Jeremiah 51:12-30
Expanded Bible
12 Lift up a banner [C a battle standard] against the walls of Babylon!
·Bring more [L Strengthen the] guards.
Put the watchmen in their places,
and ·get ready for a secret attack [prepare an ambush]!
The Lord will certainly do what he has planned
and what he said he would do against the people of Babylon.
13 You [C Babylon] live near ·much [mighty] water [C the Euphrates]
and are rich with many treasures,
but your end as a nation has come.
·It is time to stop you from robbing other nations [or Your destiny is fixed].
14 The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] has promised ·in his own name [L by himself]:
‘I will surely fill you [C Babylon] with so many men [C enemy soldiers] they will be like locusts [46:23; Judg. 6:5; 7:12; Nah. 3:15–17; Rev. 9:7].
They will ·stand [raise] over you and shout their victory.’
15 “The Lord made the earth by his power.
He used his wisdom to ·build [L establish] the world
and his understanding to stretch out the ·skies [heavens; Prov. 3:19–20; 8:22–31].
16 When he ·thunders [L gives forth his voice], the waters in the skies roar.
He makes ·clouds [mist] rise ·all over [L from the ends of] the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17 “People are so stupid and know so little.
Goldsmiths are ·made ashamed [humiliated] by their idols,
because those statues are ·only false gods [L deceptive].
They have no breath in them.
18 They are worth nothing; ·people make fun of them [or works of delusion].
·When they are judged [L At the time of their punishment], they will be destroyed.
19 But Jacob’s Portion [C God] is not like the idols.
He ·made [formed; shaped] everything,
and ·he chose Israel to be his special people [Israel is the tribe of his inheritance].
The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] is his name.
20 “You are my war club,
my battle weapon.
I use you to ·smash [shatter; C and so throughout this passage] nations.
I use you to destroy kingdoms.
21 I use you to smash horses and riders.
I use you to smash chariots and drivers.
22 I use you to smash men and women.
I use you to smash old people and young people.
I use you to smash young men and young women.
23 I use you to smash shepherds and flocks.
I use you to smash farmers and oxen.
I use you to smash governors and ·officers [officials; leaders].
24 “But I will pay back Babylon and all the ·Babylonians [L Chaldeans] for all the ·evil things [disasters; troubles] they did to ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple] in your ·sight [L eyes],” says the Lord.
25 The Lord says,
“Babylon, you are a destroying mountain,
and I am against you.
You have destroyed the whole land.
I will ·put [reach; stretch] my hand out against you.
I will roll you off the ·cliffs [rocks; crags],
and I will make you a burned-out mountain.
26 People will not ·find any rocks in Babylon big enough for [L take from you] cornerstones.
People will not take any rocks from you for a foundation [C of a building],
because your city will be ·just a pile of ruins [a desolation] forever,” says the Lord.
27 “Lift up a banner [C a battle standard] in the land!
Blow the ·trumpet [ram’s horn] among the nations!
·Get the nations ready for battle against Babylon [L Consecrate the nations against it].
Call these kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz [C near Lake Urmia and Lake Van to the northwest of Babylon, and part of the coalition against it] against her [C to fight].
Choose a commander ·to lead the army against Babylon [L against it].
·Send [L Bring up] so many horses that they are like a swarm of locusts.
28 ·Get the nations ready for battle against Babylon [L Consecrate the nations against it]—
the kings of the Medes,
their governors and all their officers,
and all the countries they rule.
29 The land shakes and ·moves in pain [writhes],
because the Lord will do what he has planned to Babylon.
He will make Babylon an ·empty desert [desolation],
where no one will live.
30 Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting.
They stay in their ·protected cities [strongholds].
Their strength is gone,
and they have become like women [C frightened].
Babylon’s houses are burning.
The bars [C of its gates] are broken.
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