Jeremiah 51

1 The LORD says: “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.

THE WORD THAT CAME TO JEREMIAS for all the Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt, and for those settled in Magdolo and in Taphnas, and in the land of Pathura, saying,

2 I will send to Babylon strangers, who will winnow her. They will empty her land; for in the day of trouble they will be against her all around.

Thus has the Lord God of Israel said; You have seen all the evils which I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon the cities of Juda; and, behold, they are desolate without inhabitants,

3 Against him who bends, let the archer bend his bow, also against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail. Don’t spare her young men! Utterly destroy all her army!

because of their wickedness, which they have wrought to provoke me, [by] going to burn incense to other gods, whom you knew not.

4 They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets.

yet I sent to you my servants the prophets early in the morning, and I sent, saying, Do not you this abominable thing which I hate.

5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, by the LORD of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.

But they listened not to me, and inclined not their ear to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn incense to strange gods.

6 “Flee out of the middle of Babylon! Everyone save his own life! Don’t be cut off in her iniquity, for it is the time of the LORD’s vengeance. He will render to her a recompense.

So mine anger and my wrath dropped [upon them], and was kindled in the gates of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they became a desolation and a waste, as at this day.

7 Babylon has been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, who made all the earth drunk. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.

And now thus has the Lord Almighty said, Therefore do you commit [these] great evils against your souls? to cut off man and woman of you, infant and suckling from the midst of Juda, to the end that not one of you should be left;

8 Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed! Wail for her! Take balm for her pain. Perhaps she may be healed.

by provoking me with the works of your hands, to burn incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, into which you entered to dwell there, that you might be cut off, and that you might become a curse and a reproach amongst all the nations of the earth?

9 “We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let’s each go into his own country; for her judgement reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

Have you forgotten the sins of your fathers, and the sins of the kings of Juda, and the sins of your princes, and the sins of your wives, which they wrought in the land of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

10 ‘The LORD has produced our righteousness. Come, and let’s declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.’

And have not ceased even to this day, and they have not kept to my ordinances, which I set before their fathers.

11 “Make the arrows sharp! Hold the shields firmly! The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it; for it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.

Therefore thus says the Lord; Behold I do set my face against [you]

12 Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon! Make the watch strong! Set the watchmen, and prepare the ambushes; for the LORD has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

to destroy all the remnant that are in Egypt; and they shall fall by the sword, and by famine, and shall be consumed small and great: and they shall be for reproach, and for destruction, and for a curse.

13 You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness.

And I will visit them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have visited Jerusalem, with sword and with famine:

14 The LORD of Armies has sworn by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, and they will lift up a shout against you.’

and there shall not one be preserved of the remnant of Juda that sojourn in the land of Egypt, to return to the land of Juda, to which they hope in their hearts to return: they shall not return, but only they that escape.

15 “He has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom. By his understanding he has stretched out the heavens.

Then all the men that knew that their wives burnt incense, and all the women, a great multitude, and all the people that lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathura, answered Jeremias, saying,

16 When he utters his voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and brings the wind out of his treasuries.

[As for] the word which you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you.

17 “Every man has become stupid and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his image, for his molten images are falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

For we will surely perform every word that shall proceed out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour drink-offerings to her, as we and our fathers have done, and our kings and princes, in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem: and [so] we were filled with bread, and were well, and saw no evils.

18 They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation, they will perish.

But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, we have all been brought low, and have been consumed by sword and by famine.

19 The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he formed all things, including the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of Armies is his name.

And whereas we burnt incense to the queen of heaven, and poured drink-offerings to her, did we make cakes to her, and pour drink-offerings to her, without our husbands?

20 “You are my battle axe and weapons of war. With you I will break the nations into pieces. With you I will destroy kingdoms.

Then Jeremias answered all the people, the mighty men, and the women, and all the people that returned him [these] words for answer, saying,

21 With you I will break in pieces the horse and his rider.

Did not the Lord remember the incense which you burnt in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you, and your fathers, and your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land? and came it not into his heart?

22 With you I will break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein. With you I will break in pieces man and woman. With you I will break in pieces the old man and the youth. With you I will break in pieces the young man and the virgin.

And the Lord could no longer bear [you], because of the wickedness of your doings, and because of your abominations which you wrought; and so your land became a desolation and a waste, and a curse, as at this day;

23 With you I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock. With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke. With you I will break in pieces governors and deputies.

because of your burning incense, and [because] of the things wherein you sinned against the Lord: and you have not listened to the voice of the Lord, and have not walked in his ordinances, and in his law, and in his testimonies; and so these evils have come upon you.

24 “I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight,” says the LORD.

And Jeremias said to the people, and to the women, Hear you the word of the Lord.

25 “Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain,” says the LORD, “which destroys all the earth. I will stretch out my hand on you, roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.

Thus has the Lord God of Israel said; You women have spoken with your mouth, and you fulfilled [it] with your hands, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour drink-offerings to her: full well did you keep to your vows, and you have indeed performed [them].

26 They won’t take a cornerstone from you, nor a stone for foundations; but you will be desolate forever,” says the LORD.

Therefore hear you the word of the Lord, all Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, my name shall no longer be in the mouth of every Jew to say, The Lord lives, in all the land of Egypt.

27 “Set up a standard in the land! Blow the trumpet amongst the nations! Prepare the nations against her! Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz! Appoint a marshal against her! Cause the horses to come up as the swarming locusts!

For I have watched over them, to hurt them, and not to do them good: and all the Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt shall perish by sword and by famine, until they are utterly consumed.

28 Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion!

And they that escape the sword shall return to the land of Juda few in number, and the remnant of Juda, who have continued in the land [of] Egypt to dwell there, shall know whose word shall stand.

29 The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of the LORD against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.

And this [shall be] a sign to you, that I will visit you for evil.

30 The mighty men of Babylon have stopped fighting, they remain in their strongholds. Their might has failed. They have become as women. Her dwelling places are set on fire. Her bars are broken.

Thus said the Lord; Behold, I [will] give Uaphres king of Egypt into the hands of his enemy, and into the hands of one that seeks his life; as I gave Sedekias king of Juda into the hands of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, his enemy, and who sought his life.

31 One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter.

THE WORD WHICH JEREMIAS THE PROPHET spoke to Baruch son of Nerias, when he wrote these words in the book from the mouth of Jeremias, in the fourth year of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda.

32 So the passages are seized. They have burnt the reeds with fire. The men of war are frightened.”

Thus has the Lord said to you, O Baruch.

33 For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden. Yet a little while, and the time of harvest comes for her.”

Whereas you have said, Alas! alas! for the Lord has laid a grievous trouble upon me; I lay down in groaning, I found no rest;

34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has, like a monster, swallowed me up. He has filled his mouth with my delicacies. He has cast me out.

say you to him, Thus says the Lord; Behold, I pull down those whom I have built up, and I pluck up those whom I have planted.

35 May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon!” the inhabitant of Zion will say; and, “May my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea!” will Jerusalem say.

And will you seek great things for yourself? seek [them] not: for, behold, I bring evil upon all flesh, says the Lord: but I will give [to you] your life for a spoil in every place whither you shall go.

36 Therefore the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.

37 Babylon will become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.

38 They will roar together like young lions. They will growl as lions’ cubs.

39 When they are inflamed, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunk, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up,” says the LORD.

40 “I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.

41 “How Sheshach is taken! How the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become a desolation amongst the nations!

42 The sea has come up on Babylon. She is covered with the multitude of its waves.

43 Her cities have become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells. No son of man passes by it.

44 I will execute judgement on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up. The nations will not flow any more to him. Yes, the wall of Babylon will fall.

45 “My people, go away from the middle of her, and each of you save yourselves from the LORD’s fierce anger.

46 Don’t let your heart faint. Don’t fear for the news that will be heard in the land. For news will come one year, and after that in another year news will come, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

47 Therefore behold, the days come that I will execute judgement on the engraved images of Babylon; and her whole land will be confounded. All her slain will fall in the middle of her.

48 Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, will sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers will come to her from the north,” says the LORD.

49 “As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so the slain of all the land will fall at Babylon.

50 You who have escaped the sword, go! Don’t stand still! Remember the LORD from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.”

51 “We are confounded because we have heard reproach. Confusion has covered our faces, for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’s house.”

52 “Therefore behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will execute judgement on her engraved images; and through all her land the wounded will groan.

53 Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet destroyers will come to her from me,” says the LORD.

54 “The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!

55 For the LORD lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice! Their waves roar like many waters. The noise of their voice is uttered.

56 For the destroyer has come on her, even on Babylon. Her mighty men are taken. Their bows are broken in pieces, for the LORD is a God of retribution. He will surely repay.

57 I will make her princes, her wise men, her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men drunk. They will sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up,” says the King, whose name is the LORD of Armies.

58 The LORD of Armies says: “The wide walls of Babylon will be utterly overthrown. Her high gates will be burnt with fire. The peoples will labour for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they will be weary.”

59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief quartermaster.

60 Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon.

61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words,

62 and say, ‘LORD, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that no one will dwell in it, neither man nor animal, but that it will be desolate forever.’

63 It will be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the middle of the Euphrates.

64 Then you shall say, ‘Thus will Babylon sink, and will not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they will be weary.’” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.