Jeremiah 51
1 The LORD says: “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.
The Lord has said: See, I will make a wind of destruction come up against Babylon and against those who are living in Chaldaea;
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.
And I will send men to Babylon to make her clean and get her land cleared: for in the day of trouble they will put up their tents against her on every side.
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!
Against her the bow of the archer is bent, and he puts on his coat of metal: have no mercy on her young men, give all her army up to the curse.
4 They will fall down slain in the land of the Kasdim, and thrust through in her streets.
And the dead will be stretched out in the land of the Chaldaeans, and the wounded in her streets.
5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, by the LORD of Hosts; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
For Israel has not been given up, or Judah, by his God, by the Lord of armies; for their land is full of sin against the Holy One of Israel.
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.
Go in flight out of Babylon, so that every man may keep his life; do not be cut off in her evil-doing: for it is the time of the Lord's punishment; he will give her her reward.
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.
Babylon has been a gold cup in the hand of the Lord, which has made all the earth overcome with wine: the nations have taken of her wine, and for this cause the nations have gone off their heads.
8 Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed! Wail for her! Take balm for her pain. Perhaps she may be healed.
Sudden is the downfall of Babylon and her destruction: make cries of grief for her; take sweet oil for her pain, if it is possible for her to be made well.
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.
We would have made Babylon well, but she is not made well: give her up, and let us go everyone to his country: for her punishment is stretching up to heaven, and lifted up even to the skies.
10 ‘The LORD has produced our righteousness. Come, and let’s declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.’
The Lord has made clear our righteousness: come, and let us give an account in Zion of the work of the Lord our God.
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.
Make bright the arrows; take up the body-covers: the Lord has been moving the spirit of the king of the Medes; because his design against Babylon is its destruction: for it is the punishment from the Lord, the payment for his Temple.
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.
Let the flag be lifted up against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, put the watchmen in their places, make ready a surprise attack: for it is the Lord's purpose, and he has done what he said about the people of Babylon.
13 You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness.
O you whose living-place is by the wide waters, whose stores are great, your end is come, your evil profit is ended.
14 The LORD of Hosts has sworn by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, and they will lift up a shout against you.’
The Lord of armies has taken an oath by himself, saying, Truly, I will make you full with men as with locusts, and their voices will be loud against you.
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.
He has made the earth by his power, he has made the world strong in its place by his wisdom, and by his wise design the heavens have been stretched out:
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.
At the sound of his voice there is a massing of the waters in the heavens, and he makes the mists go up from the ends of the earth; he makes the thunder-flames for the rain and sends out the wind from his store-houses.
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.
Then every man becomes like a beast without knowledge; every gold-worker is put to shame by the image he has made: for his metal image is deceit, and there is no breath in them.
18 They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation, they will perish.
They are nothing, a work of error: in the time of their punishment, destruction will overtake them.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he formed all things, including the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of Hosts is his name.
The heritage of Jacob is not like these; for the maker of all things is his heritage: the Lord of armies is his name.
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.
You are my fighting axe and my instrument of war: with you the nations will be broken; with you kingdoms will be broken;
21 With you I will break in pieces the horse and his rider.
With you the horse and the horseman will be broken; with you the war-carriage and he who goes in it will be broken;
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.
With you man and woman will be broken; with you the old man and the boy will be broken; with you the young man and the virgin will be broken;
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.
With you the keeper of sheep with his flock will be broken, and with you the farmer and his oxen will be broken, and with you captains and rulers will be broken.
24 “I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of the Kasdim for all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight,” says the LORD.
And I will give to Babylon, and to all the people of Chaldaea, their reward for all the evil they have done in Zion before your eyes, says 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.
See, I am against you, says the Lord, O mountain of destruction, causing the destruction of all the earth: and my hand will be stretched out on you, rolling you down from the rocks, and making you a burned mountain.
26 They won’t take a cornerstone from you, nor a stone for foundations; but you will be desolate forever,” says the LORD.
And they will not take from you a stone for the angle of a wall or the base of a building; but you will be a waste place for ever, says the Lord.
27 “Set up a standard in the land! Blow the shofar 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!
Let a flag be lifted up in the land, let the horn be sounded among the nations, make the nations ready against her; get the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz together against her, make ready a scribe against her; let the horses come up against her like massed locusts.
28 Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion!
Make the nations ready for war against her, the king of the Medes and his rulers and all his captains, and all the land under his rule.
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 the land is shaking and in pain: for the purposes of the Lord are fixed, to make the land of Babylon an unpeopled waste.
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.
Babylon's men of war have kept back from the fight, waiting in their strong places; their strength has given way, they have become like women: her houses have been put on fire, her locks are broken.
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.
One man, running, will give word to another, and one who goes with news will be handing it on to another, to give word to the king of Babylon that his town has been taken from every quarter:
32 So the passages are seized. They have burnt the reeds with fire. The men of war are frightened.”
And the ways across the river have been taken, and the water-holes ... burned with fire, and the men of war are in the grip of fear.
33 For the LORD of Hosts, 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.”
For these are the words of the Lord of armies, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a grain-floor when it is stamped down; before long, the time of her grain-cutting will come.
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.
Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, has made a meal of me, violently crushing me, he has made me a vessel with nothing in it, he has taken me in his mouth like a dragon, he has made his stomach full with my delicate flesh, crushing me with his teeth.
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 Kasdim!” will Jerusalem say.
May the violent things done to me, and my downfall, come on Babylon, the daughter of Zion will say; and, May my blood be on the people of Chaldaea, Jerusalem will say.
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.
For this reason the Lord has said: See, I will give support to your cause, and take payment for what you have undergone; I will make her sea dry, and her fountain without water.
37 Babylon will become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
And Babylon will become a mass of broken walls, a hole for jackals, a cause of wonder and surprise, without a living man in it.
38 They will roar together like young lions. They will growl as lions’ cubs.
They will be crying out together like lions, their voices will be like the voices of young lions.
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.
When they are heated, I will make a feast for them, and overcome them with wine, so that they may become unconscious, sleeping an eternal sleep without awaking, says the Lord.
40 “I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.
I will make them go down to death like lambs, like he-goats together.
41 “How Sheshach is taken! How the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become a desolation amongst the nations!
How is Babylon taken! and the praise of all the earth surprised! how has Babylon become a cause of wonder among the nations!
42 The sea has come up on Babylon. She is covered with the multitude of its waves.
The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered with the mass 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.
Her towns have become a waste, a dry and unwatered land, where no man has his living-place and no son of man goes by.
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.
And I will send punishment on Bel in Babylon, and take out of his mouth what went into it; no longer will the nations be flowing together to him: truly, the wall of Babylon will come down.
45 “My people, go away from the middle of her, and each of you save yourselves from the LORD’s fierce anger.
My people, go out from her, and let every man get away safe from the burning wrath of the Lord.
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.
So that your hearts may not become feeble and full of fear because of the news which will go about in the land; for a story will go about one year, and after that in another year another story, and violent acts 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.
For this cause, truly, the days are coming when I will send punishment on the images of Babylon, and all her land will be shamed, and her dead will be falling down in 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.
And the heaven and the earth and everything in them, will make a song of joy over Babylon: for those who make her waste will come 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.
As Babylon had the dead of Israel put to the sword, so in Babylon the dead of all the land will be stretched out.
50 You who have escaped the sword, go! Don’t stand still! Remember the LORD from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.”
You who have got away safe from the sword, go, waiting for nothing; have the Lord in memory when you are far away, and keep Jerusalem in 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.”
We are shamed because bitter words have come to our ears; our faces are covered with shame: for men from strange lands have come into the holy places 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.
For this reason, see, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will send punishment on her images; and through all her land the wounded will be crying out in pain.
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.
Even if Babylon was lifted up to heaven, even if she had the high places of her strength shut in with walls, still I would send against her those who will make her waste, says the Lord.
54 “The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Kasdim!
There is the sound of a cry from Babylon, and of a great destruction from the land of the Chaldaeans:
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.
For the Lord is making Babylon waste, and putting an end to the great voice coming out of her; and her waves are thundering like great waters, their voice is sounding loud:
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.
For the waster has come on her, even on Babylon, and her men of war are taken, their bows are broken: for the Lord is a rewarding God, and he will certainly give payment.
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 Hosts.
And I will make her chiefs and her wise men, her rulers and her captains and her men of war, overcome with wine; their sleep will be an eternal sleep without awaking, says the King; the Lord of armies is his name.
58 The LORD of Hosts 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.”
The Lord of armies has said: The wide walls of Babylon will be completely uncovered and her high doorways will be burned with fire; so peoples keep on working for nothing, and the weariness of nations comes to an end in the smoke.
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.
The order which Jeremiah the prophet gave to 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 rule. Now Seraiah was the chief controller of the house.
60 Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
And Jeremiah put in a book all the evil which was to come on Babylon.
61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words,
And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, see that you give them 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.’
And after reading them, say, O Lord, you have said about this place that it is to be cut off, so that no one will be living in it, not a man or a beast, but it will be unpeopled for ever.
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.
And it will be that, when you have come to an end of reading this book, you are to have a stone fixed to it, and have it dropped into 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.
And you are to say, So Babylon will go down, never to be lifted up again, because of the evil which I will send on her: and weariness will overcome them. So far, these are the words of Jeremiah.
