Jeremiah 51
1 Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will raise up as it were a pestilential wind against Babylon and against the inhabitants thereof, who have lifted up their heart against me.
This is what the Lord says: Look! I'm going to stir up a destructive wind against Babylon and against the people of Babylonia.
2 And I will send to Babylon fanners, and they shall fan her, and shall destroy her land: for they are come upon her on every side in the day of her affliction.
I will send foreign soldiers to attack Babylon to winnow her and turn her country into a wasteland—they will attack her from all directions when her time of trouble comes.
3 Let not him that bendeth, bend his bow, and let not, him go up that is armed with a coat of mail: spare not her young men, destroy all her army.
The archer doesn't need to use his bow; the infantryman doesn't need to put on his armor. Don't spare her young soldiers; set apart her whole army for destruction!
4 And the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and the wounded in the regions thereof.
They will fall down wounded in her streets, killed in the country of Babylonia.
5 For Israel and Juda have not been forsaken by their God the Lord of hosts: but their land hath been filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
Israel and Judah have not been deserted by their God, the Lord Almighty, even though they sinned against the Holy One of Israel everywhere in their country.
6 Flee ye from the midst of Babylon, and let every one save his own life: be not silent upon her iniquity: for it is the time of revenge from the Lord, he will I render unto her what she hath deserved.
Escape from Babylon! Run for your lives! Don't get caught up in her punishment and die, for this is the time when the Lord pays her back for her sins.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, that made all the earth drunk: the nations have drunk of her wine, and therefore they have staggered.
Once Babylon was a golden cup the Lord held in his hand. She made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine which is why they went mad.
8 Babylon is suddenly fallen, and destroyed: howl for her, take balm for her pain, if so she may be healed.
Now, all of a sudden, Babylon has fallen. She has been smashed to pieces. Weep for her; get her some treatment for her pain. Maybe she can be healed.
9 We would have cured Babylon, but she is not healed: let us forsake her, and let us go every man to his own land: because her judgment hath reached even to the heavens, and is lifted up to the clouds.
“We tried to heal her, but she couldn't be helped. So give up on her! All of us should go home to where we came from. The news of her punishment has reached everywhere, all the way to heaven.
10 The Lord hath brought forth our justices: Come, and let us declare in Sion the work of the Lord our God.
The Lord has encouraged and supported us. Come on, let's tell people here in Jerusalem what the Lord has done for us!”
11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers, the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: and his mind is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.
Sharpen the arrows! Pick up the shields! The Lord has encouraged the kings of the Medes, because his plan is directed at the destruction of Babylon. The Lord is paying them back for what happened to his Temple.
12 Upon the walls of Babylon set up the standard, strengthen the watch: set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both purposed, and done all that he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
Raise the signal flag to attack the walls of Babylon; strengthen the guard; have the watchmen take their places; get the ambush ready. The Lord planned and carried out his threats against the people of Babylon.
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, rich in treasures, thy end is come for thy entire destruction.
You people who live beside by many waters, and have so much wealth, this is the time of your end—your life will be cut short.
14 The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying: I will fill thee with men as with locusts, and they shall lift up a joyful shout against thee.
The Lord Almighty vowed by his own life, saying, I'm going to make sure to fill you with so many enemy soldiers they'll be like locusts. They will shout as they celebrate their victory over you.
15 He that made the earth by his power, that hath prepared the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
It was God who made the earth by his power. He created the world by his wisdom and by his understanding he put the heavens in place.
16 When he uttereth his voice the waters are multiplied in heaven: he lifteth up the clouds from the ends of the earth, he hath turned lightning into rain: and hath brought forth the wind out of his treasures.
The waters of the heavens rain down with a roar at his command. He makes the clouds to rise all over the earth. He makes lightning to accompany rain, and sends the wind from his storehouses.
17 Every man is become foolish by his knowledge: every founder is confounded by his idol, for what he hath cast is a lie, and there is no breath in them.
Everyone is stupid; they don't know anything. Every metalworker is embarrassed by the idols they make. For their images made of molten metal are fraudulent—they're not alive!
18 They are vain works, and worthy to be laughed at, in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
They are useless, an object to be laughed at. They will be destroyed at the time of their punishment.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he that made all things he it is, and Israel is the sceptre of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.
The God of Jacob is not like these idols, for he is the creator of everything, including his own people that are special to him. The Lord Almighty is his name.
20 Thou dashest together for me the weapons of war, and with thee I will dash nations together, and with thee I will destroy kingdoms:
You are my war club, the weapon I use in battle. I use you to destroy nations; I use you to destroy kingdoms.
21 And with thee I will break in pieces the horse, and his rider, and with thee I will break in pieces the chariot, and him that getteth up into it:
I use you to destroy horses and their riders; I use you to destroy chariots and their drivers.
22 And with thee I will break in pieces man and woman, and with thee I will break in pieces the old man and the child, and with thee I will break in pieces the young man and the virgin:
I use you to destroy men and women; I use you to destroy old men and youths; I use you to destroy young men and girls.
23 And with thee I will break in pieces the shepherd and his dock, and with thee I will break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen, and with thee I will break in pieces captains and rulers.
I use you to destroy shepherds and their flocks; I use you to destroy farmers and their cattle; I use you to destroy rulers and state officials.
24 And I will render to Babylon, and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil, that they have done in Sion, before your eyes, saith the Lord.
Right in front of you I'm going to pay back Babylon and everyone who live in Babylonia for all the evil they did to Jerusalem, declares the Lord.
25 Behold I come against thee, thou destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which corruptest the whole earth: and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and will roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
Watch out, because I am against you, you destructive monster who devastates the whole world, declares the Lord. I will reach out to attack you; I will roll you down the cliffs; I will turn you into a mountain of ash.
26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for the corner, nor a stone for foundations, but thou shalt be destroyed for ever, saith the Lord.
Nobody will be even able to find themselves a cornerstone or a foundation stone among your ruins, because you will be so utterly destroyed, declares the Lord.
27 Set ye up a standard in the land: sound with the trumpet among the nations: prepare the nations against her: call together against her the kings of Ararat, Menni, and Ascenez: number Taphsar against her, bring the horse as the stinging locust.
Raise a signal flag in the country! Blow the trumpet call to war among the nations! Get the nations ready to attack her; Summon the kingdoms to march against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Choose a commander to lead the armies to attack her; send into battle cavalry like a swarm of locusts.
28 Prepare the nations against her, the kings of Media, their captains, and all their rulers, and all the land of their dominion.
Have the armies of the nations prepare for battle against her. This applies to the kings of the Medes, their leaders and all their officers, and every country they rule.
29 And the land shall be in a commotion, and shall be troubled: for the design of the Lord against Babylon shall awake, to make the land of Babylon desert and uninhabitable.
The earth quakes and trembles because the Lord is determined to carry out what he threatened against Babylon—to turn Babylonia into a wasteland where no one lives.
30 The valiant men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have dwelt in holds: their strength hath failed, and they are become as women: her dwelling places are burnt, her bars are broken.
Babylon's defenders have given up fighting—they're just sitting in their fortresses. They're worn out; they've become like frightened women. Babylon's houses are burning; the bars securing her gates have been smashed.
31 One running post shall meet another, and messenger shall meet messenger: to tell the king of Babylon that his city is taken from one end to the other:
A runner hands his message over to another to carry; one messenger follows another messenger, all of them alerting the king of Babylon to the news that his city has been completely conquered,
32 And that the fords are taken, and the marshes are burnt with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
the river crossings have been captured, the marshlands set on fire and his soldiers are panicking.
33 For thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a thrashingfloor, this is the time of her thrashing: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: The people of Babylon are like a threshing floor when the grain is trampled out. Her time of harvest will come very soon.
34 Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon hath eaten me up, he hath devoured me: he hath made me as an empty vessel: he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicate meats, and he hath cast me out.
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon chewed me up and sucked me dry, making me as empty as a jar with nothing in it. He swallowed me down as if he were some monster, filling himself with the tastiest parts of me and throwing the rest away.
35 The wrong done to me, and my flesh be upon Babylon, saith the habitation of Sion: and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, saith Jerusalem.
“Babylon must bear the responsibility for the violent attacks on us,” say the inhabitants of Zion. “The people of Babylonia must bear the responsibility for the blood shed in my city,” says Jerusalem.
36 Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold I will judge thy cause, and will take vengeance for thee, and I will make her sea desolate, and will dry up her spring.
This is what the Lord says: Watch as I present your case for you and make your enemies pay for what they did to you. I'm going to dry up her river and her springs.
37 And Babylon shall be reduced to heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment and a hissing, because there is no inhabitant.
Babylon will be turned into a pile of rubble, a home for jackals, a place that horrifies people, a place they jeer at, a place where no one lives.
38 They shall roar together like lions, they shall shake their manes like young lions.
The Babylonians will roar together like powerful lions and growl like lion cubs.
39 In their heat I will set them drink: and I will make them drunk, that they may slumber, and sleep an everlasting sleep, and awake no more, saith the Lord.
But while their passions are aroused, I will serve them a banquet and get them drunk. They'll celebrate so much that they'll pass out and won't ever wake up, declares the Lord.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, and like rams with kids.
I will take them down like lambs to be slaughtered, like rams and goats.
41 How is Sesach taken, and the renowned one of all the earth surprised? How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations?
How could it be? Babylon has fallen! The most famous city in the world has been conquered! What a horrible sight Babylon has become to everyone watching!
42 The sea is come up over Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
It's as if the sea has flooded over Babylon, covering her in crashing waves.
43 Her cities are become an astonishment, a land uninhabited and desolate, a land wherein none can dwell, nor son of man pass through it.
The towns of Babylonia are in ruins, turned into a dry desert wasteland where no one lives—no one even passes by.
44 And I will visit against Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he had swallowed down: and the rations shall no more flow together to him, for the wall also of Babylon shall fall.
I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will force him to spit out what he swallowed. People of other nations won't run to worship him anymore. Even Babylon's wall has fallen.
45 Go out of the midst of her, my people: that every man may save his life from the fierce wrath of the Lord.
My people, come out of her! Each one of you, save yourselves from the Lord's furious anger.
46 And lest your hearts faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land: and a rumour shall come in one year, and after this year another rumour: and iniquity in the land, and ruler upon ruler.
Don't lose courage, and don't be afraid when you hear different rumors going around the country. There'll be one rumor one year, and another one the next, talking about violent revolution, of one ruler fighting against another.
47 Therefore behold the days come, and I will visit the idols of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
Look, the time is coming when I will punish Babylon's idols. The whole country will be humiliated; it will be full of the dead bodies of those who have been killed.
48 And the heavens and the earth, and all things that are in them shall give praise for Babylon: for spoilers shall come to her from the north, saith the Lord.
Then everyone in heaven and on earth will celebrate with shouts of joy at what's happened to Babylon, because the destroyers from the north will come and attack her, declares the Lord.
49 And as Babylon caused that there should fall slain in Israel: so of Babylon there shall fall slain in all the earth.
Babylon has to fall because of the Israelites and people of other nations she killed.
50 You that have escaped the sword, come away, stand not still: remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
Those of you who have managed to escape being killed, leave now! Don't delay! Remember the Lord in this far away place; think about Jerusalem.
51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: because strangers are come upon the sanctuaries of the house of the Lord.
“We are embarrassed because we've been mocked, and we held our heads in shame because foreigners went into the holy places of the Lord's Temple,”
52 Therefore behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will visit her graven things, and in all her land the wounded shall groan:
So keep watching, declares the Lord, because the time is coming when I will punish her for worshiping idols, and the sound of wounded people moaning will be heard throughout the country.
53 If Babylon should mount up to heaven, and establish her strength on high: from me there should come spoilers upon her, saith the Lord.
Even if Babylon could climb up into the sky to strengthen her high fortresses, those I send to attack her will destroy her, declares the Lord.
54 The noise of a cry from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
A cry comes from Babylon; the noise of terrible destruction comes from the country of Babylonia.
55 Because the Lord hath laid Babylon waste, and destroyed out of her the great voice: and their wave shall roar like many waters: their voice hath made a noise:
For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon; he will put an end to her boastful talk. The waves of attacking army will roar like the crashing sea; the noise of their shouts will echo all around.
56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, that is, upon Babylon, and her valiant men are taken, and their bow is weakened, because the Lord, who is a strong revenger, will surely repay.
A destroyer is coming to attack Babylon. Her soldiers will be taken prisoner, and their bows will be smashed, for the Lord is a God who punishes fairly; he will definitely pay them back.
57 And I will make her princes drunk. and her wise men, and her captains, and her rulers, and her valiant men: and they shall sleep an everlasting sleep, and shall awake no more, saith the whose name is Lord of hosts.
I will make her leaders and wise men drunk, along with her commanders, officers, and soldiers. Then they will pass out, and won't ever wake up, declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty.
58 Thus saith the Lord of hosts: That broad wall of Babylon shall be utterly broken down, and her high gates shall be burnt with fire, and the labours of the people shall come to nothing, and of the nations shall go to the fire, and shall perish.
This is what the Lord Almighty says: Babylon's massive walls will be knocked down to the ground and her high gates burned. All that the people worked for will be for nothing; other nations who came to help will wear themselves out, only to see what they've done go up in flames.
59 The word that Jeremias the prophet commanded Saraias the son of Nerias, the son of Maasias, when he went with king Sedecias to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign: now Saraias was chief over the prophecy.
This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he accompanied King Zedekiah of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign. Seraiah was the king's personal assistant.
60 And Jeremias wrote in one book all the evil that was to come upon Babylon: all these words that are written against Babylon.
Jeremiah had written on a scroll a description of all the disasters that would come to Babylon—all these words written here about Babylon.
61 And Jeremias said to Saraias: When thou shalt come into Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words,
Jeremiah told Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, make sure you read out loud everything written here,
62 Thou shalt say: O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place to destroy it: so that there should be neither man nor beast to dwell therein, and that it should be desolate for ever.
and announce, ‘Lord, you have promised to destroy this place so that none will be left—no people or animals. In fact it will be deserted forever.’
63 And when thou shalt have made an end of reading this book, thou shalt tie a stone to it, and shalt throw it into the midst of the Euphrates:
After you finish reading this scroll out loud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.
64 And thou shalt say: Thus shall Babylon sink, and she shall not rise up from the affliction that I will bring upon her, and she shall be utterly destroyed. Thus far are the words of Jeremias.
Then say, ‘This is how Babylon will sink and won't ever rise again, because of the disaster I'm bringing down on her. Her people will grow tired.’” This is the end of Jeremiah's messages.
