Jeremiah 50
1 The word that the Lord spake, concerning Babel, and cocerning the land of the Caldeans by the ministerie of Ieremiah the Prophet.
Yahweh gave to [me, ] Jeremiah the prophet, a message about Babylon [city] and the country of Babylonia.
2 Declare among the nations, and publish it, and set vp a standart, proclaime it and conceale it not: say, Babel is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken downe: her idols are confounded, and their images are burst in pieces.
[This is what Yahweh says]: “Proclaim [DOU] [a message] among the nations; do not withhold any of it; raise up a signal flag to announce that Babylon will be captured. [Its chief god] Marduk, [whose other name is] Bel, will be completely disgraced, and all the [other] statues and idols will be shattered.
3 For out of the North there commeth vp a nation against her, which shall make her lande waste, and none shall dwel therein: they shall flee, and depart, both man and beast.
[The army of] a nation will come from the north to attack Babylon and destroy the city very thoroughly, [with the result that] no one will live there [again]. Both people and animals will run away.”
4 In those daies, and at that time, sayeth the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they, and the children of Iudah together, going, and weeping shall they goe, and seeke the Lord their God.
“But [I, ] Yahweh, say that in the future, when that is about to happen, the people of Israel and the people of Judah will join together. They will be weeping and wanting [to worship] me, their God.
5 They shall aske the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let vs cleaue to the Lord in a perpetuall couenant that shall not be forgotten.
They will inquire about the road to Jerusalem, [and then] they will start traveling [IDM] toward it. They will say [to each other], ‘We must return to Yahweh [again]!’ They will make an everlasting agreement with me that they will never forget.
6 My people hath beene as lost sheepe: their shepheards haue caused them to goe astray, and haue turned them away to the mountaines: they haue gone from mountaine to hil, and forgotten their resting place.
My people have been [like] [MET] lost sheep. Their [leaders/rulers] have caused them [to abandon me] like [MET] shepherds who have allowed their sheep to wander in the hills and mountains. [My people are like] [MET] sheep that do not know the path to return to the sheepfold.
7 Al that found them, haue deuoured them, and their enemies saide, We offende not, because they haue sinned against the Lord, the habitation of iustice, euen the Lord the hope of their fathers.
All their enemies who found them attacked them. They said, ‘We did not sin [by attacking them], because they sinned against Yahweh; he is the one who provides what they need; he is the one to whom they should have remained faithful; he is the one whom their ancestors confidently expected [to help them].’
8 Flee from the middes of Babel, and depart out of the lande of the Caldeans, and be ye as the hee goates before the flocke.
[But now, I say to the leaders of my people], ‘Flee from Babylon! Leave the land of Babylonia! Be like [SIM] male goats [that go] in front of [the rest of] the flock; [lead my people back to their own land].
9 For loe, I will raise, and cause to come vp against Babel a multitude of mightie natios from the North countrey, and they shall set themselues in aray against her, whereby shee shall be taken: their arrowes shall be as of a strong man, which is expert, for none shall returne in vaine.
[Do that] because I am going to gather an army of great nations to the north [of Babylon]. They will join together to attack Babylon and will capture it. Their arrows will be like [SIM] skilled warriors that always hit what they aim at.
10 And Caldea shalbe a spoyle: all that spoyle her, shalbe satisfied, sayth the Lord.
Babylonia will be conquered, and those who conquer it will take away everything they want. [That will surely happen because I, ] Yahweh, have said it.’”
11 Because yee were glad and reioyced in destroying mine heritage, and because ye are growen fatte, as the calues in the grasse, and neied like strong horses,
“You people [of Babylon] who (plundered/stole everything valuable from) my chosen people, now you are very happy [DOU]. You run around joyfully like [SIM] a calf in a meadow, and are happy like [SIM] male horses are happy when they are neighing.
12 Therefore your mother shall bee sore confounded, and she that bare you, shall be ashamed: beholde, the vttermost of the nations shalbe a desert, a drie land, and a wildernes.
But [soon] your people will be very disgraced [DOU] [as a result of being conquered]. Your country will be the most insignificant nation; it will be a desert, a dry and deserted land.
13 Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but shall be wholy desolate: euery one that goeth by Babel, shall be astonished, and hisse at all her plagues.
Because [I, ] Yahweh, am angry [with you people of Babylon], I will cause your city to become completely deserted. All who pass by will be horrified and will (gasp/be shocked) because of the destruction there.
14 Put your selues in aray against Babel rounde about: all ye that bende the bowe, shoote at her, spare no arrowes: for shee hath sinned against the Lord.
[All you nations that surround Babylon, ] prepare to attack it! Tell your archers to shoot at their enemies; shoot all of your arrows at them [LIT], because [the people/leaders of Babylon have sinned against me, ] Yahweh.
15 Crie against her round about: she hath giuen her hand: her foundations are fallen, and her walles are destroyed: for it is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance vpon her: as she hath done, doe vnto her.
Shout [war-cries] against Babylon from all sides [of the city]. [The soldiers of] Babylon will surrender; the towers and walls will be torn down. It is [I, ] Yahweh, who will be getting revenge [on the people of Babylon], [so help me to] get revenge. Do to [the people of] Babylon what they have done to others!
16 Destroy the sower from Babel, and him that handleth the sieth in the time of haruest: because of the sworde of the oppressor they shall turne euery one to his people, and they shall flee euery one to his owne land.
Take away from Babylon those who plant [crops] and those who reap the harvests! Because of the swords carried by those who will attack [Babylon], [those people in Babylon who have come from other countries] should all run away, back to their own countries [DOU]!”
17 Israel is like scattered sheepe: the lions haue dispersed them: first the King of Asshur hath deuoured him, and last this Nebuchad-nezzar King, of Babel hath broken his bones.
“The Israeli [people] are [like] [MET] sheep that have been scattered by lions. First [the army of] the King of Assyria defeated them. Then [the army of] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon smashed them.
18 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hostes the God of Israel, Behold, I wil visit ye King of Babel, and his land, as I haue visited the King of Asshur.
So this is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israeli people [worship], say: ‘Now I will punish the King of Babylon and the people of his land, like I punished the King of Assyria.
19 And I will bring Israel againe to his habitation: hee shall feede on Carmel and Bashan, and his soule shall be satisfied vpon the mount Ephraim and Gilead.
And I will bring the people of Israel back to their own land where they will eat [the food that grows] in the fields of the Carmel and Bashan [regions], and [the people in] the hilly areas of Ephraim and Gilead will have all they want to eat.
20 In those daies, and at that time, sayeth the Lord, the iniquitie of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none: and the sinnes of Iudah, and they shall not be founde: for I will be mercifull vnto them, whome I reserue.
At that time, there will not be people in Israel and in Judah who [are still guilty for having] sinned [DOU], because I will forgive the small group of people whom I enable to still be alive.’”
21 Goe vp against the lande of the rebelles, euen against it, and against the inhabitantes of Pekod: destroy, and lay it waste after them, saieth the Lord, and doe according to all that I haue commanded thee.
“[So, I, Yahweh, say to the enemies of Babylonia, ]‘Attack [the people who live in] the Merathaim [region] and the people in the Pekod [region of Babylonia]. Pursue them, kill them, and completely get rid of them, as I have commanded you to do.
22 A crie of battell is in the land, and of great destruction.
Shout your battle cries throughout the land; shout [when you are causing] great destruction.
23 Howe is the hammer of the whole world destroied, and broken! howe is Babel become desolate among the nations!
[The army of Babylon is like] [MET] the most powerful hammer on the earth, but it will be completely shattered. Babylon will be deserted among the [other] nations.’
24 I haue snared thee, and thou art taken, O Babel, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striuen against the Lord.
You [people of] Babylon, [listen, ] [because] I have set a trap for you; you will be caught [in that trap], because you fought against me.
25 The Lord hath opened his treasure, and hath brought foorth the weapons of his wrath: for this is the woorke of the Lord God of hostes in the lande of the Caldeans.
[It is as though] I have opened the place where I store my weapons, and I have brought out [all] the weapons [to use against the people with whom] I am angry. [I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, have [a lot of] work to do [to punish] the people of Babylonia.
26 Come against her from the vtmost border: open her store houses: treade on her as on sheaues, and destroy her vtterly: let nothing of her be left.
[So, you enemies of Babylonia, ] come from distant lands and attack it. Break open the places where they store the grain. Crush the walls of the city and the houses and pile up [the rubble like] [SIM] heaps of grain. Destroy everything; do not leave anything that is not destroyed.
27 Destroy all her bullockes: let them goe downe to the slaughter. Wo vnto them, for their day is come, and the time of their visitation.
Destroy all the [young men who are as strong as] [MET] bulls; take them to where you will slaughter them. It will be terrible for them, because it will be time for them to be punished.
28 The voyce of them that flee, and escape out of the lande of Babel to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, and the vengeance of his Temple.
Listen to the people who have fled and escaped from Babylon while they tell in Jerusalem how [I, ] Yahweh, have gotten revenge against those who destroyed my temple [in Jerusalem].
29 Call vp the archers against Babel: al ye that bend the bow, besiege it rounde about: let none thereof escape: recompence her according to her worke, and according to all that she hath done, doe vnto her: for she hath bene proud against the Lord, euen against the holy one of Israel.
Summon archers [DOU] to come to attack Babylon; surround the city in order that no one will escape. Do to [the people of] Babylon what they have done to others [DOU], because they have defied [me, ] the Holy One of the Israeli [people].
30 Therefore shall her yong men fall in the streetes, and al her men of warre shalbe destroied in that day, sayeth the Lord.
The young men of Babylon will fall in the streets; all their soldiers will be killed in one day.
31 Beholde, I come vnto thee, O proude man, saith the Lord God of hostes: for thy day is come, euen the time that I will visite thee.
[I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, say this: ‘You arrogant/proud people, it is now the time; it is the time [DOU] when I will punish you.
32 And the proude shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him vp: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall deuoure all round about him.
[Your land is full of] proud people, but you will stumble and fall, and no one will lift you up [again]. I will light a fire in the cities in Babylonia that will burn up everything that is nearby.’
33 Thus saieth the Lord of hosts, The children of Israel, and the children of Iudah were oppressed together: and all that tooke them captiues, held them, and would not let them goe.
[I], the Commander of the armies of angels, also say this: ‘The people of Israel and Judah were (oppressed/treated cruelly); those who captured them guarded them carefully and would not allow them to leave [Babylon].
34 But their strong redeemer, whose Name is the Lord of hostes, he shall maintaine their cause, that he may giue rest to the lande, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babel.
But I am strong, and I will free them. I am the Commander of the armies of angels; I will defend my people and enable them [to return to] their land where they will have peace, but the people of Babylonia will not have peace.
35 A sworde is vpon the Caldeans, sayeth the Lord, and vpon the inhabitants of Babel, and vpon her princes, and vpon her wise men.
[I will send enemy soldiers carrying] swords [PRS] to strike the people of Babylonia; they will strike the officials and wise men and all the [other] people who live in Babylon.
36 A sworde is vpon the soothsaiers, and they shall dote: a sword is vpon her strong men, and they shalbe afraide.
They will strike their false prophets with swords and they will become foolish. They will strike the [strongest] warriors of Babylonia, and they will all be terrified.
37 A sworde is vpon their horses and vpon their charets, and vpon all the multitude that are in the middes of her, and they shall be like women: a sworde is vpon her treasures, and they shall be spoyled.
They will strike their horses and chariots and the foreigners who are in the army of Babylonia, and they will [all] become [as weak] as [MET] women. They will seize [MTY] all the valuable things there in Babylon and take them away.
38 A drought is vpon her waters, and they shall be dried vp: for it is the lande of grauen images, and they dote vpon their idoles.
[I] cause the streams to become dry. [I will do all those things] because the [entire] land [of Babylonia] is filled with idols, and those [horrible] idols have caused the people [who worship them] to become crazy.
39 Therefore the Ziims with the Iims shall dwel there, and the ostriches shall dwel therein: for it shall be no more inhabited, neither shall it be inhabited from generation vnto generation.
[Soon only] hyenas and [other] wild creatures will live there; and it will be a place where owls live. People will never live there again; it will be uninhabited forever [DOU].
40 As God destroied Sodom and Gomorah with the places thereof neere about, sayeth the Lord: so shall no man dwell theere, neither shall the sonne of man remaine therein.
[I will destroy Babylon] like I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns; no one will [ever] live there [again] [DOU].
41 Beholde, a people shall come from the North, and a great nation, and many Kings shall be raised vp from the coastes of the earth.
Look! A [great] army will come from the north. A great nation far away with many kings is preparing [to attack you people of Babylon].
42 They shall holde the bowe and the buckeler: they are cruell and vnmercifull: their voyce shall roare like the sea, and they shall ride vpon horses, and be put in aray like men to the battell against thee, O daughter of Babel.
Their [army] has bows [and arrows] and spears; they are [very] cruel, and do not act mercifully [to anyone]. [As] they ride along on [their] horses, the sound of the horses’ hooves is like [SIM] the roaring of the ocean [waves]; they are riding in battle formation to attack you, you people of Babylon.
43 The King of Babel hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: sorow came vpon him, euen sorowe as of a woman in trauaile.
The King of Babylon says, “[I] have heard reports about the enemy [approaching]; [so I am very frightened, with the result that] I am weak. I am [very fearful, and] anguished/worried, like [SIM] a woman who is about to give birth to a baby.”
44 Beholde, hee shall come vp like a lyon from the swelling of Iorden vnto the strong habitation: for I will make Israel to rest, and I will make them to haste away from her: and who is a chosen man that I may appoynt against her? for who is like me, and who will appoynt me the time? and who is the shepheard that will stande before me?
I, [Yahweh], will come to Babylon [suddenly] like a lion comes out of the jungle and [leaps on the sheep that are eating] the good pastureland. I will quickly chase the people of Babylonia from their land. And [then] I will appoint for them [a leader] whom I will choose; [I will do that] because there is no one [RHQ] like me who can say that what I have done is not right. No ruler can [RHQ] oppose me.
45 Therefore heare the counsell of the Lord that hee hath deuised against Babel, and his purpose that hee hath conceiued against the lande of the Caldeans: surely the least of the flocke shall drawe them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.
Listen to what I have planned to do to the people of Babylon [city] and the rest of Babylonia: [even] the little children will be dragged away, and I will completely destroy the people [MET] who live there.
46 At the noyse of the winning of Babel the earth is moued, and the crye is heard among the nations.
When Babylon is destroyed, the noise will be extremely loud, with the result that the earth will shake, and the wailing of the people will be heard by the [people of other] nations.’”
