Jeremiah 50
50
Prophecy against Babylon
1This is what the LORD said concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians through the prophet Jeremiah:
2Tell the nations;
proclaim it far and wide!
Set up a flag;
proclaim it far and wide!
Hold nothing back;
just shout it:
“Babylon is captured;
Bel is shamed;
Marduk is panic-stricken.
Her images are shamed;
her idols are panic-stricken.”
3A nation from the north
has risen up against her.
It will decimate her land,
and no one will live in it.
Every living thing will flee.
4In those days and at that time,
declares the LORD,
the people of Israel and Judah
will come out of Babylon#50.4 Heb lacks of Babylon. together;
with weeping they will leave
as they seek the LORD their God.
5They will search for Zion,
turning their faces toward it.
They will come#50.5 Heb uncertain and
unite with the LORD,
in an everlasting covenant
that will never be forgotten.
6My people were lost sheep;
their shepherds led them astray;
they deserted them on the mountains,
where they wandered off among the hills,
forgetting their resting place.
7All who found them devoured them;
and their attackers said,
“It’s not our fault,
because they have sinned against the LORD,
the true pasture,#50.7 Or righteous dwelling place
the hope of their ancestors—the LORD.”
8Now wander far from Babylon.
Get out of that country.
Like rams of the flock,
lead the way home.
9I’m stirring up against Babylon
a coalition of mighty nations.
It will mobilize in the north,
and from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like those of an expert archer
who does not return empty-handed.
10Babylon will be defeated;
its attackers will carry off all that they want,
declares the LORD.
11Sure, you gloat and rejoice,
you plunderers of my possession.
Sure, you dance around like a calf
and neigh like a stallion.
12But Mother Babylon#50.12 Or your mother will be humiliated;
the one who bore you will be disgraced.
She will become the least of the nations:
a wilderness, a desert, and parched land.
13Because of the LORD’s anger,
no one will live there;
she will be reduced to total ruin.
All who pass by Babylon will be shocked;
they will gasp at all her injuries.
14Take up your positions around Babylon,
all you archers;
now shoot at her;
save none of your arrows,
because she’s sinned against the LORD.
15Raise a victory shout against her on every side!
She’s surrendered;
her towers have collapsed;
her walls are destroyed.
This is the LORD’s retribution;
now pay her back:
do to her what she’s done to others!
16Cut Babylon off from those who plant
and those who harvest the crops,
because of its ruthless sword.#50.16 Heb uncertain
Now return, all of you, to your people;
flee to your homeland!
17Israelites are scattered sheep,
driven away by lions.
First the king of Assyria devoured them,
and now Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar has ravaged them.#50.17 Or gnawed their bones
18Therefore, the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims:
I’m going to punish the king of Babylon and his land,
just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19But I will restore Israel to their pasture;
they will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
they will eat their fill
in the highlands of Ephraim and Gilead.
20In those days and at that time,
declares the LORD,
if one searches for the sin of Israel,
they will find nothing;
if one seeks out the wrongdoing of Judah,
they will look in vain.
I will forgive those I have spared.
21Attack the land of Merathaim;#50.21 Or Double rebellion
crush those living in Pekod.
Ruin and destroy them,
declares the LORD;
do all I have commanded you.
22There’s the sound of war in the land
and enormous devastation.
23How the hammer of the whole earth
has been broken and shattered into pieces!
How Babylon has become a wasteland
among the nations!
24You set a trap for others, Babylon,#50.24 Or I set a trap for you, Babylon, and you were
but you yourself were caught in it unaware;
you have been found and captured
because you have defied the LORD.
25The LORD has opened his arsenal
and brought out his brutal weapons.
The LORD God of heavenly forces
has a job to do in the land of the Babylonians.
26Come against her from every side;
throw open her granaries;
pile her up like stalks of grain;
totally destroy her;
leave nothing intact.
27Destroy all her bulls;
prepare them for slaughter.
How terrible for them!
Their time has come,
the day of reckoning.
28A voice of fugitives and refugees,
from the land of Babylon,
declaring in Zion
the retribution of the LORD our God
because of what has been done to his temple.
29Send the archers against Babylon,
all who draw the bow!
Surround her
and let no one escape.
Pay her back for her deeds;
do to her what she’s done to others.
She has acted arrogantly toward the LORD,
the holy one of Israel!
30Therefore, her soldiers will fall in the streets;
all her warriors will be silenced on that day,
declares the LORD.
31I’m against you, you arrogant one!
declares the LORD God of heavenly forces.
Your day has come,
your time of reckoning.
32The arrogant one will stumble and fall,
and no one will help her up.
I’ll set your cities on fire,
and it will consume all that’s around her.
33The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims:
The people of Israel were oppressed,
together with the people of Judah.
Their captors held them
and refused to let them go.
34Yet their redeemer is strong;
the LORD of heavenly forces is his name.
He will surely defend their cause
and give them rest in the land.
But he will unsettle the people of Babylon.
35A sword against Babylon and its people,
declares the LORD,
along with its officials and sages.
36A sword against its diviners
so that they become fools.
A sword against its warriors
so that they are terrified.
37A sword against its horses and chariots,
and the mercenaries#50.37 Or foreigners in its midst
so that they lose courage.#50.37 Or become like women
A sword against its treasures
so that they are looted.
38A sword#50.38 Or A drought against the water supplies
so that they dry up.
It is truly the land of idols,
idols about which they have gone utterly mad!
39Therefore, Babylon will become a ghost town,
a place for desert animals,
hyenas, and ravenous birds.#50.39 Heb uncertain
No one will live there again;
no one will make it their home.
40Just as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors,
declares the LORD,
so no one will live in Babylon
or settle there again.
41Look! An army is on the move
from the northern regions.
A powerful nation and many kings are coming
from the ends of the earth.
42Equipped with bow and spear,
they are cruel and show no mercy.
Their horsemen sound like the roaring sea,
arrayed in battle formation against you,
Daughter Babylon.
43The king of Babylon has heard reports of them
and is panic-stricken;
distress overwhelms him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
44Like a lion coming up from
the jungle of the Jordan
to a well-watered meadow,#50.44 Heb uncertain
so I will suddenly chase down Babylon
and single out its choicest of rams.
Who is like me?
Who can direct me?
What shepherd can withstand me?
45Therefore, listen to the counsel
that the LORD has for Babylon
and the plans he’s devised
against the land of Babylon:
The little ones of the flock
will be dragged off,
as their pasture watches
in utter disbelief.#50.45 Heb uncertain
46The earth quakes
at the sound of Babylon’s capture;
its screams echo throughout the world.
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Jeremiah 50: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Jeremias (Jeremiah) 50
50
1The word that the Lord hath spoken against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans, in the hand of Jeremias the prophet.
2Declare ye among the nations and publish it, lift up a standard: proclaim and conceal it not. Say: Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is overthrown, their graven things are confounded, their idols are overthrown.
3For a nation is come up against her out of the north, which shall make her land desolate. And there shall be none to dwell therein, from man even to beast: yea, they are removed and gone away.
4In those days and at that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Juda together: going and weeping, they shall make haste and shall seek the Lord their God.
5They shall ask the way to Sion: their faces are hitherward. They shall come and shall be joined to the Lord by an everlasting covenant which shall never be forgotten.
6My people have been a lost flock: their shepherds have caused them to go astray and have made them wander in the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill: they have forgotten their resting place.
7All that found them have devoured them: and their enemies said: We have not sinned in so doing: because they have sinned against the Lord, the beauty of justice, and against the Lord the hope of their fathers.
8Remove out of the midst of Babylon and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans: and be ye as kids at the head of the flock.
9For, behold, I raise up and will bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north: and they shall be prepared against her, and from thence she shall be taken. Their arrows, like those of a mighty man, a destroyer, shall not return in vain.
10And Chaldea shall be made a prey: all that waste her shall be filled, saith the Lord.
11Because you rejoice and speak great things, pillaging my inheritance: because you are spread abroad as calves upon the grass and have bellowed as bulls.
12Your mother is confounded exceedingly and she that bore you is made even with the dust: behold, she shall be the last among the nations, a wilderness unpassable and dry.
13Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but shall be wholly desolate: every one that shall pass by Babylon shall be astonished and hiss at all her plagues.
14Prepare yourselves against Babylon round about, all you that bend the bow. Fight against her, spare not arrows: because she hath sinned against the Lord.
15Shout against her, she hath every where given her hand, her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance upon her. As she hath done, so do to her.
16Destroy the sower out of Babylon and him that holdeth the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the sword of the dove every man shall return to his people and every one shall flee to his own land.
17Israel is a scattered flock, the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria devoured him, and last this Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
18Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will visit the king of Babylon and his land, as I have visited the king of Assyria.
19And I will bring Israel again to his habitation: and he shall feed on Carmel and Bason, and his soul shall be satisfied in mount Ephraim and Galaad.
20In those days and at that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none: and the sin of Juda, and there shall none be found: for I will be merciful to them whom I shall leave.
21Go up against the land of the rulers and punish the inhabitants thereof, waste and destroy all behind them, saith the Lord: and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
22A noise of war in the land and a great destruction.
23How is the hammer of the whole earth broken, and destroyed! How is Babylon turned into a desert among the nations!
24I have caused thee to fall into a snare and thou art taken, O Babylon: and thou wast not aware of it. Thou art found and caught, because thou hast provoked the Lord.
25The Lord hath opened his armoury and hath brought forth the weapons of his wrath: for the Lord, the God of hosts, hath a work to be done in the land of the Chaldeans.
26Come ye against her from the uttermost borders: open, that they may go forth that shall tread her down: take the stones out of the way and make heaps and destroy her: and let nothing of her be left.
27Destroy all her valiant men, let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
28The voice of them that flee and of them that have escaped out of the land of Babylon: to declare in Sion the revenge of the Lord our God, the revenge of his temple.
29Declare to many against Babylon, to all that bend the bow: stand together against her round about and let none escape: pay her according to her work: according to all that she hath done, do ye to her: for she hath lifted up herself against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.
30Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets: and all her men of war shall hold their peace in that day, saith the Lord.
31Behold, I come against thee, O proud one, saith the Lord, the God of hosts: for thy day is come, the time of thy visitation.
32And the proud one shall fall, he shall fall down, and there shall be none to lift him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.
33Thus saith the Lord of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Juda are oppressed together: all that have taken them captives hold them fast. They will not let them go.
34Their redeemer is strong: the Lord of hosts is his name. He will defend their cause in judgment, to terrify the land and to disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
36A sword upon her diviners, and they shall be foolish: a sword upon her valiant ones, and they shall be dismayed.
37A sword upon their horses and upon their chariots and upon all the people that are in the midst of her, and they shall become as women. A sword upon her treasures, and they shall be made a spoil.
38A drought upon her waters, and they shall be dried up: because it is a land of idols, and they glory in monstrous things.
39Therefore shall dragons dwell there with the fig fauns: and ostriches shall dwell therein. And it shall be no more inhabited for ever: neither shall it be built up from generation to generation.
40As the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha and their neighbour cities, saith the Lord: no man shall dwell there, neither shall the son of man inhabit it.
41Behold, a people cometh from the north and a great nation, and many kings shall rise from the ends of the earth.
42They shall take the bow and the shield: they are cruel and unmerciful. Their voice shall roar like the sea and they shall ride upon horses, like a man prepared for battle: against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
43The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands are grown feeble: anguish hath taken hold of him, pangs as a woman in labour.
44Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of the Jordan to the strong and beautiful: for I will make him run suddenly upon her. And who shall be the chosen one whom I may appoint over her? For who is like to me and who shall bear up against me? And who is that shepherd that can withstand my countenance?
45Therefore, hear ye the counsel of the Lord which he hath taken against Babylon and his thoughts which he hath thought against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely the little ones of the flocks shall pull them down: of a truth their habitation shall be destroyed with them.
46At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved and the cry is heard amongst the nations.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.