human”
- Jeremiah 50:3 Hebrew “animal”
- Jeremiah 50:4 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:4 Or “sons/children”
- Jeremiah 50:4 Or “sons/children”
- Jeremiah 50:4 Literally “They shall go and weeping”
- Jeremiah 50:5 Literally “a covenant of eternity”
- Jeremiah 50:7 Literally “under that”
- Jeremiah 50:7 Literally “settlement of righteousness”
- Jeremiah 50:7 Or “fathers”
- Jeremiah 50:8 Literally “to the face of”
- Jeremiah 50:10 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:12 Or “ashamed”
- Jeremiah 50:12 Or “wilderness”
- Jeremiah 50:12 Or “Arabah”
- Jeremiah 50:14 Hebrew “arrow”
- Jeremiah 50:15 Literally “She has given her hand”
- Jeremiah 50:16 Literally “From the face of”
- Jeremiah 50:18 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 50:19 Hebrew “hill”
- Jeremiah 50:20 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:21 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:30 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 50:30 Literally “her the men of war”
- Jeremiah 50:30 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:31 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:33 Or “sons/children”
- Jeremiah 50:33 Or “sons/children”
- Jeremiah 50:33 Literally “and”
- Jeremiah 50:35 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:37 Hebrew “chariot”
- Jeremiah 50:39 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 50:39 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Jeremiah 50:39 Hebrew “ostrich”
- Jeremiah 50:39 Literally “to eternity”
- Jeremiah 50:39 Literally “until generation and generation”
- Jeremiah 50:40 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 50:44 Hebrew “thicket”
- Jeremiah 50:44 Literally “a pasture of ever-flowing”
- Jeremiah 50:44 Literally “I will do in an instant I will cause them to run”
- Jeremiah 50:44 Literally “to the face of me”
- Jeremiah 50:45 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 50:45 Literally “If not”
- Jeremiah 50:45 Literally “If not”
Jeremiah 50
New International Version
Jeremiah 50
New International Version
A Message About Babylon(A)
50 This is the word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon(B) and the land of the Babylonians[a]:
2 “Announce and proclaim(C) among the nations,
lift up a banner(D) and proclaim it;
keep nothing back, but say,
‘Babylon will be captured;(E)
Bel(F) will be put to shame,(G)
Marduk(H) filled with terror.
Her images will be put to shame
and her idols(I) filled with terror.’
3 A nation from the north(J) will attack her
and lay waste her land.
No one will live(K) in it;
both people and animals(L) will flee away.
4 “In those days, at that time,”
declares the Lord,
“the people of Israel and the people of Judah together(M)
will go in tears(N) to seek(O) the Lord their God.
5 They will ask the way(P) to Zion
and turn their faces toward it.
They will come(Q) and bind themselves to the Lord
in an everlasting covenant(R)
that will not be forgotten.
6 “My people have been lost sheep;(S)
their shepherds(T) have led them astray(U)
and caused them to roam on the mountains.
They wandered over mountain and hill(V)
and forgot their own resting place.(W)
7 Whoever found them devoured(X) them;
their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty,(Y)
for they sinned against the Lord, their verdant pasture,
the Lord, the hope(Z) of their ancestors.’
8 “Flee(AA) out of Babylon;(AB)
leave the land of the Babylonians,
and be like the goats that lead the flock.
9 For I will stir(AC) up and bring against Babylon
an alliance of great nations(AD) from the land of the north.(AE)
They will take up their positions against her,
and from the north she will be captured.(AF)
Their arrows(AG) will be like skilled warriors
who do not return empty-handed.
10 So Babylonia[b] will be plundered;(AH)
all who plunder her will have their fill,”
declares the Lord.
11 “Because you rejoice and are glad,
you who pillage my inheritance,(AI)
because you frolic like a heifer(AJ) threshing grain
and neigh like stallions,
12 your mother will be greatly ashamed;
she who gave you birth will be disgraced.(AK)
She will be the least of the nations—
a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.(AL)
13 Because of the Lord’s anger she will not be inhabited
but will be completely desolate.(AM)
All who pass Babylon will be appalled;(AN)
they will scoff(AO) because of all her wounds.(AP)
14 “Take up your positions around Babylon,
all you who draw the bow.(AQ)
Shoot at her! Spare no arrows,(AR)
for she has sinned against the Lord.
15 Shout(AS) against her on every side!
She surrenders, her towers fall,
her walls(AT) are torn down.
Since this is the vengeance(AU) of the Lord,
take vengeance on her;
do to her(AV) as she has done to others.(AW)
16 Cut off from Babylon the sower,
and the reaper with his sickle at harvest.
Because of the sword(AX) of the oppressor
let everyone return to their own people,(AY)
let everyone flee to their own land.(AZ)
17 “Israel is a scattered flock(BA)
that lions(BB) have chased away.
The first to devour(BC) them
was the king(BD) of Assyria;
the last to crush their bones(BE)
was Nebuchadnezzar(BF) king(BG) of Babylon.”
18 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“I will punish the king of Babylon and his land
as I punished the king(BH) of Assyria.(BI)
19 But I will bring(BJ) Israel back to their own pasture,
and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
their appetite will be satisfied(BK)
on the hills(BL) of Ephraim and Gilead.(BM)
20 In those days, at that time,”
declares the Lord,
“search will be made for Israel’s guilt,
but there will be none,(BN)
and for the sins(BO) of Judah,
but none will be found,
for I will forgive(BP) the remnant(BQ) I spare.
21 “Attack the land of Merathaim
and those who live in Pekod.(BR)
Pursue, kill and completely destroy[c] them,”
declares the Lord.
“Do everything I have commanded you.
22 The noise(BS) of battle is in the land,
the noise of great destruction!
23 How broken and shattered
is the hammer(BT) of the whole earth!(BU)
How desolate(BV) is Babylon
among the nations!
24 I set a trap(BW) for you, Babylon,
and you were caught before you knew it;
you were found and captured(BX)
because you opposed(BY) the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his arsenal
and brought out the weapons(BZ) of his wrath,
for the Sovereign Lord Almighty has work to do
in the land of the Babylonians.(CA)
26 Come against her from afar.(CB)
Break open her granaries;
pile her up like heaps of grain.(CC)
Completely destroy(CD) her
and leave her no remnant.
27 Kill all her young bulls;(CE)
let them go down to the slaughter!(CF)
Woe to them! For their day(CG) has come,
the time(CH) for them to be punished.
28 Listen to the fugitives(CI) and refugees from Babylon
declaring in Zion(CJ)
how the Lord our God has taken vengeance,(CK)
vengeance for his temple.(CL)
29 “Summon archers against Babylon,
all those who draw the bow.(CM)
Encamp all around her;
let no one escape.(CN)
Repay(CO) her for her deeds;(CP)
do to her as she has done.
For she has defied(CQ) the Lord,
the Holy One(CR) of Israel.
30 Therefore, her young men(CS) will fall in the streets;
all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,”
declares the Lord.
31 “See, I am against(CT) you, you arrogant one,”
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
“for your day(CU) has come,
the time for you to be punished.
32 The arrogant(CV) one will stumble and fall(CW)
and no one will help her up;(CX)
I will kindle a fire(CY) in her towns
that will consume all who are around her.”
33 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“The people of Israel are oppressed,(CZ)
and the people of Judah as well.
All their captors hold them fast,
refusing to let them go.(DA)
34 Yet their Redeemer(DB) is strong;
the Lord Almighty(DC) is his name.
He will vigorously defend their cause(DD)
so that he may bring rest(DE) to their land,
but unrest to those who live in Babylon.
35 “A sword(DF) against the Babylonians!”(DG)
declares the Lord—
“against those who live in Babylon
and against her officials and wise(DH) men!
36 A sword against her false prophets!
They will become fools.
A sword against her warriors!(DI)
They will be filled with terror.(DJ)
37 A sword against her horses and chariots(DK)
and all the foreigners in her ranks!
They will become weaklings.(DL)
A sword against her treasures!(DM)
They will be plundered.
38 A drought on[d] her waters!(DN)
They will dry(DO) up.
For it is a land of idols,(DP)
idols that will go mad with terror.
39 “So desert creatures(DQ) and hyenas will live there,
and there the owl will dwell.
It will never again be inhabited
or lived in from generation to generation.(DR)
40 As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah(DS)
along with their neighboring towns,”
declares the Lord,
“so no one will live there;
no people will dwell in it.(DT)
41 “Look! An army is coming from the north;(DU)
a great nation and many kings
are being stirred(DV) up from the ends of the earth.(DW)
42 They are armed with bows(DX) and spears;
they are cruel(DY) and without mercy.(DZ)
They sound like the roaring sea(EA)
as they ride on their horses;
they come like men in battle formation
to attack you, Daughter Babylon.(EB)
43 The king of Babylon has heard reports about them,
and his hands hang limp.(EC)
Anguish has gripped him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.(ED)
44 Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets(EE)
to a rich pastureland,
I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant.
Who is the chosen(EF) one I will appoint for this?
Who is like me and who can challenge me?(EG)
And what shepherd can stand against me?”
45 Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Babylon,
what he has purposed(EH) against the land of the Babylonians:(EI)
The young of the flock will be dragged away;
their pasture will be appalled at their fate.
46 At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble;(EJ)
its cry(EK) will resound among the nations.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 50:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 8, 25, 35 and 45
- Jeremiah 50:10 Or Chaldea
- Jeremiah 50:21 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 26.
- Jeremiah 50:38 Or A sword against
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