Jeremiah 51
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1This is what the LORD says: “I will stir up a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Babylonia.1This is what the LORD says: "Look, I'm going to stir up a destroying wind against Babylon and the inhabitants of Leb-kamai.
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.2I'll send foreigners to Babylon, and they'll winnow her, and devastate her land. They'll come against her from every side on the day of her disaster.
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.3Don't let the archer bend the bow; don't let him rise up in his armor. Don't spare her young men. Completely destroy her entire army.
4They will fall dead in the land of the Babylonians, slashed to death in her streets.4The slain will fall in the land of Chaldea, pierced through in her streets.
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.”5Indeed, Israel and Judah haven't been abandoned by their God, by the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, although their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel."
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.6Flee from Babylon, and each of you, escape with your life! Don't be destroyed because of her guilt, for it's time for the LORD's vengeance. He is paying back what is due to her.
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.7Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD's hand, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine, therefore the nations have gone mad.
8But suddenly Babylon, too, has fallen. Weep for her. Give her medicine. Perhaps she can yet be healed.8Suddenly, Babylon fell down and was shattered. Wail for her! Bring balm for her wound, perhaps she will be healed.
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.9We tried to heal Babylon, but she wouldn't be healed. Leave her, and let each of us go to his own country. For her judgment has reached to the heavens, and is lifted up to the sky.
10The LORD has vindicated us. Come, let us announce in Jerusalem everything the LORD our God has done.10The LORD will vindicate us. Come! Let us declare the work of the LORD our God in Zion.
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.11Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes— he has decided to destroy Babylon. Indeed, it's the LORD's vengeance, vengeance for his Temple.
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.12Lift up the battle standard against Babylon's walls. Strengthen the guard; post watchmen. Set men in position for an ambush. For the LORD will both plan and carry out what he has declared against the inhabitants of Babylon.
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.13You who live beside many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, your life thread is cut.
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 LORD14The LORD of the Heavenly Armies has sworn by himself: "I'll surely fill you with soldiers like a swarm of locusts, and they'll sing songs of victory over you."
15The LORD made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens.15He made the earth by his power. He established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he spread out the heavens.
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.16When his voice sounds, there is thunder from the waters of heaven, and he makes clouds rise up from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings wind out of his storehouses.
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.17Everyone is stupid and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his own idols, for his images are false, and there is no life in them.
18Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies! On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.18They're worthless, a work of mockery, and when the time of punishment comes, they'll perish.
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 Punishment19The Portion of Jacob is not like these. He made everything, including the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name.
20“You are my battle-ax and sword,” says the LORD. “With you I will shatter nations and destroy many kingdoms.20"You are my war-club and weapons of war. I'll smash nations with you and destroy kingdoms with you.
21With you I will shatter armies— destroying the horse and rider, the chariot and charioteer.21I'll smash the horse and its rider with you. I'll smash the chariot and its rider with you.
22With you I will shatter men and women, old people and children, young men and young women.22I'll smash man and woman with you. I'll smash old man and young boy with you. I'll smash young man and young woman with you.
23With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks, farmers and oxen, captains and officers.23I'll smash the shepherd and his flock with you. I'll smash the farmer and his team of oxen with you. I'll smash governors and officials with you.
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.24"Before your eyes I'll repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all the evil that they did in Zion," declares the LORD.
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.25"Look, I'm against you, destroying mountain, who destroys the whole earth," declares the LORD. "I'll stretch out my hand against you and roll you down from the crags. And I'll make you a burned-out mountain.
26You will be desolate forever. Even your stones will never again be used for building. You will be completely wiped out,” says the LORD.26They won't get a cornerstone or a foundation stone from you, because you will be a wasteland forever," declares the LORD.
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!27Lift up a battle standard in the land. Blow a trumpet among the nations. Consecrate the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz against her. Appoint a commander against her, bring up horses like bristling locusts.
28Bring against her the armies of the nations— led by the kings of the Medes and all their captains and officers.28Consecrate the nations against her, the kings of the Medes, their governors, their prefects, and every land under their domination.
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.29The land quakes and writhes because the LORD's purposes against Babylon stand firm, to make the land of Babylon a waste without inhabitants.
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.30The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting. They stay in their strongholds; their strength is dried up; they have become like women. Her buildings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken.
31The news is passed from one runner to the next as the messengers hurry to tell the king that his city has been captured.31One runner runs to meet another runner, and one messenger to meet another messenger, to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been seized from one end to the other.
32All the escape routes are blocked. The marshes have been set aflame, and the army is in a panic.32The fords have been captured, and the marshes burned with fire. The soldiers are terrified.
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.”33For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it's pounded down. In just a little while, the time of her harvest will come."
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.34"King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me and crushed me. He set me down like an empty vessel. He swallowed me like a monster, and filled his belly with my delicacies. Then he washed me away.
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 Babylon35May the violence done to me and my flesh be on Babylon," says the inhabitant of Zion. "May my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea," says Jerusalem.
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,36Therefore this is what the LORD says: "Look, I'm going to argue your case and take vengeance for you. I'll dry up her sea and make her fountain dry.
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.37Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a refuge for jackals, a desolate place and an object of scorn.
38Her people will roar together like strong lions. They will growl like lion cubs.38They'll roar together like young lions; they'll growl like lion cubs.
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.39When they're excited I'll serve them their banquet, and make them drunk until they're merry. They'll sleep forever and won't wake up," declares the LORD.
40“I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats to be sacrificed.40"I'll bring them down like lambs for the slaughter, like rams with male goats.
41“How Babylon is fallen— great Babylon, praised throughout the earth! Now she has become an object of horror among the nations.41"How Sheshak will be captured, and the prince of all the earth seized! How Babylon will become an object of horror among the nations!
42The sea has risen over Babylon; she is covered by its crashing waves.42The sea will come up against Babylon, and she will be covered by wave upon wave.
43Her cities now lie in ruins; she is a dry wasteland where no one lives or even passes by.43Her cities will become an object of horror, a dry land and a desert, a land in which no one lives, and through which no human being passes.
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 Exiles44I'll punish Bel in Babylon, and I'll make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth. The nations will no longer stream to him. Even the wall of Babylon will fall.
45“Come out, my people, flee from Babylon. Save yourselves! Run from the LORD’s fierce anger.45"Come out of her, my people, flee for your lives from the LORD's anger!
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.46Do this now, so your heart does not grow faint, and so you don't become frightened because of the rumors that are heard in the land— a rumor comes one year and then after it another rumor comes the next year about violence in the land and one ruler against another ruler.
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.47Therefore, look, days are coming when I'll punish the idols of Babylon. Her entire land will be put to shame, and all her slain will fall in her midst.
48Then the heavens and earth will rejoice, for out of the north will come destroying armies against Babylon,” says the LORD.48Then the heavens and the earth and all that are in them will shout for joy about Babylon because the destroyers will come out of the north against her," declares the LORD.
49“Just as Babylon killed the people of Israel and others throughout the world, so must her people be killed.49"So Babylon will fall because of the slain of Israel, even as the slain of all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.
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.”50Go, you who escaped the sword! Don't stand around! Remember the LORD from far away, and let Jerusalem come to your mind.
51“We are ashamed,” the people say. “We are insulted and disgraced because the LORD’s Temple has been defiled by foreigners.”51We have been put to shame because we have heard insults. Disgrace has covered our faces because foreigners have come into the Holy Places of the LORD's house.
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.52"Therefore, look, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I'll punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan.
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 Destruction53Though Babylon should reach up to the heavens and fortify her high fortresses, from me destroyers will come to her," declares the LORD.
54“Listen! Hear the cry of Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.54"The sound of a cry is coming from Babylon, great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans.
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.55For the LORD is destroying Babylon, and he will make the loud sounds from her disappear. Their waves will roar like many waters, the noise of their voices will sound forth.
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.56Indeed, the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon. Her warriors are captured, and her bows are broken. For the LORD is a God of recompense, and he will repay in full.
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.57I'll make their leaders, their wise men, their governors, their deputies, and their warriors drunk so that they sleep forever and don't wake up," declares the King whose name is the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
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 Babylon58This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "The broad wall of Babylon will be completely leveled, and its high gate set on fire. and so the peoples toil for nothing, and the nations weary themselves only for fire."
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.59This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet delivered to Neriah's son Seraiah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with King Zedekiah of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster.
60Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the terrible disasters that would soon come upon Babylon—all the words written here.60Jeremiah wrote on a single scroll all the disasters that would come on Babylon, all these things that were written about Babylon.
61He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, read aloud everything on this scroll.61Jeremiah told Seraiah, "When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words,
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.’62and say, 'LORD, you have declared about this place that you would destroy it so that there wouldn't be an inhabitant in it, neither human nor animal, because it will be a wasteland forever.'
63When you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone and throw it into the Euphrates River.63When you finish reading this scroll, tie a rock around it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates.
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.64Then say, 'Babylon will sink like this and won't rise from the disaster that I'm bringing on her. Her people will be exhausted.'" This concludes the writings of Jeremiah.
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.The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
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Jeremiah 50
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