Jeremiah 51

1 Thus he says Yahweh here I [am] about to rouse on Babylon and against [the] inhabitants Leb-qamai a wind a destroyer.

This is what the Lord says: Look! I'm going to stir up a destructive wind against Babylon and against the people of Babylonia.

2 And I will send to Babylon - strangers and they will winnow it and they may lay waste land its for they will be on it from round about on [the] day of calamity.

I will send foreign soldiers to attack Babylon to winnow her and turn her country into a wasteland—they will attack her from all directions when her time of trouble comes.

3 May not he bend (*Q(K)*) the [one] bending bow his and may not he lift in armor his and may not you spare young men its totally destroy all army its.

The archer doesn't need to use his bow; the infantryman doesn't need to put on his armor. Don't spare her young soldiers; set apart her whole army for destruction!

4 And they will fall slain in [the] land of [the] Chaldeans and pierced through in streets its.

They will fall down wounded in her streets, killed in the country of Babylonia.

5 For not [is] forsaken Israel and Judah from God its from Yahweh of hosts for land their it is full guilt from [the] holy [one] of Israel.

Israel and Judah have not been deserted by their God, the Lord Almighty, even though they sinned against the Holy One of Israel everywhere in their country.

6 Flee - from [the] midst of Babylon and save everyone life his may not you be destroyed in iniquity its for [is] a time of vengeance it for Yahweh recompense he [is] about to repay to it.

Escape from Babylon! Run for your lives! Don't get caught up in her punishment and die, for this is the time when the Lord pays her back for her sins.

7 [was] a cup of Gold Babylon in [the] hand of Yahweh making drunk all the earth some of wine its they have drunk nations there-fore they are acting like mad people nations.

Once Babylon was a golden cup the Lord held in his hand. She made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine which is why they went mad.

8 Suddenly it will fall Babylon and it was broken wail on it get balm for pain its perhaps it will be healed.

Now, all of a sudden, Babylon has fallen. She has been smashed to pieces. Weep for her; get her some treatment for her pain. Maybe she can be healed.

9 (We healed *Q(k)*) Babylon and not it was healed leave it so we may go everyone to own land his for it has reached to the heavens judgment its and it has been lifted up to [the] clouds.

“We tried to heal her, but she couldn't be helped. So give up on her! All of us should go home to where we came from. The news of her punishment has reached everywhere, all the way to heaven.

10 He has brought forth Yahweh righteousness our come so let us recount in Zion [the] work of Yahweh God our.

The Lord has encouraged and supported us. Come on, let's tell people here in Jerusalem what the Lord has done for us!”

11 Sharpen the arrows fill the shields he has roused Yahweh [the] spirit of [the] kings of Media for on Babylon purpose his [is] to destroy it for [is] [the] vengeance of Yahweh it [the] vengeance of temple his.

Sharpen the arrows! Pick up the shields! The Lord has encouraged the kings of the Medes, because his plan is directed at the destruction of Babylon. The Lord is paying them back for what happened to his Temple.

12 Against [the] walls of Babylon lift up a standard strengthen the watch station watchmen prepare the ambushers for both he has purposed Yahweh as well as he will do [that] which he spoke concerning [the] inhabitants of Babylon.

Raise the signal flag to attack the walls of Babylon; strengthen the guard; have the watchmen take their places; get the ambush ready. The Lord planned and carried out his threats against the people of Babylon.

13 (O [one who] dwells *Q(k)*) at waters many greatness of treasures it has come end your [the] cubit of cutting off your.

You people who live beside by many waters, and have so much wealth, this is the time of your end—your life will be cut short.

14 He swears Yahweh of hosts by self his that except I will fill you person[s] like locust and they will sing to you a shout.

The Lord Almighty vowed by his own life, saying, I'm going to make sure to fill you with so many enemy soldiers they'll be like locusts. They will shout as they celebrate their victory over you.

15 [he] made [the] earth By power his [he] established [the] world by wisdom his and by understanding his he stretched out [the] heavens.

It was God who made the earth by his power. He created the world by his wisdom and by his understanding he put the heavens in place.

16 To [the] sound of giving forth he a tumult of waters in the heavens and he brought up clouds from [the] end of [the] earth lightning for the rain he makes and he brought out [the] wind from storehouses his.

The waters of the heavens rain down with a roar at his command. He makes the clouds to rise all over the earth. He makes lightning to accompany rain, and sends the wind from his storehouses.

17 He is stupid every person from knowledge he is put to shame every metalsmith from [the] idol for [is] deception molten image his and not breath [is] in them.

Everyone is stupid; they don't know anything. Every metalworker is embarrassed by the idols they make. For their images made of molten metal are fraudulent—they're not alive!

18 [are] futility They a work of mockery at [the] time of punishment their they will perish.

They are useless, an object to be laughed at. They will be destroyed at the time of their punishment.

19 Not [is] like these [the] portion of Jacob for [is [the] one who] formed everything he and [the] tribe of inheritance his [is] Yahweh of hosts name his.

The God of Jacob is not like these idols, for he is the creator of everything, including his own people that are special to him. The Lord Almighty is his name.

20 [are] a war-club You of me weapons of war and I smash by you nations and I destroy by you kingdoms.

You are my war club, the weapon I use in battle. I use you to destroy nations; I use you to destroy kingdoms.

21 And I smash by you horse and rider its and I smash by you chariotry and rider[s] its.

I use you to destroy horses and their riders; I use you to destroy chariots and their drivers.

22 And I smash by you man and woman and I smash by you old [man] and young man and I smash by you young man and young woman.

I use you to destroy men and women; I use you to destroy old men and youths; I use you to destroy young men and girls.

23 And I smash by you shepherd and flock his and I smash by you a farmer and team his and I smash by you governors and officials.

I use you to destroy shepherds and their flocks; I use you to destroy farmers and their cattle; I use you to destroy rulers and state officials.

24 And I will repay to Babylon and to all - [the] inhabitants of Chaldea all evil their which they did in Zion to eyes your [the] utterance of Yahweh.

Right in front of you I'm going to pay back Babylon and everyone who live in Babylonia for all the evil they did to Jerusalem, declares the Lord.

25 Here I [am] against you O mountain of destruction [the] utterance of Yahweh who destroys all the earth and I will stretch out hand my on you and I will roll you from the crags and I will make you into a mountain of burning.

Watch out, because I am against you, you destructive monster who devastates the whole world, declares the Lord. I will reach out to attack you; I will roll you down the cliffs; I will turn you into a mountain of ash.

26 And not people will take from you stone for a corner and stone for foundations for wastes of perpetuity you will be [the] utterance of Yahweh.

Nobody will be even able to find themselves a cornerstone or a foundation stone among your ruins, because you will be so utterly destroyed, declares the Lord.

27 Lift up a standard in the land blow a trumpet among the nations consecrate on it nations summon on it [the] kingdoms of Ararat Minni and Ashkenaz appoint on it an official bring up horse[s] like a locust bristly.

Raise a signal flag in the country! Blow the trumpet call to war among the nations! Get the nations ready to attack her; Summon the kingdoms to march against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Choose a commander to lead the armies to attack her; send into battle cavalry like a swarm of locusts.

28 Consecrate on it nations [the] kings of Media governors its and all officials its and all [the] land of dominion his.

Have the armies of the nations prepare for battle against her. This applies to the kings of the Medes, their leaders and all their officers, and every country they rule.

29 And it quaked the land and it writhed for it will be fulfilled on Babylon [the] plans of Yahweh to make [the] land of Babylon into a waste from not inhabitant.

The earth quakes and trembles because the Lord is determined to carry out what he threatened against Babylon—to turn Babylonia into a wasteland where no one lives.

30 They will cease [the] warriors of Babylon to fight they will remain in the strongholds it will be dry strength their they will become women they will be set on fire dwellings its they will be broken bars its.

Babylon's defenders have given up fighting—they're just sitting in their fortresses. They're worn out; they've become like frightened women. Babylon's houses are burning; the bars securing her gates have been smashed.

31 A runner to meet a runner he will run and a messenger to meet a messenger to tell to [the] king of Babylon that it has been captured city his from [the] end.

A runner hands his message over to another to carry; one messenger follows another messenger, all of them alerting the king of Babylon to the news that his city has been completely conquered,

32 And the fords they have been seized and the reed-marshes they have burned with fire and [the] men of war they are terrified.

the river crossings have been captured, the marshlands set on fire and his soldiers are panicking.

33 For thus he says Yahweh of hosts [the] God of Israel [the] daughter of Babylon [will be] like a threshing floor a time [when] someone treads down it yet a little and it will come [the] time of the harvest to it.

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: The people of Babylon are like a threshing floor when the grain is trampled out. Her time of harvest will come very soon.

34 (He devoured me he confused me *Q(K)*) Nebuchadnezzar [the] king of Babylon (he set down me *Q(K)*) a vessel of emptiness (he swallowed me *Q(K)*) like sea monster he filled belly his from delicacies my (he rinsed out me. *Q(K)*)

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon chewed me up and sucked me dry, making me as empty as a jar with nothing in it. He swallowed me down as if he were some monster, filling himself with the tastiest parts of me and throwing the rest away.

35 Violence my and flesh my [be] on Babylon she will say [the] inhabitant[s] of Zion and blood my [be] to [the] inhabitants of Chaldea it will say Jerusalem.

“Babylon must bear the responsibility for the violent attacks on us,” say the inhabitants of Zion. “The people of Babylonia must bear the responsibility for the blood shed in my city,” says Jerusalem.

36 Therefore thus he says Yahweh here I [am] about to conduct case your and I will avenge vengeance your and I will dry up sea its and I will make dry spring its.

This is what the Lord says: Watch as I present your case for you and make your enemies pay for what they did to you. I'm going to dry up her river and her springs.

37 And it will become Babylon - heaps of stones - a habitation of jackals a horror and a hissing from not inhabitant.

Babylon will be turned into a pile of rubble, a home for jackals, a place that horrifies people, a place they jeer at, a place where no one lives.

38 Together like young lions they roar they growl like cubs of lions.

The Babylonians will roar together like powerful lions and growl like lion cubs.

39 When getting heated they I will make feast their and I will make drunk them so that they may celebrate and they will sleep a sleep of perpetuity and not they will awake [the] utterance of Yahweh.

But while their passions are aroused, I will serve them a banquet and get them drunk. They'll celebrate so much that they'll pass out and won't ever wake up, declares the Lord.

40 I will bring down them like lambs to slaughter like rams with goats.

I will take them down like lambs to be slaughtered, like rams and goats.

41 How! it will be captured Sheshach and it has been seized [the] praise of all the earth how! it will become a horror Babylon among the nations.

How could it be? Babylon has fallen! The most famous city in the world has been conquered! What a horrible sight Babylon has become to everyone watching!

42 It will go up over Babylon the sea with [the] tumult of waves its it will be covered.

It's as if the sea has flooded over Babylon, covering her in crashing waves.

43 They will become cities its a waste a land dry and a desert plain a land [where] not he will dwell in them any person and not he will pass in them a child of humankind.

The towns of Babylonia are in ruins, turned into a dry desert wasteland where no one lives—no one even passes by.

44 And I will visit [judgment] on Bel in Babylon and I will bring out swallowed thing his from mouth his and not they will stream to him again nations also [the] wall of Babylon it will fall.

I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will force him to spit out what he swallowed. People of other nations won't run to worship him anymore. Even Babylon's wall has fallen.

45 Come out from [the] midst of it O people my and save everyone life his from [the] burning of [the] anger of Yahweh.

My people, come out of her! Each one of you, save yourselves from the Lord's furious anger.

46 And lest it should be weak heart your so you may fear at the report which is being heard in the land and it will come in the year the report and after it in the year the report and violence [will be] in the land and ruler [will be] on ruler.

Don't lose courage, and don't be afraid when you hear different rumors going around the country. There'll be one rumor one year, and another one the next, talking about violent revolution, of one ruler fighting against another.

47 Therefore here! days [are] coming and I will visit [judgment] on [the] images of Babylon and all land its it will be ashamed and all slain [ones] its they will fall in [the] midst of it.

Look, the time is coming when I will punish Babylon's idols. The whole country will be humiliated; it will be full of the dead bodies of those who have been killed.

48 And they will cry out for joy on Babylon heaven and earth and all that [is] in them for from [the] north he will come to it the destroyers [the] utterance of Yahweh.

Then everyone in heaven and on earth will celebrate with shouts of joy at what's happened to Babylon, because the destroyers from the north will come and attack her, declares the Lord.

49 Both Babylon [is] to fall [those] slain of Israel as well as for Babylon they have fallen [those] slain of all the earth.

Babylon has to fall because of the Israelites and people of other nations she killed.

50 O escapees from [the] sword go may not you stand still remember from a distant [land] Yahweh and Jerusalem let it come up on heart your.

Those of you who have managed to escape being killed, leave now! Don't delay! Remember the Lord in this far away place; think about Jerusalem.

51 We are ashamed for we have heard scorn it has covered ignominy faces our for they have gone strangers to [the] holy places of [the] house of Yahweh.

“We are embarrassed because we've been mocked, and we held our heads in shame because foreigners went into the holy places of the Lord's Temple,”

52 Therefore here! days [are] coming [the] utterance of Yahweh and I will visit [judgment] on images its and in all land its he will groan [the] fatally wounded.

So keep watching, declares the Lord, because the time is coming when I will punish her for worshiping idols, and the sound of wounded people moaning will be heard throughout the country.

53 If it will go up Babylon the heavens and if it will fortify [the] height of strength its from with me they will come destroyers to it [the] utterance of Yahweh.

Even if Babylon could climb up into the sky to strengthen her high fortresses, those I send to attack her will destroy her, declares the Lord.

54 [the] sound of A cry of distress from Babylon and destruction great from [the] land of [the] Chaldeans.

A cry comes from Babylon; the noise of terrible destruction comes from the country of Babylonia.

55 For [is] about to destroy Yahweh Babylon and he will destroy from it a sound great and they will roar waves their like waters many it will be given [the] uproar of voice their.

For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon; he will put an end to her boastful talk. The waves of attacking army will roar like the crashing sea; the noise of their shouts will echo all around.

56 For [is] about to come on it on Babylon a destroyer and they will be captured warriors its it will be shattered bows their for [is] a God of recompense Yahweh fully he will repay.

A destroyer is coming to attack Babylon. Her soldiers will be taken prisoner, and their bows will be smashed, for the Lord is a God who punishes fairly; he will definitely pay them back.

57 And I will make drunk officials its and wise [people] its governors its and officials its and warriors its and they will sleep a sleep of perpetuity and not they will awake [the] utterance of the king [is] Yahweh of hosts name his.

I will make her leaders and wise men drunk, along with her commanders, officers, and soldiers. Then they will pass out, and won't ever wake up, declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty.

58 Thus he says Yahweh of hosts [the] walls of Babylon broad utterly it will be demolished and gates its high with fire they will be kindled and they may labor peoples for [the] sufficiency of emptiness and peoples for [the] sufficiency of fire and they grow weary.

This is what the Lord Almighty says: Babylon's massive walls will be knocked down to the ground and her high gates burned. All that the people worked for will be for nothing; other nations who came to help will wear themselves out, only to see what they've done go up in flames.

59 The word which he commanded - Jeremiah the prophet Seraiah [the] son of Neriah [the] son of Mahseiah when went he with Zedekiah [the] king of Judah Babylon in [the] year fourth of reigning his and Seraiah [was] an official of a resting place.

This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he accompanied King Zedekiah of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign. Seraiah was the king's personal assistant.

60 And he wrote Jeremiah all the calamity which it will come to Babylon to a scroll one all the words these which were written concerning Babylon.

Jeremiah had written on a scroll a description of all the disasters that would come to Babylon—all these words written here about Babylon.

61 And he said Jeremiah to Seraiah when coming you Babylon and you will see and you will read aloud all the words these.

Jeremiah told Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, make sure you read out loud everything written here,

62 And you will say O Yahweh you you have spoken concerning the place this to cut off it to not to be in it an inhabitant from humankind and unto animal for desolations of perpetuity it will be.

and announce, ‘Lord, you have promised to destroy this place so that none will be left—no people or animals. In fact it will be deserted forever.’

63 And it will be when finishing you to read aloud the scroll this you will tie on it a stone and you will throw it into [the] middle of [the] Euphrates.

After you finish reading this scroll out loud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.

64 And you will say thus it will sink Babylon and not it will rise because of the calamity which I [am] about to bring on it and they will grow weary [are] to here [the] words of Jeremiah.

Then say, ‘This is how Babylon will sink and won't ever rise again, because of the disaster I'm bringing down on her. Her people will grow tired.’” This is the end of Jeremiah's messages.