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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Jeremias (Jeremiah) 50: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Jeremiah 50
50
Judgment on Babylon
1The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the prophet Jeremiah:
2Declare among the nations and proclaim,
set up a banner and proclaim,
do not conceal it, say:
Babylon is taken,
Bel is put to shame,
Merodach is dismayed.
Her images are put to shame,
her idols are dismayed.
3For out of the north a nation has come up against her; it shall make her land a desolation, and no one shall live in it; both human beings and animals shall flee away.
4In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the people of Israel shall come, they and the people of Judah together; they shall come weeping as they seek the Lord their God. 5They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, and they shall come and join#50.5 Gk: Heb toward it. Come! They shall join themselves to the Lord by an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
6My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains; from mountain to hill they have gone, they have forgotten their fold. 7All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, “We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the Lord, the true pasture, the Lord, the hope of their ancestors.”
8Flee from Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be like male goats leading the flock. 9For I am going to stir up and bring against Babylon a company of great nations from the land of the north; and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like the arrows of a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. 10Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, says the Lord.
11Though you rejoice, though you exult,
O plunderers of my heritage,
though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass,
and neigh like stallions,
12your mother shall be utterly shamed,
and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
Lo, she shall be the last of the nations,
a wilderness, dry land, and a desert.
13Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited,
but shall be an utter desolation;
everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled
and hiss because of all her wounds.
14Take up your positions around Babylon,
all you that bend the bow;
shoot at her, spare no arrows,
for she has sinned against the Lord.
15Raise a shout against her from all sides,
“She has surrendered;
her bulwarks have fallen,
her walls are thrown down.”
For this is the vengeance of the Lord:
take vengeance on her,
do to her as she has done.
16Cut off from Babylon the sower,
and the wielder of the sickle in time of harvest;
because of the destroying sword
all of them shall return to their own people,
and all of them shall flee to their own land.
17Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured it, and now at the end King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon has gnawed its bones. 18Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I punished the king of Assyria. 19I will restore Israel to its pasture, and it shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan, and on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead its hunger shall be satisfied. 20In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and none shall be found; for I will pardon the remnant that I have spared.
21Go up to the land of Merathaim;#50.21 Or of Double Rebellion
go up against her,
and attack the inhabitants of Pekod#50.21 Or of Punishment
and utterly destroy the last of them,#50.21 Tg: Heb destroy after them
says the Lord;
do all that I have commanded you.
22The noise of battle is in the land,
and great destruction!
23How the hammer of the whole earth
is cut down and broken!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations!
24You set a snare for yourself and you were caught, O Babylon,
but you did not know it;
you were discovered and seized,
because you challenged the Lord.
25The Lord has opened his armory,
and brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for the Lord God of hosts has a task to do
in the land of the Chaldeans.
26Come against her from every quarter;
open her granaries;
pile her up like heaps of grain, and destroy her utterly;
let nothing be left of her.
27Kill all her bulls,
let them go down to the slaughter.
Alas for them, their day has come,
the time of their punishment!
28Listen! Fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon are coming to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for his temple.
29Summon archers against Babylon, all who bend the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; just as she has done, do to her—for she has arrogantly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 30Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, says the Lord.
31I am against you, O arrogant one,
says the Lord God of hosts;
for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
32The arrogant one shall stumble and fall,
with no one to raise him up,
and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it will devour everything around him.
33Thus says the Lord of hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, and so too are the people of Judah; all their captors have held them fast and refuse to let them go. 34Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35A sword against the Chaldeans, says the Lord,
and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
and against her officials and her sages!
36A sword against the diviners,
so that they may become fools!
A sword against her warriors,
so that they may be destroyed!
37A sword against her#50.37 Cn: Heb his horses and against her#50.37 Cn: Heb his chariots,
and against all the foreign troops in her midst,
so that they may become women!
A sword against all her treasures,
that they may be plundered!
38A drought#50.38 Another reading is A sword against her waters,
that they may be dried up!
For it is a land of images,
and they go mad over idols.
39Therefore wild animals shall live with hyenas in Babylon,#50.39 Heb lacks in Babylon and ostriches shall inhabit her; she shall never again be peopled, or inhabited for all generations. 40As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, says the Lord, so no one shall live there, nor shall anyone settle in her.
41Look, a people is coming from the north;
a mighty nation and many kings
are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
42They wield bow and spear,
they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring sea;
they ride upon horses,
set in array as a warrior for battle,
against you, O daughter Babylon!
43The king of Babylon heard news of them,
and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
44Like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly chase them away from her; and I will appoint over her whomever I choose.#50.44 Or and I will single out the choicest of her rams: Meaning of Heb uncertain For who is like me? Who can summon me? Who is the shepherd who can stand before me? 45Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon, and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away; surely their#50.45 Syr Gk Tg Compare 49.20: Heb lacks their fold shall be appalled at their fate. 46At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.