Jeremiah 50
50
Judgment on Babylon
Jer 10:12–16
1The word that the Lord spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans # Isa 13:1–3, 14:4; 21:1–10 by Jeremiah the prophet:
2Declare among the nations and proclaim,
and set up a standard;
do not conceal it, but say,
Babylon has been captured.
Bel has been humiliated.
Marduk has been broken in pieces;
her idols have been humiliated;
her images have been broken in pieces. # Isa 21:9; 46:1; Jer 51:44
3For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, # Jer 50:9
which will make her land desolate,
and no one will dwell in it.
They will wander away;
they will depart,
both man and beast. # Zep 1:3
4In those days and at that time,
says the Lord,
the Israelites will come,
they and the Judahites together. # Hos 1:11
They will go along weeping as they go,
and seek the Lord their God. # Hos 3:5
5They will ask for the way to Zion
with their faces in its direction.
They will come that they may join themselves to the Lord
in a perpetual covenant # Isa 55:3; Jer 32:40; Heb 8:6–10
that will not be forgotten.
6My people have been lost sheep. # Isa 53:6; Mt 9:36
Their shepherds have caused them to go astray;
they have turned them away on the mountains.
They have gone from mountain to hill
and have forgotten their resting place.
7All who found them have devoured them,
and their adversaries said, “We are not guilty, # Jer 2:3
because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice,
even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.” # Jer 14:8
8Wander away out of the midst of Babylon,
and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, # Isa 48:20; Jer 51:6
and be as the male goats before the flocks.
9For behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon
an assembly of great nations from the north country.
And they shall set themselves in array against her;
from there she shall be taken captive.
Their arrows will be like those of a skilled warrior;
no one shall return empty-handed.
10Chaldea will become plunder; # Jer 25:12
all who destroy her will be satisfied,
says the Lord.
11Because you were glad, because you rejoiced,
O you destroyers of My inheritance, # Isa 47:6
because you have grown fat as the heifer at the grass,
and bellow as bulls,
12your mother will be sorely humiliated;
she who bore you will be ashamed.
Behold, she will be the least of the nations,
a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. # Jer 51:43
13Because of the wrath of the Lord she will not be inhabited,
but shall be wholly desolate.
Everyone who goes by Babylon will be astonished
and hiss at all her wounds. # Jer 18:16; 49:17
14Put yourselves in battle array against Babylon all around,
all you who bend the bow; # Jer 50:29
shoot at her, spare no arrows,
for she has sinned against the Lord.
15Shout against her all around;
she has given herself up, her foundations have fallen,
her walls have been thrown down. # Jer 51:58
For this is the vengeance of the Lord.
Take vengeance on her; # Jer 46:10
as she has done, do to her.
16Cut off the sower from Babylon,
and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest.
For fear of the oppressing sword
everyone will turn to his people,
and everyone will flee to his own land. # Isa 13:14; Jer 46:16
17Israel is a scattered flock.
The lions have driven him away. # Jer 2:15
First the king of Assyria # 2Ki 18:9–13
devoured him;
and this last one who has broken his bones
is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
18Therefore thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel:
Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,
as I have punished the king of Assyria. # Isa 10:12
19I will bring Israel again to his habitation, # Eze 34:13–14
and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan,
and his soul will be satisfied
upon Mount Ephraim # Jer 31:6 and Gilead.
20In those days and at that time,
says the Lord,
the iniquity of Israel will be sought for, # Jer 31:34; Mic 7:19
and there shall be none.
And the sins of Judah,
but they shall not be found;
for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant. # Isa 1:9
21Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it,
and against the inhabitants of Pekod. # Eze 23:23
Slay and utterly destroy them,
says the Lord,
and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22A noise of battle is in the land,
and great destruction. # Jer 4:19–21; 51:54–56
23How the hammer of the whole earth # Jer 51:20–24
has been cut asunder and broken!
How Babylon has become a desolation
among the nations!
24I have laid a snare for you,
and you were also caught, O Babylon,
and you were not aware. # Da 5:30–31
You have been found, and also caught,
because you have strived against the Lord. # Job 9:4
25The Lord has opened His armory
and has brought out the weapons of His indignation,
for this is the work of the Lord God of Hosts
in the land of the Chaldeans. # Jer 51:25, 55
26Come against her from the utmost border,
open her storehouses;
cast her up as heaps and destroy her utterly;
let nothing of her be left. # Isa 14:23
27Slay all her bulls,
let them go down to the slaughter. # Isa 34:7
Woe to them! For their day has come,
the time of their punishment. # Jer 46:21
28There is the sound of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, # Isa 48:20
to declare in Zion
the vengeance of the Lord our God, # Jer 50:15
the vengeance of His temple.
29Call together the archers against Babylon. # Jer 51:56
All you who bend the bow,
encamp against it all around;
let no one escape.
Recompense her according to her work;
according to all that she has done, do to her,
for she has been proud against the Lord, # Isa 47:10
against the Holy One of Israel.
30Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets,
and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, # Jer 9:21; 49:26
says the Lord.
31Behold, I am against you, O most proud, # Jer 21:13
says the Lord God of Hosts,
for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
32The most proud will stumble and fall,
and no one will raise him up;
and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it will devour everything all around him. # Jer 21:14; 49:27
33Thus says the Lord of Hosts:
The Israelites and the Judahites
were oppressed together; # Isa 14:17; 58:6
and all who took them as captives held them fast;
they refused to let them go.
34Their Redeemer is strong; # Isa 43:14
the Lord of Hosts is His name.
He will thoroughly plead their case, # Jer 51:36
that He may give rest to the land,
but disquiet to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35A sword is against the Chaldeans, # Jer 47:6
says the Lord,
and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
and against her officials, and against her wise men. # Jer 51:57
36A sword is against the oracle priests,
and they will become fools. # Isa 44:25
A sword is against her mighty men, # Jer 49:22
and they shall be dismayed.
37A sword is against their horses, and against their chariots,
and against all the foreigners who are in her midst;
and they will become as women. # Jer 51:30
A sword is against her treasures,
and they will be robbed.
38A drought is against her waters,
and they will be dried up. # Isa 44:27
For it is the land of graven images,
and they are mad over their idols. # Jer 50:2
39Therefore the wild beasts of the desert
with the wild beasts of the islands will dwell there,
and the ostriches will dwell in it. # Isa 13:20–22; Rev 18:2
It will be inhabited no more forever,
nor will it be lived in from generation to generation.
40As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
and the neighboring cities, # Ge 19:24–25; Jer 49:18
says the Lord,
so no man will abide there,
nor will any son of man dwell in it.
41Behold, a people shall come from the north;
and a great nation, and many kings
will be raised up from the remote parts of the earth. # Isa 13:2–5; Jer 51:27–28
42They will hold the bow and the lance;
they are cruel and will not show mercy. # Isa 13:17–18
Their voice shall roar like the sea; # Isa 5:30
and they shall ride on horses,
everyone put in array, like a man to the battle,
against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43The king of Babylon has heard the report of them, # Jer 51:31
and his hands were feeble.
Anguish took hold of him,
and pangs as of a woman in labor. # Jer 49:24
44Behold, he will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan
to the perpetually watered meadow.
But I will make them suddenly run away from it,
and whoever is chosen I will appoint over it.
For who is like Me? And who will summon Me into court?
And who is the shepherd that can stand before Me? # Jer 49:19–21
45Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord that He has planned against Babylon,
and His purposes that He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: # Jer 51:10–11
Surely the least of the flock will drag them out.
Surely He will make their habitation desolate because of them. # Jer 49:20
46At the shout, “Babylon has been seized!” the earth is shaken, # Jer 49:21; Eze 26:18
and the outcry is heard among the nations.
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Jeremiah 50: MEV
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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version
Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 50
50
A Message About Babylon
1This is the message the Lord spoke about Babylon and the Babylonian people. He spoke this message through Jeremiah the prophet.
2“Announce this to the nations.
Lift up a banner and tell them.
Speak the whole message and say:
‘Babylon will be captured.
The god Bel will be put to shame.
The god Marduk will be very afraid.
Babylon’s idols will be put to shame.
Her idols will be filled with terror!’
3A nation from the north will attack Babylon.
That nation will make Babylon like an empty desert.
No people will live there.
Both men and animals will run away from there.”
4The Lord says, “At that time
the people of Israel and Judah will be together.
They will cry and look for the Lord their God.
5Those people will ask how to go to Jerusalem.
They will start to go in that direction.
They will come and join themselves to the Lord.
They will make an agreement that will last forever.
It will be an agreement that will never be forgotten.
6“My people have been like lost sheep.
Their leaders have led them in the wrong way.
Their leaders made them wander around in the mountains and hills.
They forgot where their resting place was.
7Whoever found my people hurt them.
And those enemies said, ‘We did nothing wrong.
Those people sinned against the Lord, their true resting place.
He was the God their fathers trusted.’
8“Run away from Babylon.
Leave the land of the Babylonians.
Be like the goats that lead the flock.
9I will bring against Babylon
many nations from the north.
This group of nations will take their places for war against Babylon.
Babylon will be captured by people from the north.
Their arrows are like trained soldiers
who do not return from war with empty hands.
10The enemy will take all the wealth from the Babylonians.
Those enemy soldiers will get all they want!” says the Lord.
11“Babylon, you are excited and happy.
You took my land.
You dance around like a young cow in the grain.
Your laughter is like the neighing of male horses.
12Your mother will be very ashamed.
The woman who gave you birth will be disgraced.
Babylonia will be the least important of all the nations.
She will be an empty, dry desert.
13The Lord will show his anger.
No people will live there.
Babylon will be completely empty.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be afraid.
They will shake their heads when they see how it has been destroyed.
14“Take your positions for war against Babylon,
all you soldiers with bows.
Shoot your arrows at Babylon! Do not save any of them.
This is because Babylon has sinned against the Lord.
15Soldiers around Babylon, shout the war cry!
Babylon has surrendered. Her towers have fallen.
Her walls have been torn down.
The Lord is giving them the punishment they deserve.
You nations should give Babylon what she deserves.
Do to her what she has done to others.
16Don’t let the people from Babylon plant their crops.
Don’t let them gather the harvest.
The soldiers of Babylon treated their captives cruelly.
Now, let everyone go back home!
Let everyone run to his own country.
17“The people of Israel are like a flock of sheep that are scattered.
They are like sheep that have been chased away by lions.
The first lion to eat them up
was the king of Assyria.
The last lion to crush their bones
was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
18So this is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says:
“I will punish the king of Babylon and his country.
I will punish him as I punished the king of Assyria.
19But I will bring the people of Israel back to their own pasture.
They will eat on Mount Carmel and in Bashan.
They will eat and be full.
They will eat on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.”
20The Lord says,
“At that time people will try to find Israel’s guilt.
But there will be no guilt.
People will try to find Judah’s sins.
But no sins will be found.
This is because I am saving the few people left alive from Israel and Judah.
And I am forgiving their sins.
21“Attack the land of Merathaim.
Attack the people who live in Pekod.
Chase them, kill them and completely destroy them.
Do everything I commanded you!” says the Lord.
22“The noise of battle can be heard all over the country.
It is the noise of much destruction.
23Babylon was the hammer of the whole earth.
But how broken and shattered that hammer is now!
Babylon is truly the most ruined
of all the nations.
24Babylon, I set a trap for you.
And you were caught before you knew it.
You fought against the Lord.
So you were found and taken prisoner.
25The Lord has opened up his storeroom.
He has brought out the weapons of his anger.
This is because the Lord God of heaven’s armies has work to do.
He has work to do in the land of the Babylonians.
26Come against Babylon from far away.
Break open her storehouses of grain.
Pile up her dead bodies like big piles of grain.
Completely destroy Babylon
and do not leave anyone alive.
27Kill all the young men in Babylon.
Let them be killed.
The time has come for their defeat.
How terrible it will be for them!
It is time for them to be punished.
28Listen to the people running from the country of Babylon!
They are telling Jerusalem
how the Lord our God is punishing Babylon as it deserves.
This is because Babylon destroyed his Temple.
29“Call for the men who shoot arrows
to come against Babylon.
Tell them to surround the city.
Don’t let anyone escape.
Pay her back for the bad things she has done.
Do to her what she has done to other nations.
Babylon acted with pride against the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.
30So Babylon’s young men will be killed in the streets.
All her soldiers will die on that day,” says the Lord.
31“Babylon, you are too proud. And I am against you,”
says the Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies.
“This is because the time has come
for you to be punished.
32Proud Babylon will stumble and fall.
And no one will help her get up.
I will start a fire in her towns.
It will completely burn up everything around her.”
33This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says:
“The people of Israel
and Judah both are slaves.
The enemy took them as prisoners.
And they won’t let them go.
34But God is strong and will buy them back.
His name is the Lord of heaven’s armies.
He will defend them with power
so he can give rest to their land.
But he will not give rest to those living in Babylon.”
35The Lord says,
“Let a sword kill the people living in Babylon!
Let a sword kill its officers and wise men!
36Let a sword kill its false prophets!
They will become fools.
Let a sword kill Babylon’s warriors!
They will be full of terror.
37Let a sword kill its horses and chariots.
Let a sword kill all the soldiers hired from other countries!
They will be like frightened women.
Let there be a sword against Babylon’s treasures!
They will be taken away.
38Let there be a sword against its waters!
They will be dried up.
It is a land of idols.
Those idols will go crazy with fear.
39“Babylon will never be filled with people again.
Desert animals and hyenas will live there.
Owls will live there.
But no people will live there ever again.
40God completely destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
and the towns around them,” says the Lord.
“In the same way no people will live in Babylon.
No man will stay there.
41“Look! An army is coming from the north.
It comes from a powerful nation.
Many kings are coming together from all around the world.
42Their armies have bows and spears.
The soldiers are cruel and have no mercy.
The soldiers come riding on their horses.
And the sound is loud like the roaring sea.
They stand in their places, ready for battle.
They are ready to attack you, city of Babylon.
43The king of Babylon heard about those armies.
And he became helpless because of his fear.
His fear is like pain.
It is like the pain of a woman having a baby.
44“A lion will come from the thick bushes near the Jordan River.
It will go into the rich pastures where people feed their flocks.
I am like that lion! I will suddenly chase the people of Babylon from their land.
Who is the one I have chosen to do this?
There is no one like me.
There is no one who can challenge me.
None of their leaders can stand up against me.”
45So listen to what the Lord has planned to do against Babylon.
Listen to what he has decided to do to the people in Babylon.
He will surely drag away the young ones of Babylon.
Babylon’s pastures will be destroyed because of them.
46At the sound of Babylon’s fall, the earth will shake.
People in all nations will hear about their destruction.
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.