Yirmeyahu (Jer) 51
51
1Adonai says this:
“Against Bavel and those living in Lev-Kamai
I will stir up a destructive wind.
2Against Bavel I will send foreigners
to winnow her and leave her land empty.
They will besiege her from every side
on the day of disaster.
3Let the archer draw his bow,
let him flaunt his coat of mail;
do not spare her young men,
completely destroy her whole army.
4In the land of the Kasdim the slain will fall,
those thrust through [by the sword] in her streets.
5Isra’el and Y’hudah are not left widowed
of their God, Adonai-Tzva’ot;
but the land of [the Kasdim] is full of guilt
before the Holy One of Isra’el.”
6Flee from Bavel, let each one save his life!
Don’t perish because of her guilt.
For the time has come for the vengeance of Adonai;
he will repay her what she deserves.
7Bavel was a gold cup in the hands of Adonai;
it made the whole earth drunk —
the nations drank her wine;
this is why the nations have lost their senses.
8Bavel has suddenly fallen.
She is broken; wail for her.
Bring healing ointment for her wounds;
perhaps she can be healed.
9“We tried to heal Bavel,
but she cannot be healed.
So leave her alone, and each of us
will return to his own country.”
For the judgment against her rises to the skies
and reaches even the clouds.
10Adonai has brought forth our victory.
Come, let us proclaim in Tziyon
the work of Adonai our God!
11Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers!
Adonai roused the spirit of the kings of the Medes,
because he plans to destroy Bavel.
This is the vengeance of Adonai
vengeance over his temple.
12Raise a standard against the walls of Bavel!
Strengthen the guard! Post the sentries!
Prepare ambushes! For Adonai
has both planned and accomplished
what he promised to do to those living in Bavel.
13You who live near plenty of water,
so rich in treasure — your end has come,
your time for being cut off!
14Adonai-Tzva’ot has sworn by himself,
“I will fill you with men as numerous as grasshoppers;
they will raise over you a shout of triumph.”
15He made the earth by his power,
established the world by his wisdom
spread out the sky by his understanding.
16When he thunders, the waters in heaven roar,
he raises clouds from the ends of the earth,
he makes the lightning flash in the rain
and brings the wind out from his storehouses.
17At this, everyone is proved stupid, ignorant,
every goldsmith put to shame by his idol!
The figures he casts are a fraud,
there is no breath in them,
18they are nothings, ridiculous objects;
when the day for their punishment comes, they will perish.
19Ya‘akov’s portion is not like these,
for he is the one who formed all things,
including the tribe he claims as his heritage.
Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name.
20“[Bavel] you are my war club and weapons of war —
with you I shatter nations;
with you I destroy kingdoms;
21with you I shatter horses and their riders;
with you I shatter chariots and their drivers;
22with you I shatter husbands and wives;
with you I shatter old and young;
with you I shatter young men and virgins;
23with you I shatter shepherds and their flocks;
with you I shatter farmers and their teams;
with you I shatter governors and deputies.
24“But I will repay Bavel and all living
in the land of the Kasdim for all the evil
they did in Tziyon,” says Adonai,
“before your eyes [, Y’hudah].”
25“I am against you, destructive mountain,
destroying all the earth,” says Adonai.
“I will stretch out my hand against you,
to send you tumbling down from the crags
and make you a burned-out mountain.
26No one will make cornerstones
or foundation-stones from you again;
but you will be desolate
forever,” says Adonai.
27Raise up a banner in the land,
blow the shofar among the nations.
Prepare the nations for war against her.
Summon kingdoms against her —
Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz.
Appoint an officer against her;
bring up horses like bristling grasshoppers.
28Prepare the nations against her,
the kings of the Medes, his governors and deputies,
and all the land he controls.
29The earth quakes and writhes,
as Adonai’s designs against Bavel are fulfilled,
to make the land of Bavel a ruin,
with no one living there.
30Bavel’s warriors have given up fighting;
they remain in their fortresses;
their courage has failed; they are now like women.
Her homes are on fire, her gate-bars broken.
31One runner runs to meet another,
messenger to meet messenger,
to report to the king of Bavel
that every part of his city is taken,
32the fords have been occupied,
and the swamp thickets set on fire,
while the warriors are seized with panic.
33For here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot,
the God of Isra’el, says:
“The daughter of Bavel is like
a threshing-floor at treading-time.
Just a little while longer,
and the time for harvesting her will come.”
34N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel
has devoured me, crushed me.
He left me like an empty pot.
Like a monster, he swallowed me whole.
With my delicacies he stuffed his belly;
then he rinsed me out.
35But one who lives in Tziyon will say,
“May my torn flesh be avenged on Bavel”;
and Yerushalayim will say,
“May my blood be avenged on the Kasdim.”
36Therefore here is what Adonai says:
“I will plead your cause.
I will take vengeance for you.
I will dry up her river
and make her water sources dry.
37Bavel will become a heap of ruins,
a place for jackals to live,
an object of horror and hissing,
with no one living there.
38Together they roar like young lions,
growl like lion cubs.
39When they are hot with desire,
I will prepare them a drink.
I will make them so drunk
they will have convulsions,
sleep forever and never wake up,”
says Adonai.
40“I will drag them down like lambs to be slaughtered,
like rams and male goats.”
41Sheshakh has been captured,
the pride of the whole earth seized!
Bavel has become an object of horror
throughout the nations!
42The sea has flooded Bavel,
overwhelmed her with its raging waves.
43Her cities have become desolate —
parched, arid land,
a land where no one lives;
nobody even passes through.
44“I will punish Bel in Bavel
and make him disgorge what he swallowed.
The nations will no longer flow to him.
Bavel’s wall will fall.
45Get out of her, my people!
Each one, save yourself
from Adonai’s furious anger!
46Don’t be fainthearted, don’t be afraid
of the rumors spreading abroad in the land.
One year one rumor comes,
the next year another one,
rumors of violence in the land
and rulers fighting rulers.
47Therefore, listen! The days are coming
when I will pass judgment on Bavel’s idols.
Her whole land will be put to shame,
as all her slain fall on home soil.
48Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will sing for joy over Bavel;
for the plunderers from the north
are coming to her,” says Adonai.
49Just as Bavel caused
the slain of Isra’el to fall,
so at Bavel will fall
the slain of all the land.
50You who escaped the sword,
go! Don’t stand still!
Remember Adonai from afar,
let Yerushalayim come into your minds.
51“The reproaches we have heard have put us to shame,
disgrace covers our faces;
because foreigners have entered
the sanctuaries of Adonai’s house.”
52“Therefore,” says Adonai, “the days are coming
when I will pass judgment on her idols,
and the wounded will groan throughout her land.
53Even if Bavel scales the heavens
or reinforces her lofty stronghold,
plunderers will come to her
from me,” says Adonai.
54An agonized cry is heard from Bavel!
Great destruction in the land of the Kasdim!
55For Adonai is plundering Bavel
and silencing her noisy din —
their waves roar like the raging ocean,
their clamor sounds and resounds.
56Yes, the plunderer has fallen upon her,
fallen on Bavel.
Her warriors are captured, their bows are broken.
For Adonai is a God of retribution;
he will surely repay.
57“I will intoxicate her leaders and sages,
her governors, deputies and warriors.
They will sleep forever and never wake up,”
says the king, whose name is Adonai-Tzva’ot.
58Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“The wide walls of Bavel will be razed to the ground,
her lofty gates will be set on fire.
The peoples are toiling for nothing,
the nation’s labor goes up in flames,
and everyone is exhausted.”
59This is the order which Yirmeyahu the prophet gave to S’rayah the son of Neriyah, the son of Machseyah, when he went to Bavel with Tzidkiyahu the king of Y’hudah in the fourth year of his reign. S’rayah was quartermaster. 60Yirmeyahu had written on a separate scroll all the above words describing the disaster that was to befall Bavel. 61Yirmeyahu said to S’rayah, “See to it that when you arrive in Bavel you read all these words aloud. Then say, 62‘Adonai, you have promised to destroy this place, that no one will live here, neither human nor animal, but that it will be desolate forever.’ 63When you finish reading this scroll, tie a rock to it, throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64and say, ‘Like this, Bavel will sink, never to rise again, because of the disaster I am bringing on her; and they will grow weary.’”
(Up to here, these have been the words of Yirmeyahu.)
Currently Selected:
Yirmeyahu (Jer) 51: CJB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
For more information and to purchase a hard copy of the Complete Jewish Bible,
Learn More About Complete Jewish BibleJeremiah 51
51
Jeremiah 51
1¶ Thus hath the Lord said; Behold, I raise up against Babylon and against her inhabitants that rise up against me from the heart, a destroying wind.
2And I will send unto Babylon fanners that shall fan her and shall empty her land; for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
3 I shall say to the archer that bends his bow and unto him that lifts himself up in his brigandine, Spare ye not her young men; utterly destroy all her host.
4Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans and those that are thrust through in her streets.
5For Israel and Judah have not been made widows of their God, of the Lord of the hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
6Flee out of the midst of Babylon and deliver each one his soul that ye not perish because of her iniquity, for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.
7Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand that made all the earth drunken: the Gentiles have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed; howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9We applied the medicine to Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go each one into his own land; for her judgment is come unto heaven and is lifted up even to the clouds.
10The Lord has brought our righteousness to light; come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.
11Make bright the arrows; gather the shields; the Lord has awakened the spirit of the kings of the Medes; for his thought is against Babylon to destroy her; for it is vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.
12Set up the banner upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for the Lord has deliberated and shall put into effect that which he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13O thou that dwellest among many waters, rich in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy covetousness.
14The Lord of the hosts has sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men as with locusts; and they shall sing the song of the winepress against thee.
15He is the one who makes the earth by his power; he upholds the world by his wisdom and extends the heavens by his intelligence;
16he who gives with his voice a multitude of waters from heaven, then he causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightnings with the rain and brings forth the wind out of his treasures.
17Every man has become carnal and is without knowledge; let every founder be ashamed of the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18They are vanity, the work of errors; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the Former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance; the Lord of the hosts is his name.
20Thou art my hammer, O weapons of war: for with thee I will break in pieces the Gentiles, and with thee I will destroy kingdoms;
21and with thee I will break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee I will break in pieces the chariots and their riders;
22with thee also I will break in pieces men and women; and with thee I will break in pieces old and young; and with thee I will break in pieces young men and virgins;
23I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee I will break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee I will break in pieces dukes and princes.
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, said the Lord.
25Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, said the Lord, which destroys 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, said the Lord.
27Set ye up a banner in the land, blow the shofar among the Gentiles, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as raised up locusts.
28Prepare the nations against her: the kings of Media, the captains thereof, and all the princes thereof, and all the land of their dominion.
29And the land shall tremble and sorrow for every thought of the Lord is confirmed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
30The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight; they have remained in their holds; their might has failed; they became as women: the enemies have burned her dwelling places; they have broken her bars.
31One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken in all places,
32And the fords were taken, and they have burned the reeds with fire, and the men of war were astounded.
33For thus hath the Lord of the hosts, the God of Israel said: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor; it is now time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
34Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a dragon; he has filled his belly with my delicates; he has cast me out.
35The violence against me and my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36Therefore thus hath the Lord said: Behold, I judge thy cause and shall take thy vengeance; and I will dry up her sea and make her flowing waters dry.
37And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and a hissing, without an inhabitant.
38They shall roar together like lions; they shall roar as lions’ whelps.
39In their heat I will place their feasts before them, and I will make them drunken that they may rejoice and sleep an eternal sleep and not wake, said the Lord.
40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
41How is Sheshach a prey! and how is she who was the praise of the whole earth taken! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the Gentiles!
42The sea is come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
43Her cities were devastated, the land dry and desert, a land in which no man dwells, neither shall any son of man pass thereby.
44And I will visit Bel himself in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up; and the Gentiles shall not flow together any more unto him; and the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45Come out of the midst of her, my people, and save each one his life from the fierce anger of the Lord.
46And lest your heart faint, and ye fear because of the news that shall be heard in the land; in one year shall the news come, and after that in the next year shall come the rumour, and then shall come the violence in the land, and the ruler over him who rules.
47Therefore, behold, the days come that I will visit the graven images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be ashamed, and all her dead shall fall in the midst of her.
48Then the heavens and the earth and all that is therein shall sing praises over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come unto her from the north, said the Lord.
49As Babylon has caused the dead of Israel to fall, so because of Babylon the dead of all the earth fell.
50Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, do not tarry: remember the Lord for many days, and remember Jerusalem.
51We are ashamed, because we have heard the reproach; confusion has covered our faces; for strangers are come against the sanctuaries of the Lord’s house.
52Therefore, behold, the days come, said the Lord, that I will visit her graven images; and through all her land the wounded unto death shall groan.
53Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify her strength upon high, yet from me shall destroyers come unto her, said the Lord.
54The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55Because the Lord destroys Babylon and takes out of her the many thunders, her waves shall roar; like many waters shall be the sound of their voice:
56because the destroyer is come against her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bow is broken: for the Lord God of recompenses shall surely requite.
57And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep an eternal sleep and shall not wake, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of the hosts.
58Thus hath the Lord of the hosts said; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly cast down, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and peoples and nations shall labour in vain in the fire to save her, and they shall become weary.
59¶ The word which Jeremiah the prophet sent to Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was the chief steward of the bedchambers.
60So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon and shalt see and shalt read all these things;
62then thou shalt say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that no one shall remain in it, 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 Euphrates;
64and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be overcome. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International