Jeremiah’s Command to Seraiah

59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of (A)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 (B)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 (C)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, (D)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.

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The Scroll Concerning Babylon is Thrown into the Euphrates

59 The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, at his going with Zedekiah, the king of Judah, to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was the quartermaster.[a] 60 And Jeremiah wrote all the disasters[b] that would come on Babylon in one scroll, all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “At your coming to Babylon, then you must see that you read aloud all these words. 62 And you must say, ‘Yahweh, you yourself spoke against this place, to destroy it, so that there will not be in it anything living, from humankind to animals,[c] for it will be an everlasting desolation.’[d] 63 And then[e] when you finish reading aloud this scroll, you must tie a stone on it, and you must throw it into the middle of the Euphrates. 64 And you must say, ‘Babylon will sink, and she will not rise, because of[f] the face of the disasters[g] that I am bringing on her, and they will grow weary.’” Thus far[h] the words of Jeremiah.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:59 Literally “official of the resting place”
  2. Jeremiah 51:60 Hebrew “disaster”
  3. Jeremiah 51:62 Hebrew “animal”
  4. Jeremiah 51:62 Literally “a desolation of eternity”
  5. Jeremiah 51:63 Literally “And it will happen”
  6. Jeremiah 51:64 Literally “from”
  7. Jeremiah 51:64 Hebrew “disaster”
  8. Jeremiah 51:64 Literally “Up to here”