Jeremiah 50
1The word that the Lord has spoken about Babylon and about the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.
2“Announce it among the Gentiles, and make it known. Lift up a sign. Proclaim it and do not conceal it. Say this: ‘Babylon has been captured. Bel has been confounded. Merodach has been conquered. Their graven things have been confounded. Their idols have not survived.’
3For a nation has ascended against her from the north, which will set her land in desolation. And there will be no one who may live within it, from man even to beast. For they have been removed and have gone away.
4In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the sons of Israel will advance, they and the sons of Judah together. Weeping as they walk, they will hurry on, and they will seek the Lord their God.
5They will ask the way to Zion; their faces will be set toward this place. They will arrive and will be joined to the Lord by an everlasting covenant, which nothing will wipe away into oblivion.
6My people have become a lost flock. Their shepherds have led them astray and have caused them to wander in the mountains. They have crossed from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place.
7All whom they have found, they have devoured. And their enemies have said: ‘We have not sinned. For it is they who have sinned against the Lord, the beauty of justice, and against the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’
8Withdraw from the midst of Babylon, and go forth from the land of the Chaldeans. And be like young goats before the flock.
9For behold, I am raising up, and I will lead against Babylon, a congregation of great nations from the land of the north. And they will be prepared against her, and from there she will be taken. Their arrows, like those of a strong man, a killer, will not return empty.
10And Chaldea will become a prey. All who lay waste to her will be filled, says the Lord.
11For you exult and you speak great things, plundering my inheritance. For you have spread out like calves upon the grass, and you have bellowed like bulls.
12Your mother has been exceedingly shamed, and she who bore you has become equal to the dust. Behold, she will be the last among the nations, a desert, impassable and dry.
13By the wrath of the Lord, it will not be inhabited. Instead, it will be entirely desolate. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be stupefied and will hiss over all her wounds.
14Prepare yourselves against Babylon, on every side, all you who bend the bow. Make war against her! You should not spare the arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord.
15Cry out against her! For where she has put forth a hand, her foundations have fallen, her walls have been destroyed. For it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance against her! Just as she has done, do so to her.
16Destroy the founder from Babylon, and the one who holds the sickle in the time of harvest. Before the face of the sword of the dove, each one will turn back to his people, and every one will flee to his own land.
17Israel is a scattered flock. The lions have driven him away. First, the king of Assyria devoured him. And last, this Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has taken away his bones.
18Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will visit the king of Babylon and his land, just as I have visited the king of Assyria.
19And I will lead back Israel to his habitation. And he will pasture on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul will be satiated at mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel will be sought, and there will be none. And the sin of Judah will be sought, and none will be found. For I will be forgiving to them, whom I will leave behind.
21Ascend against the land of the rulers, and visit against its inhabitants! Scatter and destroy whatever has been left behind them, says the Lord, and act according to all that I have instructed you.
22A voice of war in the land, and great destruction!
23How has the mallet of the entire earth been broken and crushed? How has Babylon been turned into a desert among the nations?
24I have ensnared you, and you have been captured, O Babylon, and you did not realize it. You have been discovered and seized, because you provoked the Lord.
25The Lord has opened his storehouse, and he has brought forth the instruments of his wrath. For there is work for the Lord, the God of hosts, within the land of the Chaldeans.
26Advance against her from the furthest regions! Open, so that those who will trample her may go out! Take stones from the road, and gather them into piles, and destroy her. And let there be nothing left of her.
27Scatter all her strong ones. Let them descend to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has arrived, the time of their visitation.
28It is the voice of those who are fleeing and of those who have escaped from the land of Babylon: to announce in Zion the revenge of the Lord our God, the revenge of his Temple.
29Announce it to the many in Babylon, to all who bend the bow. Stand together against her all around, and let no one escape. Repay her according to her work. In accord with all that she has done, do to her. For she has raised herself up against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.
30For this reason, her young men will fall in her streets. And all her men of war will be silenced, in that day, says the Lord.
31Behold, I am against you, O proud one, says the Lord, the God of hosts. For your day has arrived, the time of your visitation.
32And the proud one will fall and be ruined. And there will be no one who may lift him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour everything around him.”
33Thus says the Lord of hosts: “The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have endured calumny together. All who have seized them are holding them and refusing to release them.
34Their redeemer is strong. The Lord of hosts is his name. He will defend their case in judgment, so that he may terrify the land and disturb the inhabitants of Babylon.
35A sword is for the Chaldeans, says the Lord, and for the inhabitants of Babylon, and for her leaders, and for her wise ones.
36A sword is for her diviners, who will be fooled. A sword is for her strong ones, who will be afraid.
37A sword is for their horses, and for their chariots, and for all the common people who are in her midst. And they will be like women. A sword is for her storehouses, and they will be plundered.
38A drought is over her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and they glory in portents.
39Because of this, dragons will live there with the fig fauns, and ostriches will live in it. And it will no longer be inhabited, even in perpetuity, nor will it be raised up, even from generation to generation.
40Just as the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and their neighboring towns, says the Lord, no man will live there, and a son of man will not tend it.
41Behold, a people arrives from the north, and a great nation. And many kings will rise up from the ends of the earth.
42They will take up the bow and the shield. They are cruel and merciless. Their voice will sound out, like the sea, and they will ride upon horses, like a man prepared for battle against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, and his hands have been weakened. Anguish has overtaken him, like the pains of a woman giving birth.
44Behold, he will ascend like a lion from the arrogance of the Jordan to the robust beauty. For I will cause him to rush upon her suddenly. And who will be the elect one, whom I may appoint over her? For who is like me? And who can endure me? And who is that pastor who can withstand my countenance?”
45Because of this, listen to the counsel of the Lord, which he has conceived in his mind against Babylon, and to his thoughts, which he has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: “Certainly the little ones of the flocks will pull them down, unless their habitation will have been destroyed with them.
46At the voice of the captivity of Babylon, the earth has been moved, and an outcry has been heard among the nations.”
1The word that the Lord spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
2Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
3For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
4In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God.
5They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
6My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
7All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.
8Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.
9For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.
10And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord.
11Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;
12Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
14Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the Lord.
15Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.
16Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
17Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
18Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.
21Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the Lord, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
22A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
23How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
24I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord.
25The Lord hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord God of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
26Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.
27Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
28The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple.
29Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.
30Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord.
31Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.
32And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.
33Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.
34Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
36A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
37A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
38A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
39Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
41Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
42They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
43The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
44Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
45Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.
46At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.