Jeremiah 51

The Utter Destruction of Babylon

1  Thus says the  Lord:
“Behold, I will stir up a the spirit of a destroyer
against Babylon,
against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai, ▼
▼ A code name for Chaldea

 2 and I will send to Babylon winnowers,
and c they shall winnow her,
and they shall empty her land,
when they come against her from every side
d on the day of trouble.
 3  e Let not the archer bend his bow,
and let him not stand up in his armor.
Spare not her young men;
f devote to destruction ▼
▼ That is, set apart ( devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
 all her army.
 4 They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
h and wounded in her streets.
 5  i For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
by their God, the  Lord of hosts,
but the land of the Chaldeans ▼
▼ Hebrew their land
 is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.
 6  k “Flee from the midst of Babylon;
let every one save his life!
l Be not cut off in her punishment,
m for this is the time of the  Lord’s vengeance,
the repayment he is rendering her.
 7 Babylon was n a golden cup in the  Lord’s hand,
o making all the earth drunken;
p the nations drank of her wine;
therefore the nations went mad.
 8  q Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
r wail for her!
s Take balm for her pain;
perhaps she may be healed.
 9 We would have healed Babylon,
but she was not healed.
t Forsake her, and u let us go
each to his own country,
for v her judgment has reached up to heaven
and has been lifted up even to the skies.
 10  w The  Lord has brought about our vindication;
x come, let us declare in Zion
the work of the  Lord our God.
 11  y “Sharpen the arrows!
Take up the shields!

z The  Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of aa the Medes, because ab his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, ac for that is the vengeance of the  Lord, the vengeance for ad his temple.

12  ae “Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon;
af make the watch strong;
set up watchmen;
prepare the ambushes;
ag for the  Lord has both planned and done
what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
 13  ah O you who dwell by many waters,
rich in treasures,
your end has come;
the thread of your life is cut.
 14  ai The  Lord of hosts has sworn by himself:
Surely I will fill you with men aj as many as locusts,
ak and they shall raise the shout of victory over you.
 15  al “It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
 16 When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
 17 Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
and there is no breath in them.
 18 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
 19 Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
the  Lord of hosts is his name.
 20  “You are my hammer and weapon of war:
with you I am break nations in pieces;
with you I destroy kingdoms;
 21 with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer;
 22 with you I break in pieces man and woman;
with you I break in pieces an the old man and the youth;
with you I break in pieces ao the young man and the young woman;
 23 with you I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;
with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team;
with you I break in pieces ap governors and commanders.

24  aq “I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the  Lord.

25  “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,

declares the  Lord,
which destroys the whole earth;
I will stretch out my hand against you,
and roll you down from the crags,
ar and make you a burnt mountain.
 26 No as stone shall be taken from you for a corner
and no stone for a foundation,
but you shall be at a perpetual waste,
declares the  Lord.
 27  au “Set up a standard on the earth;
av blow the trumpet among the nations;
aw prepare ax the nations for war against her;
summon against her ay the kingdoms,
az Ararat, Minni, and ba Ashkenaz;
appoint a bb marshal against her;
bc bring up horses like bristling locusts.
 28  bd Prepare be the nations for war against her,
the kings of bf the Medes bg with their governors bh and deputies,
and every bi land under their dominion.
 29  bj The land trembles and writhes in pain,
bk for the  Lord’s purposes against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon a desolation,
without inhabitant.
 30 The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting;
they remain in their strongholds;
their strength has failed;
bl they have become women;
bm her dwellings are on fire;
bn her bars are broken.
 31 One bo runner runs to meet another,
and one messenger to meet another,
to tell the king of Babylon
that his city is taken on every side;
 32 the fords have been bp seized,
the marshes are burned with fire,
and the soldiers are in panic.
 33 For thus says the  Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
bq The daughter of Babylon is like br a threshing floor
at the time when it is trodden;
yet a little while
and bs the time of her harvest will come.”
 34  “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon bt has devoured me;
he has crushed me;
he has made me an empty vessel;
bu he has swallowed me like bv a monster;
he has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
he has rinsed me out. ▼
▼ Or  he has expelled me

 35 The violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon,”
let the inhabitant of Zion say.
“My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
let Jerusalem say.
 36 Therefore thus says the  Lord:
“Behold bx I will plead your cause
and take vengeance for you.
by I will dry up her sea
and bz make her fountain dry,
 37 and Babylon shall become ca a heap of ruins,
cb the haunt of jackals,
cc a horror cd and a hissing,
without inhabitant.
 38  ce “They shall roar together cf like lions;
they shall growl like lions’ cubs.
 39  cg While they are inflamed ch I will prepare them a feast
and ci make them drunk, that they may become merry,
cj then sleep a perpetual sleep
and not wake, declares the  Lord.
 40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and male goats.
 41  “How ck Babylon ▼
▼ Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon
 is taken,
cm the praise of the whole earth cn seized!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations!
 42  co The sea has come up on Babylon;
she is covered with its tumultuous waves.
 43 Her cities have become a horror,
cp a land of drought and a desert,
cq a land in which no one dwells,
and through which no son of man passes.
 44 And I will punish cr Bel in Babylon,
and cs take out of his mouth ct what he has swallowed.
cu The nations shall no longer flow to him;
cv the wall of Babylon has fallen.
 45  “Go out of the midst of her, cw my people!
Let every one save his life
from cx the fierce anger of the  Lord!
 46 Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful
cy at the report heard in the land,
cz when a report comes in one year
and afterward a report in another year,
and violence is in the land,
da and ruler is against ruler.
 47  “Therefore, behold, the days are coming
when db I will punish the images of Babylon;
dc her whole land shall be put to shame,
and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
 48  dd Then the heavens and the earth,
and all that is in them,
shall sing for joy over Babylon,
de for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north,

declares the  Lord.
 49 Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel,
df just as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.
 50  dg “You who have escaped from the sword,
go, do not stand still!
Remember the  Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come into your mind:
 51  dh ‘We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach;
di dishonor has covered our face,
dj for foreigners have come
into the holy places of the  Lord’s house.’
 52  “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the  Lord,
when dk I will execute judgment upon her images,
dl and through all her land
the wounded shall groan.
 53 Though Babylon should dm mount up to heaven,
and though she should dn fortify her strong height,
yet destroyers would come from me against her,
declares the  Lord.
 54  do “A voice! A cry from Babylon!
The noise of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
 55 For the  Lord is laying Babylon waste
and stilling her mighty voice.
dp Their waves roar like many waters;
the noise of their voice is raised,
 56 for a destroyer has come upon her,
upon Babylon;
her warriors are taken;
their bows are broken in pieces,
dq for the  Lord is a God of recompense;
he will surely repay.
 57  dr I will make drunk her officials and her wise men,
ds her governors, her commanders, and her warriors;
they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake,
declares dt the King, whose name is the  Lord of hosts.
 58  “Thus says the  Lord of hosts:
The broad du wall of Babylon
shall be leveled to the ground,
dv and her high gates
shall be burned with fire.
dw The peoples labor for nothing,
and dx the nations weary themselves only for fire.”

59 The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah dy the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, dz in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60  ea Jeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon eb all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, 62 and say, ‘O  Lord, you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off, so ec that nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be ed desolate forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this book, ee, , ef tie a stone to it eg and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, 64 and say, eh ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, ei and they shall become exhausted.’”

Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

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