Jeremiah 51
1 Thus sayth the Lord, Beholde, I wil raise vp against Babel, and against the inhabitants that lift vp their heart against me, a destroying wind,
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 wil send vnto Babel fanners that shall fanne her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shalbe against her on euery side.
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 Also to the bender that bendeth his bowe, and to him that lifteth himselfe vp in his brigandine, will I say, Spare not her yong men, but destroy all her hoste.
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 Thus the slaine shall fall in the lande of the Caldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streetes.
They will fall down wounded in her streets, killed in the country of Babylonia.
5 For Israel hath bene no widowe, nor Iudah from his God, from the Lord of hostes, though their lande was filled with sinne 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 out of the middes of Babel, and deliuer euery man his soule: be not destroyed in her iniquitie: for this is the time of the Lordes vengeance he will render vnto her a recompence.
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 Babel hath bene as a golden cuppe in the Lordes hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations haue drunken of her wine, therefore do the nations rage.
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 Babel is suddenly fallen, and destroyed: howle for her, bring balme for her sore, if 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 haue cured Babel, but she could not be healed: forsake her, and let vs go euery one into his owne countrey: for her iudgement is come vp vnto heauen, and is lifted vp to ye cloudes.
“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 righteousnesse: come and let vs declare in Zion the worke 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 Make bright the arrowes: gather the shieldes: the Lord hath raised vp the spirit of the King of the Medes: for his purpose is against Babel to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, and 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 Set vp the standart vpon the walles of Babel, make the watch strong: set vp the watchmen: prepare the skoutes: for the Lord hath both deuised, and done that which he spake against the inhabitantes of Babel.
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 vpon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine ende is come, euen the ende of thy couetousnes.
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 hostes hath sworne by him selfe, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers, and they shall cry and shoute 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 hath made the earth by his power, and established the world by his wisedome, and hath stretched out the heauen by his discretion.
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 Hee giueth by his voyce the multitude of waters in the heauen, and he causeth the cloudes to ascend from the endes of the earth: he turneth lightnings to raine, and bringeth forth the winde 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 Euery man is a beast by his owne knowledge: euery founder is confounded by the grauen image: for his melting is but falsehood, and there is no breath therein.
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 vanitie, and the worke of errours: 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 Iaakob is not like them: for he is the maker of all things, and Israel is the rodde of his inheritance: the Lord of hostes 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 art mine hammer, and weapons of warre: for with thee will I breake the nations, and with thee wil I destroy kingdomes,
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 by thee wil I breake horse and horseman, and by thee will I breake the charet and him that rideth therein.
I use you to destroy horses and their riders; I use you to destroy chariots and their drivers.
22 By thee also will I breake man and woman, and by thee wil I breake olde and yong, and by thee wil I breake the yong man and the mayde.
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 I wil also breake by thee the shepheard and his flocke, and by thee will I breake the husband man and his yoke of oxen, and by thee will I breake the dukes and princes.
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 vnto Babel, and to all the inhabitants of the Caldeans all their euil, that they haue done in Zion, euen in your sight, sayth 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 Beholde, I come vnto thee, O destroying mountaine, sayth the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand vpon thee, and rolle thee downe from the rockes, and wil make thee a burnt mountaine.
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 They shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations, but thou shalt be destroyed for euer, sayth 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 vp a standard in the lande: blowe the trumpets among the nations: prepare the nations against her: call vp the kingdomes of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz against her: appoynt the prince against her: cause horses to come vp as the rough caterpillers.
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 against her the nations with the Kings of the Medes, the dukes thereof, and the princes thereof, and all the land of his 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 tremble and sorow: for the deuise of the Lord shalbe performed against Babel, to make the lande of Babel waste without an inhabitant.
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 strong men of Babel haue ceased to fight: they haue remayned in their holdes: their strength hath fayled, and they were like women: they haue burnt her dwelling places, and her barres 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 A post shall runne to meete the post, and a messenger to meete the messenger, to shew the King of Babel, that his citie is taken on a side thereof,
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 passages are stopped, and the reedes burnt with fire, and the me of war troubled.
the river crossings have been captured, the marshlands set on fire and his soldiers are panicking.
33 For thus sayth the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, the daughter of Babel is like a threshing floore: the time of her threshing is come: yet a litle while, and the time of her haruest 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 Nebuchad-nezzar the King of Babel hath deuoured me, and destroyed me: he hath made me an emptie vessel: he swallowed mee vp like a dragon, and filled his belly with my delicates, and 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 spoyle of me, and that which was left of me, is brought vnto Babel, shall the inhabitant of Zion say: and my blood vnto the inhabitantes of Caldea, shall Ierusalem say.
“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 sayth the Lord, Beholde, I will maintayne thy cause, and take vengeance for thee, and I will drie vp the sea, and drie vp her springes.
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 Babel shall be as heapes, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an 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 rore together like lions, and yell as the lyons whelpes.
The Babylonians will roar together like powerful lions and growl like lion cubs.
39 In their heate I will make them feastes, and I wil make them drunken, that they may reioyce, and sleepe a perpetual sleepe, and not wake, sayth 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 wil bring them downe like lambes to the slaughter, and like rams and goates.
I will take them down like lambs to be slaughtered, like rams and goats.
41 How is Sheshach taken! and howe is the glory of the whole earth taken! how is Babel 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 vp vpon Babel: he is couered with the multitude of the waues thereof.
It's as if the sea has flooded over Babylon, covering her in crashing waves.
43 Her cities are desolate: the land is dry and a wildernes, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth the sonne of man passe thereby.
The towns of Babylonia are in ruins, turned into a dry desert wasteland where no one lives—no one even passes by.
44 I wil also visite Bel in Babel, and I wil bring out of his mouth, that which he hath swallowed vp, and the nations shall runne no more vnto him, and the wall of Babel 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 My people, go out of the middes of her, and deliuer yee euery man his soule 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 Least your heart euen faynt, and ye feare the rumour, that shalbe heard in the land: the rumour shall come this yeere, and after that in the other yeere shall come a rumour, and crueltie in the land, and ruler against 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 beholde, the dayes come, that I will visite the images of Babel, and the whole land shalbe confounded, and all her slayne shall fall in the middes 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 Then the heauen and the earth, and all that is therein, shall reioyce for Babel: for the destroyers shall come vnto 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 As Babel caused the slaine of Israel to fal, so by Babel the slaine of all the earth did fall.
Babylon has to fall because of the Israelites and people of other nations she killed.
50 Ye that haue escaped the sworde, goe away, stand not still: remember the Lord a farre of, and let Ierusalem come into your minde.
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 Wee are confounded because wee haue heard reproch: shame hath couered our faces, for straungers are come into the Sanctuaries of the Lordes House.
“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 Wherefore behold, the dayes come, sayth the Lord, that I will visite her grauen images, and through all her land the wounded shall grone.
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 Though Babel should mount vp to heauen, and though shee should defend her strength on hye, yet from mee shall her destroyers come, sayth 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 A sound of a cry commeth from Babel, and great destruction from the land of the Caldeans,
A cry comes from Babylon; the noise of terrible destruction comes from the country of Babylonia.
55 Because the Lord hath layde Babel waste and destroyed from her the great voyce, and her waues shall roare like great waters, and a sounde was made by their noyse:
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 destroyer is come vpon her, euen vpon Babel, and her strong men are taken, their bowes are broken: for the Lord God that recompenceth, shall surely recompence.
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 drunke her princes, and her wise men, her dukes, and her nobles, and her strong men: and they shall sleepe a perpetuall sleepe, and not wake, sayth the King, whose Name is the Lord of hostes.
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 hostes, The thicke wall of Babel shalbe broken, and her hie gates shall be burnt with fire, and the people shall labour in vaine, and the folke in ye fire, for they shalbe weary.
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 worde which Ieremiah the Prophet commanded Sheraiah the sonne of Neriiah, the sonne of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the King of Iudah into Babel, in the fourth yeere of his reigne: and this Sheraiah was a peaceable prince.
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 So Ieremiah wrote in a booke all the euill that should come vpon Babel: euen al these things, that are written against Babel.
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 Ieremiah sayd to Sheraiah, Whe thou commest vnto Babel, and shalt see, and shalt reade all these wordes,
Jeremiah told Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, make sure you read out loud everything written here,
62 Then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to destroy it, that none should remaine in it, neither man nor beast, but that it should be desolate for euer.
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 hast made an ende of reading this booke, thou shalt binde a stone to it, and cast it in the middes of Euphrates,
After you finish reading this scroll out loud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.
64 And shalt say, Thus shall Babel be drowned, and shall not rise from the euil, that I will bring vpon her: and they shall be weary. Thus farre are the wordes of Ieremiah.
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.
