Jeremiah 50
50
Prophecies against Babylon
1This is the word the Lord spoke about Babylon,#Is 13:1 the land of the Chaldeans, through the prophet Jeremiah:
2Announce to the nations;
proclaim and raise up a signal flag;#Ps 60:4; Is 5:26; 18:3
proclaim, and hide nothing.
Say, “Babylon is captured;
Bel#Is 46:1; Jr 51:44 is put to shame;
Marduk is terrified.”
Her idols are put to shame;
her false gods, devastated.
3For a nation from the north will attack her;#Is 41:25; Jr 1:13–15; 6:1,22; 47:2; 50:9,41; 51:48
it will make her land desolate.
No one will be living in it —
both people and animals will escape.#50:3 Lit escape; they will walk#Ps 135:8; Jr 7:20; 21:6; 32:43; 33:10,12; 36:29; 51:62
4In those days and at that time —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
the Israelites and Judeans will come together,#Is 11:12–13; Jr 3:18; Ezk 37:15–22; Hs 11:1
weeping as they come,
and will seek the Lord their God.#2Ch 11:16; 15:4; Hs 3:5
5They will ask about Zion,
turning their faces to this road.
They will come and join themselves#50:5 LXX; MT reads Come and join yourselves to the Lord
in a permanent covenant#Gn 9:16; 17:7,13,19; Is 55:3; 61:8; Jr 32:40; Ezk 16:60; 37:26 that will never be forgotten.
6My people were lost sheep;#Is 53:6
their shepherds led them astray,#Jr 23:2,13
guiding them the wrong way in the mountains.#Ezk 34:6
They wandered from mountain to hill;
they forgot their resting place.
7Whoever found them devoured them.
Their adversaries said, “We’re not guilty;
instead, they have sinned against the Lord,
their righteous grazing land,#Jr 31:23; 40:2–3
the hope of their ancestors,#Jr 14:8; 17:13 the Lord.”
8Escape from Babylon;#Jr 51:6; Rv 18:4
depart from the Chaldeans’ land.
Be like the rams that lead the flock.
9For I will soon stir up and bring against Babylon#Jr 51:1,11,29,35
an assembly of great nations from the north country.
They will line up in battle formation against her;#Jr 6:23; 50:14,42; 51:27
from there she will be captured.
Their arrows will be like a skilled#50:9 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr; other Hb mss read bereaving warrior
who does not return empty-handed.
10The Chaldeans will become plunder;
all Babylon’s plunderers will be fully satisfied.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
11Because you rejoice,
because you celebrate —
you who plundered my inheritance —
because you frolic like a young cow treading grain
and neigh like stallions,#Jdg 5:22; Jr 8:16; 47:3
12your mother#Jr 2:31; 51:47; Hs 2:4–5 will be utterly humiliated;
she who bore you will be put to shame.
Look! She will lag behind all#50:12 Lit Look! The last of the nations —
an arid wilderness, a desert.#Jr 51:43
13Because of the Lord’s wrath,
she will not be inhabited;
she will become a desolation, every bit of her.
Everyone who passes through Babylon
will be appalled
and scoff because of all her wounds.#Dt 28:37; 2Ch 29:8; 30:7; Jr 5:30; 18:16; 19:8; 25:9,18; 29:18; 42:18; 44:12,22; 49:17; Mc 6:16; Zph 2:15
14Line up in battle formation around Babylon,
all you archers!
Shoot at her! Do not spare an arrow,
for she has sinned against the Lord.
15Raise a war cry against her on every side!
She has thrown up her hands in surrender;
her defense towers have fallen;
her walls are demolished.#Jr 51:58
Since this is the Lord’s vengeance,#Jr 46:10
take your vengeance on her;
as she has done, do the same to her.
16Cut off the sower from Babylon
as well as him who wields the sickle at harvest time.
Because of the oppressor’s sword,#Jr 46:16
each will turn to his own people,#Is 13:14
each will flee to his own land.
The Return of God’s People
17Israel is a stray lamb, chased by lions.#Jr 2:15; 4:7
The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria;
the last who crushed his bones
was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.#2Kg 24:10–12; 25:1–7
18Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to punish the king of Babylon#Is 10:12 and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19I will return Israel to his grazing land,#Jr 22:6; 23:3; 33:12; Ezk 34:14
and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan;
he will be satisfied
in the hill country of Ephraim and of Gilead.#Is 33:9; Mc 7:14; Nah 1:4
20In those days and at that time —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
one will search for Israel’s iniquity,
but there will be none,
and for Judah’s sins,
but they will not be found,
for I will forgive#Nm 14:20; Jr 31:34; 36:3 those I leave as a remnant.#Jr 39:10; 52:16; Zph 3:12
The Invasion of Babylon
21Attack the land of Merathaim,
and those living in Pekod.
Put them to the sword;
completely destroy them —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
do everything I have commanded you.#1Kg 9:4; 2Kg 21:8; 2Ch 7:17
22The sound of war is in the land#Jr 51:54–56 —
a crushing blow!
23How the hammer of the whole earth
is cut down and smashed!
What a horror Babylon has become
among the nations!#Jr 51:41
24Babylon, I laid a trap for you, and you were caught,#Jr 51:31; Dn 5:30–31
but you did not even know it.
You were found and captured
because you pitted yourself against the Lord.
25The Lord opened his armory
and brought out his weapons of wrath,#Is 13:5
because it is a task of the Lord God of Armies
in the land of the Chaldeans.
26Come against her from the most distant places.#50:26 Lit from the end
Open her granaries;
pile her up like mounds of grain
and completely destroy her.
Leave her no survivors.
27Put all her young bulls to the sword;
let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them because their day has come,
the time of their punishment.#Is 10:3; Jr 46:21; Ezk 21:25,29; Hs 5:9; Mc 7:4; 2Pt 2:9
The Humiliation of Babylon
28There is a voice of fugitives and refugees
from the land of Babylon.
The voice announces in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God,
the vengeance for his temple.#2Kg 18:16; 23:4; 24:13; Jr 51:11
29Summon the archers to Babylon,
all who string the bow;
camp all around her; let none escape.
Repay her according to her deeds;#Ps 28:4; Pr 24:12,29; Jr 25:14; 50:29; 51:24; Lm 3:64
just as she has done, do the same to her,
for she has acted arrogantly against the Lord,
against the Holy One of Israel.#Ps 71:22; Is 1:4; 37:23; Jr 51:5
30Therefore, her young men will fall
in her public squares;
all the warriors will perish in that day.
This is the Lord’s declaration.#Jr 49:26
31Look, I am against you, you arrogant one —
this is the declaration of
the Lord God of Armies —
for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
32The arrogant will stumble and fall#Ps 27:2; Pr 24:16–17; Is 3:8; 8:15; 31:3
with no one to pick him up.
I will set fire to his cities,
and it will consume everything around him.#Jr 21:14
The Desolation of Babylon
33This is what the Lord of Armies says:
Israelites and Judeans alike have been oppressed.
All their captors hold them fast;#2Ch 28:11; 30:9; Is 14:17; 61:1; Jr 13:17
they refuse to release them.
34Their Redeemer is strong;
the Lord of Armies is his name.
He will fervently champion their cause#1Sm 24:15; Pr 23:11; Is 47:4; Jr 51:36
so that he might bring rest to the earth
but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.#Mc 4:10
35A sword is over the Chaldeans —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
against those who live in Babylon,
against her officials, and against her sages.
36A sword is against the diviners,
and they will act foolishly.
A sword is against her heroic warriors,
and they will be terrified.
37A sword is against his horses and chariots
and against all the foreigners among them,#Ex 12:38; Neh 13:1–3; Jr 25:20
and they will be like women.#Is 19:16; Jr 48:41; 51:30; Nah 3:13
A sword is against her treasuries,
and they will be plundered.
38A drought will come on her waters,
and they will be dried up.
For it is a land of carved images,
and they go mad because of terrifying things.#50:38 Or of dreaded gods#Ex 15:16; 23:27; Jb 20:25
39Therefore, desert creatures#50:39 Or desert demons will live with hyenas,
and ostriches will also live in her.
It will never again be inhabited
or lived in through all generations.#Is 13:20–21; 34:13–14
40Just as God demolished Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighboring towns#Gn 19:24–25 —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
so no one will live there;
no human being will stay in it even temporarily
as a temporary resident.#Jr 49:18–21,33
The Conquest of Babylon
41Look! A people comes from the north.#Jr 6:22–24; 49:24
A great nation and many kings will be stirred up
from the remote regions of the earth.#Jr 6:22; 25:32; 31:8
42They grasp bow and javelin.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
Their voice roars like the sea,#Is 5:30; 17:12
and they ride on horses,
lined up like men in battle formation
against you, Daughter Babylon.
43The king of Babylon has heard about them;
his hands have become weak.
Distress has seized him —
pain, like a woman in labor.#Ps 48:6; Is 13:8; 21:3; 42:14; Jr 4:31; 6:24; 13:21; 22:23; 30:6; 49:24; Mc 4:9–10; 1Th 5:3
44“Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets#50:44 Lit pride#Ps 10:9; 17:12; Is 5:29; Jr 2:15; 5:6; 12:5; 25:38; 50:17; Zch 11:3 of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. I will chase Babylon#50:44 Lit them away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like me? Who will issue me a summons? Who is the shepherd who can stand against me?”
45Therefore, hear the plans that the Lord has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies he has devised against the land of the Chaldeans:#Jr 51:29 Certainly the flock’s little lambs will be dragged away; certainly the grazing land will be made desolate because of them. 46At the sound of Babylon’s conquest the earth will quake; a cry will be heard among the nations.#Jr 49:19–21
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Jeremiah 50: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Yirmeyahu (Jer) 50
50
1This is the word which Adonai spoke concerning Bavel, concerning the land of the Kasdim, through Yirmeyahu the prophet:
2“Declare it among the nations, proclaim it!
Hoist a banner, proclaim it, don’t hide it!
Say: ‘Bavel is captured.
Bel is shamed, M’rodakh disgraced,
her images shamed, her idols disgraced.’
3For from the north a nation is marching against her
that will desolate her land.
No one will live there —
both humans and animals have fled and gone.
4In those days, at that time,” says Adonai,
“the people of Isra’el will come,
together with the people of Y’hudah.
They will weep as they go their way,
seeking Adonai their God.
5They will ask the way to Tziyon;
and, turning their faces toward it, will say,
‘Come, join yourselves to Adonai
by an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten.’
6My people have been lost sheep.
My shepherds made them go astray,
turning them loose in the mountains.
As they wandered from mountain to hill,
they lost track of where their home is.
7Everyone finding them ate them up.
Their enemies said, ‘We aren’t guilty;
for they sinned against Adonai,
the resting place of justice;
yes, against Adonai, their ancestors’ hope.’
8Flee from Bavel! Leave the land of the Kasdim!
Be like male goats leading the flock;
9for I will stir up and bring against Bavel
an alliance of great nations from the country to the north.
They will array themselves against her;
from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like those of a death-dealing warrior;
none will return in vain.
10The land of the Kasdim will be plundered;
all who plunder it will get enough,” says Adonai.
11“Because you are glad, because you exult,
you plunderers of my heritage;
because you frisk like a calf in the grass
and neigh like stallions;
12your mother will be utterly shamed,
she who bore you will be disgraced.
Here she is! — last among the nations,
a desert, parched and barren.
13Because of the anger of Adonai,
no one will live there any more;
all of it will be desolate.
Everyone passing Bavel will whistle
in shock at all her plagues.
14“Take your positions surrounding Bavel,
all you whose bows are strung;
shoot at her, spare no arrows;
because she sinned against Adonai.
15From all sides raise the war cry against her!
Now she surrenders!
Her buttresses fall, her walls are thrown down,
for this is the vengeance of Adonai.
Avenge yourself on her!
As she has done, do to her!
16Cut off the sower from Bavel
and the reaper with sickle at harvest-time.
For fear of the destroying sword
everyone returns to his own people,
each one flees to his own land.
17“Isra’el is a stray lamb,
driven away by lions.
First to devour him was Ashur’s king;
and the last to break his bones
is this N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel.”
18Therefore Adonai-Tzva’ot,
the God of Isra’el, says:
“I will punish the king of Bavel and his land
as I punished the king of Ashur.
19I will bring Isra’el back to his pasture,
to graze on the Karmel and the Bashan,
on the hills of Efrayim and in Gil‘ad
until he has his fill.
20In those days, at that time,” says Adonai,
“Isra’el’s guilt will be sought,
but there will be none,
and Y’hudah’s sins,
but they won’t be found;
for I will pardon the remnant I leave.
21“Attack the land of Meratayim;
attack it and those living in P’kod.
Waste them, utterly destroy them;
do all I have ordered you,” says Adonai.
22“The sound of battle is heard in the land,
with great destruction!
23How the hammer of the whole earth
lies hacked apart and shattered!
What an object of horror among the nations
Bavel has become!
24I set a trap and caught you,
Bavel, before you knew it.
You were discovered and seized,
because you challenged Adonai.
25Adonai has opened his store of arms
and brought out the weapons of his wrath;
for Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot has work
to do in the land of the Kasdim.
26Attack her from every direction!
Open her stores of grain!
Pile her up like heaps of grain;
destroy her completely; leave nothing!
27Kill all her bulls!
let them go down to be slaughtered!
Woe to them! for their day has come,
the time for them to be punished.”
28Hear the sound of the fugitives,
of those escaping from Bavel,
coming to proclaim in Tziyon
the vengeance of Adonai our God,
vengeance over his temple.
29“Call up archers against Bavel,
all whose bows are strung.
Besiege her from every side,
let no one escape.
Repay her for her deeds;
as she has done, do to her.
For she insulted Adonai,
the Holy One of Isra’el.
30This is why her young men will fall
in her open places,
why all her warriors will be silenced
on that day,” says Adonai.
31“I am against you, arrogant [nation],”
says Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot.
“For your day has come,
the time for you to be punished.
32The arrogant [nation] will stumble and fall,
and no one will lift him up again.
I will set his cities on fire,
and it will devour everything around him.”
33Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“The people of Isra’el are oppressed,
and so are the people of Y’hudah.
Those who took them captive hold them fast;
they refuse to let them go.
34But their redeemer is strong;
Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name.
He will thoroughly plead their cause,
so that he can give rest to the land
but unrest to those who live in Bavel.
35Adonai says,
“A sword hangs over the Kasdim,
and over those who live in Bavel,
over her leaders and over her sages.
36A sword hangs over the lying diviners;
they will become fools.
A sword hangs over her warriors;
they will be disgraced.
37A sword hangs over their horses,
also over their chariots,
also over the foreigners within her;
they will become like women.
A sword hangs over her treasures;
they will be robbed.
38A drought hangs over her waters;
they will be dried up.
For this is a land of idols;
they go mad over these horrors of theirs.
39“Therefore wildcats and jackals will live there,
and ostriches will settle there.
It will never again be peopled,
it will be uninhabited age after age;
40as when God overthrew S’dom,
‘Amora and their neighboring towns,” says Adonai.
“No one will settle there any more,
no human being will live there again.
41“Look! A people is coming from the north;
a great nation and many kings
are being stirred up from the ends of the earth.
42They are armed with bow and spear;
they are cruel, without compassion;
their sound is like the roaring sea,
as they ride forth on horses.
Their men take their battle positions
against you, daughter of Bavel.
43The king of Bavel has heard news of them;
his hands droop, helpless.
Anguish seizes hold of him
and pain, like a woman in labor.
44“It will be like a lion coming up from the thickets
of the Yarden against a strong settlement;
in an instant I will chase him away
and appoint over it whomever I choose.
For who is like me? Who can call me to account?
What shepherd can stand up to me?”
45So hear the plan of Adonai
that he has devised against Bavel,
and his goals that he will accomplish
against the land of the Kasdim:
the least of the flock will drag them away;
their own pasture will be in shock at them.
46At the sound of Bavel’s capture the earth quakes;
their cry is heard throughout the nations.
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