Jeremiah 51
51
1This is what the Lord says:
“See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer
against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai.#51:1 Leb Kamai is a cryptogram for Chaldea, that is, Babylonia.
2I will send foreigners to Babylon
to winnow her and to devastate her land;
they will oppose her on every side
in the day of her disaster.
3Let not the archer string his bow,
nor let him put on his armor.
Do not spare her young men;
completely destroy#51:3 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them. her army.
4They will fall down slain in Babylon,#51:4 Or Chaldea
fatally wounded in her streets.
5For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
by their God, the Lord Almighty,
though their land#51:5 Or Almighty, / and the land of the Babylonians is full of guilt
before the Holy One of Israel.
6“Flee from Babylon!
Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of her sins.
It is time for the Lord’s vengeance;
he will repay her what she deserves.
7Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand;
she made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore they have now gone mad.
8Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken.
Wail over her!
Get balm for her pain;
perhaps she can be healed.
9“ ‘We would have healed Babylon,
but she cannot be healed;
let us leave her and each go to our own land,
for her judgment reaches to the skies,
it rises as high as the heavens.’
10“ ‘The Lord has vindicated us;
come, let us tell in Zion
what the Lord our God has done.’
11“Sharpen the arrows,
take up the shields!
The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes,
because his purpose is to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will take vengeance,
vengeance for his temple.
12Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon!
Reinforce the guard,
station the watchmen,
prepare an ambush!
The Lord will carry out his purpose,
his decree against the people of Babylon.
13You who live by many waters
and are rich in treasures,
your end has come,
the time for you to be destroyed.
14The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself:
I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts,
and they will shout in triumph over you.
15“He made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
16When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17“Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;
they have no breath in them.
18They are worthless, the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.
19He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including the people of his inheritance—
the Lord Almighty is his name.
20“You are my war club,
my weapon for battle—
with you I shatter nations,
with you I destroy kingdoms,
21with you I shatter horse and rider,
with you I shatter chariot and driver,
22with you I shatter man and woman,
with you I shatter old man and youth,
with you I shatter young man and young woman,
23with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
with you I shatter governors and officials.
24“Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia#51:24 Or Chaldea; also in verse 35 for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.
25“I am against you, you destroying mountain,
you who destroy the whole earth,”
declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand against you,
roll you off the cliffs,
and make you a burned-out mountain.
26No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
nor any stone for a foundation,
for you will be desolate forever,”
declares the Lord.
27“Lift up a banner in the land!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
summon against her these kingdoms:
Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a commander against her;
send up horses like a swarm of locusts.
28Prepare the nations for battle against her—
the kings of the Medes,
their governors and all their officials,
and all the countries they rule.
29The land trembles and writhes,
for the Lord’s purposes against Babylon stand—
to lay waste the land of Babylon
so that no one will live there.
30Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting;
they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
they have become weaklings.
Her dwellings are set on fire;
the bars of her gates are broken.
31One courier follows another
and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his entire city is captured,
32the river crossings seized,
the marshes set on fire,
and the soldiers terrified.”
33This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trampled;
the time to harvest her will soon come.”
34“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us,
he has thrown us into confusion,
he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
and then has spewed us out.
35May the violence done to our flesh#51:35 Or done to us and to our children be on Babylon,”
say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
says Jerusalem.
36Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“See, I will defend your cause
and avenge you;
I will dry up her sea
and make her springs dry.
37Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
a haunt of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,
a place where no one lives.
38Her people all roar like young lions,
they growl like lion cubs.
39But while they are aroused,
I will set out a feast for them
and make them drunk,
so that they shout with laughter—
then sleep forever and not awake,”
declares the Lord.
40“I will bring them down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats.
41“How Sheshak#51:41 Sheshak is a cryptogram for Babylon. will be captured,
the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate Babylon will be
among the nations!
42The sea will rise over Babylon;
its roaring waves will cover her.
43Her towns will be desolate,
a dry and desert land,
a land where no one lives,
through which no one travels.
44I will punish Bel in Babylon
and make him spew out what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
And the wall of Babylon will fall.
45“Come out of her, my people!
Run for your lives!
Run from the fierce anger of the Lord.
46Do not lose heart or be afraid
when rumors are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
rumors of violence in the land
and of ruler against ruler.
47For the time will surely come
when I will punish the idols of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced
and her slain will all lie fallen within her.
48Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will shout for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north
destroyers will attack her,”
declares the Lord.
49“Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain,
just as the slain in all the earth
have fallen because of Babylon.
50You who have escaped the sword,
leave and do not linger!
Remember the Lord in a distant land,
and call to mind Jerusalem.”
51“We are disgraced,
for we have been insulted
and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s house.”
52“But days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will punish her idols,
and throughout her land
the wounded will groan.
53Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens
and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
I will send destroyers against her,”
declares the Lord.
54“The sound of a cry comes from Babylon,
the sound of great destruction
from the land of the Babylonians.#51:54 Or Chaldeans
55The Lord will destroy Babylon;
he will silence her noisy din.
Waves of enemies will rage like great waters;
the roar of their voices will resound.
56A destroyer will come against Babylon;
her warriors will be captured,
and their bows will be broken.
For the Lord is a God of retribution;
he will repay in full.
57I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep forever and not awake,”
declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty.
58This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Babylon’s thick wall will be leveled
and her high gates set on fire;
the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing,
the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”
59This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. 60Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. 61He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.’ 63When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. 64Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.’ ”
The words of Jeremiah end here.
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Jeremiah 51: NIV
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 51
51
1Thus said יהוה, “See, I am stirring up the spirit of a destroyer against Baḇel, against those who dwell in Lĕb – My opponents.
2And I shall send winnowers to Baḇel, who shall winnow her and empty her land. For they shall be against her all around, in the day of evil.
3“Let the archer draw his bow, and let him stand ready in his armour. Do not spare her young men, put all her army under the ban.
4“And the slain shall fall in the land of the Kasdim, and the pierced-through in her streets.
5“For neither Yisra’ĕl nor Yehuḏah is widowed by his Elohim, יהוה of hosts, though their land has been filled with sin against the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl.”
6Flee from the midst of Baḇel,#See Rev. 18:4 and let each one save his life! Do not be cut off in her crookedness, for this is the time of the vengeance of יהוה, the recompense He is repaying her.
7Baḇel was a golden cup in the hand of יהוה, making drunk all the earth.#See Rev. 17:1-18 The nations drank her wine, that is why the nations went mad!
8Baḇel shall suddenly fall and be broken. Howl for her! Take balm for her pain – if so be, she might be healed.
9We would have healed Baḇel, but she is not healed. Let us leave her and each go to his own land, for her judgment reaches to the heavens and is lifted up to the clouds.
10יהוה has brought forth our righteousness. Come and let us relate in Tsiyon the work of יהוה our Elohim.
11Polish the arrows! Put on the shields! יהוה has stirred up the spirit of the sovereigns of the Medes. For His plan is against Baḇel to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of יהוה, the vengeance for His Hĕḵal.
12Lift up a banner on the walls of Baḇel, strengthen the watch, station the watchmen, prepare the ambush. For יהוה has both planned and done what He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Baḇel.
13You who dwell upon many waters, great in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your greedy gain.
14יהוה of hosts has sworn by Himself, “I shall certainly fill you with men, as with locusts, and they shall lift up a shout against you.”
15He made the earth by His power, He established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
16When He gives forth His voice the waters in the heavens roar, and He makes vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain, and He brings the wind out of His treasuries.
17All mankind has become too brutish to know, every smith has been put to shame by the carved image, for his moulded image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18They are worthless, a work of mockery. In the time of their punishment they perish.
19The Portion of Ya‛aqoḇ is not like them, for He is the Maker of all, and Yisra’ĕl is the tribe of His inheritance. יהוה of hosts is His Name.
20“You are My battle-axe, weapons of battle, and with you I shall break nations in pieces, and with you I shall destroy reigns.
21“And with you I shall break in pieces the horse and its rider, and with you I shall break in pieces the chariot and its rider.
22“And with you I shall break in pieces man and woman, and with you I shall break in pieces old and young, and with you I shall break in pieces the young man and the maiden.
23“And with you I shall break in pieces the shepherd and his flock, and with you I shall break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen. And with you I shall break in pieces governors and rulers.
24“And I shall repay Baḇel and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Tsiyon before your eyes,” declares יהוה.
25“See, I am against you, O destroying mountain, who destroys all the earth,” declares יהוה. “And I shall stretch out My hand against you. And I shall roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burnt mountain.
26“And they shall not take from you a stone for a corner nor a stone for a foundation, but you shall be a waste forever,” declares יהוה.
27Lift up a banner in the land, blow a shophar among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, call the reigns together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her, bring up horses like hairy locusts.
28Separate the nations against her, with the sovereigns of the Medes, its governors and all its rulers, all the land of his rule,
29so that the land shakes and writhes in pain. For every plan of יהוה shall be established against Baḇel, to make the land of Baḇel a ruin, without inhabitant.
30The mighty men of Baḇel have ceased to fight, they remained in their strongholds. Their might has failed, they became like women, they have burned her dwelling places. The bars of her gate have been broken.
31One runner runs to meet another, and one reporter to meet another, to report to the sovereign of Baḇel that his city is taken on all sides,
32and the fords have been captured, and they have burned the reeds with fire, and the soldiers are startled.
33For thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “The daughter of Baḇel is like a threshing-floor at the time it is trodden. Yet a little while and the time of her harvest shall come.”
34“Neḇuḵaḏretstsar the sovereign of Baḇel has devoured us, he has crushed us, he has made us an empty vessel, he has swallowed us up like a monster. He has filled his stomach with my delicacies, he has driven us away.
35“Let the violence done to me and my flesh be upon Baḇel,” says the inhabitant of Tsiyon. And, “Let my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,” says Yerushalayim.
36Therefore thus said יהוה, “See, I am pleading your case. And I shall take vengeance for you and dry up her sea and make her fountain dry.
37“And Baḇel shall become a heap, a habitation of jackals, an astonishment and a hissing, without inhabitant.
38“Together they roar like lions, they shall growl like lions’ cubs.
39“In their heat I prepare their feasts. And I shall make them drunk, so that they rejoice, and sleep a neverending sleep and not awake,” declares יהוה.
40“I shall bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.
41“Oh, how Shĕshaḵ has been captured, the praise of all the earth been seized! How Baḇel has become a ruin among the nations!
42“The sea has risen over Baḇel, she has been covered with the roaring of its waves.
43“Her cities have become a ruin, a dry land and a desert, a land where no one dwells, neither does son of man pass by it.
44“And I shall punish Bĕl in Baḇel. And I shall make him spew out what he has swallowed, and nations shall no longer stream to him. Even the wall of Baḇel shall fall.
45“Come out#See Rev. 18:4 of her midst, My people! And let everyone deliver his being from the burning displeasure of יהוה.
46“And lest your heart grow faint, and you fear the report heard in the land – for a report shall come one year, and after that, in another year a report shall come, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler –
47therefore see, the days are coming that I shall bring punishment on the carved images of Baḇel, and all her land shall be put to shame, and all her slain fall in her midst.
48“And the heavens and the earth and all that is in them shall shout for joy over Baḇel, for the ravagers shall come to her from the north,” declares יהוה.
49As Baḇel is to fall for the slain of Yisra’ĕl, so for Baḇel the slain of all the earth shall fall.
50You who have escaped the sword, go away! Do not stand still! Remember יהוה from afar, and let Yerushalayim come to your heart.
51We are ashamed because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, for strangers have come into the set-apart places of the House of יהוה.#See Psa. 79:1-7; Lam. 1:10; Dan. 8:13; Dan. 11:31; Mat. 24:15
52“Therefore see, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “that I shall bring punishment on her carved images, while the wounded groan throughout all her land.
53“Though Baḇel should mount up to the heavens, and though she should make the height of her strength inaccessible, ravagers shall come to her from Me,” declares יהוה.
54Listen! A cry from Baḇel, and great destruction from the land of the Kasdim,
55because יהוה is ravaging Baḇel, and shall silence her loud voice. And her waves shall roar like great waters, the noise of their voice shall resound,
56because the ravager shall come against her, against Baḇel, and her mighty men shall be captured. Every one of their bows shall be broken, for יהוה is the Ěl of recompense, He shall certainly repay.
57“And I shall make her rulers drunk, and her wise men, her governors, and her deputies, and her mighty men. And they shall sleep a lasting sleep, and not awake,” declares the Sovereign, whose Name is יהוה of hosts.
58Thus said יהוה of hosts, “The broad walls of Baḇel are completely demolished, and her high gates are burned with fire, and peoples labour in vain, and the nations weary themselves for fire.”
59The word that Yirmeyahu the prophet commanded Serayah son of Nĕriyah, son of Maḥsĕyah, when he went with Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign of Yehuḏah to Baḇel in the fourth year of his reign. And Serayah was a quartermaster.
60So Yirmeyahu wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Baḇel, all these words which have been written concerning Baḇel.
61And Yirmeyahu said to Serayah, “When you come to Baḇel and see it, and read all these words,
62then you shall say, ‘O יהוה, You have spoken concerning this place to cut it off, so that none shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, for it is a ruin forever.’
63“And it shall be, when you have ended reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the midst of the Euphrates,
64and shall say, ‘So does Baḇel sink and not rise from the evil that I am bringing upon her, and they shall weary themselves.’ ” Thus far are the words of Yirmeyahu.
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