Jeremiah 51:11-13

Contemporary English Version

The Lord Wants Babylon Destroyed

¹¹I, the Lord,
    want Babylon destroyed,
because its army
    destroyed my temple.
So, you kings of Media,^[a]
sharpen your arrows
    and pick up your shields.
¹²Raise the signal flag
    and attack the city walls.
Post more guards.
Have soldiers watch the city
    and set up ambushes.
I have made plans
to destroy Babylon,
    and nothing will stop me.

¹³^(A) People of Babylon, you live
along the Euphrates River
and are surrounded by canals.
You are rich,
but now the time has come
for you to die.^[b]

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Footnotes

51.11 kings of Media: Probably kings of smaller kingdoms that were part of the Median Empire (see also verse 27 and the note there).
51.13 for you to die: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.