Jeremiah 51
51
1The Lord says,
“I will stir up the spirits of destroyers.
They will march out against Babylon and its people.
2I will send other nations against it
to separate the straw from the grain.
I will send them to destroy Babylon completely.
They will oppose it on every side.
At that time it will be destroyed.
3Do not let its soldiers get their bows ready to use.
Do not let them put on their armor.
Do not spare their young men.
Destroy their armies completely.
4They will fall down dead in Babylon.
They will receive deadly wounds in its streets.
5The land of Israel and Judah is full of guilt.
Its people have sinned against me.
But I have not deserted them. I am their God.
I am the Lord who rules over all.
I am the Holy One of Israel.
6“People of Judah, run away from Babylon!
Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of the sins of its people.
It is time for me to pay them back.
I will punish them for what they have done.
7Babylon was like a gold cup in my hand.
That city made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank its wine.
So now they have gone crazy.
8Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken.
Weep for it!
Get healing lotion for its pain.
Perhaps it can be healed.
9“The nations say, ‘We would have healed Babylon.
But it can’t be healed.
So let’s leave it. Let’s each go to our own land.
Babylon’s sins reach all the way to the skies.
They rise up as high as the heavens.’
10“The people of Judah say,
‘The Lord has made things right for us again.
So come. Let’s tell in Zion
what the Lord our God has done.’
11“I have stirred up you kings of the Medes.
So sharpen your arrows!
Get your shields!
I plan to destroy Babylon.
I will pay the Babylonians back.
They have destroyed my temple.
12Lift up a banner! Attack Babylon’s walls!
Put more guards on duty!
Station more of them to watch over you!
Hide and wait to attack them!
I will do what I have planned.
I will do what I have decided to do
against the people of Babylon.
13You who live by the rivers of Babylon,
your end has come.
You who are rich in treasures,
it is time for you to be destroyed.
14I am the Lord who rules over all.
I have made a promise in my own name.
I have said, ‘I will certainly fill your land with soldiers.
They will be as many as a huge number of locusts.
They will win the battle over you.
They will shout for joy.’
15“I used my power to make the earth.
I used my wisdom to set the world in place.
I used my understanding to spread out the heavens.
16When I thunder, the waters in the heavens roar.
I make clouds rise from one end of the earth to the other.
I send lightning with the rain.
I bring out the wind from my storerooms.
17“No one has any sense.
No one knows anything.
Everyone who works with gold is put to shame
by his wooden gods.
His metal gods are fakes.
They can’t even breathe.
18They are worthless, and people make fun of them.
When I judge them, they will be destroyed.
19But I, the God of Jacob, am not like them.
I give my people everything they need.
I can do this because I made everything, including Israel.
They are the people who belong to me.
My name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
20“Babylon, you are my war club.
You are my weapon for battle.
I use you to destroy nations.
I use you to wipe out kingdoms.
21I use you to destroy horses and their riders.
I use you to destroy chariots and their drivers.
22I use you to destroy men and women.
I use you to destroy old people and young people.
I use you to destroy young men and young women.
23I use you to destroy shepherds and their flocks.
I use you to destroy farmers and their oxen.
I use you to destroy governors and officials.
24“Judah, I will pay Babylon back. You will see it with your own eyes. I will pay back all those who live in Babylon. I will pay them back for all the wrong things they have done in Zion,” announces the Lord.
25“Babylon, I am against you.
Your kingdom is like a destroying mountain.
You have destroyed the whole earth,”
announces the Lord.
“I will reach out my hand against you.
I will roll you off the cliffs.
I will make you like a mountain that has been burned up.
26No rock will be taken from you to be used
as the most important stone for a building.
No stones will be taken from you
to be used for a foundation.
Your land will be empty forever,”
announces the Lord.
27“Nations, lift up a banner in the land of Babylon!
Blow a trumpet among yourselves!
Prepare yourselves for battle against Babylon.
Send the kingdoms
of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz against it.
Appoint a commander against it.
Send many horses against it.
Let them be as many as a huge number of locusts.
28Prepare yourselves for battle against Babylon.
Prepare the kings of the Medes.
Prepare their governors and all their officials.
Prepare all the countries they rule over.
29The Babylonians tremble and shake with fear.
My plans against them stand firm.
I plan to destroy their land completely.
Then no one will live there.
30Babylon’s soldiers have stopped fighting.
They remain in their forts.
Their strength is all gone.
They have become weak.
Their buildings are set on fire.
The metal bars that lock their gates are broken.
31One messenger after another
comes to the king of Babylon.
All of them announce that
his entire city is captured.
32The places where people go across the Euphrates River have been captured.
The swamps have been set on fire.
And the soldiers are terrified.”
33The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,
“The city of Babylon is like a threshing floor
when cattle are walking on it.
The time to destroy it will soon come.”
34The people of Jerusalem say,
“Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has destroyed us.
He has thrown us into a panic.
He has emptied us out like a jar.
Like a snake he has swallowed us up.
He has filled his stomach with our rich food.
Then he has spit us out of his mouth.”
35The people continue, “May the people of Babylon
pay for the harmful things they have done to us.
May those who live in Babylon
pay for spilling the blood of our people.”
That’s what the people who live in Zion say.
36So the Lord says,
“I will stand up for you.
I will pay the Babylonians back for what they did to you.
I will dry up their water supply.
I will make their springs run dry.
37Babylon will have all its buildings knocked down.
It will be a home for wild dogs.
No one will live there.
People will be shocked at it.
They will make fun of it.
38All its people roar like young lions.
They growl like lion cubs.
39They are stirred up.
So I will set a feast in front of them.
I will make them drunk.
And they will shout and laugh.
But then they will lie down and die.
They will never wake up,”
announces the Lord.
40“I will lead them down like lambs to be put to death.
They will be like rams and goats that have been killed.
41“Babylon will be captured!
The whole earth was very proud of it.
But it will be taken over by others!
It will be a deserted place among the nations.
42Babylon’s enemies will sweep over it like an ocean.
Like roaring waves they will cover it.
43The towns of Babylon will be empty.
It will become a dry and desert land.
No one will live there.
No one will even travel through it.
44I will punish the god named Bel in Babylon.
I will make Bel spit out what he has swallowed.
The nations will not come and worship him anymore.
And Babylon’s walls will fall down.
45“Come out of there, my people!
Run for your lives!
Run away from my great anger.
46You will hear about terrible things
that are happening in Babylon.
But do not lose hope. Do not be afraid.
You will hear one thing this year.
And you will hear something else next year.
You will hear about awful things in the land.
You will hear about one ruler fighting against another.
47I will punish the gods of Babylon.
That time will certainly come.
Then the whole land will be full of shame.
Its people will lie down and die there.
48So heaven and earth and everything in them will shout for joy.
They will be glad because of what will happen to Babylon.
Armies will attack it from the north.
And they will destroy it,”
announces the Lord.
49“Babylon’s people have killed my people Israel.
They have also killed people all over the earth.
So now Babylon itself must fall.
50You who have not been killed in the war against Babylon,
leave! Do not wait!
In a land far away remember me.
And think about Jerusalem.”
51The people of Judah reply, “No one honors us anymore.
People make fun of us.
Our faces are covered with shame.
People from other lands have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s house.”
52“But the days are coming,” announces the Lord.
“At that time I will punish the gods of Babylon.
And all through its land
wounded people will groan.
53What if Babylon reached all the way to the heavens?
What if it made its high walls even stronger?
I would still send destroyers against it,”
announces the Lord.
54“The noise of people screaming comes from Babylon.
A terrible sound comes from its land.
It is the sound of a mighty city being destroyed.
55I will destroy Babylon.
I will put an end to all its noise.
Waves of enemies will sweep through it like great waters.
The roar of their voices will fill the air.
56A destroying army will come against Babylon.
The soldiers in the city will be captured.
Their bows will be broken.
I am the Lord God who pays people back.
I will pay them back in full.
57I will make Babylon’s officials and wise men drunk.
I will do the same thing to its governors, officers and soldiers.
They will lie down and die. They will never wake up,”
announces the King. His name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
58The Lord who rules over all says,
“Babylon’s thick walls will fall down flat.
Its high gates will be set on fire.
The nations wear themselves out for no reason at all.
Their hard work will only be burned up in the flames.”
59Jeremiah the prophet gave a message to the staff officer Seraiah, the son of Neriah. Neriah was the son of Mahseiah. Jeremiah told Seraiah to take the message with him to Babylon. Seraiah went there with Zedekiah, the king of Judah. He left in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s rule. 60Jeremiah had written about all the trouble that would come on Babylon. He had written it down on a scroll. It included everything that had been recorded about Babylon. 61Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, here’s what I want you to do. Make sure that you read all these words out loud. 62Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place. You have said that no people or animals will live here. It will be empty forever.’ 63Finish reading the scroll. Tie a stone to it. Throw it into the Euphrates River. 64Then say, ‘In the same way, Babylon will sink down. It will never rise again. That is because I will bring such horrible trouble on it. And its people will fall along with it.’ ”
The words of Jeremiah end here.
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Jeremiah 51: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Jeremiah 51
51
1 Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will raise up, over Babylon and over its inhabitants, who have lifted up their heart against me, something like a pestilent wind.
2 And I will send winnowers into Babylon, and they will winnow her, and they will demolish her land. For they will overwhelm her from every side in the day of her affliction.
3 Let him who draws the bow, not draw his bow. And let him who wears armor, not rise up. Do not spare her young men. Destroy her entire military.
4 And the slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and the wounded in its regions.
5 Yet Israel and Judah have not been widowed by their God, the Lord of hosts, though their land has been filled with transgression against the Holy One of Israel.
6 Flee from the midst of Babylon! And let each one save his own life. Do not be silent about her iniquity. For it is the time of revenge from the Lord. He himself will repay her, in her turn.
7 Babylon is a gold cup in the hand of the Lord, inebriating the entire earth. The nations have drunk from her wine, and therefore they have staggered.
8 Suddenly, Babylon has fallen and been crushed. Wail over her! Take a balm to her pain, if perhaps she may be healed."
9 "We would have cured Babylon, but there is no cure. Let us abandon her, and let each one of us go to his own land. For her judgment has reached even to the heavens, and has been lifted up even to the clouds.
10 The Lord has brought forth our justices. Come and let us describe in Zion the work of the Lord our God."
11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers. The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. And his mind is against Babylon, so that he may destroy her. For this is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.
12 Upon the walls of Babylon, lift up a sign. Increase the watch! Rouse the watchmen! Prepare ambushes! For the Lord has planned and has accomplished all that he has spoken, against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 You who live above many waters, rich in treasures: your end has arrived, your measure has been cut short.
14 The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself, saying: "For I will fill you with men as with locusts, and they will sing a rhythmic chant against you."
15 The One who made the earth by his strength, who prepared the world by his wisdom, and who stretched out the heavens by his prudence:
16 when he utters his voice, the waters will be multiplied in the heavens. The One who lifts up the clouds from the ends of the earth: he has turned lightning into rain, and he has brought forth wind from his storehouses.
17 Each man has become foolish before his own knowledge. Each sculptor has been confounded by his own sculpture. For what he has formed of them is a lie, and there is no spirit in them.
18 They are empty works, deserving of ridicule. In the time of their visitation, they will perish.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like their portion. For the One who made all things is his portion, and Israel is the scepter of his inheritance. The Lord of hosts is his name:
20 "For me, you strike together the instruments of war; and with you, I will strike together nations; and with you, I will scatter the kingdoms.
21 And with you, I will strike together the horse and his rider; and with you, I will strike together the chariot and its rider.
22 And with you, I will strike together man and woman; and with you, I will strike together the old man and the boy; and with you, I will strike together the young man and the virgin.
23 And with you, I will strike together the pastor and his flock; and with you, I will strike together the farmer and his yoke of oxen; and with you, I will strike together military leaders and civil leaders.
24 And I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion, before your eyes, says the Lord.
25 Behold, I am against you, you pestilent mountain, says the Lord, for you are corrupting the entire earth. And I will extend my hand over you, and I will roll you down from the rocks, and I will make you into a burning mountain.
26 And they will not take from you a stone for the corner, nor a stone for the foundations. Instead, you will be destroyed unto eternity," says the Lord.
27 Lift up a sign in the land! Sound the trumpet among the nations! Sanctify the nations against her. Announce against her the kings of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Number against her Taphsar. Lead in the horse, like the stinging locust.
28 Sanctify the nations against her: the kings of Media, their military leaders, and all their civil leaders, and the entire land under their authority.
29 And the earth will be shaken and will be disturbed. For the plan of the Lord against Babylon will awaken, so that he may make the land of Babylon desolate and uninhabitable.
30 The strong ones of Babylon have ceased to do battle. They have lived in fortresses. Their health has been devoured, and they have become like women. Her tabernacles have been set ablaze; her bars have been broken.
31 Runner will go forth to meet runner, and messenger will meet messenger, so as to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been captured, from one end to the other,
32 and that the fords were seized in advance, and that the marshes have been burned with fire, and that the men of war have been set in disarray.
33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor. This is the time of her threshing. A little while longer, and the time of her harvest will arrive."
34 "Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has consumed me, has devoured me. He has made me like an empty vessel. He has swallowed me like a dragon. He has filled his belly with my tender ones, and he has cast me out.
35 This iniquity is against me, and so my flesh is upon Babylon," says the habitation of Zion. "And my blood is upon the inhabitants of Chaldea," says Jerusalem.
36 Because of this, thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will judge your case, and I will avenge your vengeance, and I will make her sea into a desert, and I will dry up her spring.
37 And Babylon will become a tumult, the habitation of dragons, an astonishment, and a hissing, because there is no inhabitant.
38 They will roar together, like lions, they will shake their manes, like young lions.
39 In their heat, I will give them a drink, and I will inebriate them, so that they become drowsy, and sleep an everlasting sleep, and do not rise up, says the Lord.
40 I will lead them away, like lambs to the slaughter, and like rams with young goats.
41 How was Sesac captured, and how was the renowned one of all the earth seized? How has Babylon become an astonishment among the nations?
42 The sea has ascended over Babylon; she has been covered by the multitude of its waves.
43 Her cities have become an astonishment, an uninhabited and desolate land, a land in which no one may live, nor may a son of man pass through it.
44 And I will visit against Bel in Babylon, and I will cast from his mouth what he has swallowed. And the nations will no longer flow together before him. For even the wall of Babylon will also fall.
45 Go forth from her midst, my people, so that each one may save his life from the wrath of the fury of the Lord.
46 For otherwise, your heart may faint, and you may be afraid at the news that is heard in the land. And the news will arrive within a year, and after that year more news will arrive. And iniquity will be in the land, and one ruler will be over another ruler.
47 Because of this, behold, the days are approaching, when I will visit against the graven images of Babylon. And her entire land will be confounded, and all her slain will fall in her midst.
48 And the heavens and the earth, and all the things that are in them, will give praise over Babylon. For despoilers will approach her from the north, says the Lord.
49 And in the manner that Babylon has caused the slain to fall in Israel, so the slain of Babylon will fall over the entire earth.
50 You who have fled from the sword, approach, do not stand still. Remember from afar the Lord, and let Jerusalem rise up in your heart.
51 We have been confounded, for we heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, for strangers have overwhelmed the holiness of the house of the Lord.
52 Because of this, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will visit against her graven images, and within all her land the wounded will groan.
53 If Babylon were to ascend to heaven, and establish her strength on high, her despoilers would go forth from me, says the Lord."
54 A voice of outcry from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For the Lord has despoiled Babylon, and he has perished the great voice from her. And their wave will make a sound like many waters. Their voice has uttered a noise.
56 For the despoiler has overwhelmed her, that is, Babylon, and her strong ones have been apprehended, and their bow has been weakened. For the Lord, the powerful revenger, will certainly repay.
57 "And I will inebriate her leaders, and her wise ones, and her military rulers, and her civil rulers, and her strong ones. And they will sleep an everlasting sleep, and they will not awaken," says the King: the Lord of hosts is his name.
58 Thus says the Lord of hosts: "That very wide wall of Babylon will be utterly overturned, and her exalted gates will be burned with fire, and the labors of the people will be as nothing, and the labors of the nations will be sent into the fire and will perish."
59 The word that Jeremiah, the prophet, instructed to Seraiah, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he traveled with king Zedekiah into Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was the leader of the prophets.
60 And Jeremiah wrote in one book all the evil that was to overwhelm Babylon; all these words were written against Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: "When you will enter into Babylon, and you will see and read all these words,
62 you will say: 'O Lord, you have spoken against this place so that you may destroy it, so that there would not be anyone, from man even to beast, who may live in it, and so that it may be desolate forever.'
63 And when you will have completed reading this book, you will tie a stone to it, and you will cast it into the midst of the Euphrates.
64 And you will say: 'So shall Babylon be submerged! And she will not rise up before the face of the affliction that I will lead over her. And she will be broken.' " The words of Jeremiah thus far.
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