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
A Prophecy against Babylon
1This is the message that the Lord spoke about Babylon and the land of the Babylonians through the prophet Jeremiah.
2“Announce this among the nations, and spread the news.
Raise a flag, and announce it.
Don’t hide anything.
Say, ‘Babylon will be captured.
Bel will be put to shame.
Marduk will be filled with terror.
Babylon’s statues will be put to shame.
Its idols will be filled with terror.’
3A nation from the north will attack Babylon
and destroy its land so that no one will live in it.
People and animals will run away.
4“In those days and at that time,” declares the Lord,
“the people of Israel and Judah will cry as they go together
to seek the Lord their God.
5They will ask which road goes to Zion and turn in that direction.
They will go there to make a permanent agreement with the Lord.
It will not be forgotten.
6My people have been lost sheep.
Their shepherds have led them astray.
They wander around on the mountains.
They go from mountains to hills.
They have forgotten their resting place.
7Everyone who finds them eats them.
Their enemies say, ‘We’re not guilty.
They have sinned against the Lord, their true pasture.
They have sinned against the Lord, the hope of their ancestors.’
8“Run away from Babylon.
Leave the land of the Babylonians.
Be like the male goats that lead the flock.
9I am going to stir up an alliance of strong nations from the north
and bring it against Babylon.
Those nations will take up positions against Babylon.
Babylon will be captured from the north.
Its enemy’s arrows will be like skilled soldiers
who don’t come back empty-handed.
10The Babylonians will become the prize.
All who loot them will get everything they want,”
declares the Lord.
11“You are happy and excited.
You have looted the people who belong to me.
You dance around like calves on the grass
and neigh like stallions.
12But your mother will be greatly ashamed.
The woman who gave birth to you will be disgraced.
Babylon, you will be the least important nation.
You will become a parched desert.
13No one will live in Babylon because of the Lord’s anger.
It will be completely abandoned.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified
and hiss at all its wounds.
14“Take up your positions around Babylon, all you archers with bows.
Shoot at it; don’t save any arrows,
because the people of Babylon have sinned against the Lord.
15Shout a war cry against them on every side.
They’ll surrender.
Their towers will fall and their walls will be torn down.
Since this is the Lord’s vengeance, take revenge against them.
Do to them what they did to others.
16Don’t allow anyone in Babylon to plant or harvest.
Everyone will turn to his own people and flee to his own homeland
because of the enemies’ swords.
17“The people of Israel are like scattered sheep that lions have chased.
The first to devour them was the king of Assyria.
The last to gnaw at their bones was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
18“This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says:
I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land
as I punished the king of Assyria.
19I will bring the people of Israel back to their pastures.
They will eat on Mount Carmel and Mount Bashan.
They will eat until they are full
on the mountains of Ephraim and Gilead.
20In those days and at that time,” declares the Lord,
“people will look for Israel’s crimes, but they will find none.
They will look for Judah’s sins, but none will be found.
I will forgive the faithful few whom I have spared.
21Attack the land of Merathaim
and the people who live in Pekod.
Claim them for me by killing them with a sword,”
declares the Lord.
“Do everything I commanded you.
22The noise of battle and great destruction fills the land.
23The hammer of the whole earth is broken and shattered.
See how desolate Babylon is of all the nations!
24I will set traps for you, Babylon.
You will be caught, but you won’t know it.
You will be found and captured
because you have opposed the Lord.
25The Lord will open his armory
and bring out the weapons of his fury,
because the Almighty Lord of Armies
has a job to do in the land of the Babylonians.
26Attack them from a distance,
open their storehouses,
pile up their corpses like piles of grain,
claim them for me by destroying them,
and don’t leave anyone behind.
27Kill all their young bulls.
Let them go to be slaughtered.
How horrible it will be for them when their time has come,
the time for them to be punished.
28Listen! Fugitives and refugees from Babylon
are coming to Zion to tell about
the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance for his temple.
29“Call together the archers, the soldiers with bows, against Babylon.
Set up blockades around it. Don’t let anyone escape.
Pay the people of Babylon back for what they have done.
Do to them what they did to others.
They have disobeyed the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
30That is why their young men will die in the streets,
and all their soldiers will be silenced that day,”
declares the Lord.
31“I’m against you, you arrogant city,”
declares the Almighty Lord of Armies.
“Your day has come, the time when I will punish you.
32Those arrogant people will stumble and fall,
and there will be no one to help them get up.
I will light a fire in their cities
that will burn up everything around them.”
33This is what the Lord of Armies says:
All the people of Israel and Judah are oppressed.
All their enemies have captured them.
They refuse to let them go.
34Their defender is strong.
His name is the Lord of Armies.
He will certainly take up their cause
in order to bring rest to the land of Israel
and unrest to the people who live in Babylon.
35“A sword will kill the Babylonians and everyone who lives in Babylon,”
declares the Lord.
“A sword will kill their officials and their wise men.
36A sword will kill the false prophets.
They will become fools.
A sword will kill their soldiers and defeat them.
37A sword will kill their horses, their chariots,
and all the foreigners within their ranks.
They will become women.
A sword will destroy their treasures, and they will be looted.
38A drought will diminish their water supply, and it will dry up.
Babylon is a land of idols, statues that will go crazy with fear.
39That is why desert animals will live with hyenas.
Desert owls will also live there.
It will no longer be inhabited or lived in for generations.
40Babylon will be like Sodom, Gomorrah, and their neighboring cities
when I, God, destroyed them.
No one will live there.
No human will stay there,” declares the Lord.
41“People are going to come from the north.
A great nation and many kings will rise from the ends of the earth.
42They will take hold of bows and spears.
They will be cruel and have no compassion.
They will sound like the sea when it roars.
They will ride horses.
They are ready for war, ready to attack you, people of Babylon.
43The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and he loses courage.
Anguish will grip him as pain grips a woman in labor.
44I will suddenly chase them from their places
like a lion coming out of the jungle
along the Jordan River into pastureland.
I will appoint over Babylon whomever I choose.
Who is like me? Who can challenge me?
Is there any leader who can stand up to me?
45Listen to the plans that the Lord is making against Babylon
and the things he intends to do to the land of the Babylonians.
He will surely drag away the little ones of the flock.
He will surely destroy the pasture because of the Babylonians.
46The earth will quake at the news that Babylon has been captured.
Its cry will be heard among the nations.”
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