Jeremiah 50:1-51:64 The word that LORD spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.

ACV⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ The word that LORD spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet. ² Declare ye among the nations and publish, and set up a standard, publish, and conceal not. Say, Babylon is taken. Bel is put to shame. Merodach is dismayed. Her images are put to shame; her idols are dismayed. ³ For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein. They are fled. They are gone, both man and beast. ⁴ In those days, and in that time, says LORD, the sons of Israel shall come, they and the sons of Judah together. They shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek LORD their God. ⁵ They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces toward it, saying, Come ye, and join yourselves to LORD in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten. ⁶ My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting-place. ⁷ All who found them have devoured them, and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against LORD, the habitation of righteousness, even LORD, the hope of their fathers. ⁸ Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks. ⁹ For, lo, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country, and they shall set themselves in array against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain. ¹⁰ And Chaldea shall be a prey. All who prey upon her shall be satisfied, says LORD. ¹¹ Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye who plunder my heritage, because ye are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses, ¹² your mother shall be utterly put to shame. She who bore you shall be confounded. Behold, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. ¹³ Because of the wrath of LORD she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. ¹⁴ Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all ye who bend the bow. Shoot at her; spare no arrows. For she has sinned against LORD. ¹⁵ Shout against her round about. She has submitted herself. Her bulwarks are fallen. Her walls are thrown down. For it is the vengeance of LORD. Take vengeance upon her. As she has done, do to her. ¹⁶ Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn each one to his people, and they shall flee each one to his own land. ¹⁷ Israel is a hunted sheep, the lions have driven him away. First, the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones. ¹⁸ Therefore thus says LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ And I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. ²⁰ In those days, and in that time, says LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found. For I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant. ²¹ Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and utterly destroy after them, says LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. ²² A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. ²³ How the hammer of the whole earth is cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! ²⁴ I have laid a snare for thee, and thou are also taken, O Babylon, and thou were not aware. Thou are found, and also caught, because thou have striven against LORD. ²⁵ LORD has opened his armory, and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation, for the Lord, LORD of hosts, has a work in the land of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ Come against her from the utmost border. Open her store-houses. Cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left. ²⁷ Kill all her bullocks. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation. ²⁸ The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple. ²⁹ Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp against her round about; let none thereof escape. Recompense her according to her work. According to all that she has done, do to her. For she has been proud against LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰ Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says LORD. ³¹ Behold, I am against thee, O thou proud one, says the Lord, LORD of hosts, for thy day has come, the time that I will visit thee. ³² And the proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are round about him. ³³ Thus says LORD of hosts: The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah are oppressed together, and all who took them captive hold them firm; they refuse to let them go. ³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong. LORD of hosts is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. ³⁵ A sword is upon the Chaldeans, says LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her rulers, and upon her wise men. ³⁶ A sword is upon the boasters, and they shall become fools. A sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed. ³⁷ A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mixed people who are in the midst of her, and they shall become as women. A sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed. ³⁸ A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and they are mad over idols. ³⁹ Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein. And it shall no more be inhabited forever, nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. ⁴⁰ As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says LORD, so shall no man dwell there, nor shall any son of man sojourn in it. ⁴¹ Behold, a people comes from the north, and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the outermost parts of the earth. ⁴² They lay hold on bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, each one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. ⁴³ The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail. ⁴⁴ Behold, the enemy shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation. For I will suddenly make them run away from it, and he who is chosen, him I will appoint over it. For who is like me, and who will appoint a time for me, and who is the shepherd who can stand before me? ⁴⁵ Therefore hear ye the counsel of LORD, that he has taken against Babylon, and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock. Surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them. ⁴⁶ At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations. ⁵¹ ¹ Thus says LORD: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Leb-kamai, a destroying wind. ² And I will send strangers to Babylon, who shall winnow her, and they shall empty her land. For in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. ³ Against him who bends let the archer bend his bow, and against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail. And spare ye not her young men. Destroy ye utterly all her host. ⁴ And they shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets. ⁵ For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of LORD of hosts, though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. ⁶ Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life. Be not cut off in her iniquity, for it is the time of LORD's vengeance; he will render to her a recompense. ⁷ Babylon has been a golden cup in LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken. The nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations are mad. ⁸ Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed. Wail for her. Take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. ⁹ We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go each one into his own country. For her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. ¹⁰ LORD has brought forth our righteousness. Come, and let us declare in Zion the work of LORD our God. ¹¹ Make sharp the arrows. Hold firm the shields. 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 LORD, the vengeance of his temple. ¹² Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon. Make the watch strong. Set the watchmen. Prepare the ambushes. For LORD has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. ¹³ O thou who dwell upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end has come, the measure of thy covetousness. ¹⁴ LORD of hosts has sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men as with the canker-worm, and they shall lift up a shout against thee. ¹⁵ He has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he has stretched out the heavens. ¹⁶ When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries. ¹⁷ Every man has become brutish, without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his image, for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. ¹⁸ They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation they shall perish. ¹⁹ The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the former of all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. LORD of hosts is his name. ²⁰ Thou are my battle-axe and weapons of war. And with thee I will break in pieces the nations, and with thee I will destroy kingdoms, ²¹ and with thee I will break in pieces the horse and his rider, ²² and with thee I will break in pieces the chariot and him who rides in it, and with thee I will break in pieces man and woman, and with thee I will break in pieces the old man and the youth, and with thee I will break in pieces the young man and the virgin, ²³ and with thee I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock, and with thee I will break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen, and with thee I will break in pieces governors and deputies. ²⁴ And 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 LORD. ²⁵ Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, says LORD, which destroys all the earth. And I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. ²⁶ And they shall not take from thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations, but thou shall be desolate forever, says LORD. ²⁷ Set ye 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 Ashkenaz. Appoint a marshal against her. Cause the horses to come up as the rough canker-worm. ²⁸ Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, the governors of it, and all the deputies of it, and all the land of their dominion. ²⁹ And the land trembles and is in pain, for the purposes of LORD against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant. ³⁰ The mighty men of Babylon have ceased 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. ³¹ One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to met another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter. ³² And the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are frightened. ³³ For thus says LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 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 shall come for her. ³⁴ Nebuchadrezzar 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 stomach with my delicacies. He has cast me out. ³⁵ The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, the inhabitant of Zion shall say. And, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, Jerusalem shall say. ³⁶ Therefore thus says LORD: Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee. And I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry. ³⁷ And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant. ³⁸ They shall roar together like young lions. They shall growl as lions' whelps. ³⁹ When they are heated, I will make their feast. And I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says LORD. ⁴⁰ I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats. ⁴¹ How Sheshach is taken, and the praise of the whole earth seized! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! ⁴² The sea has come up upon Babylon. She is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. ⁴³ Her cities have become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells, nor does any son of man pass thereby. ⁴⁴ And I will execute judgment upon Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up. And the nations shall not flow any more to him. Yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. ⁴⁵ My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and save yourselves each man from the fierce anger of LORD. ⁴⁶ And let not your heart faint. Neither fear ye for the news that shall be heard in the land. For news shall come one year, and after that in another year, news, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. ⁴⁷ Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will execute 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 the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon. For the destroyers shall come to her from the north, says LORD. ⁴⁹ As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land. ⁵⁰ Ye who have escaped the sword, go ye; do not stand still. Remember 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 LORD's house. ⁵² Therefore, behold, the days come, says LORD, that I will execute judgment upon her graven images, and through all her land the wounded shall groan. ⁵³ Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me destroyers shall come to her, says LORD. ⁵⁴ The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! ⁵⁵ For LORD lays Babylon waste, and destroys the great voice out of her, and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered. ⁵⁶ For the destroyer has come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken. Their bows are broken in pieces. For LORD is a God of recompenses; he will surely requite. ⁵⁷ And I will make drunk her rulers and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men. And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the King, whose name is LORD of hosts. ⁵⁸ Thus says LORD of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire. And the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire, and they shall 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 chamberlain. ⁶⁰ And Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. ⁶¹ And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou come to Babylon, then see that thou read all these words. ⁶² And say, O LORD, thou have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever. ⁶³ And it shall be, when thou have made an end of reading this book, that thou shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates. ⁶⁴ And thou shall say, Thus Babylon shall sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her, and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.