Jeremiah 50:1-13 ▼

1 The word which Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet:

2 “Declare and make it heard among the nations. Make it heard and lift up a standard. Do not conceal it but say, ‘Babylon has been captured; Bel has been put to shame; Marduk has been shattered; Her images have been put to shame; her idols have been shattered.’

3 For a nation has come up against her out of the north; it will make her land an object of horror, and there will be no inhabitant in it. Both man and beast have wandered off; they have gone away!

4 “In those days and at that time,” declares Yahweh, “the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah as well; they will go along weeping as they go, and it will be Yahweh their God they will seek.

5 They will ask for the way to Zion—turning their faces in its direction and saying, ‘Come!’—in order that they may join themselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.

6 “My people have become lost sheep; Their shepherds have led them astray. They have made them turn away on the mountains; They have gone along from mountain to hill And have forgotten their resting place.

7 All who came out against them have devoured them; And their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty, Inasmuch as they have sinned against Yahweh, who is the abode of righteousness, Even Yahweh, the hope of their fathers.’

8 “Wander away from the midst of Babylon And go forth from the land of the Chaldeans; Be also like male goats at the head of the flock.

9 For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon An assembly of great nations from the land of the north, And they will arrange their battle lines against her; From there she will be taken captive. Their arrows will be like a warrior who makes one childless Who does not return empty-handed.

10 Chaldea will become spoil; All who take her spoil will have enough,” declares Yahweh.

11 “Because you are glad, because you exult, O you who plunder My inheritance, Because you skip about like a threshing heifer And neigh like valiant steeds,

12 Your mother will be greatly ashamed; She who gave you birth will be humiliated. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, A wilderness, a parched land, and a desert.

13 Because of the wrath of Yahweh she will not be inhabited, But she will be completely desolate; Everyone who passes by Babylon will be in desolation And will hiss because of all her wounds.