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51 The Lord says: I will stir up a destroyer against Babylon, against that whole land of the Chaldeans, and destroy it. Winnowers shall come and winnow her and blow her away; they shall come from every side to rise against her in her day of trouble. The arrows of the enemy shall strike down the bowmen of Babylon and pierce her warriors in their coats of mail. No one shall be spared; both young and old alike shall be destroyed. They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, slashed to death in her streets. For the Lord Almighty has not forsaken Israel and Judah. He is still their God, but the land of the Chaldeans[a] is filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

Flee from Babylon! Save yourselves! Don’t get trapped! If you stay, you will be destroyed when God takes his vengeance on all of Babylon’s sins. Babylon has been as a gold cup in the Lord’s hands, a cup from which he made the whole earth drink and go mad. But now, suddenly Babylon too has fallen. Weep for her; give her medicine; perhaps she can yet be healed. We would help her if we could, but nothing can save her now. Let her go. Abandon her and return to your own land, for God is judging her from heaven. 10 The Lord has vindicated us. Come, let us declare in Jerusalem all the Lord our God has done.

11 Sharpen the arrows! Lift up the shields! For the Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes to march on Babylon and destroy her. This is his vengeance on those who wronged his people and desecrated his Temple. 12 Prepare your defenses, Babylon! Set many watchmen on your walls; send out an ambush, for the Lord will do all he has said he would concerning Babylon. 13 O wealthy port, great center of commerce, your end has come; the thread of your life is cut. 14 The Lord Almighty has taken this vow and sworn to it in his own name: Your cities shall be filled with enemies, like fields filled with locusts in a plague, and they shall lift to the skies their mighty shouts of victory.

15 God made the earth by his power and wisdom. He stretched out the heavens by his understanding. 16 When he speaks, there is thunder in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to rise around the world; he brings the lightning with the rain and the winds from his treasuries. 17 Compared to him, all men are stupid beasts. They have no wisdom—none at all! The silversmith is dulled by the images he makes, for in making them he lies; for he calls them gods when there is not a breath of life in them at all! 18 Idols are nothing! They are lies! And the time is coming when God will come and see, and shall destroy them all. 19 But the God of Israel is no idol! For he made everything there is, and Israel is his nation; the Lord Almighty is his name.

20 Cyrus is[b] God’s battleaxe and sword. I will use you, says the Lord, to break nations in pieces and to destroy many kingdoms. 21 With you I will crush armies, destroying the horse and his rider, the chariot and the charioteer— 22 yes, and the civilians too, both old and young, young men and maidens, 23 shepherds and flocks, farmers and oxen, captains and rulers; 24 before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all the Chaldeans for all the evil they have done to my people, says the Lord.

25 For see, I am against you, O mighty mountain, Babylon, destroyer of the earth! I will lift my hand against you, roll you down from your heights, and leave you, a burnt-out mountain. 26 You shall be desolate forever;[c] even your stones shall never be used for building again. You shall be completely wiped out.

27 Signal many nations to mobilize for war on Babylon. Sound the battle cry; bring out the armies of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a leader; bring a multitude of horses! 28 Bring against her the armies of the kings of the Medes and their generals, and the armies of all the countries they rule.

29 Babylon trembles and writhes in pain, for all that the Lord has planned against her stands unchanged. Babylon will be left desolate without a living soul. 30 Her mightiest soldiers no longer fight; they stay in their barracks. Their courage is gone; they have become as women. The invaders have burned the houses and broken down the city gates. 31 Messengers from every side come running to the king to tell him all is lost! 32 All the escape routes are blocked; the fortifications are burning, and the army is in panic.

33 For the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Babylon is like the wheat upon a threshing floor; in just a little while the flailing will begin.

34-35 The Jews in Babylon say, “Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has eaten and crushed us and emptied out our strength; he has swallowed us like a great monster and filled his belly with our riches; he has cast us out of our own country. May Babylon be repaid for all she did to us! May she be paid in full for all our blood she spilled!”

36 And the Lord replies: I will be your lawyer; I will plead your case; I will avenge you. I will dry up her river, her water supply, 37 and Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, haunted by jackals, a land horrible to see, incredible, without a living soul. 38 In their drunken feasts, the men of Babylon roar like lions. 39 And while they lie inflamed with all their wine, I will prepare a different kind of feast for them and make them drink until they fall unconscious to the floor, to sleep forever, never to waken again, says the Lord. 40 I will bring them like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats.

41 How Babylon is fallen—great Babylon, lauded by all the earth! The world can scarcely believe its eyes at Babylon’s fall! 42 The sea has risen upon Babylon; she is covered by its waves. 43 Her cities lie in ruins—she is a dry wilderness where no one lives nor even travelers pass by. 44 And I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon, and pull from his mouth what he has taken. The nations shall no longer come and worship him; the wall of Babylon has fallen.

45 O my people, flee from Babylon; save yourselves from the fierce anger of the Lord. 46 But don’t panic when you hear the first rumor of approaching forces. For rumors will keep coming year by year. Then there will be a time of civil war as the governors of Babylon fight against each other. 47 For the time is surely coming when I will punish this great city and all her idols; her dead shall lie in the streets. 48 Heaven and earth shall rejoice, for out of the north shall come destroying armies against Babylon, says the Lord. 49 Just as Babylon killed the people of Israel, so must she be killed. 50 Go, you who escaped the sword! Don’t stand and watch—flee while you can! Remember the Lord and return to Jerusalem far away!

51 “We are ashamed because the Temple of the Lord has been defiled by foreigners from Babylon.”

52 Yes, says the Lord. But the time is coming for the destruction of the idols of Babylon. All through the land will be heard the groans of the wounded. 53 Though Babylon be as powerful as heaven, though she increase her strength immeasurably, she shall die, says the Lord.

54 Listen! Hear the cry of great destruction out of Babylon, the land the Chaldeans rule! 55 For the Lord is destroying Babylon; her mighty voice is stilled as the waves roar in upon her. 56 Destroying armies come and slay her mighty men; all her weapons break in her hands, for the Lord God gives just punishment and is giving Babylon all her due. 57 I will make drunk her princes, wise men, rulers, captains, warriors. They shall sleep and not wake up again! So says the King, the Lord Almighty. 58 For the wide walls of Babylon shall be leveled to the ground, and her high gates shall be burned; the builders from many lands have worked in vain—their work shall be destroyed by fire!

59 During the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign, this message came to Jeremiah to give to Seraiah (son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah), concerning Seraiah’s capture[d] and exile to Babylon along with Zedekiah, king of Judah. (Seraiah was quartermaster of Zedekiah’s army.) 60 Jeremiah wrote on a scroll all the terrible things God had scheduled against Babylon—all the words written above— 61-62 and gave the scroll to Seraiah and said to him, “When you get to Babylon, read what I have written and say, ‘Lord, you have said that you will destroy Babylon so that not a living creature will remain, and it will be abandoned forever.’ 63 Then, when you have finished reading the scroll, tie a rock to it, and throw it into the Euphrates River, 64 and say, ‘So shall Babylon sink, never more to rise, because of the evil I am bringing upon her.’”

(This ends Jeremiah’s messages.)

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:5 the land of the Chaldeans, implied.
  2. Jeremiah 51:20 Cyrus is, literally, “You are,” Cyrus was used of God to conquer Babylon. See also Isaiah 44:28; 45:1.
  3. Jeremiah 51:26 You shall be desolate forever. This complete destruction of the city of Babylon was accomplished by later Persian kings. Jeremiah here sees the long-range picture of the city’s history, and does not confine himself to Cyrus.
  4. Jeremiah 51:59 concerning Seraiah’s capture. This event occurred six years after this prophecy.

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]
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.
(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.
They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
    (F)and wounded in her streets.
(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.

(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.
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.
(N)Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
    (O)wail for her!
(P)Take balm for her pain;
    perhaps she may be healed.
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

  1. Jeremiah 51:1 A code name for Chaldea
  2. Jeremiah 51:3 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
  3. Jeremiah 51:5 Hebrew their land
  4. Jeremiah 51:34 Or he has expelled me
  5. Jeremiah 51:41 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon