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;
This is what Yahweh says: “I will inspire/motivate [an army] to destroy Babylon [like a powerful] wind [MET], and [also] to destroy the people of Babylonia.
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.
I will send a foreign army to come to get rid of Babylonia [like a strong wind] that blows away chaff. They will attack from every direction on that day of disaster.
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!
[I will tell them, ] ‘Do not allow the archers [of Babylon] to [have time to] put on their armor or draw their bows. Do not spare the young men of Babylon. Completely destroy their army.’
4 Thus shall they fall down slain in the land of the Chaldaeans, And thrust through in her streets.
Their soldiers will fall dead in Babylonia; [they will die after being] wounded in the streets.
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.
[I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, the Israelis’ God, have not abandoned Israel and Judah. [Even though] their land was full of people who sinned against [me], the Holy God of Israel, I am still their God.
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.
[You people of Israel and Judah, ] flee from Babylon! Run away from there! Do not stay there and be killed when I punish [the people of Babylon]! It will be the time when I will get revenge; I will do to them what they deserve.
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.
Babylon has been [like] [MET] a gold cup in my hand, [a cup that is full of wine] that caused people all over the earth [who drank some of it to become] drunk. [It is as though] the [rulers of] the nations drank the wine from Babylon, and it caused them to become crazy.
8 Babylon is suddenly fallen, and broken; Howl ye over her; Bring ye balm for her wounds, If so be she may be healed.
But suddenly Babylon will be conquered. [You foreigners who live in Babylon, ] weep for its people. Give them medicine for their wounds; perhaps they can be healed.”
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.”
We [foreigners] would have [tried to] heal them, but [now] they cannot be healed. [So we will not try to help them; ] we will abandon them, and return to our own lands, because [it is as though] the punishment they are receiving is so great that it reaches up to the clouds in sky, [so great that no one can measure it].
10 Jehovah hath brought forth our deliverance; Come ye, and let us declare in Zion The work of Jehovah our God.
Yahweh has (vindicated us/shown that we were right); [so] let’s proclaim in Jerusalem everything that Yahweh our God has done [for us].
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.
[You enemy soldiers, ] sharpen your arrows! Lift up your shields, [because] Yahweh has incited your kings of Media [and Persia to march with their armies] to Babylon and to destroy it. That is how Yahweh will get revenge on [those foreigners who entered] his temple [in Jerusalem] and defiled it.
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.
Lift up a battle flag close to the walls of Babylon! (Reinforce the/Appoint more) guards, and tell the watchmen to stand [in their positions]! Prepare an ambush, because Yahweh is about to accomplish all that he has planned to do to the people of Babylon.
13 O thou that dwellest by great waters, That aboundest in treasures, Thine end is come; The measure of thy rapaciousness is full!
Babylon is [a city] near the great [Euphrates] River, a city in which there are many rich people, but it is time for Babylon to be finished; the time [for the city] to exist is ended.
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.
The Commander of the armies of angels has solemnly promised, using his own name, “Your cities will be filled with your enemies; I will cause them to be like [SIM] a swarm of locusts; and they will shout triumphantly [when they conquer your city].”
15 He made the earth by his power, He established the world by his wisdom, And by his understanding he spread out the heavens.
Yahweh created the earth by his power; he established it by his wisdom, and he stretched out the sky by his understanding.
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.
When he speaks loudly, there is thunder in the sky; he causes clouds to form in every part of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and releases the winds from his storehouses.
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.
People are senseless, and they know very little [HYP]; those who make idols are [always] disappointed, because their idols [do nothing for them]. The images/statues that they make are not real [gods]; they are lifeless.
18 They are vanity, deceptive work; In the time of their punishment shall they perish.
Idols are worthless; they deserve to be ridiculed; there will be a time when they will [all] be destroyed.
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.
But the God whom [we] Israelis [worship] is not like those [idols]; he is the one who created everything [that exists]; [we], the people of Israel, belong to him; his name is ‘the Commander of the armies of angels’.
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.
Yahweh says [about the army of Babylonia] (OR, [about a nation that will attack Babylonia)], “You have been [like] [MET] my battle-axe and war-club; with your [power] I have shattered nations and destroyed [many] kingdoms.
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.
With your [power] I have shattered armies [of other nations]: I destroyed [their] horses and their riders, [their] chariots and [their] chariot-drivers.
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.
With your [power] I shattered men and women, old people and children, young men and young women.
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.
With your [power] I shattered shepherds and their flocks [of sheep], farmers and their oxen, governors and [their] officials.”
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.
But, Yahweh [also] says, “[Soon] I will repay/punish [you] people in Babylon and in the rest of Babylonia for all the evil things that you have done in Jerusalem.
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,
[Babylonia is] [APO] like [MET] a great mountain [from which bandits descend] to (plunder/steal things from) people all over the earth. But I, Yahweh, am the enemy of you [people of Babylonia]. I will raise my fist to strike you. I will knock you down from the cliffs and cause you to be [only] a huge pile of burned rubble.
26 So that none shall take from thee a corner-stone, or a foundation-stone; But thou shalt be a perpetual desolation, saith Jehovah.
Your [city] will be abandoned forever; [even] the stones in your [city] will never [again] be used for buildings. [Your city will be completely destroyed].”
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!
[Tell] the nations to lift up a battle flag! [Tell them to] shout the battle-cry! Gather all their armies to fight against Babylon! Prepare the nations to attack Babylon. Summon [the armies of] the kingdoms [north of Babylonia]—from Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander for them, and bring [a great number of] horses; [there must be a huge number of horses]; that [huge number] will resemble [SIM] a swarm of locusts.
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,
Prepare the [armies of other nations], armies that will be led by the kings of Media [and Persia], their governors and [their] officials.
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.
[When they attack Babylon, it will be as though] the earth will shake and writhe [in pain], because [those armies] will accomplish everything that Yahweh has planned to do to Babylon; they will destroy it completely, [with the result that] no one will live there [again].
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.
[When their enemies attack], the strongest warriors in Babylon will not fight. They will remain in their barracks, without any strength. They will be as timid/weak as [SIM] women. [The enemy soldiers] will burn the buildings in the city and pull down the bars [of the city gates].
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;
Messengers will go quickly, one after another, to tell the king that his city has been captured.
32 That the passages are taken, That the reeds are burned with fire, And that the men of war are struck with terror.
The places at which people can cross the river [to escape from the city] will be blocked. The dry reeds in the marshes/swamps will be set on fire, and the soldiers of Babylon will be terrified.
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.
This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says; “Babylon is like [SIM] wheat on the ground where it is about to be threshed by [animals] tramping on it. Very soon [their enemies] will trample on [the city of] Babylon [MET].”
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.
[The army of] Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, has attacked and crushed us [Israeli people], and we have no strength [left]. [It is as though] they have swallowed us like a [great] monster that filled its belly with all our tasty parts, and then has spit out [what it did not like].
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.
[So] the people of [PRS] Jerusalem say [to Yahweh], “Cause the people of Babylon to suffer like they caused us to suffer! Cause the people of Babylonia to be punished for killing [MTY] our people!”
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.
And this is what Yahweh replies to the people of Jerusalem: “I will [be like your lawyer to] defend you, and I will avenge you. I will dry up the river in Babylon and [all] the springs of water.
37 And Babylon shall become heaps, The dwelling-place of jackals, An astonishment and a hissing, Without an inhabitant.
Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a place where jackals/wolves live. It will become a place that people are horrified about and will ridicule; it will be a place where no one lives.
38 Together shall they roar like lions; They shall yell like lions' whelps.
The people of Babylon will [all] roar like young lions; they will growl like baby lions.
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.
But while they are extremely hungry, I will prepare a [different kind of] feast for them. [It is as though] I will cause them to drink wine until they are very drunk, [with the result that] they will fall asleep. But they will never wake up from that sleep!
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, Like rams with he-goats.
I will bring them down to a place where they will be slaughtered, like [SIM] [someone who takes] lambs or rams or goats [to where they will be slaughtered for sacrifices].
41 How is Sheshach taken! How is the praise of the whole earth fallen! How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
People all over the earth [now] (honor/praise) Babylon; they say that it is a great city. But I will cause it to become a [place about which people of all] nations are horrified.
42 The sea is come up over Babylon; With the roaring of its waves is she covered.
The [enemies of Babylon] will cover the city [like] huge waves of the sea [DOU].
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.
The towns in Babylonia will become ruins, Babylonia will become a dry desert area. It will be a land in which no one lives and which no one walks 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.
And I will punish Bel, [the god that the people] of Babylon [worship], and I will cause the people to give back what they have stolen [MET]. [People of other] nations will no longer come to [worship] Bel. And the walls of Babylon will collapse.”
45 Go ye out of her, my people, And save ye every man his life From the fierce anger of Jehovah!
[Yahweh also says, ] “My people, come out of Babylon! Run away from there! Run, because [I], Yahweh, am extremely angry [MTY] [with the people of Babylon, and I will get rid of them]!
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.
Do not be discouraged/worried [IDM] or afraid when you hear reports [about what is happening in Babylon]. People will report rumors like that every year, rumors about violent things being done in the land, and rumors about leaders fighting against each other.
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.
But it will soon be the time for me to get rid of the idols in Babylon. [People all over] the land will be ashamed [because of being defeated]; and the corpses of their [soldiers] will lie in the streets.
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.
Then all [the angels in] heaven and all the [people on] [PRS] the earth will rejoice, because from the north will come [armies] that will destroy Babylon.
49 As Babylon caused the slain of Israel to fall, So at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land.
Like [the soldiers of Babylon] killed the people of Israel and [also] killed others all over the world [HYP], [the people of] Babylon must also be killed.
50 Ye that have escaped her sword, go! Tarry not! Remember Jehovah afar off, And let Jerusalem come into your mind!
You [Israeli people] who have not been killed [MTY], get out of Babylon! Do not wait! [Even though you are in a land] far away [from Israel], think about Yahweh, and think about Jerusalem!”
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.
[The Israeli people say], “We are ashamed. We are completely disgraced [DOU], because foreigners have entered Yahweh’s temple [and (defiled it/caused it to become unfit for worship)].”
52 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, When I will punish her graven images, And through all her land shall the wounded groan.
Yahweh replies, “[That is true], but there will soon be a time when I will destroy the idols in Babylon, and throughout Babylonia there will be wounded people who will 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.
Even if [the walls around] Babylon could extend up to the sky, and if its walls/fortifications were extremely strong, I will send [armies] that will destroy the city. [That will surely happen because I, ] Yahweh, have said it.”
54 Hark! a cry from Babylon, Of great destruction from the land of the Chaldaeans!
Listen to [the people of] Babylon crying [for help]! And listen to the sounds of things being destroyed all over Babylonia!
55 For Jehovah destroyeth Babylon, And bringeth to silence her loud tumult; Their waves roar like great waters; Their tumultuous noise resounds.
Yahweh will be destroying Babylon. He will cause the loud noises in the city to cease.
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.
Enemy troops will surge against the city like [SIM] a great wave. They will capture the city’s mighty soldiers and break their weapons. [That will happen] because Yahweh is a God who punishes [his enemies] justly; he will punish them as they deserve.
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.
The king, the Commander of the armies of angels says, “I will cause the city officials and wise men, the army captains and soldiers [in Babylon] to become drunk. They will fall asleep, but they will never wake up [again]!”
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.
Yahweh also says, “The thick walls around Babylon will be flattened to the ground. The city gates will be burned. People [from other countries] will work hard [to save the city], but it will be (in vain/useless), because everything [that they have built] will be destroyed by 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.
Seraiah was the man who made arrangements for the King of Babylon [whenever he traveled]. He was the son of Neraiah and grandson of Mahseiah. When he was about to go to Babylon with King Zedekiah, after Zedekiah had been ruling Judah for almost four years, the prophet Jeremiah gave him a message.
60 And Jeremiah wrote all the evil that was to come upon Babylon in one book, all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
Jeremiah had written on a scroll a list of all the disasters that he had written about, disasters that would soon occur in Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, see that thou read all these words,
He said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, read [aloud] everything that I have written [on this scroll].
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!
Then pray, ‘Yahweh, you said that you will thoroughly destroy Babylon, with the result that people and animals will no [longer] live there. You said that it will be 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,
[Then], when you have finished reading [what I have written on] the scroll, tie it to a [heavy] stone and throw it into the Euphrates [River].
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.
Then say, ‘In the same way, Babylon [and its people] will disappear and never exist again, because of the disasters that Yahweh will cause to occur there’” That is the end of Jeremiah’s messages.
