Jeremias 51
1 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,
Thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will awaken against Babylon, and against those that dwell in the midst of my opponents, a destroying wind;
2 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,
And I will send out unto Babylon fanners, and they shall fan her, and shall empty out her land; for they shall be against her round about on the day of trouble.
3 because of their wickedness, which they have wrought to provoke me, [by] going to burn incense to other gods, whom ye knew not.
Let the archer come against any one that bendeth his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his armor: and spare ye not her young men: destroy ye utterly all her host.
4 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.
And the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are pierced through, in her streets.
5 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.
For not widowed are Israel and Judah of their God, of the Lord of hosts; for the land of those was filled with guiltiness against the Holy One of Israel.
6 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.
Flee ye out of the midst of Babylon, and save ye every man his life: perish not for her iniquity; for this is a time of vengeance unto the Lord; a recompense is he paying out unto her.
7 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;
A golden cup hath Babylon been in the hand of the Lord, that made drunken all the earth: of her wine have nations drunk; therefore are the nations rendered mad.
8 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?
Suddenly is Babylon fallen and broken: wail ye for her; fetch balm for her wound, perhaps she may be healed.
9 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?
“We would have healed Babylon, but she was not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one unto his own country; for her punishment reacheth unto the heavens, and it is lifted up even to the skies.”
10 And have not ceased even to this day, and they have not kept to my ordinances, which I set before their fathers.
The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us relate in Zion the work of the Lord our God.
11 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold I do set my face against [you]
Make bright the arrows; fill the quivers: the Lord hath awakened the spirit of the kings of Media; for against Babylon is his intention, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for his temple.
12 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.
Against the walls of Babylon lift up the standard, strengthen the watch, set up the watchmen, make ready the ambushes; for the Lord hath both intended and done what he had spoken against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 And I will visit them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have visited Jerusalem, with sword and with famine:
O thou that dwellest upon many waters, great in treasures, thy end is come, the full measure of thy selfish robbery.
14 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.
Sworn hath the Lord of hosts by himself, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with locusts: and they shall lift up the battle-cry against thee.
15 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,
He made the earth by his power, he established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens.
16 [As for] the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken to thee.
At the sound when he giveth a multitude of waters in the heavens, and causeth clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; when he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures:
17 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.
Then standeth every man as brutish without knowledge; ashamed is every goldsmith because of the graven image; for falsehood is his molten work, and there is no breath therein.
18 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.
They are vanity, the work of deception: in the time of their punishment shall they vanish.
19 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?
Not like these is the portion of Jacob; for He is the former of all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: The Lord of hosts is his name.
20 Then Jeremias answered all the people, the mighty men, and the women, and all the people that returned him [these] words for answer, saying,
Thou art a hammer unto me, weapons of war; and I strike down with thee nations, and I destroy with thee kingdoms;
21 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?
And I strike down with thee the horse and his rider; and I strike down with thee the chariot and its rider;
22 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;
And I strike down with thee man and woman; and I strike down with thee the aged and the lad; and I strike down with thee the young man and the virgin:
23 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.
And I strike down with thee the shepherd and his flock; and I strike down with thee the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and I strike down with thee governors and rulers.
24 And Jeremias said to the people, and to the women, Hear ye the word of the Lord.
But [now] will I repay unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes, saith the Lord.
25 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].
Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand over thee, and I will roll thee down from the rocks, and will render thee a burnt mountain.
26 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.
And they shall not take from thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but everlasting ruins shalt thou be, saith the Lord.
27 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.
Lift ye up a standard in the land, blow ye the cornet among the nations, make ready against her nations, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; appoint against her a commander; cause the horses to come up like the hairy locusts.
28 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.
Make ready against her the nations with the kings of Media, its governors, and all its rulers, and all the land of their dominion.
29 And this [shall be] a sign to you, that I will visit you for evil.
And the earth quaketh and trembleth; for every one of the purposes of the Lord is fulfilled against Babylon, to change the land of Babylon into a desolate country without an inhabitant.
30 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.
The mighty men of Babylon have ceased to fight, they sit still in [their] strongholds; their might is vanished; they are become as women: they have burnt her dwelling-places; her bars are broken.
31 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.
One runner shall run to meet another runner, and one messenger to meet another messenger, to tell unto the king of Babylon that his city is captured at all ends,
32 Thus has the Lord said to thee, O Baruch.
And that the passages have been seized, and that they have burnt the reeds with fire, and that the men of war are affrighted.
33 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;
For thus hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, the daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor, at the time they thresh therein; but yet a little while more, when the time of harvest shall come for her.
34 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.
“Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon devoured me, he crushed me, he set me down as an empty vessel, he swallowed me up like a huge serpent, he filled his belly with my delicacies: he drove me out.
35 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.
the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,” will the inhabitress of Zion say; and “My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,” will Jerusalem say.
Therefore thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will contend in thy cause, and execute vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and cause her springs to fail.
And Babylon shall become ruinous heaps, a dwelling-place for monsters, an astonishment, and a derision, without an inhabitant.
Together like lions shall they roar: they shall yell like the lions' whelps.
When they are heated will I prepare their drinking-feasts, and I will make them drunken, in order that they may be joyful, and [then] sleep a perpetual sleep, and not awake again, saith the Lord.
I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like wethers with he-goats.
How is Sheshach captured! and how is conquered the praise of the whole earth! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
The sea is come up over Babylon: with the multitude of its waves is she covered.
Her cities are become desolate places, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein not any man shall dwell, and through which no son of man shall pass along.
And I will inflict punishment on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth what he hath swallowed up out of his mouth; and nations shall not assemble together like a stream unto him any more; yea, the wall of Babylon also is fallen.
Go ye out of the midst of her, my people, and save ye every man his life from the fierceness of the anger of the Lord.
And so that your heart may not faint, and ye fear at the report that is heard in the land: when the report cometh in one year, and after that in another year cometh another report, and when violence [be done] in the land, [by] ruler against ruler.
Therefore, behold, days are coming, when I will inflict punishment on the graven images of Babylon, and her whole land shall be put to shame, and all her slain shall fail in the midst of her.
And then shall the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, sing because of Babylon; for from the north shall come unto her the destroyers, saith the Lord.
Also Babylon is destined to fall, O ye slain ones of Israel, also at Babylon fall the slain of all the land.
[But] ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember afar off the Lord, and let Jerusalem rise up in your heart.
“We had been made ashamed, because we had heard reproach: confusion had covered our faces; because strangers were come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's house.”
Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith the Lord, when I will inflict punishment on her graven images: and through all her land shall groan the deadly wounded.
Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength; yet from me should destroyers come unto her, saith the Lord.
A sound of a painful cry cometh from Babylon, and of a great breach from the land of the Chaldeans;
Because the Lord wasteth Babylon, and destroyeth out of her the loud noise; but their waves roar like great waters, the noise of their voice is sent forth;
Because the destroyer is come over her, over Babylon, and her mighty men are caught, every one of their bows is broken; for the God of recompenses, the Lord, will surely requite.
And I will make drunken her princes, and her wise men, her governors, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not awake again, saith the King, The Lord of hosts is his name.
Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, Every one of the broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burnt with fire; so that nations shall have labored in vain, and the people for the fire, and so shall they have wearied themselves.
The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Serayah the son of Neriyah, the son of Machseyah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah unto Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Serayah was chief chamberlain.
And Jeremiah wrote down all the evil that should come upon Babylon in one book, namely, all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
And Jeremiah said to Serayah, As thou comest to Babylon, see to it, that thou read all these words;
And thou shalt say, O Lord, thou thyself hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, so that there shall not be in it an inhabitant, either man or beast; but that it shall become a desolate place for ever.
And it shall be, when thou hast finished reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and throw it into the midst of the Euphrates;
And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again from the evil that I will bring upon her: and her people shall be wearied. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
