Jeremiah 51
1 Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, And against them that dwell in the midst of mine adversaries, A destroying wind;
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,
2 And I will send against Babylon winnowers, And they shall winnow her, and empty her land; For they shall come against her on every side.
Thus has the Lord God of Israel said; Ye have seen all the evils which I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon the cities of Juda; and, behold, they are desolate without inhabitants,
3 Against him that bendeth, let the archer bend his bow, And against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine! And spare ye not her young men; Destroy ye utterly her whole host!
because of their wickedness, which they have wrought to provoke me, [by] going to burn incense to other gods, whom ye knew not.
4 Thus shall they fall down slain in the land of the Chaldaeans, And thrust through in her streets.
yet I sent to you my servants the prophets early in the morning, and I sent, saying, Do not ye this abominable thing which I hate.
5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah abandoned of his God, of Jehovah of hosts; For their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
But they hearkened not to me, and inclined not their ear to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn incense to strange gods.
6 Flee ye out of Babylon, And save ye every man his life, That ye be not cut off in her punishment! For this is the time of Jehovah's vengeance; He will render to her a recompense.
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.
7 Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of Jehovah, That made all the earth drunken; The nations have drunken of her wine, Therefore the nations are mad.
And now thus has the Lord Almighty said, Wherefore do ye 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;
8 Babylon is suddenly fallen, and broken; Howl ye over her; Bring ye balm for her wounds, If so be she may be healed.
by provoking me with the works of your hands, to burn incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, into which ye entered to dwell there, that ye might be cut off, and that ye might become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
9 “We would have healed Babylon, But she cannot be healed. Forsake her, and let us go every one to his own country! For her punishment reacheth to the heavens, And ascendeth even to the skies.”
Have ye 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?
10 Jehovah hath brought forth our deliverance; Come ye, and let us declare in Zion The work of Jehovah our God.
And have not ceased even to this day, and they have not kept to my ordinances, which I set before their fathers.
11 Make sharp the arrows; put on the shields! Jehovah hath roused up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; For his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it; For this is the vengeance of Jehovah, The vengeance for his temple.
Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold I do set my face against [you]
12 Against the walls of Babylon set up a standard, Make strong the guard, appoint the watchmen, prepare the ambush! For Jehovah deviseth and doeth that which he spake Against the inhabitants of Babylon.
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.
13 O thou that dwellest by great waters, That aboundest in treasures, Thine end is come; The measure of thy rapaciousness is full!
And I will visit them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have visited Jerusalem, with sword and with famine:
14 Jehovah of hosts hath sworn by himself, [[saying, ]] Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars, Who shall raise the war-shout against thee.
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.
15 He made the earth by his power, He established the world by his wisdom, And by his understanding he spread out the heavens.
Then all the men that knew that their wives burned incense, and all the women, a great multitude, and all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathura, answered Jeremias, saying,
16 When he uttereth his voice there is an abundance of water in the heavens; He causeth clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; He bringeth the wind from his storehouses.
[As for] the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken to thee.
17 Brutish is every man who hath not this knowledge; By his images is every founder put to shame; For his molten work is deceit; There is no breath in it.
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.
18 They are vanity, deceptive work; In the time of their punishment shall they perish.
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.
19 Not like them is he who is the portion of Jacob; He is the former of all things, And Israel is his allotted inheritance. Jehovah of hosts is his name.
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?
20 Thou hast been to me my battle-hammer, My weapon of war. And with thee I broke in pieces the nations, And with thee I destroyed the kingdoms.
Then Jeremias answered all the people, the mighty men, and the women, and all the people that returned him [these] words for answer, saying,
21 And with thee I broke in pieces the horse and his rider, And with thee I broke in pieces the chariot and its driver.
Did not the Lord remember the incense which ye burned in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, and your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land? and came it not into his heart?
22 With thee I broke in pieces man and woman, And with thee I broke in pieces the old and the young, And with thee I broke in pieces the young man and the maiden.
And the Lord could no longer bear [you], because of the wickedness of your doings, and because of your abominations which ye wrought; and so your land became a desolation and a waste, and a curse, as at this day;
23 With thee I broke in pieces the shepherd and his flock, And with thee I broke in pieces the husbandman and his team; And with thee I broke in pieces prefects and governors.
because of your burning incense, and [because] of the things wherein ye sinned against the Lord: and ye have not hearkened 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.
24 But now before your eyes will I repay to Babylon, And to all the inhabitants of Chaldaea, All the evil which they have done in Zion, saith Jehovah.
And Jeremias said to the people, and to the women, Hear ye the word of the Lord.
25 O thou destroying mountain, that destroyest the whole earth, Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah! And I will stretch out my hand against thee, And roll thee down from the rocks, And make thee a burnt mountain,
Thus has the Lord God of Israel said; Ye women have spoken with your mouth, and ye 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 ye keep to your vows, and ye have indeed performed [them].
26 So that none shall take from thee a corner-stone, or a foundation-stone; But thou shalt be a perpetual desolation, saith Jehovah.
Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, all Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith 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.
27 Set ye up a standard in the land, Sound a trumpet among the nations; Enlist the nations against Babylon, Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; Appoint captains against her, Cause the horses to come up like the bristled locusts!
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.
28 Enlist ye against her the nations, The kings of the Medes, and their prefects, And all their governors, And all the lands under their dominion,
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.
29 So that the earth shall tremble and quake! For the purpose of Jehovah against Babylon is to be fulfilled, To make the land of Babylon a desolation, without an inhabitant.
And this [shall be] a sign to you, that I will visit you for evil.
30 The mighty men of Babylon refuse to fight; They remain in their stronghold; Their strength hath failed; They have become women; Her habitations are burned; Her bars are broken.
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.
31 Courier runs to meet courier, And messenger to meet messenger, To make known to the king of Babylon, That his city is taken from end to end;
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.
32 That the passages are taken, That the reeds are burned with fire, And that the men of war are struck with terror.
Thus has the Lord said to thee, O Baruch.
33 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon shall be like a thrashing-floor when it is thrashed; Yet a little while, and the time of harvest for her shall come.
Whereas thou hast said, Alas! alas! for the Lord has laid a grievous trouble upon me; I lay down in groaning, I found no rest;
34 Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, hath devoured us; He hath made an end of us; He hath made us empty vessels; He hath swallowed us up like a dragon; He hath filled his maw with our delicacies; He hath cast us out.
say thou to him, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I pull down those whom I have built up, and I pluck up those whom I have planted.
35 “The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon!” Shall the inhabitant of Zion say; And, “My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldaeans!” shall Jerusalem say.
And wilt thou seek great things for thyself? seek [them] not: for, behold, I bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but I will give [to thee] thy life for a spoil in every place whither thou shalt go.
36 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will maintain thy cause, And take vengeance for thee; And I will dry up her sea, And make her springs dry.
37 And Babylon shall become heaps, The dwelling-place of jackals, An astonishment and a hissing, Without an inhabitant.
38 Together shall they roar like lions; They shall yell like lions' whelps.
39 In their heat I will prepare them a drink, And will make them drunk, so that they shall rejoice, And then sleep an everlasting sleep, And awake no more, saith Jehovah.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, Like rams with he-goats.
41 How is Sheshach taken! How is the praise of the whole earth fallen! How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
42 The sea is come up over Babylon; With the roaring of its waves is she covered.
43 Her cities have become a desolation, A dry land and a desert, A land in which no man dwelleth, And which no son of man passeth through.
44 I will punish Bel at Babylon, And bring forth from his mouth that which he hath swallowed, And the nations shall flow to him no more; Even the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45 Go ye out of her, my people, And save ye every man his life From the fierce anger of Jehovah!
46 And let not your heart faint, And fear ye not on account of the rumors which are heard in the land, When in one year a rumor cometh, And after it in another year another rumor, And violence is in the land, Ruler against ruler.
47 Therefore, behold the days come When I will punish the graven images of Babylon, And her whole land shall be confounded; And all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 Then the heavens shall shout over Babylon, And the earth and all that is therein; For out of the North come spoilers against her, saith Jehovah.
49 As Babylon caused the slain of Israel to fall, So at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land.
50 Ye that have escaped her sword, go! Tarry not! Remember Jehovah afar off, And let Jerusalem come into your mind!
51 We have been confounded, because we have heard reproach; Shame hath covered our faces, For strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the house of Jehovah.
52 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, When I will punish her graven images, And through all her land shall the wounded groan.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to the heavens, And make inaccessible the height of her strength, Yet from me shall spoilers come upon her, saith Jehovah.
54 Hark! a cry from Babylon, Of great destruction from the land of the Chaldaeans!
55 For Jehovah destroyeth Babylon, And bringeth to silence her loud tumult; Their waves roar like great waters; Their tumultuous noise resounds.
56 For the spoiler is come upon her, upon Babylon; And their mighty men are taken, And all their bows are broken; For Jehovah is a God of retribution; He will surely requite.
57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, Her prefects, and her governors, and her mighty men; And they shall sleep an everlasting sleep, And shall no more awake, saith the King, Whose name is Jehovah of hosts.
58 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be razed to the foundations, And her high gates shall be burned with fire; So that nations shall have labored for naught, And kingdoms have wearied themselves for fire.
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah, the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah, the king of Judah, into Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. This Seraiah was chief chamberlain.
60 And Jeremiah wrote all the evil that was to come upon Babylon in one book, all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, see that thou read all these words,
62 and say, O Jehovah, thou hast spoken against this place to destroy it, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall remain desolate forever!
63 And when thou hast made an end of reading this book, bind a stone upon it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates,
64 and say: So shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again from the evil which I bring upon her. And they shall utterly fail. Thus far the words of Jeremiah.
