Jeremiah 51:1-28 ▼

1 Thus says Yahweh: “Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai The spirit of a destroyer.

2 I will send strangers to Babylon that they may winnow her And may empty her land to destruction; For on every side they will be against her In the day of her calamity.

3 Let not him who bends his bow bend it, Nor let him rise up in his scale-armor; So do not spare her young men; Devote all her army to destruction.

4 They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, And pierced through in their streets.”

5 For neither Israel nor Judah has been widowed By his God, by Yahweh of hosts, Although their land is full of guilt Before the Holy One of Israel.

6 Flee from the midst of Babylon, And each of you escape with his life! Do not be silenced in her iniquity, For this is Yahweh’s time of vengeance; He is going to render recompense to her.

7 Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of Yahweh, Intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; Therefore the nations are going mad.

8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; Wail over her! Take balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed.

9 We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; Forsake her and let us each go to his own country, For her judgment has touched heaven And lifts up to the very skies.

10 Yahweh has brought about our righteousness; Come and let us recount in Zion The work of Yahweh our God!

11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! Yahweh has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it; For it is the vengeance of Yahweh, vengeance for His temple.

12 Lift up a standard against the walls of Babylon; Make strong the watch; Raise up watchmen; Establish men in ambush! For Yahweh has both purposed and performed What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

13 O you who dwell by abundant waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your end.

14 Yahweh of hosts has sworn by Himself: “Surely I will fill you with a population like locusts, And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you.”

15 It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, And by His understanding He stretched out the heavens.

16 When He gives forth His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain And brings forth the wind from His storehouses.

17 All mankind is senseless, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image, For his molten images are a lie, And there is no breath in them.

18 They are vanity, a work of mockery; In the time of their punishment they will perish.

19 The portion of Jacob is not like these; For the Maker of all is He, And of the tribe of His inheritance; Yahweh of hosts is His name.

20 He says, “You are My instrument of shattering, My weapon of war; And with you I shatter nations, And with you I destroy kingdoms.

21 With you I shatter the horse and his rider, And with you I shatter the chariot and its rider,

22 And with you I shatter man and woman, And with you I shatter old man and youth, And with you I shatter choice man and virgin,

23 And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock, And with you I shatter the farmer and his pair of oxen, And with you I shatter governors and prefects.

24 “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares Yahweh.

25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys the whole earth,” declares Yahweh, “And I will stretch out My hand against you And roll you down from the crags, And I will make you a burnt out mountain.

26 They will not take from you even a stone for a corner Nor a stone for foundations, But you will be a perpetual desolation,” declares Yahweh.

27 Lift up a standard in the land, Blow a trumpet among the nations! Set apart the nations against her; Summon against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; Appoint a marshal against her; Bring up the horses like bristly locusts.

28 Set apart the nations against her, The kings of the Medes, Their governors and all their prefects And every land of their rule.