Jeremiah 51
51
Further Judgement on Babylonia
1The LORD says, “I am bringing a destructive wind#51.1 destructive wind; or destroying spirit. against Babylonia and its people. 2I will send foreigners to destroy Babylonia like a wind that blows straw away. When that day of destruction comes, they will attack from every side and leave the land bare. 3Don't give its soldiers time to shoot their arrows or to put on their armour. Do not spare the young men! Destroy the whole army! 4They will be wounded and die in the streets of their cities. 5I, the LORD God Almighty, have not abandoned Israel and Judah, even though they have sinned against me, the Holy One of Israel. 6Run away from Babylonia! Run for your lives! Do not be killed because of Babylonia's sin. I am now taking my revenge and punishing it as it deserves. 7#Rev 17.2–4; 18.3Babylonia was like a gold cup in my hand, making the whole world drunk. The nations drank its wine and went out of their minds. 8Babylonia has suddenly fallen and is destroyed! Mourn over it! Get medicine for its wounds, and perhaps it can be healed. 9#Rev 18.5Foreigners living there said, ‘We tried to help Babylonia, but it was too late. Let's leave her now and go back home. God has punished Babylonia with all his might and has destroyed it completely.’ ”
10The LORD says, “My people shout, ‘The LORD has shown that we are in the right. Let's go and tell the people in Jerusalem what the LORD our God has done.’ ”
11The LORD has stirred up the kings of Media, because he intends to destroy Babylonia. That is how he will take revenge for the destruction of his Temple.
The attacking officers command, “Sharpen your arrows! Get your shields ready! 12Give the signal to attack Babylon's walls. Strengthen the guard! Post the sentries! Place men in ambush!”
The LORD has done what he said he would do to the people of Babylonia. 13#Rev 17.1That country has many rivers and rich treasures, but its time is up, and its thread of life is cut. 14The LORD Almighty has sworn by his own life that he will bring many men to attack Babylonia like a swarm of locusts, and they will shout with victory.
A Hymn of Praise to God
15The LORD made the earth by his power;
by his wisdom he created the world
and stretched out the heavens.
16At his command the waters above the sky#51.16 waters above the sky: See Gen 1.6–8. roar;
he brings clouds from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning flash in the rain
and sends the wind from his storeroom.
17At the sight of this, people feel stupid and senseless;
those who make idols are disillusioned
because the gods they make are false and lifeless.
18They are worthless and should be despised;
they will be destroyed when the LORD comes to deal with them.
19The God of Jacob is not like them;
he is the one who made everything,
and he has chosen Israel to be his very own people.
The LORD Almighty is his name.
The LORD's Hammer
20The LORD says,
“Babylonia, you are my hammer, my weapon of war.
I used you to crush nations and kingdoms,
21to shatter horses and riders,
to shatter chariots and their drivers,
22to kill men and women,
to slay old and young,
to kill boys and girls,
23to slaughter shepherds and their flocks,
to slaughter ploughmen and their horses,
to crush rulers and high officials.”
Babylonia's Punishment
24The LORD says, “You will see me repay Babylonia and its people for all the evil they did to Jerusalem. 25Babylonia, you are like a mountain that destroys the whole world, but I, the LORD, am your enemy. I will take hold of you, level you to the ground, and leave you in ashes. 26None of the stones from your ruins will ever be used again for building. You will be like a desert for ever. I, the LORD, have spoken.
27“Give the signal to attack! Blow the trumpet so that the nations can hear! Prepare the nations for war against Babylonia! Tell the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz to attack. Appoint an officer to lead the attack. Bring up the horses like a swarm of locusts. 28Prepare the nations for war against Babylonia. Send for the kings of Media, their leaders and officials, and the armies of all the countries they control. 29The earth trembles and shakes because the LORD is carrying out his plan to make Babylonia a desert, where no one lives. 30The Babylonian soldiers have stopped fighting and remain in their forts. They have lost their courage and have become like women. The city gates are broken down, and the houses are on fire. 31Messenger after messenger runs to tell the king of Babylonia that his city has been broken into from every side. 32The enemy have captured the river crossing and have set the fortresses on fire. The Babylonian soldiers have panicked. 33Soon the enemy will cut them down and trample them like corn on a threshing place. I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, have spoken.”
34The king of Babylonia cut Jerusalem up
and ate it.
He emptied the city like a jar;
like a monster he swallowed it.
He took what he wanted
and threw the rest away.
35Let the people of Zion say,
“May Babylonia be held responsible
for the violence done to us!”
Let the people of Jerusalem say,
“May Babylonia be held responsible
for what we have suffered!”
The LORD will Help Israel
36And so the LORD said to the people of Jerusalem, “I will take up your cause and will make your enemies pay for what they did to you. I will dry up the source of Babylonia's water and make its rivers go dry. 37That country will become a pile of ruins where wild animals live. It will be a horrible sight; no one will live there, and all who see it will be terrified. 38The Babylonians all roar like lions and growl like lion cubs. 39Are they greedy? I will prepare them a feast and make them drunk and happy. They will go to sleep and never wake up. 40I will take them to be slaughtered, like lambs, goats, and rams. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
Babylon's Fate
41The LORD says about Babylon: “The city that the whole world praised has been captured! What a horrifying sight Babylon has become to the nations! 42The sea has rolled over Babylon and covered it with roaring waves. 43The towns have become a horrifying sight and are like a waterless desert, where no one lives or even travels. 44I will punish Bel, the god of Babylonia, and make him give up his stolen goods; the nations will not worship him any more.
“Babylon's walls have fallen. 45People of Israel, run away from there! Run for your life from my fierce anger. 46Do not lose courage or be afraid because of the rumours you hear. Every year a different rumour spreads — rumours of violence in the land and of one king fighting another. 47And so the time is coming when I will deal with Babylonia's idols. The whole country will be put to shame, and all its people will be killed. 48#Rev 18.20Everything on earth and in the sky will shout for joy when Babylonia falls to the people who come from the north to destroy it. 49#Rev 18.24Babylonia caused the death of people all over the world, and now Babylonia will fall because it caused the death of so many Israelites. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
God's Message to the Israelites in Babylonia
50The LORD says to his people in Babylonia: “You have escaped death! Now go! Don't wait! Though you are far from home, think about me, your LORD, and remember Jerusalem. 51You say, ‘We've been disgraced and made ashamed; we feel completely helpless because foreigners have taken over the holy places in the Temple.’ 52So then, I say that the time is coming when I will deal with Babylon's idols, and the wounded will groan throughout the country. 53Even if Babylon could climb to the sky and build a strong fortress there, I would still send people to destroy it. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
Further Destruction of Babylon
54The LORD says,
“Listen to the sound of crying in Babylon,
of mourning for the destruction in the land.
55I am destroying Babylon
and putting it to silence.
The armies rush in like roaring waves
and attack with noisy shouts.
56They have come to destroy Babylon;
its soldiers are captured,
and their bows are broken.
I am a God who punishes evil,
and I will treat Babylon as it deserves.
57I will make its rulers drunk —
men of wisdom, leaders, and soldiers.
They will go to sleep and never wake up.
I, the king, have spoken,
I am the LORD Almighty.
58The walls of mighty Babylon will be thrown to the ground,
and its towering gates burnt down.
The work of the nations is all for nothing;
their efforts go up in flames.
I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken.”
Jeremiah's Message is Sent to Babylonia
59King Zedekiah's personal attendant was Seraiah, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. In the fourth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, Seraiah was going to Babylonia with him, and I gave him some instructions. 60I wrote in a book an account of all the destruction that would come on Babylonia, as well as all these other things about Babylonia. 61I told Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, be sure to read aloud to the people everything that is written here. 62Then pray, ‘LORD, you have said that you would destroy this place, so that there would be no living creatures in it, neither people nor animals, and it would be like a desert for ever.’ 63#Rev 18.21Seraiah, when you finish reading this book to the people, then tie it to a stone and throw it into the River Euphrates, 64and say, ‘This is what will happen to Babylonia — it will sink and never rise again, because of the destruction that the LORD is going to bring on it.’ ”#51.64 One ancient translation on it; Hebrew on it and they will become tired out.
The words of Jeremiah end here.
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Jeremiah 51: 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 51
51
The Second Oracle Against Babylon
1Thus says the Lord:
See! I rouse against Babylon,
and the inhabitants of Chaldea,
a destroyer wind.#The destroyer wind is the fierce dry wind from the east (cf. 4:11).
2To Babylon I will send winnowers
to winnow and lay waste the land;
They shall besiege it on every side
on the day of affliction.#Jer 15:7; Is 41:16.
3How can the archers draw back their bows,
lift their armor?
Do not spare her young men,
put the entire army under the ban.#Jer 50:14, 29.
4The slain shall fall in the land of Chaldea,
the wounded, in its streets;#Jer 50:30.
5For Israel and Judah are not left widowed
by their God, the Lord of hosts,
Even though the land is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.
6Flee from Babylon;
each of you save your own life,
do not perish because of her guilt;
This is a time of retribution from the Lord,
7who pays out her due.#Jer 50:8, 15, 29; Is 48:20.
Babylon was a golden cup in the hand of the Lord
making the whole earth drunk;
The nations drank its wine,
thus they have gone mad.#Rev 14:8; 17:4.
8Babylon suddenly falls and is broken:
wail over her!
Bring balm for her wounds,
in case she can be healed.#Rev 18:9–18.
9“We have tried to heal Babylon,
but she cannot be healed.
Leave her, each of us must go to our own land.”
The judgment against her reaches the heavens,
it touches the clouds.#Is 13:14; Rev 18:5.
10The Lord has brought forth our vindication;
come, let us tell in Zion
what the Lord, our God, has done.#Jer 50:28.
11Sharpen the arrows,
fill the quivers;
The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes,#Kings of the Medes: the Medes and the Persians lived in the area known today as Iran.
for his resolve is Babylon’s destruction.
Yes, it is retribution from the Lord,
retribution for his temple.#2 Kgs 17:6; Is 13:17.
12Over the walls of Babylon raise a signal,
reinforce the watch;
Post sentries,
arrange ambushes!
For the Lord has both planned and carried out
what he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13You who dwell by mighty waters,
rich in treasure,
Your end has come,
the time at which you shall be cut off!#Na 2:1.
14The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself:
I will fill you with people as numerous as locusts,
who shall raise over you a joyous shout!
15He made the earth by his power,
established the world by wisdom,
and by his skill stretched out the heavens.#Jer 10:12.
16When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar,
he summons clouds from the ends of the earth,
Makes lightning flash in the rain,
and brings out winds from their storehouses.
17Every man is stupid, ignorant;
every artisan is put to shame by his idol:
He molds a fraud,
without life-breath.
18They are nothing, a ridiculous work,
that will perish at the time of punishment.
19Jacob’s portion is nothing like them:
he is the creator of all things.
Israel is his very own tribe;
Lord of hosts is his name.
20You are my hammer,
a weapon for war;
With you I shatter nations,
with you I destroy kingdoms.
21With you I shatter horse and rider,
with you I shatter chariot and driver.#Dn 7:7, 19, 23.
22With you I shatter man and woman,
with you I shatter old and young,
with you I shatter the young man and young woman.#Is 13:16, 18.
23With you I shatter shepherd and flock,
with you I shatter farmer and team,
with you I shatter governors and officers.
24Thus I will repay Babylon,
all the inhabitants of Chaldea,
For all the evil they committed against Zion,
before your very eyes—oracle of the Lord.#Jer 25:14; 50:29; Ps 137:8.
25Beware! I am against you,
destroying mountain—oracle of the Lord—
destroyer of the entire earth,
I will stretch forth my hand against you,
roll you down over the cliffs,
and make you a burnt mountain:#Rev 8:7; 18:8–9.
26They will not take from you a cornerstone,
or a foundation stone;
You shall remain ruins forever—
oracle of the Lord.#Jer 25:12; Ps 118:22.
27Raise a signal in the land,
sound the trumpet among the nations;
Dedicate nations for war against her,
summon against her the kingdoms:
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz;#Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: regions in eastern Asia Minor under the control of the Medes.
Appoint a recruiting officer against her,
dispatch horses like bristling locusts.#Na 3:17.
28Dedicate nations for war against her:
the king of the Medes,
Its governors and all its officers,
every land in its domain.
29The earth quakes and writhes,
the Lord’s plan against Babylon is carried out,
Turning the land of Babylon
into a wasteland without inhabitants.
30Babylon’s warriors have ceased to fight,
they remain in their strongholds;
Dried up is their strength,
they have become women.
Burned down are their homes,
broken their gates.
31One runner meets another,
herald meets herald,
Telling the king of Babylon
that his entire city has been taken.#2 Chr 30:6; Jb 1:14–18.
32The fords have been seized,
marshes set on fire,
warriors panic.
33For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time of treading;
Yet a little while,
and the harvest time will come for her.#Rev 14:15.
34“He consumed me, defeated me,
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon;
he left me like an empty vessel,
Swallowed me like a sea monster,
filled his belly with my delicacies and cast me out.
35Let my torn flesh be visited upon Babylon,”
says enthroned Zion;
“My blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
says Jerusalem.
36But now, thus says the Lord:
I will certainly defend your cause,
I will certainly avenge you;
I will dry up her sea,
and drain her fountain.
37Babylon shall become a heap of ruins,
a haunt of jackals;
A place of horror and hissing,
without inhabitants.#Is 25:2.
38They roar like lions,
growl like lion cubs.#Na 2:11–12.
39When they are parched, I will set drink before them
to make them drunk, that they may be overcome
with everlasting sleep, never to awaken—
oracle of the Lord.
40I will bring them down like lambs to slaughter,
like rams and goats.
41How she has been seized, taken captive,
the glory of the whole world!
What a horror Babylon has become among the nations:#Is 13:19.
42against Babylon the sea rises,
she is overwhelmed by roaring waves!
43Her cities have become wasteland,
a parched and arid land
Where no one lives,
no one passes through.
44I will punish Bel in Babylon,
and make him vomit up what he swallowed;
nations shall no longer stream to him.
Even the wall of Babylon falls!
45Leave her, my people; each of you save your own life
from the burning wrath of the Lord.
46Do not be discouraged when rumors spread through the land; this year one rumor comes, next year another: “Violence in the land!” or “Ruler against ruler!”#Mt 24:6–7. 47Realize that the days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon; the whole land shall be put to shame, all her slain shall fall in her midst. 48Then heaven and earth and everything in them shall shout over Babylon with joy, when the destroyers come against her from the north—oracle of the Lord.#Rev 18:20. 49Babylon, too, must fall, you slain of Israel, because by the hand of Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen.
50You who have escaped the sword,
go, do not stand idle;
Remember the Lord from far away,
let Jerusalem come to mind.
51We are ashamed because we have heard taunts,
disgrace covers our faces;
strangers have entered sanctuaries in the Lord’s house.#Ps 44:16–17; 78:1–4.
52Therefore see, the days are coming—oracle of the Lord—
when I will punish her idols,
and throughout the land the wounded will groan.
53Though Babylon scale the heavens,
and make her strong heights inaccessible,
my destroyers shall reach her—oracle of the Lord.#Is 14:13.
54A sound of crying from Babylon,
great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans;
55For the Lord lays Babylon waste,
silences her loud cry,
Waves roaring like mighty waters,
a clamor resounding.
56For the destroyer comes upon her, upon Babylon;
warriors are captured, their bows broken;
The Lord is a God of recompense,
he will surely repay.#Na 1:2.
57I will make her princes and sages drunk, with her governors, officers, and warriors, so that they sleep an everlasting sleep, never to awaken—oracle of the King, whose name is Lord of hosts.
58Thus says the Lord of hosts:
The walls of spacious Babylon shall be leveled to the ground,
its lofty gates destroyed by fire.
The toil of the peoples is for nothing;
the nations weary themselves for what the flames consume.#Hb 2:13.
The Prophecy Sent to Babylon. 59The mission Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah,#Seraiah: the brother of Baruch; cf. 32:12. He may have gone to Babylon to explain away the presence of foreign ambassadors in Jerusalem that same year; cf. 27:3. son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fourth year of his reign; Seraiah was chief quartermaster. 60Jeremiah wrote down on one scroll the disaster that would befall Babylon;#Jeremiah prophesied against Babylon, even as he foretold Judah’s release from Babylon’s power (3:14–18; 32:15; 33:6–9, 12–13); but his scroll against Babylon was thrown in the Euphrates (v. 63). Some of the preceding oracles may have been composed by later writers; see note on 50:1–51:58. all these words were written against Babylon. 61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: “When you reach Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud,#Jer 50:1–51. 62and then say: Lord, you yourself spoke against this place in order to cut it down so that nothing, human being or beast, could live in it, because it is to remain a wasteland forever. 63When you have finished reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates,#Rev 18:21. 64and say: Thus Babylon shall sink. It will never rise, because of the disaster I am bringing upon it.” Thus far the words of Jeremiah.
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