LITV(i)
1 The word that Jehovah spoke against Babylon, against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet:
2 Declare among the nations, and make them hear, and lift up a banner. Make them hear, do not hide it; say, Babylon is captured, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is broken in pieces, her images are put to shame, her idols are broken in pieces.
3 For a nation comes up against her from the north, which shall make her land a desert. Yea, no one shall dwell in it. They shall flee, they shall depart, both man and animal.
4 In these days, and at that time, the sons of Israel shall come, declares Jehovah, they and the sons of Judah together, going and weeping; they shall go and seek Jehovah their God.
5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces pointing there, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten.
6 My people are lost sheep, their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they turned them away on the mountains, they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.
7 All who have found them have devoured them. And their enemies said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Jehovah, the habitation of righteousness, and Jehovah, their fathers' hope.
8 Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.
9 For, behold, I am stirring up and bringing up a company of great nations from a northern land against Babylon. And they shall array themselves against her. She shall be captured there; their arrows shall be as those of a mighty, skillful man; they shall not return empty.
10 And Chaldea shall be a prize; all who plunder her shall be satisfied, declares Jehovah.
11 Because you rejoice, because you exult, O destroyers of My inheritance, because you are fat like the heifer in grass, and neigh like strong ones,
12 your mother shall be deeply ashamed, she who bore you shall turn pale. Behold, the last of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of Jehovah, it shall not be inhabited, but all of it shall be a waste. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be amazed and hiss at all her plagues.
14 Put yourselves in order against Babylon all around. All you who tread a bow, shoot at her. Do not spare arrows, for she has sinned against Jehovah.
15 Shout against her all around. She has given her hand, her foundations have fallen, her walls have been thrown down, for it is Jehovah's vengeance. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, do to her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one handling the sickle in the time of harvest. They shall turn from a sword of the oppressor, each one to his people. And they shall flee, each one to his own land.
17 Israel is a scattered sheep, driven away by lions. First, the king of Assyria devoured him. And last, this king Nebu-chadnezzar of Babylon crunched him .
18 So Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, says this: Behold, I am punishing the king of Babylon and his land as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will again bring Israel to his home, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days, and at that time, states Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall not be sought for, and it is not; and the sins of Judah, and they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it and against the dwellers of Pekod. Waste and destroy after them, says Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 A sound of battle is in the land and of great ruin.
23 How the hammer of all the earth is cut off and broken! How Babylon has become a ruin among the nations!
24 I have laid a trap for you, and you also are captured, Babylon, and you did not know. You were found and also caught, because you stirred up yourself against Jehovah.
25 Jehovah has opened His armory and has brought out the weapons of His fury. For this is a work of Jehovah, God of hosts, in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the end, open her granaries, pile her up as heaps and utterly destroy her. Do not let a remnant be left.
27 Put the sword to all her bulls, let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment.
28 The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance of His temple.
29 Make the archers hear against Babylon. All you who tread a bow camp against it all around. Let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work, according to all that she has done, do to her. For she has been proud against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel.
30 So her young men shall fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be silenced in that day, declares Jehovah.
31 Behold, I am against you, O proud one, says the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, for your day has come, the time I will punish you.
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 burn up everything all around him.
33 So says Jehovah of hosts, The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah are oppressed together. Yea, all who captured them held them fast, they refused to let them go.
34 Their Redeemer is strong, Jehovah of Hosts is His name. He shall surely plead their cause, so that He may give rest to the land, and make to tremble the dwellers of Babylon.
35 A sword is on the Chaldeans, states Jehovah, and on the dwellers of Babylon, and on her rulers, and on her wise men.
36 A sword is on the liars, and they shall become fools; a sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be broken.
37 A sword is on his horses and his chariots, and to all the mixed people in her midst. And they shall become as women. A sword is to her treasuries, and they shall be robbed.
38 A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up. For it is the land of idols, and they boast themselves in idols.
39 So the beasts of the desert shall dwell there with jackals. And the daughters of the ostrich shall dwell in her again. And it shall not again have anyone in it forever; it shall not be lived in until generation and generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, states Jehovah, so no man shall live there, nor shall a son of man stay in it.
41 Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred up from the farthest parts of the earth.
42 They lay hold of a bow and a javelin, they shall be cruel and will show no mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea, and arrayed like a man for the battle, they shall ride on horses against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard their report, and his hands became feeble; anguish seized him, pangs like those of a woman in labor.
44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the home of the strong. But I will make them suddenly run away from it. And who is a chosen one I will appoint over it? For who is like Me? And who will summon Me? And who is a shepherd who will stand before Me?
45 So hear the counsel of Jehovah that He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them, the least of the flock. Surely He will make their dwelling desolate over them.
46 At the sound of Babylon's capture, the earth shall tremble, and a cry is heard among the nations.
51 1 So says Jehovah, Behold, I am arousing a destroying wind against Babylon, and against those dwelling in the heart of My foes.
2 And I will send foreigners to Babylon who will sift her and shall empty her land. For in the day of evil, they shall be against her all around.
3 Do not let the treader fully tread his bow nor lift himself up in his armor. And do not spare her young men, utterly destroy all her army.
4 So the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, yea, pierced through in her streets.
5 For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God, by Jehovah of Hosts, though their land was filled with guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
6 Flee out of the middle of Babylon; yea, each man deliver his soul. Do not be silenced in her iniquity, for the time of the vengeance of Jehovah is here; He will give her a just reward.
7 Babylon was a golden cup in the hand of Jehovah, making all the earth drunk. The nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations rage.
8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen, and it is broken. Wail for her, take balm for her pain, if perhaps 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 the heavens, and is lifted up to the skies.
10 Jehovah has brought forth our righteousness; come and let us declare in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.
11 Purify the arrows, fill the shields; Jehovah has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon, to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of His temple.
12 Set up the banner to Babylon's walls, make the watch strong; set up the watches, prepare the ambushes. For Jehovah has both planned and has done that which He spoke against the people of Babylon.
13 O you who live by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your unjust gain.
14 Jehovah of Hosts has sworn by Himself, saying, Surely I will fill you with men as with locusts, and they shall lift up a shout against you.
15 He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
16 When He gives His voice, a multitude of waters is in the heavens, and He causes the mists to ascend from the end of the earth. He makes lightnings for rain, and brings forth the wind out of His treasuries.
17 Every man is brutish in knowledge, every refiner is put to shame by idols. For his casted image is a lie, and no breath is in them.
18 They are vanity, the work of errors; in the time of their punishment they shall perish.
19 The Portion of Jacob is not like them, for He is the Former of all things, and Israel is the Rod of His inheritance, Jehovah of Hosts, is His name.
20 You are My war club and weapons of war, for with you I will shatter nations and with you I will destroy kingdoms.
21 And with you I will shatter the horse and his rider, and with you I will shatter the chariot and his charioteer.
22 And I will shatter man and woman with you, and with you I will shatter old and young, and with you I will shatter the young man and the girl.
23 And I will shatter the shepherd and his flock with you. And I will shatter the farmer and his team with you, and with you I will shatter heads and rulers.
24 And I will give to Babylon, and to all the people of Chaldea all the evil that they have done in Zion, before your eyes, declares Jehovah.
25 Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, declares Jehovah, who destroys all the earth. And I will stretch out My hand on you, and will roll you down from the rocks, and I will make you a burned mountain,
26 and they shall not take a stone from you for a corner, or a stone for foundations, but you shall be a waste forever, says Jehovah.
27 Set up a banner in the land. Blow a trumpet among the nations; consecrate nations against her. Make hear the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz together against her, set a marshal against her. Cause the horses to come up like rough locusts.
28 Consecrate nations against her, with the kings of the Medes, her governors and all her rulers, and all the land of his dominion.
29 And the land shall tremble and writhe in pain. For every purpose of Jehovah shall be done against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desert without inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon have stopped fighting. They have dwelt in strongholds, their might has withered, they became as women; they have burned their houses, her bars are broken.
31 A runner shall run to meet a runner, and a herald to meet a herald, to announce to the king of Babylon that his city is captured from end to end,
32 and that the fords are captured. And they have burned the reeds with fire, and the men of war are terrified.
33 For so says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a grain floor, it is time to tread her. Yet a little while, and the time of her harvest will come.
34 Nebu-chadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has devoured us. He has crushed us. He has made us an empty vessel. He has swallowed us like a jackal. He has filled his belly with delicacies. He has thrown me out.
35 The violence done to me and to my flesh is on Babylon, the dweller in Zion shall say. And Jerusalem shall say, My blood shall be on the dwellers of Chaldea.
36 So Jehovah says this: Behold, I will strive for you and take vengeance for you. And I will dry up her sea and make her well dry.
37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a home for jackals, a horror and a hissing, without a dweller.
38 They shall roar together like lions, they shall growl like lions' cubs.
39 In their heat, I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunk so that they rejoice and sleep a never ending sleep and never awaken, says Jehovah.
40 I shall bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
41 How Sheshach is captured! And how the praise of all the earth is seized! How Babylon has become a ruin among the nations!
42 The sea has come up over Babylon, she is covered with the multitude of its waves.
43 Her cities have become a ruin, a dry land and a wilderness, a land in which no man dwells, nor does any son of man pass by it.
44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up. And the nations shall not flow together any more to him; yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45 My people, go out of her midst, and each man deliver his soul from the fierce anger of Jehovah.
46 And that your heart not faint, and you fear the report that shall be heard in the land, the report shall come in a year. And after that the report shall come in another year, and there shall be violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
47 So behold, the days come that I will punish on the idols of Babylon. And all her land shall be put to shame, and all her slain shall fall in her midst.
48 Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, shall shout for Babylon. For the plunderers shall come to her from the north, says Jehovah.
49 As Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, so for Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall.
50 You who have escaped the sword, go away. Do not stand still. Remember Jehovah afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your heart.
51 We have turned pale because we have heard reproach, dishonor has covered our faces. For foreigners have come into the holy places of the house of Jehovah.
52 So, behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that I will punish on her idols, and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to the heavens, and though she should fortify her strong height, plunderers shall come from Me to her, states Jehovah.
54 A sound of a cry from Babylon, and great ruin from the land of Chaldeans!
55 For Jehovah is stripping Babylon, and the great voice will perish out of her. And her waves will roar like many waters, the noise of their voice is given.
56 Because the plunderer is coming on her, on Babylon, and her mighty men are captured, their bows are shattered; for Jehovah the God of recompenses shall surely repay.
57 And I will make her rulers drunk, also her wise ones, her governors, and her rulers, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a never-ending sleep, and not awaken, says the King whose name is Jehovah of Hosts.
58 So says Jehovah of Hosts, The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly laid bare, and her high gates shall be burned with fire. And the peoples shall labor as for vanity, and the peoples as for fire; and they shall be weary.
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah, the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah, the king of Judah, to Babylon in me fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was a chief official.
60 So Jeremiah wrote in a hook all the evil that should come on Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon and shall see and shall cry all these words,
62 then you shall say, O Jehovah, You have spoken against this place to cut it off so that no dweller shall be in it, from man to animal, but it shall be a ruin forever.
63 And it shall be, when you have finished crying this hook, you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates.
64 And you shall say, In this way Babylon shall sink and shall not rise from the evil that I am bringing on her. And they shall be weary. So far are the words of Jeremiah.