| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1The word that the LORD spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. | 1The word the LORD spoke about Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet: |
| 2“Declare among the nations, Proclaim, and set up a standard; Proclaim—do not conceal it— Say, ‘Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed. Merodach is broken in pieces; Her idols are humiliated, Her images are broken in pieces.’ | 2Announce to the nations; proclaim and raise up a signal flag; proclaim, and hide nothing. Say: Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is devastated; her idols are put to shame; her false gods, devastated. |
| 3For out of the north a nation comes up against her, Which shall make her land desolate, And no one shall dwell therein. They shall move, they shall depart, Both man and beast. | 3For a nation from the north will come against her; it will make her land desolate. No one will be living in it-- both man and beast will escape. |
| 4“In those days and in that time,” says the LORD, “The children of Israel shall come, They and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping they shall come, And seek the LORD their God. | 4In those days and at that time-- this is the LORD's declaration-- the Israelites and Judeans will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the LORD their God. |
| 5They shall ask the way to Zion, With their faces toward it, saying, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to the LORD In a perpetual covenant That will not be forgotten.’ | 5They will ask about Zion, turning their faces to this road. They will come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten. |
| 6“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; They have forgotten their resting place. | 6My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, guiding them the wrong way in the mountains. They have wandered from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place. |
| 7All who found them have devoured them; And their adversaries said, ‘We have not offended, Because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, The LORD, the hope of their fathers.’ | 7All who found them devoured them. Their adversaries said, "We're not guilty; instead, they have sinned against the LORD, their righteous grazing land, the hope of their ancestors, the LORD." |
| 8“Move from the midst of Babylon, Go out of the land of the Chaldeans; And be like the rams before the flocks. | 8Escape from Babylon; depart from the Chaldeans' land. Be like the rams that lead the flock. |
| 9For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon An assembly of great nations from the north country, And they shall array themselves against her; From there she shall be captured. Their arrows shall be like those of an expert warrior; None shall return in vain. | 9For I will soon stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country. They will line up in battle formation against her; from there she will be captured. Their arrows will be like those of a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. |
| 10And Chaldea shall become plunder; All who plunder her shall be satisfied,” says the LORD. | 10The Chaldeans will become plunder; all Babylon's plunderers will be fully satisfied. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 11“Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, You destroyers of My heritage, Because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, And you bellow like bulls, | 11Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph-- you who plundered My inheritance-- because you frolic like a young cow treading grain and neigh like stallions, |
| 12Your mother shall be deeply ashamed; She who bore you shall be ashamed. Behold, the least of the nations shall be a wilderness, A dry land and a desert. | 12your mother will be utterly humiliated; she who bore you will be put to shame. Look! She will lag behind all the nations-- a dry land, a wilderness, an Arabah. |
| 13Because of the wrath of the LORD She shall not be inhabited, But she shall be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified And hiss at all her plagues. | 13Because of the LORD's wrath, she will not be inhabited; she will become a desolation, every bit of her. Everyone who passes through Babylon will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds. |
| 14“Put yourselves in array against Babylon all around, All you who bend the bow; Shoot at her, spare no arrows, For she has sinned against the LORD. | 14Line up in battle formation around Babylon, all you archers! Shoot at her! Do not spare an arrow, for she has sinned against the LORD. |
| 15Shout against her all around; She has given her hand, Her foundations have fallen, Her walls are thrown down; For it is the vengeance of the LORD. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, so do to her. | 15Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her defense towers have fallen; her walls are demolished. Since this is the LORD's vengeance, take out your vengeance on her; as she has done, do the same to her. |
| 16Cut off the sower from Babylon, And him who handles the sickle at harvest time. For fear of the oppressing sword Everyone shall turn to his own people, And everyone shall flee to his own land. | 16Cut off the sower from Babylon as well as him who wields the sickle at harvest time. Because of the oppressor's sword, each will turn to his own people, each will flee to his own land. |
| 17“Israel is like scattered sheep; The lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him; Now at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.” | 17Israel is a stray lamb, chased by lions. The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria; the last one who crushed his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. |
| 18Therefore thus says the 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. | 18Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria. |
| 19But I will bring back Israel to his home, And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan; His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead. | 19I will return Israel to his grazing land, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan; he will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and of Gilead. |
| 20In those days and in that time,” says the LORD, “The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; For I will pardon those whom I preserve. | 20In those days and at that time-- this is the LORD's declaration-- one will search for Israel's guilt, but there will be none, and for Judah's sins, but they will not be found, for I will forgive those I leave as a remnant. |
| 21“Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Waste and utterly destroy them,” says the LORD, “And do according to all that I have commanded you. | 21"Go against the land of Merathaim, and against those living in Pekod. Put them to the sword; completely destroy them-- this is the LORD's declaration-- do everything I have commanded you. |
| 22A sound of battle is in the land, And of great destruction. | 22The sound of war is in the land-- a great destruction. |
| 23How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! | 23How the hammer of the whole earth is cut down and smashed! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations! |
| 24I have laid a snare for you; You have indeed been trapped, O Babylon, And you were not aware; You have been found and also caught, Because you have contended against the LORD. | 24Babylon, I laid a trap for you, and you were caught, but you did not even know it. You were found and captured because you fought against the LORD. |
| 25The LORD has opened His armory, And has brought out the weapons of His indignation; For this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts In the land of the Chaldeans. | 25The LORD opened His armory and brought out His weapons of wrath, because it is a task of the Lord GOD of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. |
| 26Come against her from the farthest border; Open her storehouses; Cast her up as heaps of ruins, And destroy her utterly; Let nothing of her be left. | 26Come against her from the most distant places. Open her granaries; pile her up like mounds of grain and completely destroy her. Leave her no survivors. |
| 27Slay all her bulls, Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment. | 27Put all her young bulls to the sword; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, because their day has come, the time of their punishment. |
| 28The voice of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon Declares in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, The vengeance of His temple. | 28"There is a voice of fugitives and those who escape from the land of Babylon announcing in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance for His temple. |
| 29“Call together the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around; Let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work; According to all she has done, do to her; For she has been proud against the LORD, Against the Holy One of Israel. | 29Summon the archers to Babylon, all who string the bow; camp all around her; let none escape. Repay her according to her deeds; just as she has done, do the same to her, for she has acted arrogantly against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. |
| 30Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets, And all her men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the LORD. | 30Therefore, her young men will fall in her public squares; all the warriors will perish in that day. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 31“Behold, I am against you, O most haughty one!” says the Lord GOD of hosts; “For your day has come, The time that I will punish you. | 31Look, I am against you, you arrogant one-- this is the declaration of the Lord GOD of Hosts-- because your day has come, the time when I will punish you. |
| 32The most proud shall stumble and fall, And no one will raise him up; I will kindle a fire in his cities, And it will devour all around him.” | 32The arrogant will stumble and fall with no one to pick him up. I will set fire to his cities, and it will consume everything around him." |
| 33Thus says the LORD of hosts: “The children of Israel were oppressed, Along with the children of Judah; All who took them captive have held them fast; They have refused to let them go. | 33This is what the LORD of Hosts says: Israelites and Judeans alike have been oppressed. All their captors hold them fast; they refuse to release them. |
| 34Their Redeemer is strong; The LORD of hosts is His name. He will thoroughly plead their case, That He may give rest to the land, And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. | 34Their Redeemer is strong; Yahweh of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He might bring rest to the earth but turmoil to those who live in Babylon. |
| 35“A sword is against the Chaldeans,” says the LORD, “Against the inhabitants of Babylon, And against her princes and her wise men. | 35A sword is over the Chaldeans-- this is the LORD's declaration-- against those who live in Babylon, against her officials, and against her sages. |
| 36A sword is against the soothsayers, and they will be fools. A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed. | 36A sword is against the diviners, and they will act foolishly. A sword is against her heroic warriors, and they will be terrified. |
| 37A sword is against their horses, Against their chariots, And against all the mixed peoples who are in her midst; And they will become like women. A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed. | 37A sword is against his horses and chariots and against all the foreigners among them, and they will be like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered. |
| 38A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, And they are insane with their idols. | 38A drought will come on her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of carved images, and they go mad because of terrifying things. |
| 39“Therefore the wild desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals, And the ostriches shall dwell in it. It shall be inhabited no more forever, Nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. | 39Therefore, desert creatures will live with hyenas, and ostriches will also live in her. It will never again be inhabited or lived in through all generations. |
| 40As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah And their neighbors,” says the LORD, “So no one shall reside there, Nor son of man dwell in it. | 40Just as God demolished Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns-- this is the LORD's declaration-- so no one will live there; no human being will even stay in it as a temporary resident. |
| 41“Behold, a people shall come from the north, And a great nation and many kings Shall be raised up from the ends of the earth. | 41Look! A people comes from the north. A great nation and many kings will be stirred up from the remote regions of the earth. |
| 42They shall hold the bow and the lance; They are cruel and shall not show mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea; They shall ride on horses, Set in array, like a man for the battle, Against you, O daughter of Babylon. | 42They grasp bow and javelin. They are cruel and show no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, lined up like men in battle formation against you, Daughter Babylon. |
| 43“The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, And his hands grow feeble; Anguish has taken hold of him, Pangs as of a woman in childbirth. | 43The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his hands fall helpless. Distress has seized him-- pain, like a woman in labor. |
| 44“Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the floodplain of the Jordan Against the dwelling place of the strong; But I will make them suddenly run away from her. And who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her? For who is like Me? Who will arraign Me? And who is that shepherd Who will withstand Me?” | 44"Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. Indeed, I will chase Babylon away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like Me? Who will summon Me? Who is the shepherd who can stand against Me?" |
| 45Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD that He has taken against Babylon, And His purposes that He has proposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out; Surely He will make their dwelling place desolate with them. | 45Therefore, hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies He has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: Certainly the flock's little lambs will be dragged away; certainly the grazing land will be made desolate because of them. |
| 46At the noise of the taking of Babylon The earth trembles, And the cry is heard among the nations. | 46At the sound of Babylon's conquest the earth will quake; a cry will be heard among the nations. |
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