< Jeremiah 50 >
1 Yahweh gave to [me, ] Jeremiah the prophet, a message about Babylon [city] and the country of Babylonia.
The word which he spoke Yahweh concerning Babylon concerning [the] land of [the] Chaldeans by [the] hand of Jeremiah the prophet.
2 [This is what Yahweh says]: “Proclaim [DOU] [a message] among the nations; do not withhold any of it; raise up a signal flag to announce that Babylon will be captured. [Its chief god] Marduk, [whose other name is] Bel, will be completely disgraced, and all the [other] statues and idols will be shattered.
Declare among the nations and make a proclamation and lift up a standard make a proclamation may not you hide [it] say it will be captured Babylon it will be put to shame Bel it will be shattered Marduk they will be put to shame images its they will be shattered idols its.
3 [The army of] a nation will come from the north to attack Babylon and destroy the city very thoroughly, [with the result that] no one will live there [again]. Both people and animals will run away.”
For it will go up on it a nation from [the] north it it will make land its into a waste and not he will be an inhabitant in it from humankind and unto animal[s] they will take flight they will go.
4 “But [I, ] Yahweh, say that in the future, when that is about to happen, the people of Israel and the people of Judah will join together. They will be weeping and wanting [to worship] me, their God.
In the days those and at the time that [the] utterance of Yahweh they will come [the] people of Israel they and [the] people of Judah together going and weeping they will go and Yahweh God their they will seek.
5 They will inquire about the road to Jerusalem, [and then] they will start traveling [IDM] toward it. They will say [to each other], ‘We must return to Yahweh [again]!’ They will make an everlasting agreement with me that they will never forget.
Zion they will ask for [will be] [the] direction hither faces their come and they will join themselves to Yahweh a covenant of perpetuity not it will be forgotten.
6 My people have been [like] [MET] lost sheep. Their [leaders/rulers] have caused them [to abandon me] like [MET] shepherds who have allowed their sheep to wander in the hills and mountains. [My people are like] [MET] sheep that do not know the path to return to the sheepfold.
Sheep lost (they have become *Q(K)*) people my shepherds their they have caused to wander them mountains (they have led away them *Q(K)*) from mountain to hill they have gone they have forgotten resting place their.
7 All their enemies who found them attacked them. They said, ‘We did not sin [by attacking them], because they sinned against Yahweh; he is the one who provides what they need; he is the one to whom they should have remained faithful; he is the one whom their ancestors confidently expected [to help them].’
All [those who] found them they devoured them and opponents their they said not we are guilty because that they have sinned to Yahweh [the] habitation of righteousness and [the] hope of ancestors their Yahweh.
8 [But now, I say to the leaders of my people], ‘Flee from Babylon! Leave the land of Babylonia! Be like [SIM] male goats [that go] in front of [the rest of] the flock; [lead my people back to their own land].
Take flight from [the] midst of Babylon and from [the] land of [the] Chaldeans (go forth *Q(K)*) and be like male goats before [the] flock.
9 [Do that] because I am going to gather an army of great nations to the north [of Babylon]. They will join together to attack Babylon and will capture it. Their arrows will be like [SIM] skilled warriors that always hit what they aim at.
For here! I [am] about to rouse and [am] about to bring up on Babylon an assembly of nations great from a land of [the] north and they will line up to it from there it will be captured arrows its [will be] like a warrior skillful [who] not he returns empty.
10 Babylonia will be conquered, and those who conquer it will take away everything they want. [That will surely happen because I, ] Yahweh, have said it.’”
And it will become Chaldea plunder all [those who] plunder it they will be satisfied [the] utterance of Yahweh.
11 “You people [of Babylon] who (plundered/stole everything valuable from) my chosen people, now you are very happy [DOU]. You run around joyfully like [SIM] a calf in a meadow, and are happy like [SIM] male horses are happy when they are neighing.
That (you are rejoicing *Q(K)*) that (you are gloating *Q(K)*) O plunderers of inheritance my that (you are skipping about *Q(K)*) like a heifer threshing (so you may neigh *Q(K)*) like mighty [horses].
12 But [soon] your people will be very disgraced [DOU] [as a result of being conquered]. Your country will be the most insignificant nation; it will be a desert, a dry and deserted land.
She will be ashamed mother your exceedingly she will be abashed [the one who] gave birth you there! [the] last of nations a wilderness a desert and a desert plain.
13 Because [I, ] Yahweh, am angry [with you people of Babylon], I will cause your city to become completely deserted. All who pass by will be horrified and will (gasp/be shocked) because of the destruction there.
From [the] wrath of Yahweh not it will remain and it will be a waste all of it every [one who] passes by at Babylon he will be appalled and he may hiss on all wounds its.
14 [All you nations that surround Babylon, ] prepare to attack it! Tell your archers to shoot at their enemies; shoot all of your arrows at them [LIT], because [the people/leaders of Babylon have sinned against me, ] Yahweh.
Line up on Babylon - all around O all [those who] bend a bow shoot against it may not you spare an arrow for to Yahweh it has sinned.
15 Shout [war-cries] against Babylon from all sides [of the city]. [The soldiers of] Babylon will surrender; the towers and walls will be torn down. It is [I, ] Yahweh, who will be getting revenge [on the people of Babylon], [so help me to] get revenge. Do to [the people of] Babylon what they have done to others!
Shout out on it all around it will give hand its they will fall (towers its *Q(k)*) they will be torn down walls its for [is] [the] vengeance of Yahweh that avenge yourself on it just as it has done do to it.
16 Take away from Babylon those who plant [crops] and those who reap the harvests! Because of the swords carried by those who will attack [Babylon], [those people in Babylon who have come from other countries] should all run away, back to their own countries [DOU]!”
Cut off [the] sower from Babylon and [one who] wields a sickle at a time of harvest from before [the] sword of the oppressor everyone to people his they will turn and everyone to own land his they will flee.
17 “The Israeli [people] are [like] [MET] sheep that have been scattered by lions. First [the army of] the King of Assyria defeated them. Then [the army of] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon smashed them.
[is] sheep Scattered Israel [which] lions they have driven away the first [lion] he devoured it [the] king of Assyria and this the last [lion] he gnawed bones its Nebuchadnezzar [the] king of Babylon.
18 So this is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israeli people [worship], say: ‘Now I will punish the King of Babylon and the people of his land, like I punished the King of Assyria.
Therefore thus he says Yahweh of hosts [the] God of Israel here I [am] about to visit [judgment] to [the] king of Babylon and to land his just as I visited [judgment] to [the] king of Assyria.
19 And I will bring the people of Israel back to their own land where they will eat [the food that grows] in the fields of the Carmel and Bashan [regions], and [the people in] the hilly areas of Ephraim and Gilead will have all they want to eat.
And I will restore Israel to pasture its and it will graze Carmel and Bashan and in [the] hill country of Ephraim and Gilead it will be satisfied appetite its.
20 At that time, there will not be people in Israel and in Judah who [are still guilty for having] sinned [DOU], because I will forgive the small group of people whom I enable to still be alive.’”
In the days those and at the time that [the] utterance of Yahweh it will be sought [the] iniquity of Israel and there not [will be] it and [the] sins of Judah and not they will be found for I will forgive [those] whom I will leave as a remnant.
21 “[So, I, Yahweh, say to the enemies of Babylonia, ]‘Attack [the people who live in] the Merathaim [region] and the people in the Pekod [region of Babylonia]. Pursue them, kill them, and completely get rid of them, as I have commanded you to do.
On the land of Merathaim go up on it and against [the] inhabitants of Pekod kill and totally destroy after them [the] utterance of Yahweh and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 Shout your battle cries throughout the land; shout [when you are causing] great destruction.
A sound of battle [will be] in the land and destruction great.
23 [The army of Babylon is like] [MET] the most powerful hammer on the earth, but it will be completely shattered. Babylon will be deserted among the [other] nations.’
How! it has been cut off and it has been broken [the] hammer of all the earth how! it has become a horror Babylon among the nations.
24 You [people of] Babylon, [listen, ] [because] I have set a trap for you; you will be caught [in that trap], because you fought against me.
I set a trap for you and also you were caught O Babylon and you not you knew you were found and also you were caught for with Yahweh you engaged in strife.
25 [It is as though] I have opened the place where I store my weapons, and I have brought out [all] the weapons [to use against the people with whom] I am angry. [I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, have [a lot of] work to do [to punish] the people of Babylonia.
He has opened Yahweh armory his and he has brought out [the] weapons of indignation his for a work it [belongs] to [the] Lord Yahweh of hosts in [the] land of [the] Chaldeans.
26 [So, you enemies of Babylonia, ] come from distant lands and attack it. Break open the places where they store the grain. Crush the walls of the city and the houses and pile up [the rubble like] [SIM] heaps of grain. Destroy everything; do not leave anything that is not destroyed.
Come to it from [the] end open granaries its pile up it like heaps and totally destroy it may not it belong to it a remnant.
27 Destroy all the [young men who are as strong as] [MET] bulls; take them to where you will slaughter them. It will be terrible for them, because it will be time for them to be punished.
Kill all young bulls its let them go down to the slaughter woe! on them for it has come day their [the] time of punishment their.
28 Listen to the people who have fled and escaped from Babylon while they tell in Jerusalem how [I, ] Yahweh, have gotten revenge against those who destroyed my temple [in Jerusalem].
[the] sound of Fugitives and escapees from [the] land of Babylon to declare in Zion [the] vengeance of Yahweh God our [the] vengeance of temple his.
29 Summon archers [DOU] to come to attack Babylon; surround the city in order that no one will escape. Do to [the people of] Babylon what they have done to others [DOU], because they have defied [me, ] the Holy One of the Israeli [people].
Summon against Babylon - archers all [those who] bend a bow encamp on it all around may not (it be to it *Q(K)*) escape repay to it according to deed[s] its according to all that it has done do to it for Yahweh it has defied proudly [the] holy [one] of Israel.
30 The young men of Babylon will fall in the streets; all their soldiers will be killed in one day.
Therefore they will fall young men its in open places its and all [the] men of war its they will be silenced on the day that [the] utterance of Yahweh.
31 [I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, say this: ‘You arrogant/proud people, it is now the time; it is the time [DOU] when I will punish you.
Here I [am] against you O arrogance [the] utterance of [the] Lord Yahweh of hosts that it has come day your [the] time [when] I will visit you.
32 [Your land is full of] proud people, but you will stumble and fall, and no one will lift you up [again]. I will light a fire in the cities in Babylonia that will burn up everything that is nearby.’
And it will stumble arrogance and it will fall and not [will belong] to it [one who] raises up and I will kindle fire in cities its and it will devour all around it.
33 [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, also say this: ‘The people of Israel and Judah were (oppressed/treated cruelly); those who captured them guarded them carefully and would not allow them to leave [Babylon].
Thus he says Yahweh of hosts [are] oppressed [the] people of Israel and [the] people of Judah together and all captors their they have kept hold on them they have refused to let go them.
34 But I am strong, and I will free them. I am the Commander of the armies of angels; I will defend my people and enable them [to return to] their land where they will have peace, but the people of Babylonia will not have peace.
Redeemer their - [is] strong [is] Yahweh of hosts name his certainly he will conduct case their so as to give rest to the earth and to cause disquiet to [the] inhabitants of Babylon.
35 [I will send enemy soldiers carrying] swords [PRS] to strike the people of Babylonia; they will strike the officials and wise men and all the [other] people who live in Babylon.
A sword on [the] Chaldeans [the] utterance of Yahweh and against [the] inhabitants of Babylon and against officials its and against wise [people] its.
36 They will strike their false prophets with swords and they will become foolish. They will strike the [strongest] warriors of Babylonia, and they will all be terrified.
A sword against the empty talkers and they will become fools a sword against warriors its and they will be shattered.
37 They will strike their horses and chariots and the foreigners who are in the army of Babylonia, and they will [all] become [as weak] as [MET] women. They will seize [MTY] all the valuable things there in Babylon and take them away.
A sword against horses its and against chariotry its and against every foreigner who [is] in [the] midst of it and they will become women a sword against treasuries its and they will be plundered.
38 [I] cause the streams to become dry. [I will do all those things] because the [entire] land [of Babylonia] is filled with idols, and those [horrible] idols have caused the people [who worship them] to become crazy.
A drought against waters its and they will dry up for [is] a land of idols it and in terrors they will act like mad people.
39 [Soon only] hyenas and [other] wild creatures will live there; and it will be a place where owls live. People will never live there again; it will be uninhabited forever [DOU].
Therefore they will dwell desert-dwellers with hyenas and they will dwell in it daughters of an ostrich and not it will remain again to perpetuity and not it will settle until a generation and a generation.
40 [I will destroy Babylon] like I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns; no one will [ever] live there [again] [DOU].
Like [the] overthrow of God Sodom and Gomorrah and neighbors its [the] utterance of Yahweh not he will dwell there anyone and not he will sojourn in it a child of humankind.
41 Look! A [great] army will come from the north. A great nation far away with many kings is preparing [to attack you people of Babylon].
There! a people [is] about to come from [the] north and a nation great and kings many they will be roused from [the] remotest parts of [the] earth.
42 Their [army] has bows [and arrows] and spears; they are [very] cruel, and do not act mercifully [to anyone]. [As] they ride along on [their] horses, the sound of the horses’ hooves is like [SIM] the roaring of the ocean [waves]; they are riding in battle formation to attack you, you people of Babylon.
Bow and javelin they will take hold of [will be] cruel they and not they will have mercy sound their [will be] like the sea [which] it roars and on horses they will ride arranged like a man for battle on you O daughter of Babylon.
43 The King of Babylon says, “[I] have heard reports about the enemy [approaching]; [so I am very frightened, with the result that] I am weak. I am [very fearful, and] anguished/worried, like [SIM] a woman who is about to give birth to a baby.”
He heard [the] king of Babylon report their and they hung limp hands his distress it took hold of him anguish like [woman] giving birth.
44 I, [Yahweh], will come to Babylon [suddenly] like a lion comes out of the jungle and [leaps on the sheep that are eating] the good pastureland. I will quickly chase the people of Babylonia from their land. And [then] I will appoint for them [a leader] whom I will choose; [I will do that] because there is no one [RHQ] like me who can say that what I have done is not right. No ruler can [RHQ] oppose me.
There! like a lion [which] it goes up from [the] thicket[s] of the Jordan to pastureland of an ever-flowing [stream] for I will act in a moment (I will cause to run them *Q(K)*) from on it and whoever [is] chosen to it I will appoint for who? [is] like me and who? will he summon me and who? this [is] a shepherd who he will stand before me.
45 Listen to what I have planned to do to the people of Babylon [city] and the rest of Babylonia: [even] the little children will be dragged away, and I will completely destroy the people [MET] who live there.
Therefore hear [the] plan of Yahweh which he has planned against Babylon and purposes his which he has purposed against [the] land of [the] Chaldeans if not people will drag away them [the] young [ones] of the flock if not he will devastate on them [the] pastureland.
46 When Babylon is destroyed, the noise will be extremely loud, with the result that the earth will shake, and the wailing of the people will be heard by the [people of other] nations.’”
From [the] sound it has been captured Babylon it will quake the earth and a cry of distress among the nations it will be heard.