Jeremiah 51
1 Thus, saith Yahweh—Behold me! stirring up against Babylon, And against the inhabitants of the centre of them who rise up against me, —A wind that destroyeth;
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 to Babylon winnowers, And they shall winnow her, And shall empty her land, —For they are against her round about in the day of calamity.
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 Let not the archer tread his bow, Nor lift himself up in his coat of mail, —And do not spare her young men, Devote to destruction all her 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 So shall they fall wounded in the land of Chaldea, —Yea thrust through, in her streets,
Their soldiers will fall dead in Babylonia; [they will die after being] wounded in the streets.
5 For Israel and Judah have not been widowed Of their God, Of Yahweh of hosts, —But, their land, hath been filled with punishment for guilt from 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 out of the midst of Babylon And deliver ye every man his own life, Be not cut off in her punishment, —For it is Yahweh’s, time of avenging, A recompense, is he repaying unto her.
[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 A cup of gold, was Babylon in the hand of Yahweh, Making drunk all the earth, —Of her wine, have the nations drunk, For this cause have the nations been acting as men who 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 Suddenly, hath Babylon fallen and been broken, —Howl ye over her Fetch balsam for her pain, Peradventure she shall 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 is not healed, Leave her and let us go every one to his own land, —For her judgment, reacheth unto the heavens, And mounteth as far as 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 Yahweh hath brought forth our righteousnesses, —Come and let us relate in Zion the work of Yahweh 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 Polish the arrows, Lay hold of the shields, —Yahweh hath roused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, For against Babylon, his purpose is, to destroy her, —For it is, The avenging of Yahweh, The avenging of 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, Lift ye up a standard, Strengthen ye the watch, Station the watchmen, Make ready the ambuscades, —For Yahweh hath both planned and also performed that which he had spoken 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 who dwellest upon many waters, Who aboundest in treasures, —Come hath thine end! The measure of thine unrighteous gain!
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 Yahweh of hosts hath sworn, by his own soul: Surely I have filled thee with men as with locusts, And they have answered against thee with a shout.
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 that Made the earth in his might, Established the world in his wisdom, —And in his understanding, stretched 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 By the voice that he uttered, there was a tumult of waters in the heavens, And he caused vapours to ascend from the end of the earth, —Lightnings for the rain, made he, And brought forth wind out of his treasures.
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 Every son of earth had become too brutish to know, —Every goldsmith, hath been put to shame, by a graven image, —For a falsehood, is his molten image Seeing there is no breath in them:
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 Vanity, they are, A handiwork of mockeries, —In the time of their visitation, 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 these, is the portion of Jacob, For the fashioner of all things, is he! And the portion of his inheritance, —Yahweh 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 A war-club, art thou for me, Weapons of war; Therefore will I Beat down with thee—nations, and Destroy with thee—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 Beat down with thee—the horse and his rider, —and Beat down with thee—the chariot and its rider;
With your [power] I have shattered armies [of other nations]: I destroyed [their] horses and their riders, [their] chariots and [their] chariot-drivers.
22 and Beat down with thee—man and woman, and Beat down with thee—elder and youth, and Beat down with thee—young man and virgin;
With your [power] I shattered men and women, old people and children, young men and young women.
23 and Beat down with thee—the shepherd and his flock, and Beat down with thee—the plowman and his yoke; —and Beat down with thee—governors and deputies:
With your [power] I shattered shepherds and their flocks [of sheep], farmers and their oxen, governors and [their] officials.”
24 So will I recompense to Babylon, And to all the inhabitants of Chaldea, All their wickedness which they have committed against Zion before your eyes, —Declareth Yahweh.
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 Behold me! against thee, O destroying mountain Declareth Yahweh, That destroyest all the earth, —Therefore will I stretch out my hand over thee, And roll thee down from the crags, And make of thee a burning 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 shall they not fetch from thee A stone for a corner nor A stone for a foundation, —For desolations age-abiding, shalt thou become Declareth Yahweh.
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 an ensign in the earth Blow ye a horn among the nations Hallow against her—nations, Summon against her the kingdoms of Ararat Minni, and Ashkenaz, —Set in charge against her a marshal, Bring up cavalry like hairy 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 Hallow against her—nations, With the kings of Media, With her governors and all her deputies, —And with all the land of his 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 Then did the land tremble and was in pain, —For the plans of Yahweh, had been established against Babylon, To make the land of Babylon an astonishment, without 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 heroes of Babylon have ceased to fight They have remained in the strongholds, Parched is their might, They have become women, —They have set fire to her habitations, Broken are her bars!
[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 Runner to meet runner, shall they run, And teller to meet teller, -To tell the king of Babylon, That captured is his city at the end!
Messengers will go quickly, one after another, to tell the king that his city has been captured.
32 and The fords, have been seized, and The reeds, have they burned with fire; and The men of war, are dismayed!
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 Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, The daughter of Babylon, is like a threshing, floor at the time of treading her: Yet a little, and the time of harvest shall overtake her.
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 Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon—Hath devoured me Hath vexed me, Hath set me down as an empty vessel, He hath swallowed me like a sea-monster, He hath filled his belly with my dainties, —He hath driven me away!
[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 inhabitress of Zion say, —Yea, my blood, be upon the inhabitant of Chaldea! 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 Yahweh, Behold me! pleading thy cause, So then I will execute the avenging of thee; And will dry up her sea, And make dry her spring:
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 Thus shall Babylon become—Heaps A habitation of jackals An astonishment, and A hissing, Without 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, like wild lions, shall they roar, —They have growled like lions’ whelps.
The people of Babylon will [all] roar like young lions; they will growl like baby lions.
39 When they are heated, I will spread their banquets, And let them drink that they may become uproarious, So shall they sleep an age-abiding sleep and not wake, —Declareth Yahweh.
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 As fat lambs to slaughter, —As 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 hath Sheshach, been captured! How hath the praise of all the earth been seized! How hath 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, hath gone up over Babylon, —With the multitude of its rolling waves, is she covered.
The [enemies of Babylon] will cover the city [like] huge waves of the sea [DOU].
43 Her cities have become, an astonishment, A land parched up, and a waste plain, —A land wherein shall no man dwell, Nor pass through them a son of the earth-born!
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 So will I bring punishment upon Bel in Babylon, And will bring forth what he hath swallowed out of his mouth, And the nations shall stream unto him no more, —Even the wall of Babylon hath fallen!
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 Come ye forth out of her midst O my people, And deliver ye every man his own life, —Because of the glow of the anger of Yahweh.
[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 be timid, nor be ye afraid, Because of the report that is reported in the earth When there shall come in one year, the report And after that in another year, the report, With violence in the earth, and ruler upon 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, lo! days coming when I will bring punishment upon the images of Babylon, And all her land, shall turn pale, —Yea, all her wounded, shall fall in her midst.
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 shall shout over Babylon—heavens and earth and all who are therein, —For out of the North, shall come to her the spoilers Declareth Yahweh.
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 Not only hath Babylon, caused the fall of the slain of Israel, —By Babylon, also have fallen the slain of all the earth.
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 the sword, depart do not stand still, —Remember, from afar Yahweh, Let, Jerusalem, come up on your heart: -
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 turned pale for we have heard a reproach, Confusion, hath covered our faces, —For aliens have entered upon the hallowed places of the house of Yahweh!
[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, lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, When I will bring punishment upon her images; And throughout all her land, shall the pierced one 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 the heavens, And though she should fortify her strong high-place, From me, should come spoilers unto her Declareth Yahweh.
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 A voice of outcry from Babylon! And a great crash from the land of the Chaldeans!
Listen to [the people of] Babylon crying [for help]! And listen to the sounds of things being destroyed all over Babylonia!
55 For, Yahweh, is spoiling Babylon, And will destroy out of her the loud voice, —Though their waves have roared like many waters, Been uttered the loud boast of their voice.
Yahweh will be destroying Babylon. He will cause the loud noises in the city to cease.
56 For there hath come upon her—upon Babylon—a spoiler, And captured are their heroes And broken are their bows, —For, a GOD of recompenses, is Yahweh, He will surely repay.
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 Then will I make drunk—Her princes and her wise men, Her governors, and her deputies and her heroes, And they shall sleep an age-abiding sleep, and not wake, —Declareth the King, Yahweh of hosts, is his name.
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 Yahweh of hosts—The broad walls of Babylon, shall be laid utterly bare, And, her lofty gates, with fire, shall be burned, —And peoples shall labour for emptiness, And populations, for the fire, shall weary themselves.
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 son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah into Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign, —now Seraiah, was travelling-marshal.
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 So Jeremiah wrote all the calamity which was to come unto Babylon in one scroll; even all these words which have been written against 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 Then said Jeremiah unto Seraiah, —When thou comest into Babylon, then shalt thou look out and 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 thou shalt say—O Yahweh! thou, thyself, hast spoken against this place to cut it off, That there be in it no inhabitant Neither man nor beast, —But desolations age-abiding, shall it become!
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 it shall be when thou hast made an end of reading this scroll, that thou shalt bind thereunto a stone, and cast it in 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 Then shalt thou say, —In like manner, shall Babylon sink and not rise Because of the calamity which I am about to bring thereupon: So shall they perish. Thus far, are, 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.
