| New International Version | New Living Translation |
| 1This is what the LORD says: "See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai. | 1This is what the LORD says: “I will stir up a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Babylonia. |
| 2I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and to devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster. | 2Foreigners will come and winnow her, blowing her away as chaff. They will come from every side to rise against her in her day of trouble. |
| 3Let not the archer string his bow, nor let him put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy her army. | 3Don’t let the archers put on their armor or draw their bows. Don’t spare even her best soldiers! Let her army be completely destroyed. |
| 4They will fall down slain in Babylon, fatally wounded in her streets. | 4They will fall dead in the land of the Babylonians, slashed to death in her streets. |
| 5For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD Almighty, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel. | 5For the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has not abandoned Israel and Judah. He is still their God, even though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.” |
| 6"Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the LORD's vengeance; he will repay her what she deserves. | 6Flee from Babylon! Save yourselves! Don’t get trapped in her punishment! It is the LORD’s time for vengeance; he will repay her in full. |
| 7Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD's hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad. | 7Babylon has been a gold cup in the LORD’s hands, a cup that made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank Babylon’s wine, and it drove them all mad. |
| 8Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed. | 8But suddenly Babylon, too, has fallen. Weep for her. Give her medicine. Perhaps she can yet be healed. |
| 9"'We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens.' | 9We would have helped her if we could, but nothing can save her now. Let her go; abandon her. Return now to your own land. For her punishment reaches to the heavens; it is so great it cannot be measured. |
| 10"'The LORD has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has done.' | 10The LORD has vindicated us. Come, let us announce in Jerusalem everything the LORD our God has done. |
| 11"Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The LORD will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple. | 11Sharpen the arrows! Lift up the shields! For the LORD has inspired the kings of the Medes to march against Babylon and destroy her. This is his vengeance against those who desecrated his Temple. |
| 12Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon! Reinforce the guard, station the watchmen, prepare an ambush! The LORD will carry out his purpose, his decree against the people of Babylon. | 12Raise the battle flag against Babylon! Reinforce the guard and station the watchmen. Prepare an ambush, for the LORD will fulfill all his plans against Babylon. |
| 13You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be destroyed. | 13You are a city by a great river, a great center of commerce, but your end has come. The thread of your life is cut. |
| 14The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself: I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you. | 14The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has taken this vow and has sworn to it by his own name: “Your cities will be filled with enemies, like fields swarming with locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.” A Hymn of Praise to the LORD |
| 15"He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. | 15The LORD made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. |
| 16When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. | 16When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses. |
| 17"Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them. | 17The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge! The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make, for their carefully shaped works are a fraud. These idols have no breath or power. |
| 18They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish. | 18Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies! On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed. |
| 19He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the people of his inheritance-- the LORD Almighty is his name. | 19But the God of Israel is no idol! He is the Creator of everything that exists, including his people, his own special possession. The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is his name! Babylon’s Great Punishment |
| 20"You are my war club, my weapon for battle-- with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms, | 20“You are my battle-ax and sword,” says the LORD. “With you I will shatter nations and destroy many kingdoms. |
| 21with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver, | 21With you I will shatter armies— destroying the horse and rider, the chariot and charioteer. |
| 22with you I shatter man and woman, with you I shatter old man and youth, with you I shatter young man and young woman, | 22With you I will shatter men and women, old people and children, young men and young women. |
| 23with you I shatter shepherd and flock, with you I shatter farmer and oxen, with you I shatter governors and officials. | 23With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks, farmers and oxen, captains and officers. |
| 24"Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion," declares the LORD. | 24“I will repay Babylon and the people of Babylonia for all the wrong they have done to my people in Jerusalem,” says the LORD. |
| 25"I am against you, you destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth," declares the LORD. "I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain. | 25“Look, O mighty mountain, destroyer of the earth! I am your enemy,” says the LORD. “I will raise my fist against you, to knock you down from the heights. When I am finished, you will be nothing but a heap of burnt rubble. |
| 26No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone, nor any stone for a foundation, for you will be desolate forever," declares the LORD. | 26You will be desolate forever. Even your stones will never again be used for building. You will be completely wiped out,” says the LORD. |
| 27"Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts. | 27Raise a signal flag to the nations. Sound the battle cry! Mobilize them all against Babylon. Prepare them to fight against her! Bring out the armies of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander, and bring a multitude of horses like swarming locusts! |
| 28Prepare the nations for battle against her-- the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the countries they rule. | 28Bring against her the armies of the nations— led by the kings of the Medes and all their captains and officers. |
| 29The land trembles and writhes, for the LORD's purposes against Babylon stand-- to lay waste the land of Babylon so that no one will live there. | 29The earth trembles and writhes in pain, for everything the LORD has planned against Babylon stands unchanged. Babylon will be left desolate without a single inhabitant. |
| 30Babylon's warriors have stopped fighting; they remain in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become weaklings. Her dwellings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken. | 30Her mightiest warriors no longer fight. They stay in their barracks, their courage gone. They have become like women. The invaders have burned the houses and broken down the city gates. |
| 31One courier follows another and messenger follows messenger to announce to the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured, | 31The news is passed from one runner to the next as the messengers hurry to tell the king that his city has been captured. |
| 32the river crossings seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers terrified." | 32All the escape routes are blocked. The marshes have been set aflame, and the army is in a panic. |
| 33This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; the time to harvest her will soon come." | 33This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Babylon is like wheat on a threshing floor, about to be trampled. In just a little while her harvest will begin.” |
| 34"Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us, he has thrown us into confusion, he has made us an empty jar. Like a serpent he has swallowed us and filled his stomach with our delicacies, and then has spewed us out. | 34“King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has eaten and crushed us and drained us of strength. He has swallowed us like a great monster and filled his belly with our riches. He has thrown us out of our own country. |
| 35May the violence done to our flesh be on Babylon," say the inhabitants of Zion. "May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia," says Jerusalem. | 35Make Babylon suffer as she made us suffer,” say the people of Zion. “Make the people of Babylonia pay for spilling our blood,” says Jerusalem. The LORD’s Vengeance on Babylon |
| 36Therefore this is what the LORD says: "See, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. | 36This is what the LORD says to Jerusalem: “I will be your lawyer to plead your case, and I will avenge you. I will dry up her river, as well as her springs, |
| 37Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives. | 37and Babylon will become a heap of ruins, haunted by jackals. She will be an object of horror and contempt, a place where no one lives. |
| 38Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion cubs. | 38Her people will roar together like strong lions. They will growl like lion cubs. |
| 39But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout with laughter-- then sleep forever and not awake," declares the LORD. | 39And while they lie inflamed with all their wine, I will prepare a different kind of feast for them. I will make them drink until they fall asleep, and they will never wake up again,” says the LORD. |
| 40"I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats. | 40“I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats to be sacrificed. |
| 41"How Sheshak will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized! How desolate Babylon will be among the nations! | 41“How Babylon is fallen— great Babylon, praised throughout the earth! Now she has become an object of horror among the nations. |
| 42The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her. | 42The sea has risen over Babylon; she is covered by its crashing waves. |
| 43Her towns will be desolate, a dry and desert land, a land where no one lives, through which no one travels. | 43Her cities now lie in ruins; she is a dry wasteland where no one lives or even passes by. |
| 44I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him spew out what he has swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him. And the wall of Babylon will fall. | 44And I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon, and make him vomit up all he has eaten. The nations will no longer come and worship him. The wall of Babylon has fallen! A Message for the Exiles |
| 45"Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the LORD. | 45“Come out, my people, flee from Babylon. Save yourselves! Run from the LORD’s fierce anger. |
| 46Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. | 46But do not panic; don’t be afraid when you hear the first rumor of approaching forces. For rumors will keep coming year by year. Violence will erupt in the land as the leaders fight against each other. |
| 47For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her. | 47For the time is surely coming when I will punish this great city and all her idols. Her whole land will be disgraced, and her dead will lie in the streets. |
| 48Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her," declares the LORD. | 48Then the heavens and earth will rejoice, for out of the north will come destroying armies against Babylon,” says the LORD. |
| 49"Babylon must fall because of Israel's slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon. | 49“Just as Babylon killed the people of Israel and others throughout the world, so must her people be killed. |
| 50You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember the LORD in a distant land, and call to mind Jerusalem." | 50Get out, all you who have escaped the sword! Do not stand and watch—flee while you can! Remember the LORD, though you are in a far-off land, and think about your home in Jerusalem.” |
| 51"We are disgraced, for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD's house." | 51“We are ashamed,” the people say. “We are insulted and disgraced because the LORD’s Temple has been defiled by foreigners.” |
| 52"But days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan. | 52“Yes,” says the LORD, “but the time is coming when I will destroy Babylon’s idols. The groans of her wounded people will be heard throughout the land. |
| 53Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her," declares the LORD. | 53Though Babylon reaches as high as the heavens and makes her fortifications incredibly strong, I will still send enemies to plunder her. I, the LORD, have spoken! Babylon’s Complete Destruction |
| 54"The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians. | 54“Listen! Hear the cry of Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians. |
| 55The LORD will destroy Babylon; he will silence her noisy din. Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound. | 55For the LORD is destroying Babylon. He will silence her loud voice. Waves of enemies pound against her; the noise of battle rings through the city. |
| 56A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the LORD is a God of retribution; he will repay in full. | 56Destroying armies come against Babylon. Her mighty men are captured, and their weapons break in their hands. For the LORD is a God who gives just punishment; he always repays in full. |
| 57I will make her officials and wise men drunk, her governors, officers and warriors as well; they will sleep forever and not awake," declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty. | 57I will make her officials and wise men drunk, along with her captains, officers, and warriors. They will fall asleep and never wake up again!” says the King, whose name is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. |
| 58This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Babylon's thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing, the nations' labor is only fuel for the flames." | 58This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: “The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground, and her massive gates will be burned. The builders from many lands have worked in vain, for their work will be destroyed by fire!” Jeremiah’s Message Sent to Babylon |
| 59This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. | 59The prophet Jeremiah gave this message to Seraiah son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah, a staff officer, when Seraiah went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah. This was during the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign. |
| 60Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon--all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. | 60Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the terrible disasters that would soon come upon Babylon—all the words written here. |
| 61He said to Seraiah, "When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. | 61He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, read aloud everything on this scroll. |
| 62Then say, 'LORD, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.' | 62Then say, ‘LORD, you have said that you will destroy Babylon so that neither people nor animals will remain here. She will lie empty and abandoned forever.’ |
| 63When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. | 63When you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone and throw it into the Euphrates River. |
| 64Then say, 'So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.'" The words of Jeremiah end here. | 64Then say, ‘In this same way Babylon and her people will sink, never again to rise, because of the disasters I will bring upon her.’” This is the end of Jeremiah’s messages. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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