Jeremiah 50:1-Jeremiah 51:58 - A Message Concerning Babylon
1 The Word that Jehovah spoke against Babylon, against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
2 Declare among the nations, and cause them to hear, and lift up a banner. Cause them to hear, do not hide it; say, Babylon is captured, Bel is ashamed, Merodach is broken in pieces; her images are shamed, her idols are broken in pieces. 3 For out of the north a nation comes up against her, which shall make her land a desert, and none shall dwell in it. They shall flee, they shall depart, both man and beast. 4 In those days, and at that time, says Jehovah, the sons of Israel shall come, they and the sons of Judah together, going and weeping. They shall go and seek Jehovah their God. 5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces there, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten.
6 My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place. 7 All who have found them have devoured them. And their enemies said, We do not offend, because they have sinned against Jehovah, the habitation of righteousness, even Jehovah, the hope of their fathers.
8 Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks. 9 For, lo, I am stirring up and bringing up against Babylon a company of great nations from a northern land. And they shall array themselves against her. She shall be captured there. Their arrows shall be as those of a skillful, mighty man; none shall return in vain. 10 And Chaldea shall be a prize; all who plunder her shall be satisfied, says Jehovah. 11 Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O destroyers of My inheritance; because you are fat like the heifer in grass, and bellow like bulls; 12 your mother shall be deeply ashamed; she who bore you shall turn pale. Behold, the last of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. 13 Because of the wrath of Jehovah it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly a waste. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be amazed and hiss at all her plagues. 14 Put yourselves in order against Babylon all around; all you who bend the bow, shoot at her. Hold back no arrows, for she has sinned against Jehovah. 15 Shout against her all around. She has given her hand; her foundations have fallen, her walls have been thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Jehovah. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, do to her. 16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the pressing sword they shall turn, each one to his people; and they shall flee, each one to his own land.
17 Israel is a scattered sheep, driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon crunched his bones.
18 So Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says this: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will again bring Israel to his home, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead. 20 In those days, and at that time, says Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and it shall not be found; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it and against the people of Pekod. Waste and destroy after them, says Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded you. 22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great ruin. 23 How the hammer of the whole earth is cut off and broken! How Babylon has become a ruin among the nations! 24 I have laid a trap for you, and you are also captured, O Babylon, and you did not know. You were found and also caught, because you have fought against Jehovah. 25 Jehovah has opened His armory, and has brought forth the weapons of His fury. For this is the work of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. 26 Come against her from the border; open her storehouses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her completely. Let nothing of her be left. 27 Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment.
28 The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance of His temple. 29 Make the archers hear against Babylon. All you who tread a bow, camp against it all around; let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her. For she has been proud against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel. 30 So her young men shall fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be silenced in that day, says Jehovah. 31 Behold, I am against you, O proud ones, says the Lord Jehovah of Hosts; for your day has come, the time that I will judge you. 32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall burn up everything all around him.
33 So says Jehovah of Hosts: The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah were oppressed together. And all who captured them held them fast; they refused to let them go. 34 Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of Hosts, is His name. He shall thoroughly plead their cause, so that he may give rest to the land, and give trouble to the people of Babylon. 35 A sword is on the Chaldeans, says Jehovah, and on the people of Babylon, and on her rulers, and on her wise men. 36 A sword is on the liars, and they shall become fools. A sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be afraid. 37 A sword is on their horses and their chariots, and on all the mixed people in her midst; and they shall become as women. A sword is to her treasuries, and they shall be robbed. 38 A drought is on her waters; and they shall be dried up. For it is the land of idols, and they act madly with idols.
39 So the beasts of the desert shall dwell there with jackals. And the daughters of the ostrich shall dwell in her again. And it shall not again have anyone in it forever; it shall not be lived in until generation and generation. 40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, says Jehovah, no man shall live there; nor shall any son of man live in it.
41 Behold, a people shall come from the north, even a great nation; and many kings shall be stirred up from the farthest parts of the earth. 42 They lay hold on a bow and spear; they are cruel and will not show mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride on horses arrayed like a man for the battle against you, O daughter of Babylon. 43 The king of Babylon has heard the report of them, and his hands became feeble. Anguish took hold of him, and pangs like those of a woman in labor.
44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan to the home of the strong. But I will make them suddenly run away from her. And who is a chosen one whom I will appoint over her? For who is like Me? And who will set Me the time? And who is that shepherd who will stand before Me?
45 Therefore hear the counsel of Jehovah that He has taken against Babylon; and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely the least of the flock shall drag them; surely He shall make their dwelling a desert with them. 46 At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and a cry is heard among the nations.
1 So says Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up a destroying wind against Babylon, and against those dwelling in the heart of My foes. 2 And I will send aliens to Babylon who will sift her and will empty her land. For in the day of trouble they shall be against her all around. 3 Do not let the treader fully tread his bow; nor lift himself up in his armor. And do not spare her young men; utterly destroy all her army. 4 So the dead shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, those thrust through in her streets. 5 For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God, by Jehovah of Hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
6 Flee out of the middle of Babylon, and each man deliver his soul. Be not cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of Jehovah's vengeance; He will give to her a just reward. 7 Babylon has been a golden cup in Jehovah's hand, which made all the earth drunk. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations rage. 8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed. Wail for her; take balm for her pain, if perhaps she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her and let us go, each one into his own country; for her judgment reaches to the heavens and is lifted up to the skies.
10 Jehovah has brought forth our righteousness; come and let us declare in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.
11 Sharpen the arrows; gather the shields; Jehovah has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of His temple. 12 Set up the banner on the walls of Babylon; make the watch strong; set up the watchmen; prepare the ambushes. For Jehovah has both planned and done that which He spoke against the people of Babylon. 13 O you who live on many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, and the measure of your unjust gain.
14 Jehovah of Hosts has sworn by Himself, saying, Surely I will fill you with men as with locusts; and they shall lift up a shout against you.
15 He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by His understanding. 16 When He utters His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and He causes the mists to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings with rain and brings forth the wind out of His treasures.
17 Every man is brutish in knowledge; every refiner is put to shame by idols. For his molded image is a lie, and no breath is in them. 18 They are vanity, the work of errors; in the time of their judgment they shall perish. 19 The Portion of Jacob is not like them; for He is the Former of all things, and Israel is the rod of His inheritance. Jehovah of Hosts is His name.
20 You are My war-club and weapons of war; for with you I will shatter nations; and with you I will destroy kingdoms. 21 And with you I will shatter the horse and his rider; and with you I will shatter the chariot and his rider. 22 Also with you I will shatter man and woman; and with you I will shatter old and young; and with you I will shatter the young man and the girl. 23 I will also shatter the shepherd and his flock with you. And with you I will shatter the farmer and his team; and with you I will shatter heads and rulers.
24 And I will give to Babylon, and to all the people of Chaldea, all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, says Jehovah.
25 Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, says Jehovah, who destroys all the earth. And I will stretch out My hand on you and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burned mountain. 26 And they shall not take a stone from you for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be a waste forever, says Jehovah.
27 Set up a banner in the land; blow a trumpet among the nations; prepare the nations against her. Call the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz together against her; set a commander against her. Cause the horses to come up as the rough locusts. 28 Consecrate nations against her, with the kings of the Medes, her governors and all her rulers, and all the land of his kingdom. 29 And the land shall tremble and writhe. For every purpose of Jehovah shall be done against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desert without inhabitant. 30 The mighty men of Babylon have stopped fighting; they have remained in strongholds; their might has failed. They became like women; they have burned her houses; her bars are broken. 31 A runner shall run to meet a runner, and a herald to a herald, to announce to the king of Babylon that his city is captured from end to end; 32 and that the fords are stopped. And they have burned the reeds with fire, and the men of war are frightened.
33 For so says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor; it is time to thresh her. Yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
34 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel. He has swallowed me up like a jackal; he has filled his belly with good things; he has thrown me out; 35 the violence done to me and to my flesh shall be on Babylon; the dweller in Zion shall say. And, My blood shall be on the people of Chaldea, Jerusalem shall say.
36 So Jehovah says this: Behold, I will plead your cause and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. 37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a home for jackals, a horror and a hissing, without an inhabitant. 38 They shall roar together like lions; they shall growl like lions' cubs. 39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunk so that they may rejoice and sleep a never-ending sleep, and never awaken, says Jehovah. 40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats.
41 How Sheshach is captured! And how the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become a horror among the nations! 42 The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of its waves. 43 Her cities are a desert, a dry land and a wilderness, a land in which no man dwells, nor does any son of man pass by it. 44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up. And the nations shall not flow together any more to him; yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45 My people, go out of her midst; and let each man deliver his soul from the fierce anger of Jehovah. 46 And let not your heart faint, nor fear the rumor that shall be heard in the land. The report shall come in a year. And after that a report shall come in another year; and violence shall be in the land, ruler against ruler. 47 So, behold, the days come that I will punish the idols of Babylon. And all her land shall be put to shame, and all her slain shall fall in her midst. 48 And the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, shall shout for Babylon; for the plunderers shall come to her from the north, says Jehovah.
49 As Babylon is to fall for the dead of Israel, so at Babylon the dead of all the earth shall fall. 50 You who have escaped the sword, go away; do not stand still. Remember Jehovah afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51 We have turned pale because we have heard reproach; shame has covered our faces, for foreigners have come into the holy places of Jehovah's house.
52 So, behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that I will punish her idols, and through all her land the wounded shall groan. 53 Though Babylon should mount up to the heavens, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet plunderers shall come to her from Me, says Jehovah.
54 A sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great ruin from the land of the Chaldeans, 55 because Jehovah is stripping Babylon, and the great voice will perish out of her. And her waves will roar like great waters; the noise of their voice is given,