Jeremiah 51
51
1Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in Leb-kamai, a destroying wind. 2And I will send unto Babylon strangers, that shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. 3Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his coat of mail: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. 4And they shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets.
5For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of Jehovah of hosts; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. 6Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; be not cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of Jehovah’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense. 7Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. 8Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. 9We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country; for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. 10Jehovah hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.
11Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: Jehovah hath stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of his temple. 12Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Jehovah hath both purposed and done that which he spake concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. 13O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy covetousness. 14Jehovah of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with the canker-worm; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
15He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens. 16When he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries. 17Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. 18They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 19The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name.
20Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war: and with thee will I break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; 21and with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; 22and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and him that rideth therein; and with thee will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin; 23and with thee will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces governors and deputies. 24And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith Jehovah.
25Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith Jehovah, which destroyest all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. 26And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith Jehovah.
27Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker-worm. 28Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, the governors thereof, and all the deputies thereof, and all the land of their dominion. 29And the land trembleth and is in pain; for the purposes of Jehovah against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant. 30The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might hath failed; they are become as women: her dwelling-places are set on fire; her bars are broken. 31One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter: 32and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
33For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her. 34Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath, like a monster, swallowed me up, he hath filled his maw with my delicacies; he hath cast me out. 35The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. 36Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry. 37And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant. 38They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions’ whelps. 39When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith Jehovah. 40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats.
41How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! 42The sea is come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. 43Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. 44And I will execute judgment upon Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of Jehovah. 46And let not your heart faint, neither fear ye for the tidings that shall be heard in the land; for tidings shall come one year, and after that in another year shall come tidings, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. 47Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will execute judgment upon the graven images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. 48Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come unto her from the north, saith Jehovah. 49As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land.
50Ye that have escaped the sword, go ye, stand not still; remember Jehovah from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. 51We are confounded, because we have heard reproach; confusion hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Jehovah’s house. 52Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will execute judgment upon her graven images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan. 53Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come unto her, saith Jehovah.
54The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! 55For Jehovah layeth Babylon waste, and destroyeth out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered: 56for the destroyer is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces; for Jehovah is a God of recompenses, he will surely requite. 57And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts. 58Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they shall be weary.
59The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain. 60And Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, then see that thou read all these words, 62and say, O Jehovah, thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. 63And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates: 64and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her; and they shall be weary.
Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
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Jeremiah 51: ASV
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Jeremiah 51
51
1This is what the Lord says:
“I will cause a destroying wind to blow.
It will blow against Babylon and the Babylonian people.
2I will send foreign people to destroy Babylon
like a wind that blows chaff away.
Those people will make Babylon empty.
Armies will surround the city
when disaster comes upon her.
3The Babylonian soldiers will not use their bows and arrows.
Those soldiers will not even put on their armor.
Don’t feel sorry for the young men of Babylon.
Completely destroy her army.
4Babylon’s soldiers will be killed in Babylon.
They will be badly injured in Babylon’s streets.
5The Lord God of heaven’s armies
did not leave Israel and Judah alone.
They are fully guilty of leaving the Holy One of Israel.
But he has not left them.
6“Run away from Babylon!
Run to save your lives!
Don’t stay and be killed because of Babylon’s sins.
It is time for the Lord to punish Babylon.
Babylon will get the punishment it deserves.
7Babylon was like a gold cup in the Lord’s hand.
It made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank Babylon’s wine.
So they went crazy.
8Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken.
Cry for her!
Get balm for her pain.
Maybe she can be healed.
9“Foreigners in Babylon say, ‘We tried to heal Babylon.
But she cannot be healed.
So let us leave her and each go to his own country.
Babylon’s guilt is as high as the clouds.
Babylon’s guilt reaches to the sky.’
10“The people of Judah say, ‘The Lord has shown us to be right.
Come, let us tell about it in Jerusalem.
Let us tell about what the Lord our God has done.’
11“Sharpen the arrows.
Pick up your shields!
The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes.
He has stirred them up because he wants to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will give the people of Babylon the punishment they deserve.
This is because Babylon destroyed his Temple in Jerusalem.
12Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon!
Bring more guards.
Put the watchmen in their places.
Get ready for a secret attack!
The Lord will do what he has planned.
He will do what he said he would do against the people of Babylon.
13People of Babylon, you live near much water.
You are rich with treasures.
But your end as a nation has come.
It is time for you to be destroyed.
14The Lord of heaven’s armies has promised in his own name:
‘Babylon, I will surely fill you with so many enemy soldiers they will be like a swarm of locusts.
They will stand over you and shout their victory.’
15“The Lord made the earth by his power.
He used his wisdom to build the world.
He used his understanding to stretch out the skies.
16When he thunders, the waters in the skies roar.
He makes clouds rise in the sky all over the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain.
He brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17“People are so stupid and know so little.
Goldsmiths are made ashamed by their idols.
Those statues are only false gods.
They have no breath in them.
18They are worth nothing.
People make fun of them.
When they are judged, they will be destroyed.
19But God, who is Jacob’s Portion, is not like the idols.
God made everything.
And he made Israel to be his special people.
The Lord of heaven’s armies is his name.
20“You are my war club.
You are my battle weapon.
I use you to smash nations.
I use you to destroy kingdoms.
21I use you to smash horse and rider.
I use you to smash chariot and driver.
22I use you to smash men and women.
I use you to smash old men and young men.
I use you to smash young men and young women.
23I use you to smash shepherds and flocks.
I use you to smash farmers and oxen.
I use you to smash governors and officers.
24“But I will pay Babylon back, and I will pay back all the Babylonians for all the evil things they did to Jerusalem,” says the Lord.
25The Lord says,
“Babylon, you are a destroying mountain.
And I am against you.
You have destroyed the whole land.
I will put my hand out against you.
I will roll you off the cliffs.
I will make you a burned-out mountain.
26People will not find any rocks in Babylon big enough for cornerstones.
People will not take any rocks from Babylon to use for the foundation of a building.
This is because your city will be just a pile of ruins forever,” says the Lord.
27“Lift up the banner in the land!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Get the nations ready for battle against Babylon.
Call these kingdoms to come fight against Babylon:
Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz.
Choose a commander to lead the army against Babylon.
Send so many horses that they are like a swarm of locusts.
28Get the nations ready for battle against Babylon.
Get the kings of the Medes ready.
Get their governors and all their officers ready.
Get all the countries they rule ready for battle against Babylon.
29The land shakes and moves like it is in pain.
It will shake when the Lord does what he planned to Babylon.
His plan is to make Babylon into an empty desert.
No one will live there.
30Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting.
They stay in their protected cities.
Their strength is gone.
They have become like frightened women.
Babylon’s houses are burning.
The bars of her gates are broken.
31One messenger follows another.
Messenger follows messenger.
They announce to the king of Babylon
that his whole city has been captured.
32The river crossings have been captured.
The swamplands are burning.
All of Babylon’s soldiers are terribly afraid.”
33This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says:
“The city of Babylon is like a threshing floor,
where people crush the grain at harvest time.
The time to harvest Babylon is coming soon.”
34“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has destroyed us.
In the past he took our people away.
And we became like an empty jar.
He was like a giant snake that swallowed us.
He ate everything until he was full of our best things.
Then he spit us out.
35Babylon did terrible things to hurt us.
Now let those things happen to Babylon,”
say the people of Jerusalem.
“The people of Babylon are guilty of killing our people.
Now let them be punished for the evil they did,” says Jerusalem.
36So this is what the Lord says:
“I will defend you, Judah.
I will make sure that Babylon is punished.
I will dry up Babylon’s sea.
And I will make her springs become dry.
37Babylon will become a pile of ruins.
Wild dogs will live there.
People will be shocked by what happened there.
No one lives there anymore.
38Babylon’s people are like roaring young lions.
They growl like baby lions.
39While they are stirred up,
I will give a feast for them.
I will make them drunk.
They will shout and laugh.
And they will sleep forever and never wake up!” says the Lord.
40“I will take the people of Babylon to be killed.
They will be like lambs,
like male sheep and goats waiting to be killed.
41“How Babylon will be defeated!
The pride of the whole earth will be taken captive.
People from other nations will be shocked at what happened to Babylon.
And the things they see will make them afraid.
42The sea will rise over Babylon.
Its roaring waves will cover her.
43Babylon’s towns will be ruined and empty.
Babylon will become a dry, desert land.
It will become a land where no one lives.
People will not even travel through Babylon.
44I will punish the god Bel in Babylon.
I will make him spit out what he has swallowed.
Nations will no longer come to Babylon.
And the wall around the city will fall.
45“Come out of Babylon, my people!
Run for your lives!
Run from the Lord’s great anger.
46Don’t lose courage.
Rumors will spread, but don’t be afraid.
One rumor comes this year, and another comes the next year.
There will be rumors of terrible fighting in the country.
There will be rumors of rulers fighting against rulers.
47The time will surely come
when I will punish the idols of Babylon.
And the whole land will be disgraced.
There will be many dead people lying all around.
48Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will shout for joy about Babylon.
They will shout because the army came from the north
and fought against Babylon,” says the Lord.
49“Babylon killed people from Israel.
Babylon killed people from everywhere on earth.
So Babylon must fall.
50You people escaped being killed with swords.
You must hurry and leave Babylon.
Don’t wait!
Remember the Lord in the faraway land where you are.
And think about Jerusalem.”
51“We people of Judah are disgraced.
We have been insulted.
We have been shamed.
This is because strangers have gone into
the holy places of the Lord’s Temple!”
52The Lord says, “The time is coming
when I will punish the idols of Babylon.
Wounded people will cry with pain
all over that land.
53Babylon might grow until she touches the sky.
She might make her cities strong.
But I will send people to destroy that city,” says the Lord.
54“We can hear people crying in Babylon.
We hear the sound of people destroying things
in the land of the Babylonians.
55The Lord will destroy Babylon.
He will make the loud sounds of the city become silent.
Enemies will come roaring in like ocean waves.
People all around will hear that roar.
56The army will come and destroy Babylon.
Babylon’s soldiers will be taken captive.
Their bows will be broken.
This is because the Lord is a God who punishes people for the evil they do.
He gives them the full punishment they deserve.
57I will make Babylon’s rulers and wise men drunk.
I will make her governors, officers and soldiers drunk, too.
Then they will sleep forever and never wake up,” says the King.
His name is the Lord of heaven’s armies.
58This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says:
“Babylon’s thick wall will be pulled down.
Her high gates will be burned.
The people will work hard, but it won’t help.
Their work will only become fuel for the flames!”
A Message to Babylon
59This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to the officer Seraiah. Seraiah was the son of Neriah, who was the son of Mahseiah. Seraiah went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah. This happened in the fourth year Zedekiah was king of Judah. 60Jeremiah had written on a scroll all the terrible things that would happen to Babylon. He had written all these words about Babylon. 61Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “Go to Babylon. Be sure to read this message so all the people can hear you. 62Then say, ‘Lord, you have said that you will destroy this place. You will destroy it so that no people or animals will live in it. It will be an empty ruin forever.’ 63After you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it. And throw it into the Euphrates River. 64Then say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink. It will not rise again. It will sink because of the terrible things I will make happen here. Her people will fall.’”
The words of Jeremiah end here.
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.