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Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people.[a]
Flee to save your lives.
Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins,
for it is time for the Lord to wreak his revenge.
He will pay Babylonia[b] back for what she has done.[c]
Babylonia had been a gold cup in the Lord’s hand;
she had made the whole world drunk.
The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath,[d]
so they have all gone mad.[e]
But suddenly Babylonia will fall and be destroyed.[f]
Cry out in mourning over it!
Get medicine for her wounds;
perhaps she can be healed!
Foreigners living there will say,[g]
‘We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed.
Let’s leave Babylonia[h] and each go back to his own country.
For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions.
It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.’[i]
10 The exiles from Judah will say,[j]
‘The Lord has brought about a great deliverance for us![k]
Come on, let’s go and proclaim in Zion
what the Lord our God has done!’

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:6 tn The words “you foreign people” are not in the text, and many think the referent is the exiles of Judah. While this is clearly the case in v. 45, the referent seems broader here, where the context speaks of every man going to his own country (v. 9).
  2. Jeremiah 51:6 tn Heb “her.”
  3. Jeremiah 51:6 tn Heb “paying to her a recompense [i.e., a payment in kind].”
  4. Jeremiah 51:7 tn The words “of her wrath” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation to help readers who are not familiar with the figure of the “cup of the Lord’s wrath.”sn The figure of the cup of the Lord’s wrath, invoked in Jer 25:15-29, is invoked again here, and Babylon is identified as the agent through which the wrath of the Lord is visited on the other nations. See the study note on 25:15 for explanation and further references.
  5. Jeremiah 51:7 tn Heb “Upon the grounds of such conditions the nations have gone mad.”
  6. Jeremiah 51:8 tn The verbs in this verse and the following are all in the Hebrew perfect tense, a tense often referring to a past action, or a past action with present results. However, as the translator’s notes have indicated, the prophets use this tense to view actions as if they were as good as done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). The stance here is ideal, viewed as already accomplished.
  7. Jeremiah 51:9 tn The words “Foreigners living there will say” are not in the text but are implicit from the third line. These words are generally assumed by the commentaries and are explicitly added in TEV and NCV, which are attempting to clarify the text for the average reader.
  8. Jeremiah 51:9 tn Heb “Leave/abandon her.” However, it is smoother in the English translation to make this verb equivalent to the cohortative that follows.
  9. Jeremiah 51:9 tn This is an admittedly very paraphrastic translation that tries to make the figurative nuance of the Hebrew original understandable for the average reader. The Hebrew text reads, “For her judgment [or punishment (cf. BDB 1078 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f) = ‘execution of judgment’] touches the heavens and is lifted up as far as the clouds.” The figure of hyperbole, or exaggeration, is being used here to indicate the vastness of Babylon’s punishment, which is the reason to escape (vv. 6, 9c). For this figure see Deut 1:28 in comparison with Num 13:28, and see also Deut 9:1. In both of the passages in Deut it refers to an exaggeration about the height of the walls of fortified cities. The figure also may be a play on Gen 11:4, where the nations gather in Babylon to build a tower that reaches to the skies. The present translation has interpreted the perfects here as prophetic, because the punishment has not happened yet or they would not be encouraging one another to leave and escape. For the idea here compare 50:16.
  10. Jeremiah 51:10 tn The words “The exiles from Judah will say” are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation to clearly identify for the reader the referent of “us.”
  11. Jeremiah 51:10 tn There is some difference of opinion as to the best way to render the Hebrew expression here. Literally it means “brought forth our righteousnesses.” BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 7.b interprets this of the “righteous acts” of the people of Judah and compares the usage in Isa 64:6; Ezek 3:20; 18:24; 33:13. However, Judah’s acts of righteousness (or more simply, their righteousness) were scarcely revealed in their deliverance. Most of the English versions and commentaries refer to “vindication,” i.e., the Lord has exonerated or proven Israel’s claims to be true. However, that would require more explanation than the idea of “deliverance,” which is a perfectly legitimate usage of the term (cf. BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 6.a, and compare the usage in Isa 46:13; 51:6, 8; 56:1). The present translation interprets the plural form here as a plural of intensity or amplification (GKC 397-98 §124.e), and the suffix as a genitive of advantage (IBHS 147 §9.5.2e). This interpretation is also reflected in REB and God’s Word.

Flee from the midst of Babylon;
    save your lives, each of you!
Do not perish because of her guilt,
    for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance;
    he is repaying her what is due.(A)
Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
    making all the earth drunken;
the nations drank of her wine,
    and so the nations went mad.(B)
Suddenly Babylon has fallen and is shattered;
    wail for her!
Bring balm for her wound;
    perhaps she may be healed.(C)
We tried to heal Babylon,
    but she could not be healed.
Forsake her, and let each of us go
    to our own country,
for her judgment has reached up to heaven
    and has been lifted up even to the skies.(D)
10 The Lord has brought forth our vindication;
    come, let us declare in Zion
    the work of the Lord our God.(E)

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