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 says Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Leb-kamai, a destroying wind.
2 Thus has the Lord God of Israel said; You 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 strangers to Babylon, who shall winnow her, and they shall empty her land. For in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
3 because of their wickedness, which they have wrought to provoke me, [by] going to burn incense to other gods, whom you knew not.
Against him who bends let the archer bend his bow, and against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail. 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 you this abominable thing which I hate.
And they shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets.
5 But they listened not to me, and inclined not their ear to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn incense to strange gods.
For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of Jehovah of hosts, though their land is full of guilt 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 out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life. Be not cut off in her iniquity, for it is the time of Jehovah's vengeance; he will render to her a recompense.
7 And now thus has the Lord Almighty said, Therefore do you 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;
Babylon has been a golden cup in Jehovah's hand, that made all the earth drunken. The nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations are mad.
8 by provoking me with the works of your hands, to burn incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, into which you entered to dwell there, that you might be cut off, and that you might become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed. Wail for her. Take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9 Have you 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 is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go each one into his own country. For her judgment reaches to heaven, and 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.
Jehovah has brought forth our righteousness. Come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.
11 Therefore thus says the Lord; Behold I do set my face against [you]
Make sharp the arrows. Hold firm the shields. Jehovah has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it. For it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of 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.
Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon. Make the watch strong. Set the watchmen. Prepare the ambushes. For Jehovah has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning 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 who dwell upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end has come, the measure of thy covetousness.
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.
Jehovah of hosts has sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men as with the canker-worm, and they shall lift up a shout 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 lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathura, answered Jeremias, saying,
He has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he has stretched out the heavens.
16 [As for] the word which you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you.
When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.
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.
Every man has become brutish, without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his image, for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
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, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation they shall perish.
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?
The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the former of all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. Jehovah 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 are my battle-axe and weapons of war. And with thee I will break in pieces the nations, and with thee I will destroy kingdoms,
21 Did not the Lord remember the incense which you burned in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you, and your fathers, and your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land? and came it not into his heart?
and with thee I will break in pieces the horse and his rider,
22 And the Lord could no longer bear [you], because of the wickedness of your doings, and because of your abominations which you wrought; and so your land became a desolation and a waste, and a curse, as at this day;
and with thee I will break in pieces the chariot and him who rides in it, and with thee I will break in pieces man and woman, and with thee I will break in pieces the old man and the youth, and with thee I will break in pieces the young man and the virgin,
23 because of your burning incense, and [because] of the things wherein you sinned against the Lord: and you have not listened 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 with thee I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock, and with thee I will break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen, and with thee I will break in pieces governors and deputies.
24 And Jeremias said to the people, and to the women, Hear you the word of the Lord.
And I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, says Jehovah.
25 Thus has the Lord God of Israel said; You women have spoken with your mouth, and you 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 you keep to your vows, and you have indeed performed [them].
Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, says Jehovah, which destroys all the earth. And I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
26 Therefore hear you the word of the Lord, all Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says 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 thou shall be desolate forever, says Jehovah.
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.
Set ye up a standard in the land. Blow the trumpet among the nations. Prepare the nations against her. Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a marshal against her. Cause the horses to come up as the rough canker-worm.
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.
Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, the governors of it, and all the deputies of it, 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 land trembles and is in pain, for the purposes of Jehovah against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without 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 fighting; they remain in their strongholds. Their might has failed. They have become as women. Her dwelling-places are set on fire. 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 post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to met another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter.
32 Thus has the Lord said to you, O Baruch.
And the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are frightened.
33 Whereas you have said, Alas! alas! for the Lord has laid a grievous trouble upon me; I lay down in groaning, I found no rest;
For thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor at the time when it is trodden. Yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her.
34 say you to him, Thus says 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 has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has, like a monster, swallowed me up. He has filled his stomach with my delicacies. He has cast me out.
35 And will you seek great things for yourself? seek [them] not: for, behold, I bring evil upon all flesh, says the Lord: but I will give [to you] your life for a spoil in every place whither you shall go.
The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, the inhabitant of Zion shall say. And, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, Jerusalem shall say.
Therefore thus says Jehovah: Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee. And I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.
And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
They shall roar together like young lions. They shall growl as lions' whelps.
When they are heated, I will make their feast. And I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says Jehovah.
I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats.
How Sheshach is taken, and the praise of the whole earth seized! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
The sea has come up upon Babylon. She is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
Her cities have become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells, nor does any son of man pass thereby.
And I will execute judgment upon Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up. And the nations shall not flow any more to him. Yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and save yourselves each man from the fierce anger of Jehovah.
And let not your heart faint. Neither fear ye for the news that shall be heard in the land. For news shall come one year, and after that in another year, news, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will execute judgment upon the graven images of Babylon. And her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon. For the destroyers shall come to her from the north, says Jehovah.
As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land.
Ye who have escaped the sword, go ye; do not stand still. Remember Jehovah from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
We are confounded, because we have heard reproach. Confusion has covered our faces. For strangers have come into the sanctuaries of Jehovah's house.
Therefore, behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will execute judgment upon her graven images, and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me destroyers shall come to her, says Jehovah.
The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
For Jehovah lays Babylon waste, and destroys the great voice out of her, and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered.
For the destroyer has come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken. Their bows are broken in pieces. For Jehovah is a God of recompenses; he will surely requite.
And I will make drunk her rulers and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men. And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts.
Thus says Jehovah of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire. And the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire, and they shall be weary.
The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain.
And Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou come to Babylon, then see that thou read all these words.
And say, O Jehovah, thou have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever.
And it shall be, when thou have made an end of reading this book, that thou shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates.
And thou shall say, Thus Babylon shall sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her, and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
