Jeremiah 51:1-64 - God's Judgment On Babylon
1 This is what the Lord says:
and against the population of Leb-qamai.
who will scatter her and strip her land bare,
for they will come against her
from every side in the day of disaster.
don’t let him put on
Don’t spare her young men;
completely destroy her entire army!
those who were pierced through, in her streets.
by their God, the Lord of Hosts,
though their land is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.
6
save your lives, each of you!
Don’t perish because of her guilt.
For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance—
He will pay her what she deserves.
making the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore, the nations go mad.
Wail for her;
get balm
perhaps she can be healed.
9
but she could not be healed.
Abandon her!
Let each of us go to his own land,
for her judgment extends to the sky
and reaches as far as the clouds.
10
come, let’s tell in Zion
what the Lord our God has accomplished.
11
Fill the quivers!
The Lord has put it into the mind
of the kings of the Medes
because His plan is aimed at Babylon
to destroy her,
for it is the Lord’s vengeance,
vengeance for His temple.
against the walls of Babylon;
fortify the watch post;
set the watchmen in place;
prepare the ambush.
For the Lord has both planned and accomplished
what He has threatened
against those who live in Babylon.
rich in treasures,
your end has come,
your life thread is cut.
14 The Lord of Hosts has sworn by Himself:
and they will sing the victory song over you.
15
established the world
and spread out the heavens by His understanding.
the waters in the heavens are in turmoil,
and He causes the clouds
to rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from His storehouses.
17
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image,
for his cast images are a lie;
there is no breath in them.
At the time of their punishment they will be destroyed.
because He is the One who formed all things.
Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.
20
My weapons of war.
With you I will smash nations;
with you I will bring kingdoms to ruin.
with you I will smash the chariot and its rider.
with you I will smash the old man and the youth;
with you I will smash the young man and the young woman.
with you I will smash the farmer and his ox-team.
With you I will smash governors and officials.
24 “I will repay Babylon and all the residents of Chaldea for all their evil they have done in Zion before your very eyes.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
25
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you devastate the whole earth.
I will stretch out My hand against you,
roll you down from the cliffs,
and turn you into a charred mountain.
or a foundation stone from you,
because you will become desolate forever.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
27
blow a ram’s horn among the nations;
set apart the nations against her.
Summon kingdoms against her—
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a marshal against her;
bring up horses like a swarm
the kings of Media,
her governors and all her officials,
and all the lands they rule.
because the Lord’s intentions against Babylon stand:
to make the land of Babylon an uninhabited desolation.
they sit in their strongholds.
Their might is exhausted;
they have become like women.
Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze,
her gate bars are shattered.
and herald to meet herald,
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his city has been captured
from end to end.
the marshes set on fire,
and the soldiers are terrified.
33 For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:
at the time it is trampled.
In just a little while her harvest time will come.
34
he has crushed me.
He has set me aside like an empty dish;
he has swallowed me like a sea monster;
he filled his belly with my delicacies;
he has vomited me out,”
“Let the violence done to me and my family be done to Babylon.
Let my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
says Jerusalem.
36 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
and take vengeance on your behalf;
I will dry up her sea
and make her fountain run dry.
a jackals’ den,
a desolation and an object of scorn,
without inhabitant.
they will growl like lion cubs.
and I will make them drunk so that they revel.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
like rams together with male goats.
41
the praise
What a horror Babylon has become
among the nations!
she is covered with its turbulent waves.
a dry and arid land,
a land where no one lives,
where no human being passes through.
I will make him vomit what he swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him;
even Babylon’s wall will fall.
45
Save your lives, each of you,
from the Lord’s burning anger.
when the report is proclaimed in the land,
for the report will come one year,
and then another the next year.
There will be violence in the land
with ruler against ruler.
when I will punish Babylon’s carved images.
Her entire land will suffer shame,
and all her slain will lie fallen within her.
will shout for joy
because the destroyers from the north
will come against her.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
49
even as the slain of all the earth fell
because of Babylon.
go and do not stand still!
Remember the Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come to your mind.
51
because we have heard insults.
Humiliation covers our faces
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s temple.
52
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when I will punish her carved images,
and the wounded will groan
throughout her land.
and fortify her tall fortresses,
destroyers will come against her from Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
54
The sound of great destruction
from the land of the Chaldeans!
He will silence her mighty voice.
Their waves roar like abundant waters;
the tumult of their voice resounds,
against Babylon.
Her warriors will be captured,
their bows shattered,
for the Lord is a God of retribution;
He will certainly repay.
along with her governors, officials, and warriors.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.
58 This is what Yahweh of Hosts says:
and her high gates consumed by fire.
The peoples will have labored for nothing;
the nations will exhaust themselves only to feed the fire.
59 This is what Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah son of Neriah son of Mahseiah,
61 Jeremiah told Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62 You must say, ‘Lord, You have threatened to cut off
The words of Jeremiah end here.