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,
Thus said YHWH: “Behold, I am stirring up against Babylon, And the inhabitants of Leb, My withstanders, A destroying wind,
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.
And I have sent fanners to Babylon, And they have fanned her, and they empty her land, For they have been against her, All around—in the day of evil.
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.
Do not let the treader tread his bow, Nor lift himself up in his coat of mail, Nor have pity on her young men, Devote all her host to destruction.
4 Thus the slaine shall fall in the lande of the Caldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streetes.
And the wounded have fallen in the land of the Chaldeans, And the pierced-through in her streets.
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.
For Israel and Judah are not forsaken By his God—by YHWH of Hosts, For their land has been full of guilt, Against the Holy One of Israel.
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.
Flee from the midst of Babylon, And let each deliver his soul, Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For it [is] a time of vengeance for YHWH—His, He is rendering repayment to her.
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.
Babylon [is] a golden cup in the hand of YHWH, Making all the earth drunk, Nations have drunk of her wine, Therefore nations boast themselves.
8 Babel is suddenly fallen, and destroyed: howle for her, bring balme for her sore, if she may be healed.
Babylon has suddenly fallen, Indeed, she is broken, howl for her, Take balm for her pain, perhaps she may 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 healed Babylon, and she was not healed, Forsake her, and we go, each to his land, For her judgment has come to the heavens, And it has been lifted up to the clouds.
10 The Lord hath brought forth our righteousnesse: come and let vs declare in Zion the worke of the Lord our God.
YHWH has brought forth our righteousnesses, Come, and we recount in Zion the work of our God YHWH.
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.
Cleanse the arrows, fill the shields, YHWH has stirred up the spirit of the kings of Media, For His purpose [is] against Babylon to destroy her, For it [is] the vengeance of YHWH, The vengeance of 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.
Lift up an ensign to the walls of Babylon, Strengthen the watch, Establish the watchers, prepare the ambush, For YHWH has both devised and done that which He spoke, Concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O thou that dwellest vpon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine ende is come, euen the ende of thy couetousnes.
O dweller on many waters, abundant in treasures, Your end has come—the measure of your dishonest gain.
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.
YHWH of Hosts has sworn by Himself, That, Surely I have filled you [with] men as the cankerworm, And they have cried against you—shouting.
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.
Making [the] earth by His power, Establishing [the] world by His wisdom, Who by His understanding stretched out the heavens,
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.
At the voice He gives forth, A multitude of waters [are] in the heavens, And He causes vapors to come up from the end of the earth, He has made lightnings for rain, And He brings out wind from His treasures.
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.
Every man has been brutish by knowledge, Everyone has been put to shame—from refining a carved image, For his molten image [is] falsehood, And there is no breath in them.
18 They are vanitie, and the worke of errours: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
They [are] vanity—a work of errors, They perish in the time of their inspection.
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 Portion of Jacob [is] not like these, For He is forming the whole, And [Israel is] the tribe of His inheritance, YHWH of Hosts [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 shatterer—weapons of war, And I have broken in pieces nations by you, And I have destroyed kingdoms by you,
21 And by thee wil I breake horse and horseman, and by thee will I breake the charet and him that rideth therein.
And I have broken in pieces horse and its rider by you, And I have broken in pieces chariot and its charioteer by you,
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.
And I have broken in pieces man and woman by you, And I have broken in pieces old and young by you, And I have broken in pieces young man and virgin by you,
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.
And I have broken in pieces shepherd and his drove by you, And I have broken in pieces farmer and his team by you, And I have broken in pieces governors and prefects by you.
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.
And I have repaid to Babylon, And to all inhabitants of Chaldea, All the evil that they have done in Zion, Before your eyes,” a declaration of YHWH.
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.
“Behold, I [am] against you, O destroying mountain,” A declaration of YHWH, “That is destroying all the earth, And I have stretched out My hand against you, And I have rolled you from the rocks, And given you for a burnt mountain.
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.
And they do not take out of you a stone for a corner, And a stone for foundations, For you are continuous desolations,” A declaration of YHWH.
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.
“Lift up an ensign in the land, Blow a horn among nations, Sanctify nations against it, Summon against it the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz, Appoint an infant head against it, Cause the horse to ascend as the rough cankerworm.
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.
Sanctify against it the nations with the kings of Media, Its governors and all its prefects, And all the land of its dominion.
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.
And the land shakes, and it is pained, For the purposes of YHWH have stood against Babylon, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.
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.
The mighty of Babylon have ceased to fight, They have remained in strongholds, Their might has failed, they have become [as] women, They have burned her dwelling places, Her bars have been broken.
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,
Runner runs to meet runner, And announcer to meet announcer, To announce to the king of Babylon, For his city has been captured—at the extremity.
32 And that the passages are stopped, and the reedes burnt with fire, and the me of war troubled.
And the passages have been captured, And they have burned the reeds with fire, And the men of war have been troubled.
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.
For thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon [is] as a threshing-floor, The time of her threshing—yet a little [while], And the time of her harvest has come.
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.
Devoured us, crushed us, has Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, He has set us [as] an empty vessel, He has swallowed us as a dragon, He has filled his belly with my delicacies, He has driven us 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.
My wrong, and [that of] my flesh, [is] on Babylon—The inhabitant of Zion says; And my blood [is] on the inhabitants of Chaldea—Jerusalem says.
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.
Therefore, thus said YHWH: Behold, I am pleading your cause, And I have avenged your vengeance, And dried up her sea, and made her fountains dry.
37 And Babel shall be as heapes, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
And Babylon has been for heaps, A habitation of dragons, An astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
38 They shall rore together like lions, and yell as the lyons whelpes.
They roar together as young lions, They have shaken themselves as lions’ whelps.
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.
In their heat I make their banquets, And I have caused them to drink, so that they exult, And have slept a continuous sleep, And do not awaken,” a declaration of YHWH.
40 I wil bring them downe like lambes to the slaughter, and like rams and goates.
“I cause them to go down as lambs to slaughter, As rams with male 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 Sheshach has been captured, Indeed, the praise of the whole earth is caught, How Babylon has been for an astonishment among nations.
42 The sea is come vp vpon Babel: he is couered with the multitude of the waues thereof.
The sea has come up over Babylon, She has been covered with a multitude of its billows.
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.
Her cities have been for a desolation, A dry land, and a wilderness, A land—none dwell in them, Nor does a son of man pass over into them.
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.
And I have seen after Bel in Babylon, And I have brought forth that which he swallowed—from his mouth, And nations no longer flow to him, Also the wall of Babylon 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,
Go forth from her midst, O My people, And let each deliver his soul, Because of the fierceness of the anger of YHWH,
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.
And lest your heart be tender, And you are afraid of the report that is heard in the land, And the report has come in [one] year, And after it [another] report in [another] year, And violence [is] in the land, ruler against ruler;
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.
Therefore, behold, days are coming, And I have seen after the carved images of Babylon. And all its land is ashamed, And all its pierced ones fall in its midst.
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.
And heavens and earth and all that [is] in them Have cried aloud against Babylon, For the spoilers come to her from the north,” A declaration of YHWH.
49 As Babel caused the slaine of Israel to fal, so by Babel the slaine of all the earth did fall.
“As Babylon [has caused the] pierced of Israel to fall, So they of Babylon have fallen, You pierced of all the earth.
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.
You escaped of the sword, go on, do not stand, Remember YHWH from afar, And let Jerusalem come up on your heart.
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 have been ashamed, for we heard reproach, Shame has covered our faces, For strangers have come in against the sanctuaries of the house of YHWH.
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.
Therefore, behold, days are coming,” A declaration of YHWH, “And I have seen after her carved images, And the wounded groan in all her land.
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.
Because Babylon goes up to the heavens, And because she fortifies the high place of her strength, Spoilers come into her from Me,” A declaration of YHWH.
54 A sound of a cry commeth from Babel, and great destruction from the land of the Caldeans,
“A voice of a cry [is] from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldean.
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 YHWH is spoiling Babylon, And has destroyed her great voice, And her billows have sounded as many waters, Their voice has given forth a noise.
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.
For a spoiler has come in against her—against Babylon, And her mighty ones have been captured, Their bows have been broken, For the God of recompenses—YHWH—certainly repays.
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.
And I have caused her princes to drink, And her wise men, her governors, And her prefects, and her mighty ones, And they have slept a continuous sleep, And they do not awaken—an affirmation of the King, YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name.
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.
Thus said YHWH of Hosts: The wall of Babylon—The broad one—is made utterly bare, And her high gates are burned with fire, And peoples labor in vain, And nations in fire, and have been weary!”
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.
The word that Jeremiah the prophet has commanded Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, in his going with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign—and Seraiah [is] a quiet prince;
60 So Ieremiah wrote in a booke all the euill that should come vpon Babel: euen al these things, that are written against Babel.
and Jeremiah writes all the calamity that comes to Babylon on one scroll—all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
61 And Ieremiah sayd to Sheraiah, Whe thou commest vnto Babel, and shalt see, and shalt reade all these wordes,
And Jeremiah says to Seraiah, “When you enter Babylon, then you have seen, and have read all these words,
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 have said: YHWH, You have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that there is none dwelling in it, from man even to livestock, for it is a continuous desolation.
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,
And it has come to pass, when you finish reading this scroll, you bind a stone to it, and have cast it into the midst of 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.
and said, Thus Babylon sinks, and she does not arise, because of the calamity that I am bringing in against it, and they have been weary.” Until now [are the] words of Jeremiah.
