| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, Against those who dwell in Leb Kamai, A destroying wind. | 1This is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will stir up against Babylon and against the people of Leb-kamai the spirit of a destroyer. |
| 2And I will send winnowers to Babylon, Who shall winnow her and empty her land. For in the day of doom They shall be against her all around. | 2I will send strangers to Babylon to winnow her and empty her land; for they will come against her from every side in her day of disaster. |
| 3Against her let the archer bend his bow, And lift himself up against her in his armor. Do not spare her young men; Utterly destroy all her army. | 3Do not let the archer bend his bow or put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; devote all her army to destruction! |
| 4Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, And those thrust through in her streets. | 4And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and pierced through in her streets. |
| 5For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, By his God, the LORD of hosts, Though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.” | 5For Israel and Judah have not been abandoned by their God, the LORD of Hosts, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.” |
| 6Flee from the midst of Babylon, And every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He shall recompense her. | 6Flee from Babylon! Escape with your lives! Do not be destroyed in her punishment. For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves. |
| 7Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, That made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; Therefore the nations are deranged. | 7Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad. |
| 8Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her! Take balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed. | 8Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been shattered. Wail for her; get her balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed. |
| 9We would have healed Babylon, But she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go everyone to his own country; For her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies. | 9“We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Abandon her! Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches to the clouds.” |
| 10The LORD has revealed our righteousness. Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God. | 10“The LORD has brought forth our vindication; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has accomplished.” |
| 11Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The LORD has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it, Because it is the vengeance of the LORD, The vengeance for His temple. | 11Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the LORD—vengeance for His temple. |
| 12Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon; Make the guard strong, Set up the watchmen, Prepare the ambushes. For the LORD has both devised and done What He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. | 12Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon; post the guard; station the watchmen; prepare the ambush. For the LORD has both devised and accomplished what He spoke against the people of Babylon. |
| 13O you who dwell by many waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your covetousness. | 13You who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come; the thread of your life is cut. |
| 14The LORD of hosts has sworn by Himself: “Surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, And they shall lift up a shout against you.” | 14The LORD of Hosts has sworn by Himself: “Surely I will fill you up with men as with locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.” |
| 15He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, And stretched out the heaven by His understanding. | 15The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. |
| 16When He utters His voice— There is a multitude of waters in the heavens: “He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries.” | 16When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses. |
| 17Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there is no breath in them. | 17Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them. |
| 18They are futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment they shall perish. | 18They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish. |
| 19The Portion of Jacob is not like them, For He is the Maker of all things; And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The LORD of hosts is His name. | 19The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and of the tribe of His inheritance—the LORD of Hosts is His name. |
| 20“You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nation in pieces; With you I will destroy kingdoms; | 20“You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin. |
| 21With you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider; With you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider; | 21With you I shatter the horse and rider; with you I shatter the chariot and driver. |
| 22With you also I will break in pieces man and woman; With you I will break in pieces old and young; With you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden; | 22With you I shatter man and woman; with you I shatter the old man and the youth; with you I shatter the young man and the maiden. |
| 23With you also I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen; And with you I will break in pieces governors and rulers. | 23With you I shatter the shepherd and his flock; with you I shatter the farmer and his oxen; with you I shatter the governors and officials. |
| 24“And I will repay Babylon And all the inhabitants of Chaldea For all the evil they have done In Zion in your sight,” says the LORD. | 24Before your very eyes I will repay Babylon and all the dwellers of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion,” declares the LORD. |
| 25“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys all the earth,” says the LORD. “And I will stretch out My hand against you, Roll you down from the rocks, And make you a burnt mountain. | 25“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who devastate the whole earth, declares the LORD. I will stretch out My hand against you; I will roll you over the cliffs and turn you into a charred mountain. |
| 26They shall not take from you a stone for a corner Nor a stone for a foundation, But you shall be desolate forever,” says the LORD. | 26No one shall retrieve from you a cornerstone or a foundation stone, because you will become desolate forever,” declares the LORD. |
| 27Set up a banner in the land, Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, Call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her; Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts. | 27“Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts. |
| 28Prepare against her the nations, With the kings of the Medes, Its governors and all its rulers, All the land of his dominion. | 28Prepare the nations for battle against her—the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the lands they rule. |
| 29And the land will tremble and sorrow; For every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant. | 29The earth quakes and writhes because the LORD’s intentions against Babylon stand: to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant. |
| 30The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, They have remained in their strongholds; Their might has failed, They became like women; They have burned her dwelling places, The bars of her gate are broken. | 30The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken. |
| 31One runner will run to meet another, And one messenger to meet another, To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides; | 31One courier races to meet another, and messenger follows messenger, to announce to the king of Babylon that his city has been captured from end to end. |
| 32The passages are blocked, The reeds they have burned with fire, And the men of war are terrified. | 32The fords have been seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers are terrified.” |
| 33For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor When it is time to thresh her; Yet a little while And the time of her harvest will come.” | 33For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her harvest time will come.” |
| 34“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon Has devoured me, he has crushed me; He has made me an empty vessel, He has swallowed me up like a monster; He has filled his stomach with my delicacies, He has spit me out. | 34“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies and vomited me out. |
| 35Let the violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon,” The inhabitant of Zion will say; “And my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!” Jerusalem will say. | 35May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,” says the dweller of Zion. “May my blood be on the dwellers of Chaldea,” says Jerusalem. |
| 36Therefore thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. | 36Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry. |
| 37Babylon shall become a heap, A dwelling place for jackals, An astonishment and a hissing, Without an inhabitant. | 37Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant. |
| 38They shall roar together like lions, They shall growl like lions’ whelps. | 38They will roar together like young lions; they will growl like lion cubs. |
| 39In their excitement I will prepare their feasts; I will make them drunk, That they may rejoice, And sleep a perpetual sleep And not awake,” says the LORD. | 39While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD. |
| 40“I will bring them down Like lambs to the slaughter, Like rams with male goats. | 40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats. |
| 41“Oh, how Sheshach is taken! Oh, how the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become desolate among the nations! | 41How Sheshach has been captured! The praise of all the earth has been seized. What a horror Babylon has become among the nations! |
| 42The sea has come up over Babylon; She is covered with the multitude of its waves. | 42The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered in turbulent waves. |
| 43Her cities are a desolation, A dry land and a wilderness, A land where no one dwells, Through which no son of man passes. | 43Her cities have become a desolation, a dry and arid land, a land where no one lives, where no son of man passes through. |
| 44I will punish Bel in Babylon, And I will bring out of his mouth what he has swallowed; And the nations shall not stream to him anymore. Yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall. | 44I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him spew out what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him; even the wall of Babylon will fall. |
| 45“My people, go out of the midst of her! And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of the LORD. | 45Come out of her, My people! Save your lives, each of you, from the fierce anger of the LORD. |
| 46And lest your heart faint, And you fear for the rumor that will be heard in the land (A rumor will come one year, And after that, in another year A rumor will come, And violence in the land, Ruler against ruler), | 46Do not let your heart grow faint, and do not be afraid when the rumor is heard in the land; for a rumor will come one year—and then another the next year—of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. |
| 47Therefore behold, the days are coming That I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon; Her whole land shall be ashamed, And all her slain shall fall in her midst. | 47Therefore, behold, the days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her entire land will suffer shame, and all her slain will lie fallen within her. |
| 48Then the heavens and the earth and all that is in them Shall sing joyously over Babylon; For the plunderers shall come to her from the north,” says the LORD. | 48Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon because the destroyers from the north will come against her,” declares the LORD. |
| 49As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, So at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall. | 49“Babylon must fall on account of the slain of Israel, just as the slain of all the earth have fallen because of Babylon. |
| 50You who have escaped the sword, Get away! Do not stand still! Remember the LORD afar off, And let Jerusalem come to your mind. | 50You who have escaped the sword, depart and do not linger! Remember the LORD from far away, and let Jerusalem come to mind.” |
| 51We are ashamed because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, For strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’s house. | 51“We are ashamed because we have heard reproach; disgrace has covered our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD’s house.” |
| 52“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will bring judgment on her carved images, And throughout all her land the wounded shall groan. | 52“Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan. |
| 53Though Babylon were to mount up to heaven, And though she were to fortify the height of her strength, Yet from Me plunderers would come to her,” says the LORD. | 53Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, the destroyers I send will come against her,” declares the LORD. |
| 54The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, And great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans, | 54“The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! |
| 55Because the LORD is plundering Babylon And silencing her loud voice, Though her waves roar like great waters, And the noise of their voice is uttered, | 55For the LORD will destroy Babylon; He will silence her mighty voice. The waves will roar like great waters; the tumult of their voices will resound. |
| 56Because the plunderer comes against her, against Babylon, And her mighty men are taken. Every one of their bows is broken; For the LORD is the God of recompense, He will surely repay. | 56For a destroyer is coming against her—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. |
| 57“And I will make drunk Her princes and wise men, Her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men. And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep And not awake,” says the King, Whose name is the LORD of hosts. | 57I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts. |
| 58Thus says the LORD of hosts: “The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, And her high gates shall be burned with fire; The people will labor in vain, And the nations, because of the fire; And they shall be weary.” | 58This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates consumed by fire. So the labor of the people will be for nothing; the nations will exhaust themselves to fuel the flames.” |
| 59The 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. And Seraiah was the quartermaster. | 59This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to the quartermaster Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign. |
| 60So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. | 60Jeremiah had written on a single scroll about all the disaster that would come upon Babylon—all these words that had been written concerning Babylon. |
| 61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, | 61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud, |
| 62then you shall say, ‘O LORD, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.’ | 62and say, ‘O LORD, You have promised to cut off this place so that no one will remain—neither man nor beast. Indeed, it will be desolate forever.’ |
| 63Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates. | 63When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates. |
| 64Then you shall say, ‘Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary.’ ” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. | 64Then you are to say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again, because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will grow weary.’ ” Here end the words of Jeremiah. |
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