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Jeremiah 51
English Standard Version
Jeremiah 51
English Standard Version
The Utter Destruction of Babylon
51 Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will stir up (A)the spirit of a destroyer
against Babylon,
against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai,[a]
2 and I will send to Babylon winnowers,
and (B)they shall winnow her,
and they shall empty her land,
when they come against her from every side
(C)on the day of trouble.
3 (D)Let not the archer bend his bow,
and let him not stand up in his armor.
Spare not her young men;
(E)devote to destruction[b] all her army.
4 They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
(F)and wounded in her streets.
5 (G)For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
by their God, the Lord of hosts,
but the land of the Chaldeans[c] is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.
6 (H)“Flee from the midst of Babylon;
let every one save his life!
(I)Be not cut off in her punishment,
(J)for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance,
the repayment he is rendering her.
7 Babylon was (K)a golden cup in the Lord's hand,
(L)making all the earth drunken;
(M)the nations drank of her wine;
therefore the nations went mad.
8 (N)Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
(O)wail for her!
(P)Take balm for her pain;
perhaps she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon,
but she was not healed.
(Q)Forsake her, and (R)let us go
each to his own country,
for (S)her judgment has reached up to heaven
and has been lifted up even to the skies.
10 (T)The Lord has brought about our vindication;
(U)come, let us declare in Zion
the work of the Lord our God.
11 (V)“Sharpen the arrows!
Take up the shields!
(W)The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of (X)the Medes, because (Y)his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, (Z)for that is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for (AA)his temple.
12 (AB)“Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon;
(AC)make the watch strong;
set up watchmen;
prepare the ambushes;
(AD)for the Lord has both planned and done
what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 (AE)O you who dwell by many waters,
rich in treasures,
your end has come;
the thread of your life is cut.
14 (AF)The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself:
Surely I will fill you with men, (AG)as many as locusts,
(AH)and they shall raise the shout of victory over you.
15 (AI)“It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
16 When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
17 Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
and there is no breath in them.
18 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
19 Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
20 “You are my hammer and weapon of war:
with you I (AJ)break nations in pieces;
with you I destroy kingdoms;
21 with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer;
22 with you I break in pieces man and woman;
with you I break in pieces (AK)the old man and the youth;
with you I break in pieces (AL)the young man and the young woman;
23 with you I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;
with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team;
with you I break in pieces (AM)governors and commanders.
24 (AN)“I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the Lord.
25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,
declares the Lord,
which destroys the whole earth;
I will stretch out my hand against you,
and roll you down from the crags,
(AO)and make you a burnt mountain.
26 No (AP)stone shall be taken from you for a corner
and no stone for a foundation,
but you shall be (AQ)a perpetual waste,
declares the Lord.
27 (AR)“Set up a standard on the earth;
(AS)blow the trumpet among the nations;
(AT)prepare (AU)the nations for war against her;
summon against her (AV)the kingdoms,
(AW)Ararat, Minni, and (AX)Ashkenaz;
appoint a (AY)marshal against her;
(AZ)bring up horses like bristling locusts.
28 (BA)Prepare (BB)the nations for war against her,
the kings of (BC)the Medes, (BD)with their governors (BE)and deputies,
and every (BF)land under their dominion.
29 (BG)The land trembles and writhes in pain,
(BH)for the Lord's purposes against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon a desolation,
without inhabitant.
30 The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting;
they remain in their strongholds;
their strength has failed;
(BI)they have become women;
(BJ)her dwellings are on fire;
(BK)her bars are broken.
31 One (BL)runner runs to meet another,
and one messenger to meet another,
to tell the king of Babylon
that his city is taken on every side;
32 the fords have been (BM)seized,
the marshes are burned with fire,
and the soldiers are in panic.
33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
(BN)The daughter of Babylon is like (BO)a threshing floor
at the time when it is trodden;
yet a little while
and (BP)the time of her harvest will come.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon (BQ)has devoured me;
he has crushed me;
he has made me an empty vessel;
(BR)he has swallowed me like (BS)a monster;
he has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
he has rinsed me out.[d]
35 The violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon,”
let the inhabitant of Zion say.
“My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
let Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, (BT)I will plead your cause
and take vengeance for you.
(BU)I will dry up her sea
and (BV)make her fountain dry,
37 and Babylon shall become (BW)a heap of ruins,
(BX)the haunt of jackals,
(BY)a horror (BZ)and a hissing,
without inhabitant.
38 (CA)“They shall roar together (CB)like lions;
they shall growl like lions' cubs.
39 (CC)While they are inflamed (CD)I will prepare them a feast
and (CE)make them drunk, that they may become merry,
(CF)then sleep a perpetual sleep
and not wake, declares the Lord.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and male goats.
41 “How (CG)Babylon[e] is taken,
(CH)the praise of the whole earth (CI)seized!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations!
42 (CJ)The sea has come up on Babylon;
she is covered with its tumultuous waves.
43 Her cities have become a horror,
(CK)a land of drought and a desert,
(CL)a land in which no one dwells,
and through which no son of man passes.
44 And I will punish (CM)Bel in Babylon,
and (CN)take out of his mouth (CO)what he has swallowed.
(CP)The nations shall no longer flow to him;
(CQ)the wall of Babylon has fallen.
45 “Go out of the midst of her, (CR)my people!
Let every one save his life
from (CS)the fierce anger of the Lord!
46 Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful
(CT)at the report heard in the land,
(CU)when a report comes in one year
and afterward a report in another year,
and violence is in the land,
(CV)and ruler is against ruler.
47 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming
when (CW)I will punish the images of Babylon;
(CX)her whole land shall be put to shame,
and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 (CY)Then the heavens and the earth,
and all that is in them,
shall sing for joy over Babylon,
(CZ)for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north,
declares the Lord.
49 Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel,
(DA)just as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.
50 (DB)“You who have escaped from the sword,
go, do not stand still!
Remember the Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come into your mind:
51 (DC)‘We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach;
(DD)dishonor has covered our face,
(DE)for foreigners have come
into the holy places of the Lord's house.’
52 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when (DF)I will execute judgment upon her images,
(DG)and through all her land
the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should (DH)mount up to heaven,
and though she should (DI)fortify her strong height,
yet destroyers would come from me against her,
declares the Lord.
54 (DJ)“A voice! A cry from Babylon!
The noise of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For the Lord is laying Babylon waste
and stilling her mighty voice.
(DK)Their waves roar like many waters;
the noise of their voice is raised,
56 for a destroyer has come upon her,
upon Babylon;
her warriors are taken;
their bows are broken in pieces,
(DL)for the Lord is a God of recompense;
he will surely repay.
57 (DM)I will make drunk her officials and her wise men,
(DN)her governors, her commanders, and her warriors;
they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake,
declares (DO)the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
58 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
The broad (DP)wall of Babylon
shall be leveled to the ground,
(DQ)and her high gates
shall be burned with fire.
(DR)The peoples labor for nothing,
and (DS)the nations weary themselves only for fire.”
59 The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah (DT)the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, (DU)in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60 (DV)Jeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon, (DW)all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, 62 and say, ‘O Lord, you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off, so (DX)that nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be (DY)desolate forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this book, (DZ)(EA)tie a stone to it (EB)and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, 64 and say, (EC)‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, (ED)and they shall become exhausted.’”
Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 51:1 A code name for Chaldea
- Jeremiah 51:3 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
- Jeremiah 51:5 Hebrew their land
- Jeremiah 51:34 Or he has expelled me
- Jeremiah 51:41 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon
Jeremiah 51
1599 Geneva Bible
Jeremiah 51
1599 Geneva Bible
51 6 Why Babylon is destroyed. 41 The vain confidence of the Babylonians. 43 The vanity of idolaters. 59 Jeremiah giveth his book to Seraiah.
1 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up against Babel, and against the inhabitants [a]that lift up their heart against me, a destroying [b]wind,
2 And will send unto Babel fanners that shall fan her, and shall empty her land, for in the day of trouble they shall be against her on every side.
3 Also to the bender that bendeth his bow, and to him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine, will I say, Spare not her young men, but destroy all her host.
4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
5 For Israel hath been no [c]widow, nor Judah from his God, from the Lord of hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the holy one of Israel.
6 ¶ [d]Flee out of the midst of Babel, and deliver every man his soul: be not destroyed in her iniquity: for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance: he will render unto her a recompense.
7 Babel hath been as a golden cup in the [e]Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken, the nations have drunken of her wine, therefore do the nations [f]rage.
8 (A)Babel is suddenly fallen, and destroyed: howl for her, bring balm for her sore, if she may be healed.
9 We would have cured Babel, but she could not be healed: forsake her, and let [g]us go everyone into his own country: for her judgment is come up into heaven, and is lifted up to the clouds.
10 The Lord hath brought forth our [h]righteousness: come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.
11 Make bright the arrows: [i]gather the shields: the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the King of the Medes: for his purpose is against Babel to destroy it, because it is the [j]vengeance of the Lord, and the vengeance of his Temple.
12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babel, make the watch strong: set up the watchmen: prepare the scouts: for the Lord hath both devised, and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babel.
13 O thou that dwellest upon many [k]waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, even the [l]end of thy covetousness.
14 The Lord of hosts hath sworn by [m](B)himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars, and they shall cry and shout against thee.
15 (C)He hath made the earth by his power, and established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his discretion.
16 He giveth by his voice the multitude of waters in the heaven, and he causeth the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth, he turneth lightnings to rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
17 Every man is a beast by his own [n]knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his melting is but falsehood, and there is no breath therein.
18 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their [o]visitation they shall perish.
19 The [p]portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the maker of all things, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his Name.
20 Thou art mine [q]hammer, and weapons of war: for with thee will I break the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms,
21 And by thee will I break horse and horseman, and by thee will I break the chariot and him that rideth therein.
22 By thee also will I break man and woman, and by thee will I break old and young, and by thee will I break the young man and the maid.
23 I will also break by thee the shepherd and his flock, and by thee will I break the husbandman and his yoke of oxen, and by thee will I break the dukes and princes.
24 And I will render unto Babel, and to all the inhabitants of the Chaldeans all their evil, that they have done in Zion, even in your sight, saith the Lord.
25 Behold, I come unto thee, O destroying [r]mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the [s]rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
26 They shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations: but thou shalt be destroyed forever, saith the Lord.
27 Set up a standard in the land: blow the trumpets among the nations: prepare the nations against her: call up the kingdoms of [t]Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz against her, appoint the prince against her, cause horses to come up as the rough caterpillars.
28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the dukes thereof, and the princes thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for the device of the Lord shall be performed against Babel, to make the land of Babel waste without an inhabitant.
30 The strong men of Babel have ceased to fight: they have remained in their holds: their strength hath failed, and they were like women: they have burnt her dwelling places, and her bars are broken.
31 A post shall run to meet the post, and a messenger to meet the messenger, to show the King of Babel, that his city is taken on a [u]side thereof,
32 And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds burnt with fire, and the men of war troubled.
33 For thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, The daughter of Babel is like a threshingfloor: the time of her threshing is come: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest [v]shall come.
34 Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babel hath [w]devoured me, and destroyed me: he hath made me an empty vessel: he swallowed me up like a dragon: and filled his belly with my delicates, and hath cast me out.
35 The spoil of me, and that which was left of me, is brought unto Babel, shall the inhabitant of Zion say: and my blood unto the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will maintain thy [x]cause, and take vengeance for thee, and I will dry up the sea, and dry up her springs.
37 And Babel shall be as heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
38 They shall roar together like lions, and yell as the lion’s whelps.
39 In their [y]heat I will make them feasts, and I will make them drunken that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, and like rams and goats.
41 How is [z]Sheshach taken! and how is the glory of the whole earth taken! how is Babel become an astonishment among the nations!
42 The [aa]sea is come up upon Babel: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
43 Her cities are desolate: the land is dry and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth the son of man pass thereby.
44 I will also visit Bel in Babel, and I will bring out of his mouth, that which [ab]he hath swallowed up, and the nations shall run no more unto him, and the wall of Babel shall fall.
45 My people, go out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce wrath of the Lord,
46 Lest your heart even faint, and ye fear the rumor that shall be heard in the land: the rumor shall come this year, and after that in the other [ac]year shall come a rumor, and cruelty in the land, and ruler against ruler.
47 Therefore behold, the days come, that I will visit the images of Babel, and the whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 Then the heaven and [ad]the earth, and all that is therein, shall rejoice for Babel: for the destroyers shall come unto her from the North, saith the Lord.
49 As Babel caused the [ae]slain of Israel to fall, so by Babel the slain of all the earth did fall.
50 Ye that [af]have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51 We are [ag]confounded because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces, for strangers are come into the Sanctuaries of the Lord’s house.
52 Wherefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will visit her graven images, and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babel should mount up to [ah]heaven, and though she should defend her strength on high, yet from me shall her destroyers come, saith the Lord.
54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babel, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans,
55 Because the Lord hath laid Babel waste, and destroyed from her the great voice, and her waves shall roar like great waters, and a sound was made by their noise:
56 Because the destroyer is come upon her, even upon Babel, and her strong men are taken, their bows are broken: for the Lord God that recompenseth, shall surely recompense.
57 And I will [ai]make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her dukes, and her nobles, and her strong men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose Name is the Lord of hosts.
58 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, The [aj]thick wall of Babel shall be broken, and her high gates shall be burnt with fire, and the people shall labor in vain, and the folk in the fire, for they shall be weary.
59 The word which Jeremiah the Prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babel, in the [ak]fourth year of his reign, and this Seraiah was a peaceable Prince.
60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babel, even all these things that are written against Babel.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest unto Babel, and shalt see and shalt read all these words,
62 Then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to destroy it, that none should remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it should be desolate forever.
63 And when thou hast made an end of reading this book, thou shalt bind a [al]stone to it, and cast it in the midst of Euphrates,
64 And shalt say, Thus shall Babel be drowned and shall not rise from the evil, that I will bring upon her: and they shall [am]be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 51:1 Or, of the land that riseth up.
- Jeremiah 51:1 The Medes and Persians that shall destroy them as the wind doth the chaff.
- Jeremiah 51:5 Though they were forsaken for a time, yet they were not utterly cast off as though their husbands were dead.
- Jeremiah 51:6 He showeth that there remaineth nothing for them that abide in Babylon, but destruction, Jer. 17:6 and 48:6.
- Jeremiah 51:7 By whom the Lord poured out the drink of his vengeance, to whom it pleased him.
- Jeremiah 51:7 For the great afflictions that they have felt by the Babylonians.
- Jeremiah 51:9 Thus the people of God exhort one another to go to Zion and praise God.
- Jeremiah 51:10 In approving our cause and punishing our enemies.
- Jeremiah 51:11 Or, fill, or multiply.
- Jeremiah 51:11 For the wrong done to his people and to his Temple, Jer. 50:28.
- Jeremiah 51:13 For the land of Chaldea was full of rivers, which ran into Euphrates.
- Jeremiah 51:13 Or, measures.
- Jeremiah 51:14 Hebrew, his soul.
- Jeremiah 51:17 Read Jer. 10:14.
- Jeremiah 51:18 When God shall execute his vengeance.
- Jeremiah 51:19 That is, the true God of Israel is not like to these idols: for he can help when all things are desperate.
- Jeremiah 51:20 He meaneth the Medes and Persians, as he did before call the Babylonians his hammer, Jer. 50:23.
- Jeremiah 51:25 Not that Babylon stood on a mountain, but because it was strong and seemed invincible.
- Jeremiah 51:25 From thy strongholds and fortresses.
- Jeremiah 51:27 By these three nations he meaneth Armenia the higher, Armenia the lower, and Scythia: for Cyrus had gathered an army of divers nations.
- Jeremiah 51:31 By turning the course of the river one side was made open and the reeds that did grow in the water were destroyed, which Cyrus did by the counsel of Gobria and Gabatha Belshazzar’s captains.
- Jeremiah 51:33 When she shall be cut up and threshed.
- Jeremiah 51:34 This is spoken in the person of the Jews bewailing their state and the cruelty of the Babylonians.
- Jeremiah 51:36 Thus the Lord esteemed the injury done to his Church, as done to himself, because their cause is his.
- Jeremiah 51:39 When they are inflamed with surfeiting and drinking, I will feast with them, alluding to Belshazzar’s banquet, Dan. 5:2.
- Jeremiah 51:41 Meaning, Babel, as Jer. 25:26.
- Jeremiah 51:42 The great army of the Medes and Persians.
- Jeremiah 51:44 That is, his gifts and presents which he had received as part of the spoil of other nations, and which the idolaters brought unto him from all countries.
- Jeremiah 51:46 Meaning, that Babylon should not be destroyed all at once, but little by little should be brought to nothing: for the first year came the tidings, the next year the siege, and in the third year it was taken: yet this is not that horrible destruction which the prophets threatened in many places: for that was after this when they rebelled and Darius overcame them by the policy of Zopyrus, and hanged three thousand gentlemen besides the common people.
- Jeremiah 51:48 All creatures in heaven and earth shall rejoice, and praise God for the destruction of Babylon the great enemy of his Church.
- Jeremiah 51:49 Babylon did not only destroy Israel, but many other nations.
- Jeremiah 51:50 Ye that are now captives in Babylon.
- Jeremiah 51:51 He showeth how they should remember Jerusalem by lamenting the miserable affliction thereof.
- Jeremiah 51:53 For the walls were two hundred foot high.
- Jeremiah 51:57 I will so astonish them by afflictions that they shall not know which way to turn them.
- Jeremiah 51:58 The thickness of the wall was fifty foot thick.
- Jeremiah 51:59 This was not in the time of his captivity, but seven years before, when he went either to gratulate Nebuchadnezzar, or to entreat of some matters.
- Jeremiah 51:63 St. John in his Revelation alludeth to this place, when he saith that the Angel took a millstone and cast it into the sea: signifying thereby the destruction of Babylon, Rev. 18:21.
- Jeremiah 51:64 They shall not be able to resist, but shall labor in vain.
Jeremiah 51
New International Version
Jeremiah 51
New International Version
51 This is what the Lord says:
“See, I will stir(A) up the spirit of a destroyer
against Babylon(B) and the people of Leb Kamai.[a]
2 I will send foreigners(C) to Babylon
to winnow(D) her and to devastate her land;
they will oppose her on every side
in the day(E) of her disaster.
3 Let not the archer string his bow,(F)
nor let him put on his armor.(G)
Do not spare her young men;
completely destroy[b] her army.
4 They will fall(H) down slain in Babylon,[c]
fatally wounded in her streets.(I)
5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken(J)
by their God, the Lord Almighty,
though their land[d] is full of guilt(K)
before the Holy One of Israel.
6 “Flee(L) from Babylon!
Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of her sins.(M)
It is time(N) for the Lord’s vengeance;(O)
he will repay(P) her what she deserves.
7 Babylon was a gold cup(Q) in the Lord’s hand;
she made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore they have now gone mad.
8 Babylon will suddenly fall(R) and be broken.
Wail over her!
Get balm(S) for her pain;
perhaps she can be healed.
9 “‘We would have healed Babylon,
but she cannot be healed;
let us leave(T) her and each go to our own land,
for her judgment(U) reaches to the skies,
it rises as high as the heavens.’
11 “Sharpen the arrows,(X)
take up the shields!(Y)
The Lord has stirred up the kings(Z) of the Medes,(AA)
because his purpose(AB) is to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will take vengeance,(AC)
vengeance for his temple.(AD)
12 Lift up a banner(AE) against the walls of Babylon!
Reinforce the guard,
station the watchmen,(AF)
prepare an ambush!(AG)
The Lord will carry out his purpose,(AH)
his decree against the people of Babylon.
13 You who live by many waters(AI)
and are rich in treasures,(AJ)
your end has come,
the time for you to be destroyed.(AK)
14 The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself:(AL)
I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts,(AM)
and they will shout(AN) in triumph over you.
15 “He made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom(AO)
and stretched(AP) out the heavens by his understanding.(AQ)
16 When he thunders,(AR) the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain(AS)
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.(AT)
17 “Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;(AU)
they have no breath in them.
18 They are worthless,(AV) the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.
19 He who is the Portion(AW) of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including the people of his inheritance(AX)—
the Lord Almighty is his name.
20 “You are my war club,(AY)
my weapon for battle—
with you I shatter(AZ) nations,(BA)
with you I destroy kingdoms,
21 with you I shatter horse and rider,(BB)
with you I shatter chariot(BC) and driver,
22 with you I shatter man and woman,
with you I shatter old man and youth,
with you I shatter young man and young woman,(BD)
23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
with you I shatter governors and officials.(BE)
24 “Before your eyes I will repay(BF) Babylon(BG) and all who live in Babylonia[e] for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.
25 “I am against(BH) you, you destroying mountain,
you who destroy the whole earth,”(BI)
declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand(BJ) against you,
roll you off the cliffs,
and make you a burned-out mountain.(BK)
26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
nor any stone for a foundation,
for you will be desolate(BL) forever,”
declares the Lord.
27 “Lift up a banner(BM) in the land!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
summon against her these kingdoms:(BN)
Ararat,(BO) Minni and Ashkenaz.(BP)
Appoint a commander against her;
send up horses like a swarm of locusts.(BQ)
28 Prepare the nations for battle against her—
the kings of the Medes,(BR)
their governors and all their officials,
and all the countries they rule.(BS)
29 The land trembles(BT) and writhes,
for the Lord’s purposes(BU) against Babylon stand—
to lay waste(BV) the land of Babylon
so that no one will live there.(BW)
30 Babylon’s warriors(BX) have stopped fighting;
they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
they have become weaklings.(BY)
Her dwellings are set on fire;(BZ)
the bars(CA) of her gates are broken.
31 One courier(CB) follows another
and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his entire city is captured,(CC)
32 the river crossings seized,
the marshes set on fire,(CD)
and the soldiers terrified.(CE)”
33 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Daughter Babylon(CF) is like a threshing floor(CG)
at the time it is trampled;
the time to harvest(CH) her will soon come.(CI)”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar(CJ) king of Babylon has devoured(CK) us,(CL)
he has thrown us into confusion,
he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
and then has spewed(CM) us out.
35 May the violence(CN) done to our flesh[f] be on Babylon,”
say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
says Jerusalem.(CO)
36 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“See, I will defend your cause(CP)
and avenge(CQ) you;
I will dry up(CR) her sea
and make her springs dry.
37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
a haunt(CS) of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,(CT)
a place where no one lives.(CU)
38 Her people all roar like young lions,(CV)
they growl like lion cubs.
39 But while they are aroused,
I will set out a feast for them
and make them drunk,(CW)
so that they shout with laughter—
then sleep forever(CX) and not awake,”
declares the Lord.(CY)
40 “I will bring them down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats.(CZ)
41 “How Sheshak[g](DA) will be captured,(DB)
the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate(DC) Babylon will be
among the nations!
42 The sea will rise over Babylon;
its roaring waves(DD) will cover her.
43 Her towns will be desolate,
a dry and desert(DE) land,
a land where no one lives,
through which no one travels.(DF)
44 I will punish Bel(DG) in Babylon
and make him spew out(DH) what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
And the wall(DI) of Babylon will fall.
45 “Come out(DJ) of her, my people!
Run(DK) for your lives!
Run from the fierce anger(DL) of the Lord.
46 Do not lose heart(DM) or be afraid(DN)
when rumors(DO) are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
rumors of violence in the land
and of ruler against ruler.
47 For the time will surely come
when I will punish the idols(DP) of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced(DQ)
and her slain will all lie fallen within her.(DR)
48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will shout(DS) for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north(DT)
destroyers(DU) will attack her,”
declares the Lord.
49 “Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain,
just as the slain in all the earth
have fallen because of Babylon.(DV)
50 You who have escaped the sword,
leave(DW) and do not linger!
Remember(DX) the Lord in a distant land,(DY)
and call to mind Jerusalem.”
51 “We are disgraced,(DZ)
for we have been insulted
and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s house.”(EA)
52 “But days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will punish her idols,(EB)
and throughout her land
the wounded will groan.(EC)
53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens(ED)
and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
I will send destroyers(EE) against her,”
declares the Lord.
54 “The sound of a cry(EF) comes from Babylon,
the sound of great destruction(EG)
from the land of the Babylonians.[h]
55 The Lord will destroy Babylon;
he will silence(EH) her noisy din.
Waves(EI) of enemies will rage like great waters;
the roar of their voices will resound.
56 A destroyer(EJ) will come against Babylon;
her warriors will be captured,
and their bows will be broken.(EK)
For the Lord is a God of retribution;
he will repay(EL) in full.
57 I will make her officials(EM) and wise(EN) men drunk,(EO)
her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep(EP) forever and not awake,”
declares the King,(EQ) whose name is the Lord Almighty.
58 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Babylon’s thick wall(ER) will be leveled
and her high gates(ES) set on fire;
the peoples(ET) exhaust(EU) themselves for nothing,
the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”(EV)
59 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah,(EW) the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah(EX) king of Judah in the fourth(EY) year of his reign. 60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll(EZ) about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. 61 He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62 Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate(FA) forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.(FB) 64 Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more(FC) because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people(FD) will fall.’”(FE)
The words of Jeremiah end(FF) here.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 51:1 Leb Kamai is a cryptogram for Chaldea, that is, Babylonia.
- Jeremiah 51:3 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
- Jeremiah 51:4 Or Chaldea
- Jeremiah 51:5 Or Almighty, / and the land of the Babylonians
- Jeremiah 51:24 Or Chaldea; also in verse 35
- Jeremiah 51:35 Or done to us and to our children
- Jeremiah 51:41 Sheshak is a cryptogram for Babylon.
- Jeremiah 51:54 Or Chaldeans
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