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.
Currently Selected:
Yirmeyah 51: TOJB2011
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Jeremiah 51
51
God’s Judgment on Babylon
1This is what the Lord says:
I am about to stir up a destructive wind # Or stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon # Jr 4:11-12; 50:9
and against the population of Leb-qamai. # Lit heart of my adversaries # = Chaldeans
2I will send strangers to Babylon
who will scatter her and strip her land bare, # Jr 15:7; Mt 3:12
for they will come against her
from every side in the day of disaster.
3Don’t let the archer string his bow;
don’t let him put on # Hb obscure his armor. # Jb 41:13; Jr 46:4
Don’t spare her young men;
completely destroy her entire army!
4Those who were slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans,
those who were pierced through, in her streets. # Jr 51:47,52
5For Israel and Judah are not left widowed
by their God, the Lord of Hosts,
though their land is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel. # Ps 78:41; Is 37:23; Jr 50:29
6Leave Babylon; # Jr 50:8; Rv 18:4
save your lives, each of you! # Jr 48:6; 51:45
Don’t perish because of her guilt.
For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance —
He will pay her what she deserves. # Ps 28:4; 137:8; Is 66:6
7Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand, # Rv 17:4
making the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine; # Rv 14:8; 18:3
therefore, the nations go mad. # Jr 25:16
8Suddenly Babylon fell and was shattered.
Wail for her;
get balm # Jr 8:22; 46:11 for her wound —
perhaps she can be healed.
9We tried to heal Babylon,
but she could not be healed.
Abandon her!
Let each of us go to his own land, # Is 13:14
for her judgment extends to the sky
and reaches as far as the clouds. # Rv 18:5
10The Lord has brought about our vindication; # Ps 37:6
come, let’s tell in Zion
what the Lord our God has accomplished. # Jr 50:28
11Sharpen the arrows! # Is 5:28; Jr 50:9,14,29; 51:3
Fill the quivers!
The Lord has put it into the mind
of the kings of the Medes
because His plan is aimed at Babylon
to destroy her,
for it is the Lord’s vengeance,
vengeance for His temple. # Jr 50:28
12Raise up a signal flag # Ps 60:4; Is 5:26; 18:3
against the walls of Babylon;
fortify the watch post;
set the watchmen in place;
prepare the ambush.
For the Lord has both planned and accomplished
what He has threatened
against those who live in Babylon. # Is 14:26; 19:12,17; 23:8; Jr 18:11; 49:20,30; 50:45; Mc 2:3
13You who reside by many waters, # Rv 17:1
rich in treasures,
your end has come,
your life thread is cut.
14The Lord of Hosts has sworn by Himself:
I will fill you up with men as with locusts,
and they will sing the victory song over you.
15He made the earth by His power,
established the world # Jb 38:4; Ps 93:1; 96:10 by His wisdom, # Pr 3:19-20; 8:22-29
and spread out the heavens by His understanding. # Jb 9:8; Ps 104:2; Is 45:12
16When He thunders, # Lit At His giving of the voice
the waters in the heavens are in turmoil, # Jr 5:22; 31:35
and He causes the clouds
to rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from His storehouses. # Jb 38:25-30,34-38; Ps 135:7
17Everyone is stupid and ignorant.
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image, # Is 40:18-31; 46:1-7
for his cast images are a lie; # Is 41:29
there is no breath in them. # Hab 2:19
18They are worthless, # Jr 10:3,8 a work to be mocked.
At the time of their punishment they will be destroyed. # Jr 6:15; 10:15; 49:8
19Jacob’s Portion # = the Lord is not like these
because He is the One who formed all things. # Gn 2:7-8,19; Ps 95:5; Is 43:1
Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; # Dt 4:20; 32:8-9; Ps 74:2; 78:71; Is 63:17; Mc 7:18; Eph 1:18
Yahweh of Hosts is His name. # Jr 10:12-16
20You are My battle club,
My weapons of war.
With you I will smash nations;
with you I will bring kingdoms to ruin.
21With you I will smash the horse and its rider;
with you I will smash the chariot and its rider.
22With you I will smash man and woman; # 2Ch 36:17; Is 13:15-18
with you I will smash the old man and the youth;
with you I will smash the young man and the young woman.
23With you I will smash the shepherd and his flock;
with you I will smash the farmer and his ox-team. # Lit yoke
With you I will smash governors and officials.
24“I will repay Babylon and all the residents of Chaldea for all their evil they have done in Zion before your very eyes.” # 2Sm 12:11; Is 1:7; Jr 16:9; 20:4; 29:21; 39:16; 50:15,29
This is the Lord’s declaration.
25Look, I am against you, devastating mountain —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
you devastate the whole earth.
I will stretch out My hand against you, # Jr 15:6; Ezk 6:14; 25:7
roll you down from the cliffs,
and turn you into a charred mountain.
26No one will be able to retrieve a cornerstone
or a foundation stone from you,
because you will become desolate forever.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
27Raise a signal flag # Ps 60:4; Is 5:26; 18:3 in the land;
blow a ram’s horn among the nations; # Jr 4:5; 6:1
set apart the nations against her. # Jr 6:4; 22:7; 50:9
Summon kingdoms against her —
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a marshal against her;
bring up horses like a swarm # Hb obscure of locusts.
28Set apart the nations for battle against her —
the kings of Media,
her governors and all her officials,
and all the lands they rule.
29The earth quakes # Ps 18:7; Is 13:13; Jr 50:46 and trembles
because the Lord’s intentions against Babylon stand:
to make the land of Babylon an uninhabited desolation.
30Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting; # Jr 50:37
they sit in their strongholds.
Their might is exhausted;
they have become like women.
Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze,
her gate bars are shattered. # Lm 2:9; Nah 3:13
31Messenger races to meet messenger, # 2Ch 30:6
and herald to meet herald,
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his city has been captured
from end to end. # Jr 50:24
32The fords have been seized, # Jdg 12:5
the marshes set on fire,
and the soldiers are terrified.
33For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:
Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trampled. # Is 21:10
In just a little while her harvest time will come. # Is 17:5; Jl 3:13; Rv 14:15
34“Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me;
he has crushed me.
He has set me aside like an empty dish;
he has swallowed me like a sea monster; # Ps 74:13; Is 27:1; Ezk 29:3
he filled his belly with my delicacies;
he has vomited me out,” # Lit has rinsed me off
35says the inhabitant of Zion;
“Let the violence done to me and my family be done to Babylon.
Let my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
says Jerusalem.
36Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
I am about to plead your case # 1Sm 24:15; Pr 23:11; Jr 50:34
and take vengeance on your behalf;
I will dry up her sea # Ex 14:16–15:21
and make her fountain run dry.
37Babylon will become a heap of rubble,
a jackals’ den,
a desolation and an object of scorn, # 2Ch 29:8; Jr 18:16; 19:8
without inhabitant. # Jr 4:7; 9:11; 33:10; 34:22; 44:2,22; 46:19; 48:9; 49:33
38They will roar together like young lions;
they will growl like lion cubs.
39While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast,
and I will make them drunk so that they revel. # LXX reads pass out # Jr 51:57
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams together with male goats. # Is 34:6; Ezk 39:18
41How Sheshach has been captured, # Jr 25:26
the praise # Jr 33:9; 49:25 of the whole earth seized.
What a horror Babylon has become
among the nations! # Jr 50:23
42The sea has risen over Babylon; # Is 8:7-8
she is covered with its turbulent waves.
43Her cities have become a desolation, # Jr 50:12
a dry and arid land,
a land where no one lives,
where no human being passes through.
44I will punish Bel # Is 46:1; Jr 50:2 in Babylon.
I will make him vomit what he swallowed. # Jb 20:15
The nations will no longer stream to him; # Is 2:2; Mc 4:1
even Babylon’s wall will fall.
45Come out from among her, My people! # Jr 51:6
Save your lives, each of you, # Jr 48:6; 51:6
from the Lord’s burning anger.
46May you not become cowardly and fearful
when the report is proclaimed in the land,
for the report will come one year,
and then another the next year.
There will be violence in the land
with ruler against ruler.
47Therefore, look, the days are coming # Jr 7:32; 16:14; 19:6; 23:7; 48:12; 49:2; 51:52
when I will punish Babylon’s carved images. # Jr 50:2
Her entire land will suffer shame,
and all her slain will lie fallen within her. # Jr 50:12
48Heaven and earth and everything in them
will shout for joy # Is 44:23; 49:13 over Babylon
because the destroyers from the north # Is 41:25; Jr 4:6,20; 6:1; 15:12; 47:2; 50:3,9,41
will come against her.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
49Babylon must fall because of the slain of Israel,
even as the slain of all the earth fell
because of Babylon.
50You who have escaped the sword, # Jr 44:28
go and do not stand still!
Remember the Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come to your mind.
51We are ashamed
because we have heard insults. # Ps 44:15
Humiliation covers our faces
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s temple. # Lm 1:10
52Therefore, look, the days are coming —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
when I will punish her carved images,
and the wounded will groan
throughout her land.
53Even if Babylon should ascend to the heavens # Gn 11:4; Is 14:12-14; Jr 49:16
and fortify her tall fortresses,
destroyers will come against her from Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
54The sound of a cry from Babylon! # Jr 50:22
The sound of great destruction # Jr 4:6; 6:1; 14:17; 48:3; Zph 1:10
from the land of the Chaldeans!
55For the Lord is going to devastate Babylon;
He will silence her mighty voice.
Their waves roar like abundant waters;
the tumult of their voice resounds,
56for a destroyer is coming against her,
against Babylon.
Her warriors will be captured,
their bows shattered,
for the Lord is a God of retribution;
He will certainly repay.
57I will make her princes and sages drunk,
along with her governors, officials, and warriors.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up. # Jr 51:39
This is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name. # Jr 46:18; 48:15
58This is what Yahweh of Hosts says:
Babylon’s thick walls will be totally demolished, # Jr 50:15
and her high gates consumed by fire.
The peoples will have labored for nothing; # Hab 2:13
the nations will exhaust themselves only to feed the fire.
59This is what Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, # Jr 32:12 the quartermaster, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign. 60Jeremiah wrote on one scroll about all the disaster that would come to Babylon; # Jr 36:2 all these words were written against Babylon.
61Jeremiah told Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62You must say, ‘Lord, You have threatened to cut off # 1Sm 20:15; Is 10:7; Jr 9:21; 44:11; 47:4; Ob 14; Ps 109:13 this place so that no one will live in it — man or beast. # Ps 135:8; Jr 7:20; 21:6; 32:43; 33:10,12; 36:29; 50:3 Indeed, it will remain desolate forever.’ 63When you have finished reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River. # Jr 19:10-11; Rv 18:21 64Then say, ‘In the same way, Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the disaster I am bringing on her. They will grow weary.’ ”
The words of Jeremiah end here.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.