God’s Judgment on Babylon
1This is what the Lord says:
I am about to stir up a destructive wind Or stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon Jr 4:11-12; 50:9
and against the population of Leb-qamai. Lit heart of my adversaries = Chaldeans
2I will send strangers to Babylon
who will scatter her and strip her land bare, Jr 15:7; Mt 3:12
for they will come against her
from every side in the day of disaster.
3Don’t let the archer string his bow;
don’t let him put on Hb obscure his armor. Jb 41:13; Jr 46:4
Don’t spare her young men;
completely destroy her entire army!
4Those who were slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans,
those who were pierced through, in her streets. Jr 51:47,52
5For Israel and Judah are not left widowed
by their God, the Lord of Hosts,
though their land is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel. Ps 78:41; Is 37:23; Jr 50:29
6Leave Babylon; Jr 50:8; Rv 18:4
save your lives, each of you! Jr 48:6; 51:45
Don’t perish because of her guilt.
For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance —
He will pay her what she deserves. Ps 28:4; 137:8; Is 66:6
making the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine; Rv 14:8; 18:3
therefore, the nations go mad. Jr 25:16
8Suddenly Babylon fell and was shattered.
Wail for her;
get balm Jr 8:22; 46:11 for her wound —
perhaps she can be healed.
9We tried to heal Babylon,
but she could not be healed.
Abandon her!
Let each of us go to his own land, Is 13:14
for her judgment extends to the sky
and reaches as far as the clouds. Rv 18:5
come, let’s tell in Zion
what the Lord our God has accomplished. Jr 50:28
11Sharpen the arrows! Is 5:28; Jr 50:9,14,29; 51:3
Fill the quivers!
The Lord has put it into the mind
of the kings of the Medes
because His plan is aimed at Babylon
to destroy her,
for it is the Lord’s vengeance,
vengeance for His temple. Jr 50:28
12Raise up a signal flag Ps 60:4; Is 5:26; 18:3
against the walls of Babylon;
fortify the watch post;
set the watchmen in place;
prepare the ambush.
For the Lord has both planned and accomplished
what He has threatened
against those who live in Babylon. Is 14:26; 19:12,17; 23:8; Jr 18:11; 49:20,30; 50:45; Mc 2:3
13You who reside by many waters, Rv 17:1
rich in treasures,
your end has come,
your life thread is cut.
14The Lord of Hosts has sworn by Himself:
I will fill you up with men as with locusts,
and they will sing the victory song over you.
15He made the earth by His power,
established the world Jb 38:4; Ps 93:1; 96:10 by His wisdom, Pr 3:19-20; 8:22-29
and spread out the heavens by His understanding. Jb 9:8; Ps 104:2; Is 45:12
16When He thunders, Lit At His giving of the voice
the waters in the heavens are in turmoil, Jr 5:22; 31:35
and He causes the clouds
to rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from His storehouses. Jb 38:25-30,34-38; Ps 135:7
17Everyone is stupid and ignorant.
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image, Is 40:18-31; 46:1-7
for his cast images are a lie; Is 41:29
there is no breath in them. Hab 2:19
18They are worthless, Jr 10:3,8 a work to be mocked.
At the time of their punishment they will be destroyed. Jr 6:15; 10:15; 49:8
19Jacob’s Portion = the Lord is not like these
because He is the One who formed all things. Gn 2:7-8,19; Ps 95:5; Is 43:1
Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; Dt 4:20; 32:8-9; Ps 74:2; 78:71; Is 63:17; Mc 7:18; Eph 1:18
Yahweh of Hosts is His name. Jr 10:12-16
20You are My battle club,
My weapons of war.
With you I will smash nations;
with you I will bring kingdoms to ruin.
21With you I will smash the horse and its rider;
with you I will smash the chariot and its rider.
22With you I will smash man and woman; 2Ch 36:17; Is 13:15-18
with you I will smash the old man and the youth;
with you I will smash the young man and the young woman.
23With you I will smash the shepherd and his flock;
with you I will smash the farmer and his ox-team. Lit yoke
With you I will smash governors and officials.
24“I will repay Babylon and all the residents of Chaldea for all their evil they have done in Zion before your very eyes.” 2Sm 12:11; Is 1:7; Jr 16:9; 20:4; 29:21; 39:16; 50:15,29
This is the Lord’s declaration.
25Look, I am against you, devastating mountain —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
you devastate the whole earth.
I will stretch out My hand against you, Jr 15:6; Ezk 6:14; 25:7
roll you down from the cliffs,
and turn you into a charred mountain.
26No one will be able to retrieve a cornerstone
or a foundation stone from you,
because you will become desolate forever.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
27Raise a signal flag Ps 60:4; Is 5:26; 18:3 in the land;
blow a ram’s horn among the nations; Jr 4:5; 6:1
set apart the nations against her. Jr 6:4; 22:7; 50:9
Summon kingdoms against her —
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a marshal against her;
bring up horses like a swarm Hb obscure of locusts.
28Set apart the nations for battle against her —
the kings of Media,
her governors and all her officials,
and all the lands they rule.
29The earth quakes Ps 18:7; Is 13:13; Jr 50:46 and trembles
because the Lord’s intentions against Babylon stand:
to make the land of Babylon an uninhabited desolation.
30Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting; Jr 50:37
they sit in their strongholds.
Their might is exhausted;
they have become like women.
Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze,
her gate bars are shattered. Lm 2:9; Nah 3:13
31Messenger races to meet messenger, 2Ch 30:6
and herald to meet herald,
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his city has been captured
from end to end. Jr 50:24
32The fords have been seized, Jdg 12:5
the marshes set on fire,
and the soldiers are terrified.
33For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:
Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trampled. Is 21:10
In just a little while her harvest time will come. Is 17:5; Jl 3:13; Rv 14:15
34“Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me;
he has crushed me.
He has set me aside like an empty dish;
he has swallowed me like a sea monster; Ps 74:13; Is 27:1; Ezk 29:3
he filled his belly with my delicacies;
he has vomited me out,” Lit has rinsed me off
35says the inhabitant of Zion;
“Let the violence done to me and my family be done to Babylon.
Let my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
says Jerusalem.
36Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
I am about to plead your case 1Sm 24:15; Pr 23:11; Jr 50:34
and take vengeance on your behalf;
I will dry up her sea Ex 14:16–15:21
and make her fountain run dry.
37Babylon will become a heap of rubble,
a jackals’ den,
a desolation and an object of scorn, 2Ch 29:8; Jr 18:16; 19:8
without inhabitant. Jr 4:7; 9:11; 33:10; 34:22; 44:2,22; 46:19; 48:9; 49:33
38They will roar together like young lions;
they will growl like lion cubs.
39While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast,
and I will make them drunk so that they revel. LXX reads pass out Jr 51:57
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams together with male goats. Is 34:6; Ezk 39:18
41How Sheshach has been captured, Jr 25:26
the praise Jr 33:9; 49:25 of the whole earth seized.
What a horror Babylon has become
among the nations! Jr 50:23
42The sea has risen over Babylon; Is 8:7-8
she is covered with its turbulent waves.
43Her cities have become a desolation, Jr 50:12
a dry and arid land,
a land where no one lives,
where no human being passes through.
44I will punish Bel Is 46:1; Jr 50:2 in Babylon.
I will make him vomit what he swallowed. Jb 20:15
The nations will no longer stream to him; Is 2:2; Mc 4:1
even Babylon’s wall will fall.
45Come out from among her, My people! Jr 51:6
Save your lives, each of you, Jr 48:6; 51:6
from the Lord’s burning anger.
46May you not become cowardly and fearful
when the report is proclaimed in the land,
for the report will come one year,
and then another the next year.
There will be violence in the land
with ruler against ruler.
47Therefore, look, the days are coming Jr 7:32; 16:14; 19:6; 23:7; 48:12; 49:2; 51:52
when I will punish Babylon’s carved images. Jr 50:2
Her entire land will suffer shame,
and all her slain will lie fallen within her. Jr 50:12
48Heaven and earth and everything in them
will shout for joy Is 44:23; 49:13 over Babylon
because the destroyers from the north Is 41:25; Jr 4:6,20; 6:1; 15:12; 47:2; 50:3,9,41
will come against her.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
49Babylon must fall because of the slain of Israel,
even as the slain of all the earth fell
because of Babylon.
50You who have escaped the sword, Jr 44:28
go and do not stand still!
Remember the Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come to your mind.
51We are ashamed
because we have heard insults. Ps 44:15
Humiliation covers our faces
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s temple. Lm 1:10
52Therefore, look, the days are coming —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
when I will punish her carved images,
and the wounded will groan
throughout her land.
53Even if Babylon should ascend to the heavens Gn 11:4; Is 14:12-14; Jr 49:16
and fortify her tall fortresses,
destroyers will come against her from Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
54The sound of a cry from Babylon! Jr 50:22
The sound of great destruction Jr 4:6; 6:1; 14:17; 48:3; Zph 1:10
from the land of the Chaldeans!
55For the Lord is going to devastate Babylon;
He will silence her mighty voice.
Their waves roar like abundant waters;
the tumult of their voice resounds,
56for a destroyer is coming against her,
against Babylon.
Her warriors will be captured,
their bows shattered,
for the Lord is a God of retribution;
He will certainly repay.
57I will make her princes and sages drunk,
along with her governors, officials, and warriors.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up. Jr 51:39
This is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name. Jr 46:18; 48:15
58This is what Yahweh of Hosts says:
Babylon’s thick walls will be totally demolished, Jr 50:15
and her high gates consumed by fire.
The peoples will have labored for nothing; Hab 2:13
the nations will exhaust themselves only to feed the fire.
59This is what Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, Jr 32:12 the quartermaster, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign.
60Jeremiah wrote on one scroll about all the disaster that would come to Babylon; Jr 36:2 all these words were written against Babylon.
61Jeremiah told Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud.
62You must say, ‘Lord, You have threatened to cut off 1Sm 20:15; Is 10:7; Jr 9:21; 44:11; 47:4; Ob 14; Ps 109:13 this place so that no one will live in it — man or beast. Ps 135:8; Jr 7:20; 21:6; 32:43; 33:10,12; 36:29; 50:3 Indeed, it will remain desolate forever.’
63When you have finished reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River. Jr 19:10-11; Rv 18:21
64Then say, ‘In the same way, Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the disaster I am bringing on her. They will grow weary.’ ”
The words of Jeremiah end here.
Holman Christian Standard Bible®
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by Holman Bible Publishers
