Jeremiah 50
50
Against Babylon
1The word that Adonai spoke about Babylon, about the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:
2“Declare it among the nations and proclaim! Raise a banner, announce, hide nothing! Say: ‘Babylon will be captured, Bel put to shame, Merodach dismayed, her images disgraced, her idols shattered!’
3For a nation comes up against her out of the land of the north —it will desolate her land. No one will dwell there— they have fled, gone, both man and beast.”
Declaration of Restoration
4“In those days and at that time” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “the children of Israel will come, together with the children of Judah, weeping as they come, and will seek Adonai their God.
5They will ask about Zion, the way— here are their faces! Come! They will join themselves to Adonai in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
6My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds led them astray. Turning around in the mountains, they went from mountain to hill, and forgot their resting place.
7Everyone finding them devoured them. Their foes said: ‘We’re not guilty!’ Instead, they sinned against Adonai, the habitation of justice—Adonai, the hope of their fathers.”
Doom of Babylon
8“Flee from within Babylon, get out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be like he-goats before the flock.
9For I will soon stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the north. They will form battle lines against her, from there she will be captured. Their arrows will be like a warrior who bereaves, not returning empty.
10Chaldea will be a spoil— all who plunder her will be satisfied.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
11“Because you rejoice, because you exult— you who plunder My inheritance— because you frolic like a trampling heifer and neigh like stallions,
12your mother will be utterly ashamed, she who bore you will be humiliated. Behold, the least of the nations will be a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.”
13Because of Adonai’s wrath, it will be uninhabited, all waste. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled, hissing at all her wounds.
14Array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow. Shoot at her! Spare no arrows— for she has sinned against Adonai.
15Raise a war cry against her all around! She has thrown up her hands, her bulwarks are fallen, her walls thrown down. For it is Adonai’s vengeance: take vengeance on her, as she has done, do to her!
16Cut off the sower from Babylon and the one who wields a sickle in the time of harvest. Before the sword of the oppressor they will each turn to his people, each will flee to his own land.
17Israel is a scattered flock— lions have driven them away. First, Assyria’s king devoured him. This last one who broke his bones was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
18Therefore thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Indeed, I will punish Babylon’s king and his land, just as I punished Assyria’s king.
19I will bring Israel back to his pasture. He will feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20In those days and in that time” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “Israel’s guilt will be sought, but there will be none, also for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found. For I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
21Go up against the land of Merathaim, against the inhabitants of Pekod. Put them to the sword and utterly destroy them” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “and do all that I commanded you.”
22The noise of battle is in the land and great crashing.
23How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut down and smashed! How Babylon has become a horror among the nations!
24I set a snare for you, so you were caught, O Babylon, when you were unaware. You were found and also caught, because you challenged Adonai.
25Adonai has opened His armory and brought out the weapons of His indignation. For it is a work that my Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot has to do in the land of Chaldea.
26Come against her from afar, open her granaries, pile her up like heaps and utterly destroy her! Let nothing be left to her.
27To the sword with all her bulls, going down to the slaughter! Oy to them! Their day has come— the time of their visitation.
28The sound of fugitives, escaping out of the land of Babylon— declaring in Zion the vengeance of Adonai our God, vengeance for His Temple.
29Summon archers to Babylon, all who bend the bow. Encamp against her all around, let no one there escape. Repay her for her deed. As all she has done, do to her. For she was arrogant against Adonai, against the Holy One of Israel.
30Therefore her young men will fall in her squares, all her warriors silenced in that day.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
31“Look, I am against you, arrogant one” —declares my Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot— “for your day has come, the time when I will punish you.
32The arrogant will stumble and fall, and no one will lift him up. I will kindle fire in his cities, and it will devour all who are round about him.”
33Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot: “The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together. All their captors hold them fast. They refused to let them go.
34Their Redeemer is strong —Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name— He will vigorously plead their case, so He may give rest to the earth, but trembling to the Babylonians.
35“A sword is on the Chaldeans” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “and on Babylon’s inhabitants, and her officials and wise men.
36A sword on the diviners—fools! A sword on her warriors—shattered!
37A sword on their horses, their chariots, on all the mixed people within her, so they will become like women! A sword on her treasures— so they may be plundered.
38A drought is on her waters, so they will be dried up. For it is a land of idols— they are mad about horrible things.
39So wildcats and hyenas will live there and ostriches settle there. It will never again be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation.
40As when Elohim overthrew Sodom, Gomorrah and their neighbor towns” —it is a declaration of Adonai— so no man will live there, nor any son of man dwell in it.
41Look! A people coming from the north, a great nation and many kings will rise up from the ends of the earth.
42They grasp bow and javelin. They are cruel, with no compassion. Their voice roars like the sea, as they ride on horses, arranged as warriors for battle, against you, daughter of Babylon.
43Babylon’s king heard news of them. His hands droop; anguish grabs him, agony like a woman in labor.
44Look, it is like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan to a secure pasture—for abruptly I will make him run away from it. I appoint over it whomever I choose. For who is like Me? Who will summon Me to court? What shepherd stands up to Me?”
45Therefore hear the plan that Adonai has drawn up against Babylon, and His strategies that He designed against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely the least of the flock will be dragged away, Surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them.
46The earth will tremble at the noise of Babylon’s capture. The sound of their outcry will be heard among the nations.
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Jeremiah 50: TLV
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Jeremiah 50
50
A Message about Babylon
1The Lord gave Jeremiah the prophet this message concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians.#50:1 Or Chaldeans; also in 50:8, 25, 35, 45. 2This is what the Lord says:
“Tell the whole world,
and keep nothing back.
Raise a signal flag
to tell everyone that Babylon will fall!
Her images and idols#50:2 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung. will be shattered.
Her gods Bel and Marduk will be utterly disgraced.
3For a nation will attack her from the north
and bring such destruction that no one will live there again.
Everything will be gone;
both people and animals will flee.
Hope for Israel and Judah
4“In those coming days,”
says the Lord,
“the people of Israel will return home
together with the people of Judah.
They will come weeping
and seeking the Lord their God.
5They will ask the way to Jerusalem#50:5 Hebrew Zion; also in 50:28.
and will start back home again.
They will bind themselves to the Lord
with an eternal covenant that will never be forgotten.
6“My people have been lost sheep.
Their shepherds have led them astray
and turned them loose in the mountains.
They have lost their way
and can’t remember how to get back to the sheepfold.
7All who found them devoured them.
Their enemies said,
‘We did nothing wrong in attacking them,
for they sinned against the Lord,
their true place of rest,
and the hope of their ancestors.’
8“But now, flee from Babylon!
Leave the land of the Babylonians.
Like male goats at the head of the flock,
lead my people home again.
9For I am raising up an army
of great nations from the north.
They will join forces to attack Babylon,
and she will be captured.
The enemies’ arrows will go straight to the mark;
they will not miss!
10Babylonia#50:10 Or Chaldea. will be looted
until the attackers are glutted with loot.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Babylon’s Sure Fall
11“You rejoice and are glad,
you who plundered my chosen people.
You frisk about like a calf in a meadow
and neigh like a stallion.
12But your homeland#50:12 Hebrew your mother. will be overwhelmed
with shame and disgrace.
You will become the least of nations—
a wilderness, a dry and desolate land.
13Because of the Lord’s anger,
Babylon will become a deserted wasteland.
All who pass by will be horrified
and will gasp at the destruction they see there.
14“Yes, prepare to attack Babylon,
all you surrounding nations.
Let your archers shoot at her; spare no arrows.
For she has sinned against the Lord.
15Shout war cries against her from every side.
Look! She surrenders!
Her walls have fallen.
It is the Lord’s vengeance,
so take vengeance on her.
Do to her as she has done to others!
16Take from Babylon all those who plant crops;
send all the harvesters away.
Because of the sword of the enemy,
everyone will run away and rush back to their own lands.
Hope for God’s People
17“The Israelites are like sheep
that have been scattered by lions.
First the king of Assyria ate them up.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar#50:17 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar. of Babylon cracked their bones.”
18Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
the God of Israel, says:
“Now I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,
just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19And I will bring Israel home again to its own land,
to feed in the fields of Carmel and Bashan,
and to be satisfied once more
in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.
20In those days,” says the Lord,
“no sin will be found in Israel or in Judah,
for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.
The Lord’s Judgment on Babylon
21“Go up, my warriors, against the land of Merathaim
and against the people of Pekod.
Pursue, kill, and completely destroy#50:21 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering. them,
as I have commanded you,” says the Lord.
22“Let the battle cry be heard in the land,
a shout of great destruction.
23Babylon, the mightiest hammer in all the earth,
lies broken and shattered.
Babylon is desolate among the nations!
24Listen, Babylon, for I have set a trap for you.
You are caught, for you have fought against the Lord.
25The Lord has opened his armory
and brought out weapons to vent his fury.
The terror that falls upon the Babylonians
will be the work of the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
26Yes, come against her from distant lands.
Break open her granaries.
Crush her walls and houses into heaps of rubble.
Destroy her completely, and leave nothing!
27Destroy even her young bulls—
it will be terrible for them, too!
Slaughter them all!
For Babylon’s day of reckoning has come.
28Listen to the people who have escaped from Babylon,
as they tell in Jerusalem
how the Lord our God has taken vengeance
against those who destroyed his Temple.
29“Send out a call for archers to come to Babylon.
Surround the city so none can escape.
Do to her as she has done to others,
for she has defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
30Her young men will fall in the streets and die.
Her soldiers will all be killed,”
says the Lord.
31“See, I am your enemy, you arrogant people,”
says the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“Your day of reckoning has arrived—
the day when I will punish you.
32O land of arrogance, you will stumble and fall,
and no one will raise you up.
For I will light a fire in the cities of Babylon
that will burn up everything around them.”
33This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“The people of Israel and Judah have been wronged.
Their captors hold them and refuse to let them go.
34But the one who redeems them is strong.
His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
He will defend them
and give them rest again in Israel.
But for the people of Babylon
there will be no rest!
35“The sword of destruction will strike the Babylonians,”
says the Lord.
“It will strike the people of Babylon—
her officials and wise men, too.
36The sword will strike her wise counselors,
and they will become fools.
The sword will strike her mightiest warriors,
and panic will seize them.
37The sword will strike her horses and chariots
and her allies from other lands,
and they will all become like women.
The sword will strike her treasures,
and they all will be plundered.
38A drought#50:38 Or sword; the Hebrew words for drought and sword are very similar. will strike her water supply,
causing it to dry up.
And why? Because the whole land is filled with idols,
and the people are madly in love with them.
39“Soon Babylon will be inhabited by desert animals and hyenas.
It will be a home for owls.
Never again will people live there;
it will lie desolate forever.
40I will destroy it as I#50:40 Hebrew as God. destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighboring towns,” says the Lord.
“No one will live there;
no one will inhabit it.
41“Look! A great army is coming from the north.
A great nation and many kings
are rising against you from far-off lands.
42They are armed with bows and spears.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
As they ride forward on horses,
they sound like a roaring sea.
They are coming in battle formation,
planning to destroy you, Babylon.
43The king of Babylon has heard reports about the enemy,
and he is weak with fright.
Pangs of anguish have gripped him,
like those of a woman in labor.
44“I will come like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan,
leaping on the sheep in the pasture.
I will chase Babylon from its land,
and I will appoint the leader of my choice.
For who is like me, and who can challenge me?
What ruler can oppose my will?”
45Listen to the Lord’s plans against Babylon
and the land of the Babylonians.
Even the little children will be dragged off like sheep,
and their homes will be destroyed.
46The earth will shake with the shout, “Babylon has been taken!”
and its cry of despair will be heard around the world.
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