Jeremiah 51
51
1This is what the Lord says:
“I will stir up a destroyer against Babylon
and the people of Babylonia.#51:1 Hebrew of Leb-kamai, a code name for Babylonia.
2Foreigners 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.
3Don’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.#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.
4They will fall dead in the land of the Babylonians,#51:4 Or Chaldeans; also in 51:54.
slashed to death in her streets.
5For 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.”
6Flee from Babylon! Save yourselves!
Don’t get trapped in her punishment!
It is the Lord’s time for vengeance;
he will repay her in full.
7Babylon has been a gold cup in the Lord’s hands,
a cup that made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank Babylon’s wine,
and it drove them all mad.
8But suddenly Babylon, too, has fallen.
Weep for her.
Give her medicine.
Perhaps she can yet be healed.
9We would have helped her if we could,
but nothing can save her now.
Let her go; abandon her.
Return now to your own land.
For her punishment reaches to the heavens;
it is so great it cannot be measured.
10The Lord has vindicated us.
Come, let us announce in Jerusalem#51:10 Hebrew Zion; also in 51:24.
everything the Lord our God has done.
11Sharpen the arrows!
Lift up the shields!#51:11 Greek version reads Fill up the quivers.
For the Lord has inspired the kings of the Medes
to march against Babylon and destroy her.
This is his vengeance against those
who desecrated his Temple.
12Raise the battle flag against Babylon!
Reinforce the guard and station the watchmen.
Prepare an ambush,
for the Lord will fulfill all his plans against Babylon.
13You are a city by a great river,
a great center of commerce,
but your end has come.
The thread of your life is cut.
14The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has taken this vow
and has sworn to it by his own name:
“Your cities will be filled with enemies,
like fields swarming with locusts,
and they will shout in triumph over you.”
A Hymn of Praise to the Lord
15The Lord made the earth by his power,
and he preserves it by his wisdom.
With his own understanding
he stretched out the heavens.
16When he speaks in the thunder,
the heavens roar with rain.
He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain
and releases the wind from his storehouses.
17The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge!
The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make,
for their carefully shaped works are a fraud.
These idols have no breath or power.
18Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies!
On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.
19But the God of Israel#51:19 Hebrew the Portion of Jacob. See note on 5:20. is no idol!
He is the Creator of everything that exists,
including his people, his own special possession.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name!
Babylon’s Great Punishment
20“You#51:20 Possibly Cyrus, whom God used to conquer Babylon. Compare Isa 44:28; 45:1. are my battle-ax and sword,”
says the Lord.
“With you I will shatter nations
and destroy many kingdoms.
21With you I will shatter armies—
destroying the horse and rider,
the chariot and charioteer.
22With you I will shatter men and women,
old people and children,
young men and young women.
23With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks,
farmers and oxen,
captains and officers.
24“I will repay Babylon
and the people of Babylonia#51:24 Or Chaldea; also in 51:35.
for all the wrong they have done
to my people in Jerusalem,” says the Lord.
25“Look, O mighty mountain, destroyer of the earth!
I am your enemy,” says the Lord.
“I will raise my fist against you,
to knock you down from the heights.
When I am finished,
you will be nothing but a heap of burnt rubble.
26You will be desolate forever.
Even your stones will never again be used for building.
You will be completely wiped out,”
says the Lord.
27Raise a signal flag to the nations.
Sound the battle cry!
Mobilize them all against Babylon.
Prepare them to fight against her!
Bring out the armies of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a commander,
and bring a multitude of horses like swarming locusts!
28Bring against her the armies of the nations—
led by the kings of the Medes
and all their captains and officers.
29The earth trembles and writhes in pain,
for everything the Lord has planned against Babylon stands unchanged.
Babylon will be left desolate without a single inhabitant.
30Her mightiest warriors no longer fight.
They stay in their barracks, their courage gone.
They have become like women.
The invaders have burned the houses
and broken down the city gates.
31The news is passed from one runner to the next
as the messengers hurry to tell the king
that his city has been captured.
32All the escape routes are blocked.
The marshes have been set aflame,
and the army is in a panic.
33This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
the God of Israel, says:
“Babylon is like wheat on a threshing floor,
about to be trampled.
In just a little while
her harvest will begin.”
34“King Nebuchadnezzar#51:34 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar. of Babylon has eaten and crushed us
and drained us of strength.
He has swallowed us like a great monster
and filled his belly with our riches.
He has thrown us out of our own country.
35Make Babylon suffer as she made us suffer,”
say the people of Zion.
“Make the people of Babylonia pay for spilling our blood,”
says Jerusalem.
The Lord’s Vengeance on Babylon
36This is what the Lord says to Jerusalem:
“I will be your lawyer to plead your case,
and I will avenge you.
I will dry up her river,
as well as her springs,
37and Babylon will become a heap of ruins,
haunted by jackals.
She will be an object of horror and contempt,
a place where no one lives.
38Her people will roar together like strong lions.
They will growl like lion cubs.
39And while they lie inflamed with all their wine,
I will prepare a different kind of feast for them.
I will make them drink until they fall asleep,
and they will never wake up again,”
says the Lord.
40“I will bring them down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats to be sacrificed.
41“How Babylon#51:41 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon. is fallen—
great Babylon, praised throughout the earth!
Now she has become an object of horror
among the nations.
42The sea has risen over Babylon;
she is covered by its crashing waves.
43Her cities now lie in ruins;
she is a dry wasteland
where no one lives or even passes by.
44And I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon,
and make him vomit up all he has eaten.
The nations will no longer come and worship him.
The wall of Babylon has fallen!
A Message for the Exiles
45“Come out, my people, flee from Babylon.
Save yourselves! Run from the Lord’s fierce anger.
46But do not panic; don’t be afraid
when you hear the first rumor of approaching forces.
For rumors will keep coming year by year.
Violence will erupt in the land
as the leaders fight against each other.
47For the time is surely coming
when I will punish this great city and all her idols.
Her whole land will be disgraced,
and her dead will lie in the streets.
48Then the heavens and earth will rejoice,
for out of the north will come destroying armies
against Babylon,” says the Lord.
49“Just as Babylon killed the people of Israel
and others throughout the world,
so must her people be killed.
50Get out, all you who have escaped the sword!
Do not stand and watch—flee while you can!
Remember the Lord, though you are in a far-off land,
and think about your home in Jerusalem.”
51“We are ashamed,” the people say.
“We are insulted and disgraced
because the Lord’s Temple
has been defiled by foreigners.”
52“Yes,” says the Lord, “but the time is coming
when I will destroy Babylon’s idols.
The groans of her wounded people
will be heard throughout the land.
53Though Babylon reaches as high as the heavens
and makes her fortifications incredibly strong,
I will still send enemies to plunder her.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Babylon’s Complete Destruction
54“Listen! Hear the cry of Babylon,
the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.
55For the Lord is destroying Babylon.
He will silence her loud voice.
Waves of enemies pound against her;
the noise of battle rings through the city.
56Destroying armies come against Babylon.
Her mighty men are captured,
and their weapons break in their hands.
For the Lord is a God who gives just punishment;
he always repays in full.
57I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
along with her captains, officers, and warriors.
They will fall asleep
and never wake up again!”
says the King, whose name is
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
58This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground,
and her massive gates will be burned.
The builders from many lands have worked in vain,
for their work will be destroyed by fire!”
Jeremiah’s Message Sent to Babylon
59The prophet Jeremiah gave this message to Seraiah son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah, a staff officer, when Seraiah went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah. This was during the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign.#51:59 The fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign was 593 b.c. 60Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the terrible disasters that would soon come upon Babylon—all the words written here. 61He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, read aloud everything on this scroll. 62Then say, ‘Lord, you have said that you will destroy Babylon so that neither people nor animals will remain here. She will lie empty and abandoned forever.’ 63When you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone and throw it into the Euphrates River. 64Then say, ‘In this same way Babylon and her people will sink, never again to rise, because of the disasters I will bring upon her.’”
This is the end of Jeremiah’s messages.
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Jeremiah 51: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Yirmeyah 51
51
1Thus saith Hashem: Hineni, I will stir up against Bavel, and against them that dwell in Lev Kamai#51:1 i.e., Babylon a ruach mashchit (spirit of destruction);
2And will send unto Bavel winnowers, that shall blow her chaff away, and shall empty her land; for in the Yom Ra'ah (Day of Disaster) they shall be against her on every side.
3Against her let the archer bend his keshet, and against her let him rise up in his armor; and spare ye not her bochurim; destroy ye utterly all her army.
4Thus the slain shall fall in the Eretz Kasdim, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
5For Yisroel hath not been forsaken nor Yehudah by Elohav, by Hashem Tzva'os; though their land be filled with asham (guilt) against Kadosh Yisroel.
6Flee out of the midst of Bavel, and deliver every ish his nefesh; be not slain because of her avon; for this is the time of Hashemʼs vengeance; He will render unto her a full recompence.
7Bavel hath been a Kos Zahav in the yad Hashem, that made kol ha'aretz drunken; the Goyim drank of her yayin; therefore the Goyim go mad.
8Bavel is suddenly fallen and broken; wail for her; take balm for her pain, perhaps she may be healed.
9We would have healed Bavel, but she cannot be healed; forsake her, and let us go every ish into his own country; for her mishpat reacheth unto Shomayim, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10 Hashem hath brought forth tzidkoteinu (our righteousness, vindication); come, and let us declare in Tziyon the ma'aseh Hashem Eloheinu.
11Sharpen the khitzim (arrows); take up the shields; Hashem hath stirred up the ruach of the melachim of the Medes: for His mezimah (plan) is against Bavel, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of Hashem, the vengeance for His Heikhal.
12Lift up the nes (banner) upon the chomat Bavel, reinforce the mishmeret (guard), station the shomrim (watchmen), prepare the ambushes; for Hashem hath both devised and done that which He spoke against the inhabitants of Bavel.
13O thou that dwellest upon mayim rabbim, abundant in otzarot, thine end is come, and the cubit of thy being cut off.
14 Hashem Tzva'os hath sworn by His Nefesh, saying, Surely I will fill thee with adam, as with locusts; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
15He hath made Eretz by His ko'ach, He hath established the tevel by His chochmah, and hath stretched out Shomayim by His tevunah.
16When He thundereth His voice, there is a tumult of mayim in Shomayim; and He bringeth up clouds from the ends of ha'aretz; He maketh lightnings with matar, and bringeth forth the ruach out of his otzarot.
17Kol adam is dull-hearted and without da'as; every goldsmith is shamed by the pesel; for his nesekh (molten image) is sheker, and there is no ruach in them.
18They are hevel (futile, vain), the work of delusion; in the time of their pekudah they shall perish.
19The Chelek Ya'akov (Portion of Jacob) is not like them; for the Yotzer (Maker) of all things is He; and Yisroel is the Shevet of His nachalah: Hashem Tzva'os Shmo.
20Thou art my battle ax and klei milchamah (weapons of war); for with thee will I break in pieces the Goyim, and with thee will I destroy mamlechot (kingdoms);
21And with thee will I break in pieces the sus and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the merkavah and his rider;
22With thee also will I break in pieces ish and isha; and with thee will I break in pieces zaken and na'ar; and with thee will I break in pieces the bochur and the betulah;
23I will also break in pieces with thee the ro'eh and his eder; and with thee will I break in pieces the ikkar (farmer) and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces pachot (rulers) and seganim (officials).
24And I will render unto Bavel and to all the inhabitants of Kasdim all their ra'ah that they have done in Tziyon in your sight, saith Hashem.
25Hineni, I am against thee, O Har HaMashchit (Destroying Mountain), saith Hashem, which destroyest kol ha'aretz; and I will stretch out Mine Yad upon thee, and roll thee down from the cliffs, and will make thee a har serefah (burned out mountain).
26And they shall not take of thee an even (stone) for a pinnah (cornerstone), nor an even (stone) for mosadot (foundations); but thou shalt be desolate forever, saith Hashem.
27Lift ye up a nes (banner) in ha'aretz, blow the shofar among the Goyim, prepare the Goyim against her, call together against her the mamlechot of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; appoint a commander against her; cause the sus to come up like the swarming locusts.
28Prepare against her the Goyim with the melachim (kings) of the Medes, the pachot (rulers) thereof, and all the seganim (officials) thereof, and all the countries ruled thereof.
29And ha'aretz shall shake and tremble; for every purpose of Hashem shall be performed against Bavel, to make eretz Bavel a desolation without an inhabitant.
30The Gibborim of Bavel have ceased to fight, they have remained in their metzadot (strongholds); their gevurah (might) hath failed; they became as nashim; they have burned her mishkenot (dwelling places); her bars are broken.
31One runner shall run to meet another, and one maggid (messenger) to meet another maggid, to show Melech Bavel that his city is captured on all sides,
32And that the ma'abarot (fords, river-crossings) have been seized, and the marshes burned with eish, and the anshei hamilchamah are terrified.
33For thus saith Hashem Tzva'os Elohei Yisroel: Bat Bavel is like a goren (threshing floor), when it is time to trample her; yet a little while, and the time of her katzir shall come.
34Nevukhadretzar Melech Bavel hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like Tannin (Monster), he hath filled his belly with delicacies of me, he hath vomited me out.
35The chamas done to me and to my flesh be upon Bavel, shall the inhabitant of Tziyon say; my dahm upon the inhabitants of Kasdim, shall Yerushalayim say.
36Therefore thus saith Hashem; Hineni, I will defend thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her yam, and make her makor (spring) dry.
37And Bavel shall become heaps of ruin, a ma'on for jackals, a horror to behold, astonishment, and a hissing, without an inhabitant.
38They shall roar together like lions; they shall growl as cubs of arayot (lions).
39In their excitement I will prepare their mishtim (feasts), and I will make them shikkor, that they may rejoice, and sleep shenat olam (a perpetual sleep), and never awake, saith Hashem.
40I will bring them down like lambs litvo'ach (to the slaughter),#51:40 See Isa 53:7 like rams with male goats.
41How is Sheshach#51:41 Babylon taken! And how is the tehillat kol ha'aretz seized! How is Bavel become a horror to behold among the Goyim!
42The yam (sea) will arise over Bavel; she is covered with the tumult of the waves thereof.
43Her towns are a horror to behold, a dry land, and an aravah, a land wherein no ish dwelleth, neither doth any ben adam pass thereby.
44And I will punish Bel#51:44 Marduk in Bavel, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath gulped down; and the Goyim shall not stream together any more unto him; indeed, the chomat Bavel shall fall.
45My people, come ye out of the midst of her, and save ye every ish his nefesh from the charon af Hashem.
46And lest your lev faint, and ye fear at the rumor that shall be heard in ha'aretz; a rumor shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumor, rumors of chamas in ha'aretz, moshel (ruler) against moshel.
47Therefore, hinei, the days are coming when I will visit [in punishment] the pesalim of Bavel; and her whole land shall be shamed, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48Then the Shomayim and ha'aretz, and all that is therein, shall sing joyously over Bavel; for the plunderers shall come unto her from the tzafon (north), saith Hashem.
49Bavel must fall because of the slain of Yisroel as the slain of kol ha'aretz have fallen because of Bavel.
50Ye that have escaped the cherev, leave, stand not still; remember Hashem afar off, and let Yerushalayim come into your heart.
51We are ashamed, because we have heard cherpah; shame hath covered our faces; for zarim are come into the Mikdeshei Beis Hashem.
52Wherefore, hinei, the days are coming, saith Hashem, that I will visit [in punishment] her pesalim (graven images); and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53Though Bavel should ascend to Shomayim, and though she should fortify the height of her stronghold, yet from Me shall plunderers come unto her, saith Hashem.
54A sound of a cry cometh from Bavel, and shever gadol (great destruction) from Eretz Kasdim;
55Because Hashem hath plundered Bavel, and silenced her kol gadol (great voice); when her waves do roar like mayim rabbim, the sound of her roaring resounds;
56Because the plunderer is come upon her, even upon Bavel, and her gibborim are taken, every one of their keshatot (bows) is broken; for El Gemulot Hashem (Hashemthe G-d of Recompense) shall surely repay.
57And I will make shikkor (drunk) her sarim, and her chachamim, her pachot (rulers), and her seganim (officials), and her gibborim; and they shall sleep a shenat olam (perpetual sleep), and never awake, saith HaMelech Hashem Tzva'os Shmo.
58Thus saith Hashem Tzva'os: The thick chomot Bavel shall be utterly broken, and her high she'arim shall be burned with eish; and the people shall labor in vain, and the peoples wear themselves out only for eish.
59The Davar which Yirmeyah HaNavi commanded Serayah Ben Neriyah Ben Machseiyah, when he went with Tzidkiyah Melech Yehudah into Bavel in the fourth year of his reign. And this Serayah was sar menuchah (quartermaster).
60So Yirmeyah wrote in a sefer all the ra'ah that should come upon Bavel, even all these devarim that are written against Bavel.
61And Yirmeyah said to Serayah, When thou comest to Bavel, and shalt see, and shalt read all these Devarim;
62Then shalt thou say, Hashem, Thou hast spoken against this makom, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither adam nor behemah, but that it shall be desolate forever.
63And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this sefer, that thou shalt bind an even (stone) to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates;
64And thou shalt say, Thus shall Bavel sink, and shall rise no more because of the ra'ah that I will bring upon her. Thus far are the Devarim of Yirmeyah.
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.