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.

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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

51 This is what the Lord says:
“I will stir up a destroyer against Babylon
    and the people of Babylonia.[a]
Foreigners will come and winnow her,
    blowing her away as chaff.
They will come from every side
    to rise against her in her day of trouble.
Don’t let the archers put on their armor
    or draw their bows.
Don’t spare even her best soldiers!
    Let her army be completely destroyed.[b]
They will fall dead in the land of the Babylonians,[c]
    slashed to death in her streets.
For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    has not abandoned Israel and Judah.
He is still their God,
    even though their land was filled with sin
    against the Holy One of Israel.”

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Footnotes

  1. 51:1 Hebrew of Leb-kamai, a code name for Babylonia.
  2. 51:3 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
  3. 51:4 Or Chaldeans; also in 51:54.