Jeremiah 51
1 Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am stirring up against Babylon, And the inhabitants of Leb — My withstanders, A destroying wind,
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.
2 And I have sent to Babylon fanners, And they have fanned it, and they empty its land, For they have been against it, Round about — in the day of evil.
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.
3 Let not the treader tread his bow, Nor lift himself up in his coat of mail, Nor have ye pity on her young men, Devote ye to destruction all her host.
[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.’
4 And fallen have the wounded in the land of the Chaldeans, And the pierced-through in her streets.
Their soldiers will fall dead in Babylonia; [they will die after being] wounded in the streets.
5 For, not forsaken is Israel and Judah, By its God — by Jehovah of Hosts, For their land hath been full of guilt, Against the Holy One of Israel.
[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.
6 Flee ye from the midst of Babylon, And deliver ye each his soul, Be not cut off in its iniquity, For a time of vengeance it [is] to Jehovah, Recompence He is rendering to her.
[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.
7 A golden cup [is] Babylon in the hand of Jehovah, Making drunk all the earth, Of its wine drunk have nations, Therefore boast themselves do nations.
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.
8 Suddenly hath Babylon fallen, Yea, it is broken, howl ye for it, Take balm for her pain, if so be it may be healed.
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.”
9 We healed Babylon, and she was not healed, Forsake her, and we go, each to his land, For come unto the heavens hath its judgment, And it hath been lifted up unto the clouds.
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].
10 Jehovah hath brought forth our righteousnesses, Come, and we recount in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.
Yahweh has (vindicated us/shown that we were right); [so] let’s proclaim in Jerusalem everything that Yahweh our God has done [for us].
11 Cleanse ye the arrows, fill the shields, Stirred up hath Jehovah the spirit of the kings of Madia, For against Babylon His device [is] to destroy it, For the vengeance of Jehovah it [is], The vengeance of His temple.
[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.
12 Unto the walls of Babylon lift up an ensign, Strengthen the watch, Establish the watchers, prepare the ambush, For Jehovah hath both devised and done that which He spake, Concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
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.
13 O dweller on many waters, abundant in treasures, Come in hath thine end, the measure of thy dishonest gain.
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.
14 Sworn hath Jehovah of Hosts by Himself, That, Surely I have filled thee [with] men as the cankerworm, And they have cried against thee — shouting.
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].”
15 The maker of earth by His power, The establisher of the world by His wisdom, Who by His understanding stretched out the heavens,
Yahweh created the earth by his power; he established it by his wisdom, and he stretched out the sky by his understanding.
16 At the voice He giveth forth, A multitude of waters [are] in the heavens, And He causeth vapours to come up from the end of the earth, Lightnings for rain He hath made, And He bringeth out wind from His treasures.
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.
17 Brutish hath been every man by knowledge, Put to shame hath been every refiner by a graven image, For false [is] his molten image, And there is no breath in them.
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.
18 Vanity [are] they — work of errors, In the time of their inspection they perish.
Idols are worthless; they deserve to be ridiculed; there will be a time when they will [all] be destroyed.
19 Not like these [is] the portion of Jacob, For He [is] former of all things, And [Israel is] the rod of His inheritance, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name.
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’.
20 An axe [art] thou to me — weapons of war, And I have broken in pieces by thee nations, And I have destroyed by thee kingdoms,
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.
21 And I have broken in pieces by thee horse and its rider, And I have broken in pieces by thee chariot and its charioteer,
With your [power] I have shattered armies [of other nations]: I destroyed [their] horses and their riders, [their] chariots and [their] chariot-drivers.
22 And I have broken in pieces by thee man and woman, And I have broken in pieces by thee old and young, And I have broken in pieces by thee young man and virgin,
With your [power] I shattered men and women, old people and children, young men and young women.
23 And I have broken in pieces by thee shepherd and his drove, And I have broken in pieces by thee husbandman and his team, And I have broken in pieces by thee governors and prefects.
With your [power] I shattered shepherds and their flocks [of sheep], farmers and their oxen, governors and [their] officials.”
24 And I have recompensed to Babylon, And to all inhabitants of Chaldea, All the evil that they have done in Zion, Before your eyes — an affirmation of Jehovah.
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.
25 Lo, I [am] against thee, O destroying mount, An affirmation of Jehovah, That is destroying all the earth, And I have stretched out My hand against thee, And I have rolled thee from the rocks, And given thee for a burnt mountain.
[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.
26 And they take not out of thee a stone for a corner, And a stone for foundations, For desolations age-during art thou, An affirmation of Jehovah.
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].”
27 Lift ye up an ensign in the land, Blow a trumpet among nations, Sanctify against it nations, Summon against it the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz, Appoint against it an infant head, Cause the horse to ascend as the rough cankerworm.
[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.
28 Sanctify against it the nations with the kings of Media, Its governors and all its prefects, And all the land of its dominion.
Prepare the [armies of other nations], armies that will be led by the kings of Media [and Persia], their governors and [their] officials.
29 And shake doth the land, and it is pained, For stood against Babylon have the purposes of Jehovah, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.
[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].
30 Ceased have the mighty of Babylon to fight, They have remained in strongholds, Failed hath their might, they have become woman, They have burnt her tabernacles, Broken have been her bars.
[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].
31 Runner to meet runner doth run, And announcer to meet announcer, To announce to the king of Babylon, For, captured hath been his city — at the extremity.
Messengers will go quickly, one after another, to tell the king that his city has been captured.
32 And the passages have been captured, And the reeds they have burnt with fire, And the men of war have been troubled.
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.
33 For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, The daughter of Babylon [is] as a threshing-floor, The time of her threshing — yet a little, And come hath the time of her harvest.
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].”
34 Devoured us, crushed us, hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, He hath set us [as] an empty vessel, He hath swallowed us as a dragon, He hath filled his belly with my dainties, He hath driven us away.
[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].
35 My wrong, and [that of] my flesh [is] on Babylon, Say doth the inhabitant of Zion, And my blood [is] on the inhabitants of Chaldea, Say doth Jerusalem.
[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!”
36 Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am pleading thy cause, And I have avenged thy vengeance, And dried up its sea, and made its fountains dry.
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.
37 And Babylon hath been for heaps, A habitation of dragons, An astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
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.
38 Together as young lions they roar, They have shaken themselves as lions' whelps.
The people of Babylon will [all] roar like young lions; they will growl like baby lions.
39 In their heat I make their banquets, And I have caused them to drink, so that they exult, And have slept a sleep age-during, And awake not — an affirmation of Jehovah.
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!
40 I cause them to go down as lambs to slaughter, As rams with he-goats.
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].
41 How hath Sheshach been captured, Yea, caught is the praise of the whole earth, How hath Babylon been for an astonishment among nations.
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.
42 Come up against Babylon hath the sea, With a multitude of its billows it hath been covered.
The [enemies of Babylon] will cover the city [like] huge waves of the sea [DOU].
43 Its cities have been for a desolation, A dry land, and a wilderness, A land — none doth dwell in them, Nor pass over into them doth a son of man.
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.
44 And I have seen after Bel in Babylon, And I have brought forth that which he swallowed — from his mouth, And flow no more unto him do nations, Also the wall of Babylon hath fallen.
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.”
45 Go forth from its midst, O My people, And deliver ye, each his soul, Because of the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah,
[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]!
46 And lest your heart be tender, And ye be afraid of the report that is heard in the land, And come in a year hath the report, And after it in a year the report, And violence [is] in the land, ruler against ruler;
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.
47 Therefore, lo, days are coming, And I have seen after the graven images of Babylon. And all its land is ashamed, And all its pierced ones do fall in its midst.
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.
48 And cried aloud against Babylon Have heavens and earth, and all that [is] in them, For, from the north come to it do the spoilers, An affirmation of Jehovah.
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.
49 Even Babylon [is] to fall, ye pierced of Israel, Even they of Babylon have fallen, Ye pierced of all the earth.
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.
50 Ye escaped of the sword, go on, stand not, Remember ye from afar Jehovah, And let Jerusalem come up on your heart.
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!”
51 We have been ashamed, for we heard reproach, Covered hath shame our faces, For come in have strangers, against the sanctuaries of the house of Jehovah.
[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)].”
52 Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have seen after its graven images, And in all its land groan doth the wounded.
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.
53 Because Babylon goeth up to the heavens, And because it fenceth the high place of its strength, From Me come into it do spoilers, An affirmation of Jehovah.
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.”
54 A voice of a cry [is] from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldean.
Listen to [the people of] Babylon crying [for help]! And listen to the sounds of things being destroyed all over Babylonia!
55 For Jehovah is spoiling Babylon, And hath destroyed out of it a great voice, And sounded have its billows as many waters, Given forth a noise hath their voice.
Yahweh will be destroying Babylon. He will cause the loud noises in the city to cease.
56 For come in against it — against Babylon — hath a spoiler, And captured have been its mighty ones, Broken have been their bows, For the God of recompences — Jehovah — doth certainly repay.
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.
57 And I have caused its princes to drink, And its wise men, its governors, And its prefects, and its mighty ones, And they have slept a sleep age-during, And they awake not — an affirmation of the king, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name.
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]!”
58 Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, the wall of Babylon — The broad one — is utterly made bare, And her high gates with fire are burnt, And peoples labour in vain, And nations in fire, and have been weary!
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.”
59 The word that Jeremiah the prophet hath commanded Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, in his going with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign — and Seraiah [is] a quiet prince;
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.
60 and Jeremiah writeth all the evil that cometh unto Babylon on one book — all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
Jeremiah had written on a scroll a list of all the disasters that he had written about, disasters that would soon occur in Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah saith unto Seraiah, 'When thou dost enter Babylon, then thou hast seen, and hast read all these words,
He said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, read [aloud] everything that I have written [on this scroll].
62 and hast said: Jehovah, Thou, Thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that there is none dwelling in it, from man even unto cattle, for it is a desolation age-during.
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.’
63 And it hath come to pass, when thou dost finish reading this book, thou dost bind to it a stone, and hast cast it into the midst of Phrat,
[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].
64 and said, Thus sink doth Babylon, and it doth not arise, because of the evil that I am bringing in against it, and they have been weary.' Hitherto [are] words of Jeremiah.
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.
