Jeremiah 51
1 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.
Thus says the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
2 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.
And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
3 [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.’
Against him that bends let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifts himself up in his brigandine: and spare all of you not her young men; destroy all of you utterly all her host.
4 Their soldiers will fall dead in Babylonia; [they will die after being] wounded in the streets.
Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
5 [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.
For Israel has not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
6 [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.
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
7 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.
Babylon has been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8 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.”
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9 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].
We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reachs unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10 Yahweh has (vindicated us/shown that we were right); [so] let’s proclaim in Jerusalem everything that Yahweh our God has done [for us].
The LORD has brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
11 [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.
Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
12 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.
Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD has both devised and done that which he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 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.
O you that dwell upon many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, and the measure of your covetousness.
14 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].”
The LORD of hosts has sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill you with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall lift up a shout against you.
15 Yahweh created the earth by his power; he established it by his wisdom, and he stretched out the sky by his understanding.
He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
16 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.
When he utters his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he makes lightnings with rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasures.
17 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.
Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18 Idols are worthless; they deserve to be ridiculed; there will be a time when they will [all] be destroyed.
They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19 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’.
The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.
20 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.
You are my battle axe and weapons of war: for with you will I break in pieces the nations, and with you will I destroy kingdoms;
21 With your [power] I have shattered armies [of other nations]: I destroyed [their] horses and their riders, [their] chariots and [their] chariot-drivers.
And with you will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with you will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
22 With your [power] I shattered men and women, old people and children, young men and young women.
With you also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with you will I break in pieces old and young; and with you will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
23 With your [power] I shattered shepherds and their flocks [of sheep], farmers and their oxen, governors and [their] officials.”
I will also break in pieces with you the shepherd and his flock; and with you will I break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen; and with you will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
24 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.
And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, says the LORD.
25 [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.
Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, says the LORD, which destroys all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon you, and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.
26 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].”
And they shall not take of you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be desolate for ever, says the LORD.
27 [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.
Set all of you up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars.
28 Prepare the [armies of other nations], armies that will be led by the kings of Media [and Persia], their governors and [their] officials.
Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
29 [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].
And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 [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].
The mighty men of Babylon have ceased to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might has failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwelling places; her bars are broken.
31 Messengers will go quickly, one after another, to tell the king that his city has been captured.
One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at every quarter,
32 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.
And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
33 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].”
For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
34 [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].
Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a dragon, he has filled his belly with my delicates, he has cast me out.
35 [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!”
The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36 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.
Therefore thus says the LORD; Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
37 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.
And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
38 The people of Babylon will [all] roar like young lions; they will growl like baby lions.
They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.
39 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!
In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the LORD.
40 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].
I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
41 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.
How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
42 The [enemies of Babylon] will cover the city [like] huge waves of the sea [DOU].
The sea has come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
43 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.
Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwells, neither does any son of man pass thereby.
44 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.”
And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45 [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]!
My people, go all of you out of the midst of her, and deliver all of you every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
46 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.
And lest your heart faint, and all of you fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
47 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.
Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon 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 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.
Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, says the LORD.
49 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.
As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
50 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!”
All of you that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD far off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51 [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)].”
We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame has covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.
52 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.
Wherefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53 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.”
Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, says the LORD.
54 Listen to [the people of] Babylon crying [for help]! And listen to the sounds of things being destroyed all over Babylonia!
A sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
55 Yahweh will be destroying Babylon. He will cause the loud noises in the city to cease.
Because the LORD has spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
56 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.
Because the spoiler has come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.
57 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]!”
And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
58 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.”
Thus says the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
59 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.
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. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll a list of all the disasters that he had written about, disasters that would soon occur in Babylon.
So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
61 He said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, read [aloud] everything that I have written [on this scroll].
And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, and shall see, and shall read all these words;
62 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.’
Then shall you say, O LORD, you have spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
63 [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].
And it shall be, when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:
64 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.
And you shall say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
