Jeremiah 50

1 The word that YHWH has spoken concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet:

2 “Declare among nations, and sound, And lift up an ensign, sound, do not hide, Say, Babylon has been captured, Bel has been put to shame, Merodach has been broken, Her grievous things have been put to shame, Her idols have been broken.

3 For a nation from the north has come up against her, It makes her land become a desolation, And there is not an inhabitant in it. From man even to beast, They have moved, they have gone.

4 In those days, and at that time,” A declaration of YHWH, “Sons of Israel come in, They and sons of Judah together, Going on and weeping they go, And they seek their God YHWH.

5 They ask the way [to] Zion, Their faces [are] toward that place: Come in, and we are joined to YHWH, A perpetual covenant—never forgotten.

6 My people have been a perishing flock, Their shepherds have caused them to err, Causing them to go back [on] the mountains, They have gone from mountain to hill, They have forgotten their crouching-place.

7 All finding them have devoured them, And their adversaries have said: We are not guilty, Because that they sinned against YHWH, The habitation of righteousness, And the hope of their fathers—YHWH.

8 Move from the midst of Babylon, And go out from the land of the Chaldeans; And be as male goats before a flock.

9 For behold, I am stirring up, And am causing to come up against Babylon, An assembly of great nations from [the] land of the north, And they have set in array against her, From there she is captured, Its arrow—as a skillful hero—does not return empty,

10 And Chaldea has been for a spoil, All her spoilers are satisfied,” A declaration of YHWH.

11 “Because you rejoice, because you exult, O spoilers of My inheritance, Because you increase as a heifer [at] the tender grass, And cry aloud as bulls,

12 Your mother has been greatly ashamed, She who bore you has been confounded, Behold, the last of nations [is] a wilderness, A dry land, and a desert.

13 Because of the wrath of YHWH it is not inhabited, And it has been a desolation—all of it. Everyone passing by at Babylon is astonished, And hisses because of all her plagues.

14 Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, All you treading a bow, Shoot at her, have no pity on the arrow, For she has sinned against YHWH.

15 Shout against her all around, She has given forth her hand, Her foundations have fallen, Her walls have been thrown down, For it [is] the vengeance of YHWH, Be avenged of her, as she did—do to her.

16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, And him handling the sickle in the time of harvest, Because of the oppressing sword, Each to his people—they turn, And each to his land—they flee.

17 Israel [is as] a scattered sheep, Lions have driven [him] away, At first, the king of Asshur devoured him, And now, at last, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bone.

18 Therefore, thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Behold, I am seeing after the king of Babylon, And after his land, As I have seen after the king of Asshur;

19 And I have brought Israel back to his habitation, And he has fed on Carmel and on Bashan; And his soul is satisfied on Mount Ephraim and on Gilead.

20 In those days, and at that time,” A declaration of YHWH, “The iniquity of Israel is sought, and it is not, And the sin of Judah, and it is not found, For I am propitious to those whom I leave!

21 Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, And to the inhabitants of Pekod, Dry up and devote their posterity,” A declaration of YHWH, “And do according to all that I have commanded you.

22 A noise of battle [is] in the land, And of great destruction.

23 How it has been cut and broken, The hammer of the whole earth! How Babylon has been for a desolation among nations!

24 I have laid a snare for you, And you are also captured, O Babylon, And you have known, You have been found, and are also caught, For you have stirred yourself up against YHWH.

25 YHWH has opened His treasury, And He brings out the weapons of His indignation, For a work [is] to Lord YHWH of Hosts, In the land of the Chaldeans.

26 Come in to her from the extremity, Open her storehouses, Raise her up as heaps, and devote her, Let her have no remnant.

27 Slay all her cows, they go down to slaughter, Woe [is] on them, for their day has come, The time of their inspection.

28 A voice of fugitives and escaped ones [Is] from the land of Babylon, To declare in Zion the vengeance of our God YHWH, The vengeance of His temple.

29 Summon archers to Babylon, all treading the bow, Encamp against her all around, Let [her] have no escape; Repay to her according to her work, According to all that she did—do to her, For she has been proud against YHWH, Against the Holy One of Israel.

30 Therefore her young men fall in her broad places, And all her men of war are cut off in that day,” A declaration of YHWH.

31 “Behold, I [am] against you, O pride,” A declaration of Lord YHWH of Hosts, “For your day has come, the time of your inspection.

32 And pride has stumbled, And he has fallen, and has none raising up, And I have kindled a fire in his cities, And it has devoured all around him.

33 Thus said YHWH of Hosts: The sons of Israel are oppressed, And the sons of Judah together, And all their captors have kept hold on them, They have refused to send them away.

34 Their Redeemer [is] strong, YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name, He thoroughly pleads their cause, So as to cause the land to rest, And He has given trouble to the inhabitants of Babylon.

35 A sword [is] for the Chaldeans,” A declaration of YHWH, “And it [is] on the inhabitants of Babylon, And on her heads, and on her wise men;

36 A sword [is] on the princes, And they have become foolish; A sword [is] on her mighty ones, And they have been broken down;

37 A sword [is] on his horses and on his chariot, And on all the rabble who [are] in her midst, And they have become women; A sword [is] on her treasuries, And they have been spoiled;

38 A sword [is] on her waters, and they have been dried up, For it [is] a land of carved images, And they boast themselves in idols.

39 Therefore desert-dwellers dwell with howlers, Indeed, daughters of the ostrich have dwelt in her, And it is not inhabited anymore forever, Nor dwelt in from generation to generation.

40 As the overthrow by God of Sodom, And of Gomorrah, and of its neighbors,” A declaration of YHWH, “None dwell there, Nor does a son of man sojourn in her.

41 Behold, a people has come from the north, Even a great nation, And many kings are stirred up from the sides of the earth.

42 They seize bow and javelin, They [are] cruel, and they have no mercy, Their voice sounds as a sea, and they ride on horses, Set in array as a man for battle, Against you, O daughter of Babylon.

43 The king of Babylon has heard their report, And his hands have been feeble, Distress has seized him; pain as a travailing woman.

44 Behold, he comes up as a lion, Because of the rising of the Jordan, To the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause them to run from off her. And who is chosen? I lay a charge on her, For who [is] like Me? And who convenes Me? And who [is] this shepherd who stands before Me?

45 Therefore, hear the counsel of YHWH, That He counseled concerning Babylon, And His plans that He has devised Concerning the land of the Chaldeans; Do little ones of the flock not drag them out, Does He not make the habitation desolate over them?

46 From the sound of Babylon having been captured, The earth has been shaken, And a cry has been heard among nations!”