36 Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“Behold, I am going to (A)plead your case
And (B)take vengeance for you;
And (C)I will dry up her [a]sea
And make her fountain dry.
37 (D)Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals,
An (E)object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.
38 They will roar together like (F)young lions,
They will growl like lions’ cubs.
39 When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet
And (G)make them drunk, so that they may rejoice in triumph,
And may (H)sleep a perpetual sleep
And not wake up,” declares the Lord.
40 “I will bring them down like [b]lambs (I)to the slaughter,
Like rams together with male goats.

41 “How [c](J)Sheshak has been captured,
And (K)the praise of the whole earth has been seized!
How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!
42 The [d](L)sea has come up over Babylon;
She has been engulfed by its roaring waves.
43 Her cities have become an (M)object of horror,
A dry land and a desert,
A land in which (N)no one lives
And through which no [e]one of mankind passes.
44 (O)I will punish Bel in Babylon,
And I will make what he has swallowed (P)come out of his mouth;
And the nations will no longer (Q)stream toward him.
Even the (R)wall of Babylon has fallen down!

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:36 Or broad river
  2. Jeremiah 51:40 Or young rams
  3. Jeremiah 51:41 Cryptic name for Babylon
  4. Jeremiah 51:42 Or broad river
  5. Jeremiah 51:43 Lit son of man

36 Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“See, I will defend your cause(A)
    and avenge(B) you;
I will dry up(C) her sea
    and make her springs dry.
37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
    a haunt(D) of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,(E)
    a place where no one lives.(F)
38 Her people all roar like young lions,(G)
    they growl like lion cubs.
39 But while they are aroused,
    I will set out a feast for them
    and make them drunk,(H)
so that they shout with laughter—
    then sleep forever(I) and not awake,”
declares the Lord.(J)
40 “I will bring them down
    like lambs to the slaughter,
    like rams and goats.(K)

41 “How Sheshak[a](L) will be captured,(M)
    the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate(N) Babylon will be
    among the nations!
42 The sea will rise over Babylon;
    its roaring waves(O) will cover her.
43 Her towns will be desolate,
    a dry and desert(P) land,
a land where no one lives,
    through which no one travels.(Q)
44 I will punish Bel(R) in Babylon
    and make him spew out(S) what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
    And the wall(T) of Babylon will fall.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:41 Sheshak is a cryptogram for Babylon.