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Jeremiah 51
International Standard Version
Jeremiah 51
International Standard Version
Judgment against Babylon
51 This is what the Lord says:
“Look, I’m going to stir up a destroying wind
against Babylon and the inhabitants of Leb-kamai.[a]
2 I’ll send foreigners to Babylon,
and they’ll winnow her,
and devastate[b] her land.
They’ll come against her from every side
on the day of her[c] disaster.
3 Don’t let the archer[d] bend the bow;
don’t let him rise up in his armor.
Don’t spare her young men.
Completely destroy her entire army.
4 The slain will fall in the land of Chaldea,
pierced through in her streets.
5 Indeed, Israel and Judah haven’t been
abandoned[e] by their[f] God,
by the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
although their land is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.”
6 Flee from Babylon,[g]
and each of you, escape with your life!
Don’t be destroyed[h] because of her guilt,
for it’s time for the Lord’s vengeance.
He is paying back what is due to her.
7 Babylon 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.
8 Suddenly, Babylon fell down and was shattered.
Wail for her!
Bring balm for her wound,
perhaps she will be healed.
9 We 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.
10 The Lord will vindicate us.
Come! Let us declare the work of the Lord our God in Zion.
11 Sharpen 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.
12 Lift up the battle standard[i] against Babylon’s walls.
Strengthen the guard;
post watchmen.[j]
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.
13 You who live beside many waters,
rich in treasures,
your end has come,
your life thread is cut.[k]
14 The Lord of the Heavenly Armies
has sworn by himself:
“I’ll surely fill you with soldiers[l] like a swarm of locusts,
and they’ll sing songs of victory over you.”
Praise to the God of Jacob
15 He made the earth by his power.
He established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding he spread out the heavens.
16 When 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.
17 Everyone is stupid[m] and without knowledge.
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his own idols,
for his images are false,[n]
and there is no life in them.
18 They’re worthless, a work of mockery,
and when the time of punishment comes,[o]
they’ll perish.
19 The Portion of Jacob[p] is not like these.
He made everything,
including the tribe of his inheritance.
The Lord of the Heavenly Armies is his name.
The Lord’s Instrument of Judgment
20 “You are my war-club and
weapons of war.
I’ll smash nations with you
and destroy kingdoms with you.
21 I’ll smash the horse and its rider with you.
I’ll smash the chariot and its rider with you.
22 I’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[q] with you.
23 I’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 “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, 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.
26 They won’t get a cornerstone
or a foundation stone from you,
because you will be a wasteland forever,”
declares the Lord.
27 Lift 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.
28 Consecrate the nations against her,
the kings of the Medes, their governors, their prefects,
and every land under their domination.
29 The land quakes and writhes
because the Lord’s purposes
against Babylon stand firm,
to make the land of Babylon a waste without inhabitants.
30 The 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.
31 One runner runs to meet another runner,[r]
and one messenger to meet another messenger,[s]
to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been seized
from one end to the other.[t]
32 The fords have been captured,
and the marshes burned with fire.
The soldiers are terrified.
33 For 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.[u]
In just a little while, the time of her harvest will come.”
Judah’s Complaint against Babylon
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.
35 May 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.
36 Therefore 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.[v]
37 Babylon will become a heap of ruins,
a refuge for jackals,
a desolate place
and an object of scorn.[w]
38 They’ll roar together like young lions;
they’ll growl like lion cubs.
39 When they’re excited[x] 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’ll bring them down like lambs for the slaughter,
like rams with male goats.
41 “How Sheshak[y] will be captured,
and the prince of all the earth seized!
How Babylon will become an object of horror
among the nations!
42 The sea will come up against Babylon,
and she will be covered by wave upon wave.[z]
43 Her 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.
44 I’ll punish Bel[aa] 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 of her, my people,
flee for your lives from the Lord’s anger!
46 Do this[ab] now, so your heart does not grow faint,
and so you don’t become frightened
because of the rumors[ac] that are heard in the land—
a rumor comes one year[ad] and then after it
another rumor[ae] comes the next year[af]
about violence in the land
and one ruler against another ruler.[ag]
47 Therefore, 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.
48 Then 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 “So Babylon will fall
because of the slain of Israel,
even as the slain of all the earth
have fallen because of Babylon.
50 Go, you who escaped the sword!
Don’t stand around!
Remember the Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come to your mind.
51 We 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 “Therefore, look, days are coming,”
declares the Lord,
“when I’ll punish her idols,
and throughout her land the wounded will groan.
53 Though Babylon should reach up to the heavens
and fortify her high fortresses,
from me destroyers will come to her,”
declares the Lord.
54 “The sound of a cry is coming from Babylon,
great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans.
55 For the Lord is destroying Babylon,
and he will make the loud sounds from her disappear.[ah]
Their waves will roar like many waters,
the noise of their voices will sound forth.
56 Indeed, 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.
57 I’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.
58 This 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.”
Jeremiah’s Symbolic Message against Babylon
59 This is[ai] the message that Jeremiah the prophet delivered[aj] 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. 60 Jeremiah wrote on a single scroll all the disasters that would come on Babylon, all these things that were written about Babylon. 61 Jeremiah told Seraiah, “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, 62 and 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.’ 63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a rock around it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates. 64 Then say, ‘Babylon will sink like this and won’t rise from the disaster that I’m bringing on her. Her people[ak] will be exhausted.’”
This concludes the writings of Jeremiah.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 51:1 I.e. a cryptogram for Chaldea
- Jeremiah 51:2 Lit. empty out
- Jeremiah 51:2 The Heb. lacks her
- Jeremiah 51:3 Lit. one who bends the bow
- Jeremiah 51:5 Lit. widowed
- Jeremiah 51:5 Lit. his
- Jeremiah 51:6 Lit. from the midst of Babylon
- Jeremiah 51:6 Or silent
- Jeremiah 51:12 I.e. Give the signal to attack
- Jeremiah 51:12 Or guards
- Jeremiah 51:13 Or the measure of your unjust gain
- Jeremiah 51:14 Lit. men
- Jeremiah 51:17 I.e. like a beast
- Jeremiah 51:17 Lit. deception
- Jeremiah 51:18 Lit. at the time of their punishment
- Jeremiah 51:19 I.e. Portion of Jacob is a name for the Lord
- Jeremiah 51:22 Or virgin
- Jeremiah 51:31 Lit. to meet a runner
- Jeremiah 51:31 Lit. to meet a messenger
- Jeremiah 51:31 Lit. from the end
- Jeremiah 51:33 I.e. threshing floors were pounded and smoothed in preparation for an upcoming harvest
- Jeremiah 51:36 I.e. dry up the source of Babylon’s waters
- Jeremiah 51:37 Lit. hissing; i.e. as a sign of mocking and contempt
- Jeremiah 51:39 Lit. hot
- Jeremiah 51:41 Sheshak is a cryptogram for Babylon.
- Jeremiah 51:42 Lit. its many waves
- Jeremiah 51:44 Bel was another name for Marduk, the sun god of Babylon.
- Jeremiah 51:46 Lit. And
- Jeremiah 51:46 Lit. rumor
- Jeremiah 51:46 Lit. in a year
- Jeremiah 51:46 Lit. a rumor
- Jeremiah 51:46 Lit. in a year
- Jeremiah 51:46 Lit. a ruler against a ruler
- Jeremiah 51:55 Lit. perish
- Jeremiah 51:59 The Heb. lacks This is
- Jeremiah 51:59 Lit. commanded
- Jeremiah 51:64 Lit. They
Jeremiah 51
New International Version
Jeremiah 51
New International Version
51 This is what the Lord says:
“See, I will stir(A) up the spirit of a destroyer
against Babylon(B) and the people of Leb Kamai.[a]
2 I will send foreigners(C) to Babylon
to winnow(D) her and to devastate her land;
they will oppose her on every side
in the day(E) of her disaster.
3 Let not the archer string his bow,(F)
nor let him put on his armor.(G)
Do not spare her young men;
completely destroy[b] her army.
4 They will fall(H) down slain in Babylon,[c]
fatally wounded in her streets.(I)
5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken(J)
by their God, the Lord Almighty,
though their land[d] is full of guilt(K)
before the Holy One of Israel.
6 “Flee(L) from Babylon!
Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of her sins.(M)
It is time(N) for the Lord’s vengeance;(O)
he will repay(P) her what she deserves.
7 Babylon was a gold cup(Q) in the Lord’s hand;
she made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore they have now gone mad.
8 Babylon will suddenly fall(R) and be broken.
Wail over her!
Get balm(S) for her pain;
perhaps she can be healed.
9 “‘We would have healed Babylon,
but she cannot be healed;
let us leave(T) her and each go to our own land,
for her judgment(U) reaches to the skies,
it rises as high as the heavens.’
11 “Sharpen the arrows,(X)
take up the shields!(Y)
The Lord has stirred up the kings(Z) of the Medes,(AA)
because his purpose(AB) is to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will take vengeance,(AC)
vengeance for his temple.(AD)
12 Lift up a banner(AE) against the walls of Babylon!
Reinforce the guard,
station the watchmen,(AF)
prepare an ambush!(AG)
The Lord will carry out his purpose,(AH)
his decree against the people of Babylon.
13 You who live by many waters(AI)
and are rich in treasures,(AJ)
your end has come,
the time for you to be destroyed.(AK)
14 The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself:(AL)
I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts,(AM)
and they will shout(AN) in triumph over you.
15 “He made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom(AO)
and stretched(AP) out the heavens by his understanding.(AQ)
16 When he thunders,(AR) the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain(AS)
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.(AT)
17 “Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;(AU)
they have no breath in them.
18 They are worthless,(AV) the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.
19 He who is the Portion(AW) of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including the people of his inheritance(AX)—
the Lord Almighty is his name.
20 “You are my war club,(AY)
my weapon for battle—
with you I shatter(AZ) nations,(BA)
with you I destroy kingdoms,
21 with you I shatter horse and rider,(BB)
with you I shatter chariot(BC) and driver,
22 with you I shatter man and woman,
with you I shatter old man and youth,
with you I shatter young man and young woman,(BD)
23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
with you I shatter governors and officials.(BE)
24 “Before your eyes I will repay(BF) Babylon(BG) and all who live in Babylonia[e] for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.
25 “I am against(BH) you, you destroying mountain,
you who destroy the whole earth,”(BI)
declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand(BJ) against you,
roll you off the cliffs,
and make you a burned-out mountain.(BK)
26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
nor any stone for a foundation,
for you will be desolate(BL) forever,”
declares the Lord.
27 “Lift up a banner(BM) in the land!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
summon against her these kingdoms:(BN)
Ararat,(BO) Minni and Ashkenaz.(BP)
Appoint a commander against her;
send up horses like a swarm of locusts.(BQ)
28 Prepare the nations for battle against her—
the kings of the Medes,(BR)
their governors and all their officials,
and all the countries they rule.(BS)
29 The land trembles(BT) and writhes,
for the Lord’s purposes(BU) against Babylon stand—
to lay waste(BV) the land of Babylon
so that no one will live there.(BW)
30 Babylon’s warriors(BX) have stopped fighting;
they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
they have become weaklings.(BY)
Her dwellings are set on fire;(BZ)
the bars(CA) of her gates are broken.
31 One courier(CB) follows another
and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his entire city is captured,(CC)
32 the river crossings seized,
the marshes set on fire,(CD)
and the soldiers terrified.(CE)”
33 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Daughter Babylon(CF) is like a threshing floor(CG)
at the time it is trampled;
the time to harvest(CH) her will soon come.(CI)”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar(CJ) king of Babylon has devoured(CK) us,(CL)
he has thrown us into confusion,
he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
and then has spewed(CM) us out.
35 May the violence(CN) done to our flesh[f] be on Babylon,”
say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
says Jerusalem.(CO)
36 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“See, I will defend your cause(CP)
and avenge(CQ) you;
I will dry up(CR) her sea
and make her springs dry.
37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
a haunt(CS) of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,(CT)
a place where no one lives.(CU)
38 Her people all roar like young lions,(CV)
they growl like lion cubs.
39 But while they are aroused,
I will set out a feast for them
and make them drunk,(CW)
so that they shout with laughter—
then sleep forever(CX) and not awake,”
declares the Lord.(CY)
40 “I will bring them down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats.(CZ)
41 “How Sheshak[g](DA) will be captured,(DB)
the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate(DC) Babylon will be
among the nations!
42 The sea will rise over Babylon;
its roaring waves(DD) will cover her.
43 Her towns will be desolate,
a dry and desert(DE) land,
a land where no one lives,
through which no one travels.(DF)
44 I will punish Bel(DG) in Babylon
and make him spew out(DH) what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
And the wall(DI) of Babylon will fall.
45 “Come out(DJ) of her, my people!
Run(DK) for your lives!
Run from the fierce anger(DL) of the Lord.
46 Do not lose heart(DM) or be afraid(DN)
when rumors(DO) are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
rumors of violence in the land
and of ruler against ruler.
47 For the time will surely come
when I will punish the idols(DP) of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced(DQ)
and her slain will all lie fallen within her.(DR)
48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will shout(DS) for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north(DT)
destroyers(DU) will attack her,”
declares the Lord.
49 “Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain,
just as the slain in all the earth
have fallen because of Babylon.(DV)
50 You who have escaped the sword,
leave(DW) and do not linger!
Remember(DX) the Lord in a distant land,(DY)
and call to mind Jerusalem.”
51 “We are disgraced,(DZ)
for we have been insulted
and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s house.”(EA)
52 “But days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will punish her idols,(EB)
and throughout her land
the wounded will groan.(EC)
53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens(ED)
and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
I will send destroyers(EE) against her,”
declares the Lord.
54 “The sound of a cry(EF) comes from Babylon,
the sound of great destruction(EG)
from the land of the Babylonians.[h]
55 The Lord will destroy Babylon;
he will silence(EH) her noisy din.
Waves(EI) of enemies will rage like great waters;
the roar of their voices will resound.
56 A destroyer(EJ) will come against Babylon;
her warriors will be captured,
and their bows will be broken.(EK)
For the Lord is a God of retribution;
he will repay(EL) in full.
57 I will make her officials(EM) and wise(EN) men drunk,(EO)
her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep(EP) forever and not awake,”
declares the King,(EQ) whose name is the Lord Almighty.
58 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Babylon’s thick wall(ER) will be leveled
and her high gates(ES) set on fire;
the peoples(ET) exhaust(EU) themselves for nothing,
the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”(EV)
59 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah,(EW) the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah(EX) king of Judah in the fourth(EY) year of his reign. 60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll(EZ) about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. 61 He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62 Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate(FA) forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.(FB) 64 Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more(FC) because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people(FD) will fall.’”(FE)
The words of Jeremiah end(FF) here.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 51:1 Leb Kamai is a cryptogram for Chaldea, that is, Babylonia.
- Jeremiah 51:3 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
- Jeremiah 51:4 Or Chaldea
- Jeremiah 51:5 Or Almighty, / and the land of the Babylonians
- Jeremiah 51:24 Or Chaldea; also in verse 35
- Jeremiah 51:35 Or done to us and to our children
- Jeremiah 51:41 Sheshak is a cryptogram for Babylon.
- Jeremiah 51:54 Or Chaldeans
Jeremiah 51
King James Version
Jeremiah 51
King James Version
51 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
2 And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
3 Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
5 For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10 The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.
11 Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.
12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
14 The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
15 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
16 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
17 Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18 They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.
20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
24 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord.
25 Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the Lord.
27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
31 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
32 And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
33 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.
35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.
39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
42 The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord.
46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the Lord.
49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's house.
52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord.
54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
55 Because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the Lord God of recompences shall surely requite.
57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
58 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;
62 Then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:
64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
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