Jeremiah 50
50
Babylon's Capture
1 #
Is 13.1—14.23; 47.1–15 This is the message that the LORD gave me about the city of Babylon and its people:
2“Tell the news to the nations! Proclaim it!
Give the signal and announce the news!
Do not keep it a secret!
Babylon has fallen!
Her god Marduk has been shattered!
Babylon's idols are put to shame,
her disgusting images are crushed!
3“A nation from the north has come to attack Babylonia and will make it a desert. People and animals will run away, and no one will live there.”
Israel's Return
4The LORD says, “When that time comes, the people of both Israel and Judah will come weeping, looking for me, their God. 5They will ask the way to Zion and then go in that direction. They will make an eternal covenant with me and never break it.
6“My people are like sheep whose shepherds have let them get lost in the mountains. They have wandered like sheep from one mountain to another, and they have forgotten where their home is. 7They are attacked by all who find them. Their enemies say, ‘They sinned against the LORD, and so what we have done is not wrong. Their ancestors trusted in the LORD, and they themselves should have remained faithful to him.’
8 #
Rev 18.4
“People of Israel, run away from Babylonia! Leave the country! Be the first to leave! 9I am going to stir up a group of strong nations in the north and make them attack Babylonia. They will line up in battle against the country and conquer it. They are skilful hunters, shooting arrows that never miss the mark. 10Babylonia will be looted, and those who loot it will take everything they want. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
Babylon's Fall
11The LORD says, “People of Babylonia, you plundered my nation. You are happy and glad, going about like a cow threshing corn or like a neighing horse, 12but your own great city will be humiliated and disgraced. Babylonia will be the least important nation of all; it will become a dry and waterless desert. 13Because of my anger no one will live in Babylon; it will be left in ruins, and all who pass by will be shocked and amazed.
14“Archers, line up for battle against Babylon and surround it. Shoot all your arrows at Babylon, because it has sinned against me, the LORD. 15Raise the war cry all round the city! Now Babylon has surrendered. Its walls have been broken through and torn down.#50.15 Hebrew has an additional word, the meaning of which is unclear. I am taking my revenge on the Babylonians. So take your revenge on them, and treat them as they have treated others. 16Do not let seeds be sown in that country or let a harvest be gathered. Every foreigner living there will be afraid of the attacking army and will go back home.”
Israel's Return
17The LORD says, “The people of Israel are like sheep, chased and scattered by lions. First, they were attacked by the emperor of Assyria, and then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia gnawed their bones. 18Because of this, I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, will punish King Nebuchadnezzar and his country, just as I punished the emperor of Assyria. 19I will restore the people of Israel to their land. They will eat the food that grows on Mount Carmel and in the region of Bashan, and they will eat all they want of the crops that grow in the territories of Ephraim and Gilead. 20When that time comes, no sin will be found in Israel and no wickedness in Judah, because I will forgive those people whose lives I have spared. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
God's Judgement on Babylonia
21The LORD says, “Attack the people of Merathaim and of Pekod. Kill and destroy them.#50.21 One ancient translation them; Hebrew after them. Do everything I command you. I, the LORD, have spoken. 22The noise of battle is heard in the land, and there is great destruction. 23Babylonia hammered the whole world to pieces, and now that hammer is shattered! All the nations are shocked at what has happened to that country. 24Babylonia, you fought against me, and you have been caught in the trap I set for you, even though you did not know it. 25I have opened the place where my weapons are stored, and in my anger I have taken them out, because I, the Sovereign LORD Almighty, have work to do in Babylonia. 26Attack it from every side and break open the places where its grain is stored! Pile up the loot like piles of grain! Destroy the country! Leave nothing at all! 27Kill all their soldiers! Slaughter them! The people of Babylonia are doomed! The time has come for them to be punished!”
28(Refugees escape from Babylonia and come to Jerusalem, and they tell how the LORD our God took revenge for what the Babylonians had done to his Temple.)
29 #
Rev 18.6
“Tell the archers to attack Babylon. Send out everyone who knows how to use the bow and arrow. Surround the city and don't let anyone escape. Pay it back for all it has done, and treat it as it has treated others, because it acted with pride against me, the Holy One of Israel. 30So its young men will be killed in the city streets, and all its soldiers will be destroyed on that day. I, the LORD, have spoken.
31“Babylonia, you are filled with pride, so I, the Sovereign LORD Almighty, am against you! The time has come for me to punish you. 32Your proud nation will stumble and fall, and no one will help you up. I will set your cities on fire, and everything around will be destroyed.”
33The LORD Almighty says, “The people of Israel and of Judah are oppressed. All who captured them are guarding them closely and will not let them go. 34But the one who will rescue them is strong — his name is the LORD Almighty. He himself will take up their cause and will bring peace to the earth, but trouble to the people of Babylonia.”
35The LORD says,
“Death to Babylonia!
Death to its people,
to its rulers, to its men of wisdom.
36Death to its lying prophets —
what fools they are!
Death to its soldiers —
how terrified they are!
37Destroy its horses and chariots!
Death to its hired soldiers —
how weak they are!
Destroy its treasures;
plunder and loot.
38Bring a drought on its land
and dry up its rivers.
Babylonia is a land of terrifying idols,
that have made fools of the people.
39 #
Rev 18.2
“And so Babylon will be haunted by demons and evil spirits,#50.39 demons and evil spirits; or wildcats and jackals. and by unclean birds. Never again will people live there, not for all time to come. 40#Gen 19.24–25The same thing will happen to Babylon as happened to Sodom and Gomorrah, when I destroyed them and the nearby towns. No one will ever live there again. I, the LORD, have spoken.
41“People are coming from a country in the north,
a mighty nation far away;
many kings are preparing for war.
42They have taken their bows and swords;
they are cruel and merciless.
They sound like the roaring sea,
as they ride their horses.
They are ready for battle against Babylonia.
43The king of Babylonia hears the news,
and his hands hang limp.
He is seized by anguish,
by pain like a woman in labour.
44“Like a lion coming out of the thick woods along the Jordan up to the green pasture land, I, the LORD, will come and make the Babylonians run away suddenly from their city. Then the leader I choose will rule the nation. Who can be compared to me? Who would dare challenge me? What ruler could oppose me? 45So listen to the plan that I have made against the city of Babylon and to what I intend to do to its people. Even their children will be dragged off, and everyone will be horrified. 46When Babylon falls, there will be such a noise that the entire earth will shake, and the cries of alarm will be heard by the other nations.”
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Jeremiah 50: GNBDC
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
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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