Jeremiah 51

1 This is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will stir up against Babylon and against the people of Leb-kamai the spirit of a destroyer.

THE WORD THAT CAME TO JEREMIAS for all the Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt, and for those settled in Magdolo and in Taphnas, and in the land of Pathura, saying,

2 I will send strangers to Babylon to winnow her and empty her land; for they will come against her from every side in her day of disaster.

Thus has the Lord God of Israel said; Ye have seen all the evils which I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon the cities of Juda; and, behold, they are desolate without inhabitants,

3 Do not let the archer bend his bow or put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; devote all her army to destruction!

because of their wickedness, which they have wrought to provoke me, [by] going to burn incense to other gods, whom ye knew not.

4 And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and pierced through in her streets.

yet I sent to you my servants the prophets early in the morning, and I sent, saying, Do not ye this abominable thing which I hate.

5 For Israel and Judah have not been abandoned by their God, the LORD of Hosts, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.”

But they hearkened not to me, and inclined not their ear to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn incense to strange gods.

6 Flee from Babylon! Escape with your lives! Do not be destroyed in her punishment. For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves.

So mine anger and my wrath dropped [upon them], and was kindled in the gates of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they became a desolation and a waste, as at this day.

7 Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.

And now thus has the Lord Almighty said, Wherefore do ye commit [these] great evils against your souls? to cut off man and woman of you, infant and suckling from the midst of Juda, to the end that not one of you should be left;

8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been shattered. Wail for her; get her balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.

by provoking me with the works of your hands, to burn incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, into which ye entered to dwell there, that ye might be cut off, and that ye might become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

9 “We tried to heal Babylon, 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 to the clouds.”

Have ye forgotten the sins of your fathers, and the sins of the kings of Juda, and the sins of your princes, and the sins of your wives, which they wrought in the land of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

10 “The LORD has brought forth our vindication; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has accomplished.”

And have not ceased even to this day, and they have not kept to my ordinances, which I set before their fathers.

11 Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the LORD— vengeance for His temple.

Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold I do set my face against [you]

12 Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon; post the guard; station the watchmen; prepare the ambush. For the LORD has both devised and accomplished what He spoke against the people of Babylon.

to destroy all the remnant that are in Egypt; and they shall fall by the sword, and by famine, and shall be consumed small and great: and they shall be for reproach, and for destruction, and for a curse.

13 You who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come; the thread of your life is cut.

And I will visit them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have visited Jerusalem, with sword and with famine:

14 The LORD of Hosts has sworn by Himself: “Surely I will fill you up with men as with locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.”

and there shall not one be preserved of the remnant of Juda that sojourn in the land of Egypt, to return to the land of Juda, to which they hope in their hearts to return: they shall not return, but only they that escape.

15 The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.

Then all the men that knew that their wives burned incense, and all the women, a great multitude, and all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathura, answered Jeremias, saying,

16 When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.

[As for] the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken to thee.

17 Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.

For we will surely perform every word that shall proceed out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour drink-offerings to her, as we and our fathers have done, and our kings and princes, in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem: and [so] we were filled with bread, and were well, and saw no evils.

18 They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.

But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, we have all been brought low, and have been consumed by sword and by famine.

19 The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and of the tribe of His inheritance— the LORD of Hosts is His name.

And whereas we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured drink-offerings to her, did we make cakes to her, and pour drink-offerings to her, without our husbands?

20 “You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.

Then Jeremias answered all the people, the mighty men, and the women, and all the people that returned him [these] words for answer, saying,

21 With you I shatter the horse and rider; with you I shatter the chariot and driver.

Did not the Lord remember the incense which ye burned in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, and your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land? and came it not into his heart?

22 With you I shatter man and woman; with you I shatter the old man and the youth; with you I shatter the young man and the maiden.

And the Lord could no longer bear [you], because of the wickedness of your doings, and because of your abominations which ye wrought; and so your land became a desolation and a waste, and a curse, as at this day;

23 With you I shatter the shepherd and his flock; with you I shatter the farmer and his oxen; with you I shatter the governors and officials.

because of your burning incense, and [because] of the things wherein ye sinned against the Lord: and ye have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and have not walked in his ordinances, and in his law, and in his testimonies; and so these evils have come upon you.

24 Before your very eyes I will repay Babylon and all the dwellers of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion,”

And Jeremias said to the people, and to the women, Hear ye the word of the Lord.

25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who devastate the whole earth, declares the LORD. I will stretch out My hand against you; I will roll you over the cliffs and turn you into a charred mountain.

Thus has the Lord God of Israel said; Ye women have spoken with your mouth, and ye fulfilled [it] with your hands, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour drink-offerings to her: full well did ye keep to your vows, and ye have indeed performed [them].

26 No one shall retrieve from you a cornerstone or a foundation stone, because you will become desolate forever,”

Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, all Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord, my name shall no longer be in the mouth of every Jew to say, The Lord lives, in all the land of Egypt.

27 “Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her— Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts.

For I have watched over them, to hurt them, and not to do them good: and all the Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt shall perish by sword and by famine, until they are utterly consumed.

28 Prepare the nations for battle against her— the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the lands they rule.

And they that escape the sword shall return to the land of Juda few in number, and the remnant of Juda, who have continued in the land [of] Egypt to dwell there, shall know whose word shall stand.

29 The earth quakes and writhes because the LORD’s intentions against Babylon stand: to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.

And this [shall be] a sign to you, that I will visit you for evil.

30 The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken.

Thus said the Lord; Behold, I [will] give Uaphres king of Egypt into the hands of his enemy, and into the hands of one that seeks his life; as I gave Sedekias king of Juda into the hands of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, his enemy, and who sought his life.

31 One courier races to meet another, and messenger follows messenger, to announce to the king of Babylon that his city has been captured from end to end.

THE WORD WHICH JEREMIAS THE PROPHET spoke to Baruch son of Nerias, when he wrote these words in the book from the mouth of Jeremias, in the fourth year of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda.

32 The fords have been seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers are terrified.”

Thus has the Lord said to thee, O Baruch.

33 For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her harvest time will come.”

Whereas thou hast said, Alas! alas! for the Lord has laid a grievous trouble upon me; I lay down in groaning, I found no rest;

34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies and vomited me out.

say thou to him, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I pull down those whom I have built up, and I pluck up those whom I have planted.

35 May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,” says the dweller of Zion. “May my blood be on the dwellers of Chaldea,” says Jerusalem.

And wilt thou seek great things for thyself? seek [them] not: for, behold, I bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but I will give [to thee] thy life for a spoil in every place whither thou shalt go.

36 Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.

37 Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant.

38 They will roar together like young lions; they will growl like lion cubs.

39 While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD.

40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.

41 How Sheshach has been captured! The praise of all the earth has been seized. What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!

42 The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered in turbulent waves.

43 Her cities have become a desolation, a dry and arid land, a land where no one lives, where no son of man passes through.

44 I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him spew out what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him; even the wall of Babylon will fall.

45 Come out of her, My people! Save your lives, each of you, from the fierce anger of the LORD.

46 Do not let your heart grow faint, and do not be afraid when the rumor is heard in the land; for a rumor will come one year— and then another the next year— of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler.

47 Therefore, behold, the days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her entire land will suffer shame, and all her slain will lie fallen within her.

48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon because the destroyers from the north will come against her,”

49 “Babylon must fall on account of the slain of Israel, just as the slain of all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.

50 You who have escaped the sword, depart and do not linger! Remember the LORD from far away, and let Jerusalem come to mind.”

51 “We are ashamed because we have heard reproach; disgrace has covered our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD’s house.”

52 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan.

53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, the destroyers I send will come against her,” declares the LORD.

54 “The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!

55 For the LORD will destroy Babylon; He will silence her mighty voice. The waves will roar like great waters; the tumult of their voices will resound.

56 For a destroyer is coming against her— against Babylon. Her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken, for the LORD is a God of retribution; He will repay in full.

57 I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.

58 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates consumed by fire. So the labor of the people will be for nothing; the nations will exhaust themselves to fuel the flames.”

59 This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to the quartermaster Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign.

60 Jeremiah had written on a single scroll about all the disaster that would come upon Babylon—all these words that had been written concerning Babylon.

61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud,

62 and say, ‘O LORD, You have promised to cut off this place so that no one will remain—neither man nor beast. Indeed, it will be desolate forever.’

63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates.

64 Then you are to say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again, because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will grow weary.’” Here end the words of Jeremiah.