Jeremiah 51
51
1 Thus says Yahweh:
“Look, I am going to stir up against Babylon
and against the inhabitants of Leb-qamai a destructive wind.
2And I will send winnowers to Babylon,
and they will winnow her,
and they will lay waste her land,
for they will be against her from all sides on the day of disaster.
3Let not him who bends the bow shoot his bow,
and let him not rise high in his body armor.
And you must not spare her young men;
destroy her whole army.
4And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
and pierced through in her streets.
5For neither Israel nor Judah is a widower from their God,
from Yahweh of hosts,
though their land is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.”
6Flee from the midst of Babylon and save each one his life.
You must not perish because of her guilt.
For this is the time of vengeance for Yahweh,
he will repay her what is deserved.
7Babylon was a cup of gold in the hand of Yahweh,
making drunk all the earth.
The nations drank of her wine.
Therefore#Literally “Unto thus” the nations acted like madmen.
8Suddenly Babylon has fallen and she is shattered.
Wail over her!
Take balm for her wounds,
perhaps she may be healed.
9We tried to heal Babylon, and she was not healed.
Forsake her and let us go each one to his country,
for her judgment has reached to the heavens,
and it has been lifted up to the skies.
10Yahweh has brought forth our vindication.
Come and let us make known in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.
11Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes.
Because his plan concerning Babylon is to destroy it,
for that is the vengeance of Yahweh,
the vengeance for his temple.
12Against the walls of Babylon raise a banner;
post a strong watch,#Literally “make strong the guard” post watchmen, prepare the ambushes,
for Yahweh has both planned as well as performed
what he has spoken concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13O you who live by mighty waters, rich in treasures,
your end has come, the measure of your life.#Literally “the cubit of your severing”
14Yahweh of hosts has sworn by himself,
“Surely I will fill you with troops like the creeping locusts,#Hebrew “locust”
and they will sing over you a war cry.”
15He is the one who made the earth by his power,
the one who created the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens.
16At the giving of his voice
there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
and he causes the patches of mist
to go up from the end of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17All humankind turns out to be stupid,
without knowledge.
Every goldsmith is put to shame
by the divine image.
For his cast image is a lie,
and there is no breath in them.
18They are worthless,
a work of mockery.
At the time of their punishment,
they will perish.
19The portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the creator of everything,#Literally “the all”
and the tribe of his inheritance.
Yahweh of hosts is his name.
20He says, “You are a war club for me,
a weapon of battle,
and I smash nations with you,
and I destroy kingdoms with you.
21And I smash the horse with you,
and its rider,
and I smash the chariot with you,
and its rider.
22And I smash man and woman with you,
and I smash the old man and the boy with you,
and I smash the young man and the young woman with you.
23And I smash the shepherd and his flock with you,
and I smash the farmer and his team with you,
and I smash the governors and the officials with you.
24And I will repay Babylon,
and all the inhabitants of Chaldea,
all their wickedness that they have done in Zion
before your eyes,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
25“Look, I am against you,
O mountain of the destruction,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“the one that destroys the whole earth.
And I will stretch out my hand against you,
and I will roll you down from the cliffs,
and I will make you as a mountain burned away.
26They will not take from you
a stone for a corner,
and a stone for a foundation,
for you will be an everlasting desolation,”#Literally “a desolation of everlasting” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
27Raise a banner in the land;
blow a horn among the nations;
prepare for holy war against her;
summon the nations against her,
the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz;
summon against her an official;
bring up horses#Hebrew “horse” like bristling creeping locusts.#Hebrew “locust”
28Prepare the nations for holy war against her,
the kings of the Medes,
with their governors and all their officials,
and every land of their dominion.
29And the land quakes and writhes,
for the plans of Yahweh against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon as a horror,
without#Literally “from there is not” inhabitant.
30The warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight,
they remain in the strongholds,
their power has dried up,
they have become as women.
Her dwelling places are set on fire,
her bars are broken.
31one runner runs to meet another runner,
and one messenger to meet another messenger,
to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been captured,
from end to end.#Literally “from end”
32And the fords have been seized,
and the reed marshes have been burned with fire,
and the soldiers#Literally “the men of the war” are horrified.
33For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,
“The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trodden down,
just a little while#Literally “still a little”
and the time of the harvest will come for her.”
34Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon
has devoured me and sucked me dry;
he has made me an empty vessel;
he has swallowed me like the sea monster;
he has filled his belly with my delicacies;
he has rinsed me.
35“May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon,”
the inhabitants#Hebrew “inhabitant” of Zion will say;
and “My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
Jerusalem will say.
36Therefore#Literally “To thus” thus says Yahweh,
“Look, I am going to contend your case,
and I will avenge your vengeance,
and I will cause her sea to dry up,
and I will cause her fountain to dry up.
37And Babylon will become as a heap of stones,
a lair of jackals,
an object of horror, and an object of hissing,
without#Literally “from there is not” inhabitants.
38They will roar together like the young lions,
they will growl like the cubs of lions.
39At their becoming hot I will set their banquets,
and I will make them drunk,
so that they will fall into a swoon,
and they will sleep an everlasting sleep,#Literally “a sleep of eternity”
and they will not wake up,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
40“I will bring them down like young rams to slaughter,
like rams and goats.
41How Sheshach is captured,
and the glory of all the earth is seized!
How Babylon has become as an object of horror
among the nations!
42The sea has risen over Babylon,
she has been covered by the roar of its waves.
43Her cities have become as an object of horror,
a dry land and a wilderness,#Or “Arabah”
a land in which no person lives,
nor does a son of humankind pass through it.
44And I will punish Bel in Babylon,
and I will wrench out from his mouth what he has swallowed.#Literally “what has been swallowed by him”
And the nations will not stream towards him any longer
what’s worse,#Literally “also” the wall of Babylon has fallen.
45Come out from her midst, my people,
and save each one his life
from the burning anger of#Literally “the blazing of the nose of” Yahweh.
46Now so that you are not fainthearted,#Literally “so that your heart is not timid”
and you are afraid at the rumors#Hebrew “rumor” that are heard in the land—
and in the year the rumor comes,
and in the year after it the rumor,
and violence is in the land,
with ruler against ruler—
47therefore#Literally “to thus” look, days are coming,
and I will punish the images of Babylon,
and all her land will be put to shame,
and all her slain ones will fall in the midst of her.
48Then the heaven and the earth and all that is in them
will shout for joy over Babylon,
for from the north
the destroyers will come to it,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
49Babylon must fall not only because of the slain ones of Israel,
but also because of Babylon the slain ones of all the earth have fallen.
50Survivors of the sword, go!
You must not linger!
Remember Yahweh from far away,
and let Jerusalem come to your mind.#Literally “heart”
51We are ashamed,
for we have heard taunts,#Hebrew “taunt”
disgrace covers our faces,
for strangers have come to the holy places of the house of Yahweh.
52“Therefore#Literally “To thus” look, days are coming,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“and I will punish her images,
and the fatally wounded will sigh through all her land.
53Though Babylon goes up to the heavens,
and though she fortifies the high place of her strength,
from me destroyers will come to her,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
54The sound of a cry for help from Babylon,
and a great collapse from the land of the Chaldeans.
55For Yahweh is devastating Babylon,
and he obliterates her loud noise#Or “voice” from her.
Their waves roar like mighty waters,
the roar of their voices#Hebrew “voice” resounds.
56For a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
and her warriors are captured.
Their bows are broken;
for Yahweh is a God of recompense,
certainly he will repay.
57“And I will make drunk her officials, and her wise men,
her governors, and her officials, and her warriors,
and they will sleep an everlasting sleep,#Literally “a sleep of eternity”
and they will not wake up,”
declares#Literally “a declaration of” the King, Yahweh of hosts is his name.
58Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
“The broad walls of Babylon will be utterly demolished,
and her high gates will burn with fire,
and the peoples will labor for nothing,#Literally “for enough of empty”
and the nations for fire,#Literally “for enough of fire”
and they will grow weary.”
The Scroll Concerning Babylon is Thrown into the Euphrates
59The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, at his going with Zedekiah, the king of Judah, to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was the quartermaster.#Literally “official of the resting place” 60And Jeremiah wrote all the disasters#Hebrew “disaster” that would come on Babylon in one scroll, all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “At your coming to Babylon, then you must see that you read aloud all these words. 62And you must say, ‘Yahweh, you yourself spoke against this place, to destroy it, so that there will not be in it anything living, from humankind to animals,#Hebrew “animal” for it will be an everlasting desolation.’#Literally “a desolation of eternity” 63And then#Literally “And it will happen” when you finish reading aloud this scroll, you must tie a stone on it, and you must throw it into the middle of the Euphrates. 64And you must say, ‘Babylon will sink, and she will not rise, because of#Literally “from” the face of the disasters#Hebrew “disaster” that I am bringing on her, and they will grow weary.’ ” Thus far#Literally “Up to here” the words of Jeremiah.
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Jeremiah 51: LEB
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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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