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Jeremiah 51
Legacy Standard Bible
Jeremiah 51
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh Sends Calamity to Babylon
51 Thus says Yahweh:
“Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon
And against the inhabitants of [a]Leb-kamai
[b]The (A)spirit of a destroyer.
2 I will send [c]strangers to Babylon that they may (B)winnow her
And may empty her land to destruction;
For on every side they will be against her
In the day of her calamity.
3 [d]Let not [e]him who [f](C)bends his bow [g]bend it,
[h]Nor let him rise up in his (D)scale-armor;
So do not spare her young men;
Devote all her army to destruction.
4 They will fall down [i]slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
And (E)pierced through in their streets.”
5 For (F)neither Israel nor Judah has been widowed
By his God, by Yahweh of hosts,
Although their land is (G)full of guilt
[j]Before the Holy One of Israel.
6 (H)Flee from the midst of Babylon,
And each of you escape with his life!
Do not be [k](I)silenced in her [l]iniquity,
For this is (J)Yahweh’s time of vengeance;
He is going to (K)render recompense to her.
7 Babylon has been a golden (L)cup in the hand of Yahweh,
Intoxicating all the earth.
The (M)nations have drunk of her wine;
Therefore the nations are (N)going mad.
8 Suddenly (O)Babylon has fallen and been broken;
(P)Wail over her!
(Q)Take [m]balm for her pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.
9 We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed;
Forsake her and (R)let us each go to his own country,
For her judgment has (S)touched heaven
And lifts up to the very skies.
10 Yahweh has (T)brought [n]about our righteousness;
Come and let us (U)recount in Zion
The work of Yahweh our God!
11 (V)Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
Yahweh has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes
Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it;
For it is the (W)vengeance of Yahweh, vengeance for His temple.
12 (X)Lift up a standard against the walls of Babylon;
Make strong the watch;
Raise up [o]watchmen;
Establish men in ambush!
For Yahweh has both (Y)purposed and performed
What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O you who (Z)dwell by abundant waters,
Abundant in (AA)treasures,
Your end has come,
The [p]measure of your [q](AB)end.
14 (AC)Yahweh of hosts has sworn by Himself:
“Surely I will fill you with a [r]population like (AD)locusts,
And they will cry out with [s]shouts of victory over you.”
15 It is (AE)He who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom,
And by His understanding He (AF)stretched out the heavens.
16 When He gives forth His (AG)voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
And He causes the (AH)clouds to ascend from the end of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain
And brings forth the (AI)wind from His storehouses.
17 (AJ)All mankind is senseless, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image,
For his molten images are (AK)a lie,
And there is no breath in them.
18 They are (AL)vanity, a work of mockery;
In the time of their punishment they will perish.
19 The (AM)portion of Jacob is not like these;
For the [t]Maker of all is He,
And of the [u]tribe of His inheritance;
(AN)Yahweh of hosts is His name.
20 He says, “You are My (AO)instrument of shattering, My weapon of war;
And with you I (AP)shatter nations,
And with you I destroy kingdoms.
21 With you I (AQ)shatter the horse and his rider,
And with you I shatter the (AR)chariot and its rider,
22 And with you I shatter (AS)man and woman,
And with you I shatter old man and (AT)youth,
And with you I shatter choice man and virgin,
23 And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock,
And with you I shatter the farmer and his pair of oxen,
And with you I shatter governors and prefects.
24 “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of (AU)Chaldea for (AV)all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares Yahweh.
25 “Behold, (AW)I am against you, (AX)O destroying mountain,
Who destroys the whole earth,” declares Yahweh,
“And I will stretch out My hand against you
And roll you down from the crags,
And I will make you a (AY)burnt out mountain.
26 They will not take from you even a stone for a corner
Nor a stone for foundations,
But you will be a perpetual (AZ)desolation,” declares Yahweh.
27 (BA)Lift up a standard in the land,
Blow a trumpet among the nations!
Set apart the nations against her;
Summon against her the (BB)kingdoms of (BC)Ararat, Minni, and (BD)Ashkenaz;
Appoint a marshal against her;
Bring up the (BE)horses like bristly locusts.
28 Set apart the nations against her,
The kings of the Medes,
[v]Their governors and all [w]their [x]prefects
And every land of [y]their rule.
29 So the (BF)land quakes and writhes,
For the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon stand,
To make the land of Babylon
[z]A (BG)desolation without inhabitants.
30 The (BH)mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting;
They inhabit the strongholds;
(BI)Their might is dried up;
They are becoming (BJ)like women;
Their dwelling places are set on fire;
The (BK)bars of her gates are broken.
31 One (BL)runner runs to meet [aa]another,
And one (BM)messenger to meet [ab]another,
To give a message to the king of Babylon
That his city has been captured from end to end;
32 The fords also have been seized,
And they have burned the marshes with fire,
And the men of war are terrified.
33 For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel:
“The daughter of Babylon is like a (BN)threshing floor
At the time [ac]it is stamped firm;
Yet in a little while the time of (BO)harvest will come for her.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has (BP)devoured me and brought me into confusion;
He has set me down like an (BQ)empty vessel;
He has (BR)swallowed me like a sea monster;
He has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
He has rinsed me away.
35 May the (BS)violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,”
The [ad]inhabitant of Zion will say;
And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
Jerusalem will say.
36 Therefore thus says Yahweh,
“Behold, I am going to (BT)plead your case
And (BU)exact full vengeance for you;
And (BV)I will dry up her [ae]sea
And make her fountain dry.
37 (BW)Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals,
An (BX)object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.
38 They will roar together like (BY)young lions;
They will growl like lions’ cubs.
39 When they become heated up, I will set before them their feast
And (BZ)make them drunk, that they may exult
And may (CA)sleep a perpetual sleep
And not wake up,” declares Yahweh.
40 “I will bring them down like [af]lambs (CB)to the slaughter,
Like rams together with male goats.
41 “How [ag](CC)Sheshak has been captured,
And (CD)the praise of the whole earth been seized!
How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!
42 The [ah](CE)sea has come up over Babylon;
She has been covered with its tumultuous waves.
43 Her cities have become an (CF)object of horror,
A parched land, and a desert,
A land in which (CG)no man lives
And through which no son of man passes.
44 (CH)I will punish Bel in Babylon,
And I will make what he has swallowed (CI)come out of his mouth;
And the nations will no longer (CJ)stream to him.
Even the (CK)wall of Babylon has fallen down!
45 “(CL)Come forth from her midst, My people,
And each of you (CM)escape with his life
From the burning anger of Yahweh.
46 Now (CN)lest your heart grow faint,
And you fear the (CO)report that will be heard in the land—
For the report will come [ai]one year,
And after that [aj]another report in [ak]another year,
And violence will be in the land
With (CP)ruler against ruler—
47 Therefore behold, days are coming
When I will punish the (CQ)graven images of Babylon;
And her whole land will be (CR)put to shame,
And all her slain will fall in her midst.
48 Then (CS)heaven and earth and all that is in them
Will shout for joy over Babylon,
For (CT)the destroyers will come to her from the north,”
Declares Yahweh.
49 (CU)Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel,
As also for Babylon (CV)the slain of all the earth have fallen.
50 You (CW)who have escaped the sword,
Go! Do not stand around!
(CX)Remember Yahweh from afar,
And let Jerusalem come upon your heart.
51 (CY)We are ashamed because we have heard reproach;
Dishonor has covered our faces,
For (CZ)strangers have entered
The holy places of the house of Yahweh.
52 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh,
“When I will punish her (DA)graven images,
And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.
53 Though Babylon should (DB)ascend to the heavens,
And though she should fortify [al]her lofty stronghold,
From (DC)Me destroyers will come to her,” declares Yahweh.
54 The (DD)sound of an outcry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For Yahweh is going to destroy Babylon,
And He will make her loud [am]noise [an]vanish from her.
And their (DE)waves will roar like many waters;
The rumbling of their voices [ao]sounds forth.
56 For the (DF)destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
And her mighty men will be captured;
Their (DG)bows are shattered;
For Yahweh is a God of (DH)recompense,
He will fully repay.
57 “I will (DI)make her princes and her wise men drunk,
Her governors, her prefects, and her mighty men,
That they may sleep a (DJ)perpetual sleep and not wake up,”
(DK)Declares the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts.
58 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“The broad (DL)wall of Babylon will be completely razed,
And her high (DM)gates will be set on fire;
So the peoples will (DN)toil for nothing,
And the nations become (DO)weary only for fire.”
59 The [ap]message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of (DP)Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with (DQ)Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (Now Seraiah was quartermaster.) 60 So Jeremiah (DR)wrote in a single [aq]scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon. 61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud, 62 and then you will say, ‘You, O Yahweh, have [ar]promised concerning this place to (DS)cut it off, so that there will be (DT)nothing inhabiting it, [as]whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.’ 63 And as soon as you finish reading this [at]scroll, you will tie a stone to it and (DU)throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64 and then you will say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and (DV)not rise again because of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become (DW)utterly weary.’” (DX)Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 51:1 Cryptic name for Chaldea; or the heart of those who rise up against Me
- Jeremiah 51:1 Or A destroying wind
- Jeremiah 51:2 Some versions winnowers
- Jeremiah 51:3 M.T. Against him who
- Jeremiah 51:3 The Chaldean defender
- Jeremiah 51:3 Lit tread(s) (in order to string)
- Jeremiah 51:3 Lit tread(s) (in order to string)
- Jeremiah 51:3 M.T. Against him who
- Jeremiah 51:4 Or wounded
- Jeremiah 51:5 Lit From
- Jeremiah 51:6 Or made lifeless
- Jeremiah 51:6 Or penalty for iniquity
- Jeremiah 51:8 Or balsam resin
- Jeremiah 51:10 Lit forth
- Jeremiah 51:12 Or sentries
- Jeremiah 51:13 Lit cubit
- Jeremiah 51:13 Lit being cut off
- Jeremiah 51:14 Or mankind
- Jeremiah 51:14 Something like the song of grape treaders
- Jeremiah 51:19 Lit Fashioner
- Jeremiah 51:19 Or Scepter, cf. Num 24:17
- Jeremiah 51:28 Lit Her
- Jeremiah 51:28 Lit Her
- Jeremiah 51:28 Lieutenant governors
- Jeremiah 51:28 Lit his
- Jeremiah 51:29 Or An object of horror
- Jeremiah 51:31 Lit runner
- Jeremiah 51:31 Or messenger; lit announcer
- Jeremiah 51:33 Lit of treading it
- Jeremiah 51:35 Lit inhabitress
- Jeremiah 51:36 Or broad river
- Jeremiah 51:40 Or young rams
- Jeremiah 51:41 Cryptic name for Babylon
- Jeremiah 51:42 Or broad river
- Jeremiah 51:46 Lit in the
- Jeremiah 51:46 Lit the
- Jeremiah 51:46 Lit the
- Jeremiah 51:53 Lit the height of her strength
- Jeremiah 51:55 Or voice
- Jeremiah 51:55 Lit perish
- Jeremiah 51:55 Lit is given
- Jeremiah 51:59 Lit word
- Jeremiah 51:60 Or book
- Jeremiah 51:62 Lit spoken
- Jeremiah 51:62 Lit from man even to beast
- Jeremiah 51:63 Or book
Jeremiah 51
King James Version
Jeremiah 51
King James Version
51 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
2 And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
3 Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly 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 not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10 The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.
11 Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.
12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
14 The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
15 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
16 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
17 Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18 They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.
20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
24 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord.
25 Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the Lord.
27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
31 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
32 And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
33 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.
35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.
39 In their heat I will make their 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, like rams with he goats.
41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
42 The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord.
46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the Lord.
49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51 We are 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 do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord.
54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
55 Because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the Lord God of recompences shall surely requite.
57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty 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 broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;
62 Then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:
64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 51
New King James Version
Jeremiah 51
New King James Version
The Utter Destruction of Babylon
51 Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will raise up against (A)Babylon,
Against those who dwell in [a]Leb Kamai,
(B)A destroying wind.
2 And I will send (C)winnowers to Babylon,
Who shall winnow her and empty her land.
(D)For in the day of doom
They shall be against her all around.
3 Against her (E)let the archer bend his bow,
And lift himself up against her in his armor.
Do not spare her young men;
(F)Utterly destroy all her army.
4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans,
(G)And those thrust through in her streets.
5 For Israel is (H)not forsaken, nor Judah,
By his God, the Lord of hosts,
Though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.”
6 (I)Flee from the midst of Babylon,
And every one save his life!
Do not be cut off in her iniquity,
For (J)this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance;
(K)He shall recompense her.
7 (L)Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
That made all the earth drunk.
(M)The nations drank her wine;
Therefore the nations (N)are deranged.
8 Babylon has suddenly (O)fallen and been destroyed.
(P)Wail for her!
(Q)Take balm for her pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon,
But she is not healed.
Forsake her, and (R)let us go everyone to his own country;
(S)For her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies.
10 The Lord has (T)revealed our righteousness.
Come and let us (U)declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.
11 (V)Make[b] the arrows bright!
Gather the shields!
(W)The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes.
(X)For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it,
Because it is (Y)the vengeance of the Lord,
The vengeance for His temple.
12 (Z)Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon;
Make the guard strong,
Set up the watchmen,
Prepare the ambushes.
For the Lord has both devised and done
What He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 (AA)O you who dwell by many waters,
Abundant in treasures,
Your end has come,
The measure of your covetousness.
14 (AB)The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself:
“Surely I will fill you with men, (AC)as with locusts,
And they shall lift (AD)up a shout against you.”
15 (AE)He has made the earth by His power;
He has established the world by His wisdom,
And (AF)stretched out the heaven by His understanding.
16 When He utters His voice—
There is a multitude of waters in the heavens:
(AG)“He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
He makes lightnings for the rain;
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”
17 (AH)Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge;
Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image;
(AI)For his molded image is falsehood,
And there is no breath in them.
18 They are futile, a work of errors;
In the time of their punishment they shall perish.
19 The Portion of Jacob is not like them,
For He is the Maker of all things;
And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance.
The Lord of hosts is His name.
20 “You(AJ) are My battle-ax and weapons of war:
For with you I will break the nation in pieces;
With you I will destroy kingdoms;
21 With you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider;
With you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider;
22 With you also I will break in pieces man and woman;
With you I will break in pieces (AK)old and young;
With you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden;
23 With you also I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;
With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen;
And with you I will break in pieces governors and rulers.
24 “And(AL) I will repay Babylon
And all the inhabitants of Chaldea
For all the evil they have done
In Zion in your sight,” says the Lord.
25 “Behold, I am against you, (AM)O destroying mountain,
Who destroys all the earth,” says the Lord.
“And I will stretch out My hand against you,
Roll you down from the rocks,
(AN)And make you a burnt mountain.
26 They shall not take from you a stone for a corner
Nor a stone for a foundation,
(AO)But you shall be desolate forever,” says the Lord.
27 (AP)Set up a banner in the land,
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
(AQ)Prepare the nations against her,
Call (AR)the kingdoms together against her:
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a general against her;
Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts.
28 Prepare against her the nations,
With the kings of the Medes,
Its governors and all its rulers,
All the land of his dominion.
29 And the land will tremble and sorrow;
For every (AS)purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon,
(AT)To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting,
They have remained in their strongholds;
Their might has failed,
(AU)They became like women;
They have burned her dwelling places,
(AV)The bars of her gate are broken.
31 (AW)One runner will run to meet another,
And one messenger to meet another,
To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides;
32 (AX)The passages are blocked,
The reeds they have burned with fire,
And the men of war are terrified.
33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“The daughter of Babylon is (AY)like a threshing floor
When (AZ)it is time to thresh her;
Yet a little while
(BA)And the time of her harvest will come.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon
Has (BB)devoured me, he has crushed me;
He has made me an (BC)empty vessel,
He has swallowed me up like a monster;
He has filled his stomach with my delicacies,
He has spit me out.
35 Let the violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon,”
The inhabitant of Zion will say;
“And my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!”
Jerusalem will say.
36 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, (BD)I will plead your case and take vengeance for you.
(BE)I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.
37 (BF)Babylon shall become a heap,
A dwelling place for jackals,
(BG)An astonishment and a hissing,
Without an inhabitant.
38 They shall roar together like lions,
They shall growl like lions’ whelps.
39 In their excitement I will prepare their feasts;
(BH)I will make them drunk,
That they may rejoice,
And sleep a perpetual sleep
And not awake,” says the Lord.
40 “I will bring them down
Like lambs to the slaughter,
Like rams with male goats.
41 “Oh, how (BI)Sheshach[c] is taken!
Oh, how (BJ)the praise of the whole earth is seized!
How Babylon has become desolate among the nations!
42 (BK)The sea has come up over Babylon;
She is covered with the multitude of its waves.
43 (BL)Her cities are a desolation,
A dry land and a wilderness,
A land where (BM)no one dwells,
Through which no son of man passes.
44 I will punish (BN)Bel[d] in Babylon,
And I will bring out of his mouth what he has swallowed;
And the nations shall not stream to him anymore.
Yes, (BO)the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45 “My(BP) people, go out of the midst of her!
And let everyone deliver [e]himself from the fierce anger of the Lord.
46 And lest your heart faint,
And you fear (BQ)for the rumor that will be heard in the land
(A rumor will come one year,
And after that, in another year
A rumor will come,
And violence in the land,
Ruler against ruler),
47 Therefore behold, the days are coming
That I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon;
Her whole land shall be ashamed,
And all her slain shall fall in her midst.
48 Then (BR)the heavens and the earth and all that is in them
Shall sing joyously over Babylon;
(BS)For the plunderers shall come to her from the north,” says the Lord.
49 As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall,
So at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall.
50 (BT)You who have escaped the sword,
Get away! Do not stand still!
(BU)Remember the Lord afar off,
And let Jerusalem come to your mind.
51 (BV)We are ashamed because we have heard reproach.
Shame has covered our faces,
For strangers (BW)have come into the [f]sanctuaries of the Lord’s house.
52 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“That I will bring judgment on her carved images,
And throughout all her land the wounded shall groan.
53 (BX)Though Babylon were to [g]mount up to heaven,
And though she were to fortify the height of her strength,
Yet from Me plunderers would come to her,” says the Lord.
54 (BY)The sound of a cry comes from Babylon,
And great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans,
55 Because the Lord is plundering Babylon
And silencing her loud voice,
Though her waves roar like great waters,
And the noise of their voice is uttered,
56 Because the plunderer comes against her, against Babylon,
And her mighty men are taken.
Every one of their bows is broken;
(BZ)For the Lord is the God of recompense,
He will surely repay.
57 “And I will make drunk
Her princes and (CA)wise men,
Her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men.
And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep
And not awake,” says (CB)the King,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts.
58 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly (CC)broken,[h]
And her high gates shall be burned with fire;
(CD)The people will labor in vain,
And the nations, because of the fire;
And they shall be weary.”
Jeremiah’s Command to Seraiah
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of (CE)Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60 So Jeremiah (CF)wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, 62 then you shall say, ‘O Lord, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that (CG)none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.’ 63 Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, (CH)that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates. 64 Then you shall say, ‘Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary.’ ”
Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 51:1 Lit. The Midst of Those Who Rise Up Against Me; a code word for Chaldea, Babylonia
- Jeremiah 51:11 Polish the arrows!
- Jeremiah 51:41 A code word for Babylon, Jer. 25:26
- Jeremiah 51:44 A Babylonian god
- Jeremiah 51:45 Lit. his soul
- Jeremiah 51:51 holy places
- Jeremiah 51:53 ascend
- Jeremiah 51:58 Lit. laid utterly bare
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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