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59 The [a]message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of (A)Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with (B)Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (Now Seraiah was quartermaster.) 60 So Jeremiah (C)wrote in a single [b]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 [c]promised concerning this place to (D)cut it off, so that there will be (E)nothing inhabiting it, [d]whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.’ 63 And as soon as you finish reading this [e]scroll, you will tie a stone to it and (F)throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64 and then you will say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and (G)not rise again because of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become (H)utterly weary.’” (I)Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:59 Lit word
  2. Jeremiah 51:60 Or book
  3. Jeremiah 51:62 Lit spoken
  4. Jeremiah 51:62 Lit from man even to beast
  5. Jeremiah 51:63 Or book

59 This is what the prophet Jeremiah instructed the staff officer[a] Seraiah, Neriah’s son and Mahseiah’s grandson, when Seraiah went to Babylon with Judah’s King Zedekiah in the fourth year of his rule. 60 Jeremiah wrote down in a single scroll all the disasters that would happen to Babylon—all these things concerning Babylon. 61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah: When you get to Babylon, see to it that you read all these words. 62 Then say, “Lord, you declared that this place will be destroyed and nothing will remain in it—neither human nor animal; that it will forever be a wasteland!” 63 When you finish reading the scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates River. 64 Then say, “In the same way, Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the disaster I’m bringing against it.”

Jeremiah’s words end here.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:59 Or officer of rest, often translated as quartermaster