Jeremiah 50
50
A Message Concerning Babylon
1The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet:
2“Declare among the nations and proclaim,
and lift up a banner.
Proclaim, you must not conceal it.
Say, ‘Babylon is captured,
Bel is ashamed,
Merodach is filled with terror,
her idols are ashamed,
her idols are filled with terror.
3For a nation will come up against her from the north.
It will make her land as a horror,
and an inhabitant will not be in her.
From humans#Hebrew “human” to animals#Hebrew “animal” they all will wander off.
They will go away.
4In those days and in that time,’ ” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“the people#Or “sons/children” of Israel will come,
they and the people#Or “sons/children” of Judah together.
Weeping as they go,#Literally “They shall go and weeping” they will go,
and Yahweh their God they will seek.
5They will ask the way to Zion,
turning their faces there.
They will come and join themselves to Yahweh
by an everlasting covenant#Literally “a covenant of eternity” that will not be forgotten.
6My people have become lost sheep,
their shepherds have caused them to go astray.
They led them away to the mountains.
From mountain to hill they have gone,
they have forgotten their resting place.
7All those who found them have devoured them.
And their foes have said, ‘We are not guilty,
because#Literally “under that” they have sinned against Yahweh, the true pasture,#Literally “settlement of righteousness”
even Yahweh, the hope of their ancestors.’#Or “fathers”
8Flee from the midst of Babylon,
and from the land of the Chaldeans.
Go out and be like he-goats
before#Literally “to the face of” the flock.
9For look, I am going to stir up,
and I am going to bring against Babylon
a contingent of great nations
from the land of the north.
And they will draw up a battle formation against her,
from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like a warrior who has achieved success,
he does not return without success.
10And Chaldea will be as booty,
all those who plunder her will be satisfied,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
11“Though you rejoice, though you exult,
O plunderers of my inheritance,
though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass,
and you neigh like the powerful stallions,
12your mother will be very ashamed.
She who gave birth to you will be humiliated.#Or “ashamed”
Look, she will be the least of the nations,
a desert,#Or “wilderness” dry land, and wilderness.#Or “Arabah”
13Because of the anger of Yahweh she will not be inhabited,
but she will be a wasteland, all of her.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled
and will hiss because of all her wounds.
14Draw up a battle formation at Babylon all around,
all those who bend the bow, shoot at her.
You must not spare arrows,#Hebrew “arrow”
for she has sinned against Yahweh.
15Raise a war cry against her on all sides.
She has surrendered.#Literally “She has given her hand”
Her towers have fallen,
her walls are ruined.
For this is the vengeance of Yahweh.
Take revenge on her.
As she has done to others,
so do to her.
16Cut off the sower from Babylon,
and the one who uses the sickle in the time of harvest.
Because of#Literally “From the face of” the sword of the oppressor
each one will turn to their people,
and each one will flee to their land.
17Israel is a sheep scattered,
lions drove them away.
The first who devoured it was the king of Assyria,
and now at the end Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, gnawed its bones.”
18Therefore#Literally “To thus” thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Look, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land
just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19And I will restore Israel to its pasture,
and it will feed on Carmel, and in Bashan,
and on the hills#Hebrew “hill” of Ephraim, and in Gilead
its hunger will be satisfied.
20In those days and at that time,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there is none,
and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found,
for I will forgive those I left behind.
21To the land of Merathaim,
go up against her,
and against the inhabitants of Pekod,
massacre and destroy them,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22The sound of battle is in the land,
and great destruction.
23How the blacksmith’s hammer of all the earth is cut down and broken!
How Babylon has become as a horror among the nations!
24I laid a bird snare for you, and you were caught, O Babylon.
But you yourself did not know.
You were discovered and seized,
because with Yahweh you measured yourself.
25Yahweh has opened his armory,
and he has brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for it is a word for my Lord Yahweh of hosts
in the land of the Chaldeans.
26Come against her from the end,
open her granaries.
Pile her up like heaps and destroy her.
Let there be no remnant for her.
27Massacre all her bulls,
let them go down to the slaughtering.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
the time of their punishment.
28There is the sound of fugitives and survivors
from the land of Babylon,
to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God,
the vengeance for his temple.
29Summon archers against Babylon,
all those who bend the bow.
Encamp all around her,
there must not be for her an escape.
Take revenge on her according to her deeds.
According to all that she has done, so do to her.
For against Yahweh she has behaved insolently,
against the Holy One of Israel.
30Therefore#Literally “To thus” her young men will fall in her public squares,
and all her soldiers#Literally “her the men of war” will perish on that day,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
31“Look, I am against you, O arrogant one,”
declares#Literally “a declaration of” Lord Yahweh of hosts,
“for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
32And the arrogant one will stumble and fall,
and there is no one who raises him up.
And I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it will devour everything around him.”
33Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
“The people#Or “sons/children” of Israel are oppressed,
and the people#Or “sons/children” of Judah likewise,
for#Literally “and” all their captors have seized them,
they refuse to let them go free.
34Their redeemer is strong,
his name is Yahweh of hosts.
Surely he will plead their case,
in order to make peace for the earth,
but to cause unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
and against her officials,
and against her wise men.
36A sword against the oracle priests,
and they will become foolish.
A sword against her warriors,
and they will be filled with terror.
37A sword against his horses,
and against his chariots,#Hebrew “chariot”
and against all the foreign troops who are in the midst of her,
so that they may become as women.
A sword against her treasures,
so that they may be plundered.
38A drought will come against her waters,
and they will dry up,
for it is a land of images,
and because of the frightful objects, they act like madmen.
39Therefore#Literally “To thus” desert creatures will live there#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation with jackals,
and daughters of ostriches#Hebrew “ostrich” will inhabit her.
And she will not be inhabited again forever,#Literally “to eternity”
and she will not be dwelt in for all generations.#Literally “until generation and generation”
40As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighbors,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“no one will live there,
and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in her.
41Look, a people is about to come
from the north,
and a great nation and many kings are woken up
from the remotest part of the earth.
42They keep hold of bow and short sword.
They are cruel and they have no mercy.
Their sound is like the sea, it roars,
and upon horses they ride.
Drawn up for battle as a man for the battle,
against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43The king of Babylon heard their report
and his hands grew slack.
Anxiety has seized him,
fear and pain like the woman who gives birth.
44Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets#Hebrew “thicket” of the Jordan
against a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream,#Literally “a pasture of ever-flowing”
so I will chase them away quickly#Literally “I will do in an instant I will cause them to run” from her,
and I will appoint whoever is chosen over her.
For who is like me, and who can summon me,
and who is this shepherd who can stand before me?#Literally “to the face of me”
45Therefore#Literally “To thus” hear the plan of Yahweh
that he has planned against Babylon,
and his plans
that he has planned against the land of the Chaldeans.
Surely#Literally “If not” they will drag them away,
the little ones of the flock.
Surely#Literally “If not” he will cause their grazing place
to be desolate over them.
46At the sound, ‘Babylon has been captured,’
the earth will quake,
and a cry for help among the nations
will be heard.”
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Jeremiah 50: LEB
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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.