Jeremiah 50
1 This is the word that Yahweh declared about Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet,
The word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet:
2 “Report to the nations and cause them to listen. Lift up a signal and cause them to listen. Do not conceal it. Say, 'Babylon is taken. Bel is made ashamed. Marduk is dismayed. Its idols are put to shame; its images are dismayed.'
'Declare ye among nations, and sound, And lift up an ensign, sound, do not hide, Say ye: Captured hath been Babylon, Put to shame hath been Bel, Broken hath been Merodach, Put to shame have been her grievous things, Broken have been her idols.
3 A nation from the north will arise against it, and make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee away.
For come up against her hath a nation from the north, It maketh her land become a desolation, And there is not an inhabitant in it. From man even unto beast, They have moved, they have gone.
4 In those days and at that time—this is Yahweh's declaration—the people of Israel and the people of Judah will come together to go with weeping and seek Yahweh their God.
In those days, and at that time, An affirmation of Jehovah, Come in do sons of Israel, They and sons of Judah together, Going on and weeping they go, And Jehovah their God they seek.
5 They will ask the way to Zion and will set off toward it, saying, We will go and join ourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.”
[To] Zion they ask the way, Thitherward [are] their faces: Come in, and we are joined unto Jehovah, A covenant age-during — not forgotten.
6 My people have been a lost flock. Their shepherds have led them astray in the mountains; they have turned them around from hill to hill. They went, they forgot the place where they had lived.
A perishing flock hath My people been, Their shepherds have caused them to err, [To] the mountains causing them to go back, From mountain unto hill they have gone, They have forgotten their crouching-place.
7 Everyone who went out to them devoured them. Their adversaries said, 'We are not guilty, because they sinned against Yahweh, their true home—Yahweh, the hope of their ancestors.'
All finding them have devoured them, And their adversaries have said: We are not guilty, Because that they sinned against Jehovah, The habitation of righteousness, And the hope of their fathers — Jehovah.
8 Leave from the midst of Babylon; go out from the land of the Chaldeans; be like male goats that leave before the rest of the flock does.
Move ye from the midst of Babylon, And from the land of the Chaldeans go out. And be as he-goats before a flock.
9 For see, I am about to set in motion and raise up a group of great nations from the north against Babylon. They will arrange themselves against her. Babylon will be captured from there. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed.
For, lo, I am stirring up, And am causing to come up against Babylon, An assembly of great nations from a land of the north, And they have set in array against her, From thence she is captured, Its arrow — as a skilful hero — returneth not empty,
10 Chaldea will become plunder. All those who plunder it will be satisfied—this is Yahweh's declaration.
And Chaldea hath been for a spoil, All her spoilers are satisfied, An affirmation of Jehovah.
11 You rejoice, you celebrate the plundering of my inheritance; you jump around like a calf stamping in its pasture; you neigh like a powerful horse.
Because thou rejoicest, because thou exultest, O spoilers of Mine inheritance, Because thou increasest as a heifer [at] the tender grass, And dost cry aloud as bulls,
12 So your mother will be greatly ashamed; the one who bore you will be embarrassed. See, she will be the least of nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
Ashamed hath been your mother greatly, Confounded hath she been that bare you, Lo, the hindermost of nations [is] a wilderness, A dry land, and a desert.
13 Because of Yahweh's anger, Babylon will not be inhabited, but will be a complete devastation. Everyone who passes by will shudder because of Babylon and will hiss because all of its wounds.
Because of the wrath of Jehovah it is not inhabited, And it hath been a desolation — all of it. Every passer by at Babylon is astonished, And doth hiss because of all her plagues.
14 Arrange yourselves against Babylon all around her. Everyone who bends a bow must shoot at her. Do not keep back any of your arrows, for she has sinned against Yahweh.
Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, All ye treading a bow, Shoot at her, have no pity on the arrow, For against Jehovah she hath sinned.
15 Raise a shout against her all around! She has surrendered; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down, for this is Yahweh's vengeance. Take vengeance on her! Do to her just as she has done!
Shout against her round about, She hath given forth her hand, Fallen have her foundations, Thrown down have been her walls, For it [is] the vengeance of Jehovah, Be avenged of her, as she did — do ye to her.
16 Destroy both the farmer who sows seed and the one who uses a sickle at the time of harvest in Babylon. Let each person turn back to his own people from the oppressor's sword; let them flee to their own land.
Cut off the sower from Babylon, And him handling the sickle in the time of harvest, Because of the oppressing sword, Each unto his people — they turn, And each to his land — they flee.
17 Israel is a sheep scattered and driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him; then after this, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon broke his bones.
A scattered sheep is Israel, lions have driven away, At first, devour him did the king of Asshur, And now, at last, broken his bone Hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.
18 Therefore Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says this: See, I am about to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria.
Therefore thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am seeing after the king of Babylon, And after his land, As I have seen after the king of Asshur;
19 I will restore Israel to his homeland; he will graze on Carmel and Bashan. Then he will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.
And I have brought back Israel unto his habitation, And he hath fed on Carmel, and on Bashan. And in mount Ephraim, and on Gilead is his soul satisfied.
20 In those days and at that time, says Yahweh, iniquity will be looked for in Israel, but none will be found. I will inquire about the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant that I spare.”
In those days, and at that time, An affirmation of Jehovah, Sought is the iniquity of Israel, and it is not, And the sin of Judah, and it is not found, For I am propitious to those whom I leave!
21 “Arise against the land of Merathaim, against it and the ones inhabiting Pekod. Put them to the sword and set them apart for destruction—this is Yahweh's declaration—do everything that I am commanding you.
Against the land of Merathaim: Go up against it, and unto the inhabitants of Pekod, Waste and devote their posterity, An affirmation of Jehovah, And do according to all that I have commanded thee.
22 The sounds of battle and enormous destruction are in the land.
A noise of battle [is] in the land, and of great destruction.
23 How the hammer of all the lands has been cut apart and destroyed. How Babylon has become a destroyed place among the nations.
How hath it been cut and broken, The hammer of the whole earth! How hath Babylon been for a desolation among nations!
24 I have set a trap for you and you were taken, Babylon, and you did not know it! You were found and captured, because you opposed Yahweh.
I have laid a snare for thee, And also — thou art captured, O Babylon, And thou — thou hast known, Thou hast been found, and also art caught, For against Jehovah thou hast stirred thyself up.
25 Yahweh has opened his armory and is bringing out the weapons for carrying out his anger. There is work for the Lord Yahweh of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
Jehovah hath opened His treasury, And He bringeth out the weapons of His indignation, For a work [is] to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, In the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Attack her from far away. Open her granaries and pile her up like heaps of grain. Set her apart for destruction. Leave no remnant of her.
Come ye in to her from the extremity, Open ye her storehouses, Raise her up as heaps, and devote her, Let her have no remnant.
27 Kill all her bulls. Send them down to the place of slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time for their punishment.
Slay all her kine, they go down to slaughter, Woe [is] on them, for come hath their day, The time of their inspection.
28 There is the sound of those fleeing, of those who are survivors, from the land of Babylon. These will report the vengeance of Yahweh our God for Zion, and vengeance for his temple.”
A voice of fugitives and escaped ones [Is] from the land of Babylon, To declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, The vengeance of His temple.
29 “Summon the archers against Babylon—all those who bend their bows. Camp against her, and let no one escape. Repay her for what she has done. Do to her by the measure she has used. For she had defied Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.
Summon unto Babylon archers, all treading the bow, Encamp against her round about, Let [her] have no escape; Recompense to her according to her work, According to all that she did — do to her, For unto Jehovah she hath been proud, Unto the Holy One of Israel.
30 So her young men will fall in the city squares, and all her fighting men will be destroyed on that day —this is Yahweh's declaration.”
Therefore fall do her young men in her broad places, And all her men of war are cut off in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah.
31 “See, I am against you, proud one—this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts— for your day has come, proud one, the time when I will punish you.
Lo, I [am] against thee, O pride, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, For thy day hath come, the time of thy inspection.
32 So the proud ones will stumble and fall. No one will raise them up. I will light a fire in their cities; it will devour everything around him.
And stumbled hath pride, And he hath fallen, and hath no raiser up, And I have kindled a fire in his cities, And it hath devoured all round about him.
33 Yahweh of hosts says this: The people of Israel are oppressed, together with the people of Judah. All the ones who captured them still hold them; they refuse to let them go.
Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Oppressed are the sons of Israel, And the sons of Judah together, And all their captors have kept hold on them, They have refused to send them away.
34 The one who rescues them is strong. Yahweh of hosts is his name. He will truly plead their case, in order to bring rest to the land, and to bring strife to the ones inhabiting Babylon.
Their Redeemer [is] strong, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name, He doth thoroughly plead their cause, So as to cause the land to rest, And He hath given trouble to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword is against the Chaldeans—this is Yahweh's declaration— and against the inhabitants of Babylon, her leaders, and her wise men.
A sword [is] for the Chaldeans, An affirmation of Jehovah, And it [is] on the inhabitants of Babylon, And on her heads, and on her wise men;
36 A sword against those who say empty words! They will become fools! A sword against her soldiers! They will be filled with terror.
A sword [is] on the princes, And they have become foolish; A sword [is] on her mighty ones, And they have been broken down;
37 A sword is coming against their horses, their chariots and all of the people who are in the midst of Babylon, so they will become like women. A sword is coming against her storerooms, and they will be plundered.
A sword [is] on his horses and on his chariot, And on all the rabble who [are] in her midst, And they have become women; A sword [is] on her treasuries, And they have been spoiled;
38 A drought is coming on her waters, so they will become dry. For she is a land of worthless idols, and they act like people made insane by their dreadful idols.
A sword [is] on her waters, and they have been dried up, For it [is] a land of graven images, And in idols they do boast themselves.
39 So desert beasts with the jackals will inhabit there, and the young of ostriches will live in her. For all time, she will no longer be inhabited. From generation to generation, she will not be lived in.
Therefore dwell do Ziim with Iim, Yea, dwelt in her have daughters of the ostrich, And it is not inhabited any more for ever, Nor dwelt in unto all generations.
40 Just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors—this is Yahweh's declaration— no one will live there; no person will stay in her.”
As overthrown by God with Sodom, And with Gomorrah, and with its neighbours, An affirmation of Jehovah, none doth dwell there, Nor sojourn in her doth a son of man.
41 “See, a people is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the farthest parts of the earth.
Lo, a people hath come from the north, Even a great nation, And many kings are stirred up from the sides of the earth.
42 They will pick up bows and spears. They are cruel and have no compassion. Their sound is like the sea roar, and they are riding on horses, set out in order as men for battle, against you, daughter of Babylon.
Bow and halbert they seize, Cruel [are] they, and they have no mercy, Their voice as a sea soundeth, and on horses they ride, Set in array as a man for battle, Against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon heard the reports about them and his hands fell limp in distress. Anguish seized him like a woman giving birth.
Heard hath the king of Babylon their report, And feeble have been his hands, Distress hath seized him; pain as a travailing woman.
44 Behold! He goes up like a lion from the heights of the Jordan to the enduring grazing place For I will quickly cause them to run from it, and I will put someone who will be chosen in charge of it. For who is like me, and who will summon me? What shepherd is able to resist me?
Lo, as a lion he cometh up, Because of the rising of the Jordan, Unto the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause them to run from off her. And who is chosen? on her I lay a charge, For who [is] like Me? And who doth convene Me? And who [is] this shepherd who standeth before Me?
45 So listen to the plans that Yahweh has decided against Babylon, the plans that he has planned against the land of the Chaldeans. They will certainly be dragged away, even the smallest flock. Their pasturelands will be turned into ruined places.
Therefore, hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, That He counselled concerning Babylon, And His devices that He hath devised Concerning the land of the Chaldeans; Drag them out do not little ones of the flock, Doth He not make desolate over them the habitation?
46 At the sound of conquered Babylon the earth shakes, and their shout of distress is heard among the nations.”
From the voice: Captured was Babylon, Hath the earth been shaken, And a cry among nations hath been heard!
