Jeremiah 51

¹Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, And against them that dwell in the midst of mine adversaries, A destroying wind;

²And I will send against Babylon winnowers, And they shall winnow her, and empty her land; For they shall come against her on every side.

³Against 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 her whole host!

⁴Thus shall they fall down slain in the land of the Chaldaeans, And thrust through in her streets.

⁵For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah abandoned of his God, of Jehovah of hosts; For their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.

⁶Flee ye out of Babylon, And save ye every man his life, That ye be not cut off in her punishment! For this is the time of Jehovah’s vengeance; He will render to her a recompense.

⁷Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of Jehovah, That made all the earth drunken; The nations have drunken of her wine, Therefore the nations are mad.

⁸Babylon is suddenly fallen, and broken; Howl ye over her; Bring ye balm for her wounds, If so be she may be healed.

⁹"We would have healed Babylon, But she cannot be healed. Forsake her, and let us go every one to his own country! For her punishment reacheth to the heavens, And ascendeth even to the skies."

¹⁰Jehovah hath brought forth our deliverance; Come ye, and let us declare in Zion The work of Jehovah our God.

¹¹Make sharp the arrows; put on the shields! Jehovah hath roused up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; For his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it; For this is the vengeance of Jehovah, The vengeance for his temple.

¹²Against the walls of Babylon set up a standard, Make strong the guard, appoint the watchmen, prepare the ambush! For Jehovah deviseth and doeth that which he spake Against the inhabitants of Babylon.

¹³O thou that dwellest by great waters, That aboundest in treasures, Thine end is come; The measure of thy rapaciousness is full!

¹⁴Jehovah of hosts hath sworn by himself, [saying,] Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars, Who shall raise the war-shout against thee.

¹⁵He made the earth by his power, He established the world by his wisdom, And by his understanding he spread out the heavens.

¹⁶When he uttereth his voice there is an abundance of water in the heavens; He causeth clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; He bringeth the wind from his storehouses.

¹⁷Brutish is every man who hath not this knowledge; By his images is every founder put to shame; For his molten work is deceit; There is no breath in it.

¹⁸They are vanity, deceptive work; In the time of their punishment shall they perish.

¹⁹Not like them is he who is the portion of Jacob; He is the former of all things, And Israel is his allotted inheritance. Jehovah of hosts is his name.

²⁰Thou hast been to me my battle-hammer, My weapon of war. And with thee I broke in pieces the nations, And with thee I destroyed the kingdoms.

²¹And with thee I broke in pieces the horse and his rider, And with thee I broke in pieces the chariot and its driver.

²²With thee I broke in pieces man and woman, And with thee I broke in pieces the old and the young, And with thee I broke in pieces the young man and the maiden.

²³With thee I broke in pieces the shepherd and his flock, And with thee I broke in pieces the husbandman and his team; And with thee I broke in pieces prefects and governors.

²⁴But now before your eyes will I repay to Babylon, And to all the inhabitants of Chaldaea, All the evil which they have done in Zion, saith Jehovah.

²⁵O thou destroying mountain, that destroyest the whole earth, Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah! And I will stretch out my hand against thee, And roll thee down from the rocks, And make thee a burnt mountain,

²⁶So that none shall take from thee a corner-stone, or a foundation-stone; But thou shalt be a perpetual desolation, saith Jehovah.

²⁷Set ye up a standard in the land, Sound a trumpet among the nations; Enlist the nations against Babylon, Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; Appoint captains against her, Cause the horses to come up like the bristled locusts!

²⁸Enlist ye against her the nations, The kings of the Medes, and their prefects, And all their governors, And all the lands under their dominion,

²⁹So that the earth shall tremble and quake! For the purpose of Jehovah against Babylon is to be fulfilled, To make the land of Babylon a desolation, without an inhabitant.

³⁰The mighty men of Babylon refuse to fight; They remain in their stronghold; Their strength hath failed; They have become women; Her habitations are burned; Her bars are broken.

³¹Courier runs to meet courier, And messenger to meet messenger, To make known to the king of Babylon, That his city is taken from end to end;

³²That the passages are taken, That the reeds are burned with fire, And that the men of war are struck with terror.

³³For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon shall be like a thrashing-floor when it is thrashed; Yet a little while, and the time of harvest for her shall come.

³⁴Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, hath devoured us; He hath made an end of us; He hath made us empty vessels; He hath swallowed us up like a dragon; He hath filled his maw with our delicacies; He hath cast us out.

³⁵"The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon!" Shall the inhabitant of Zion say; And, "My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldaeans!" shall Jerusalem say.

³⁶Therefore, thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will maintain thy cause, And take vengeance for thee; And I will dry up her sea, And make her springs dry.

³⁷And Babylon shall become heaps, The dwelling-place of jackals, An astonishment and a hissing, Without an inhabitant.

³⁸Together shall they roar like lions; They shall yell like lions’ whelps.

³⁹In their heat I will prepare them a drink, And will make them drunk, so that they shall rejoice, And then sleep an everlasting sleep, And awake no more, saith Jehovah.

⁴⁰I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, Like rams with he-goats.

⁴¹How is Sheshach taken! How is the praise of the whole earth fallen! How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!

⁴²The sea is come up over Babylon; With the roaring of its waves is she covered.

⁴³Her cities have become a desolation, A dry land and a desert, A land in which no man dwelleth, And which no son of man passeth through.

⁴⁴I will punish Bel at Babylon, And bring forth from his mouth that which he hath swallowed, And the nations shall flow to him no more; Even the wall of Babylon shall fall.

⁴⁵Go ye out of her, my people, And save ye every man his life From the fierce anger of Jehovah!

⁴⁶And let not your heart faint, And fear ye not on account of the rumors which are heard in the land, When in one year a rumor cometh, And after it in another year another rumor, And violence is in the land, Ruler against ruler.

⁴⁷Therefore, behold the days come When I will punish the graven images of Babylon, And her whole land shall be confounded; And all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

⁴⁸Then the heavens shall shout over Babylon, And the earth and all that is therein; For out of the North come spoilers against her, saith Jehovah.

⁴⁹As Babylon caused the slain of Israel to fall, So at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land.

⁵⁰Ye that have escaped her sword, go! Tarry not! Remember Jehovah afar off, And let Jerusalem come into your mind!

⁵¹We have been confounded, because we have heard reproach; Shame hath covered our faces, For strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the house of Jehovah.

⁵²Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, When I will punish her graven images, And through all her land shall the wounded groan.

⁵³Though Babylon should mount up to the heavens, And make inaccessible the height of her strength, Yet from me shall spoilers come upon her, saith Jehovah.

⁵⁴Hark! a cry from Babylon, Of great destruction from the land of the Chaldaeans!

⁵⁵For Jehovah destroyeth Babylon, And bringeth to silence her loud tumult; Their waves roar like great waters; Their tumultuous noise resounds.

⁵⁶For the spoiler is come upon her, upon Babylon; And their mighty men are taken, And all their bows are broken; For Jehovah is a God of retribution; He will surely requite.

⁵⁷And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, Her prefects, and her governors, and her mighty men; And they shall sleep an everlasting sleep, And shall no more awake, saith the King, Whose name is Jehovah of hosts.

⁵⁸Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be razed to the foundations, And her high gates shall be burned with fire; So that nations shall have labored for naught, And kingdoms have wearied themselves for fire.

⁵⁹The 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. This Seraiah was chief chamberlain.

⁶⁰And Jeremiah wrote all the evil that was to come upon Babylon in one book, all these words that are written concerning Babylon.

⁶¹And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, see that thou read all these words,

⁶²and say, O Jehovah, thou hast spoken against this place to destroy it, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall remain desolate forever!

⁶³And when thou hast made an end of reading this book, bind a stone upon it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates,

⁶⁴and say: So shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again from the evil which I bring upon her. And they shall utterly fail. Thus far the words of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 51

¹Thus 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;

²And 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.

³Against 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.

⁴Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.

⁵For 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.

⁶Flee 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.

⁷Babylon 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.

⁸Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

⁹We 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.

¹⁰The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.

¹¹Make 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.

¹²Set 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.

¹³O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.

¹⁴The 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.

¹⁵He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.

¹⁶When 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.

¹⁷Every 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.

¹⁸They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

¹⁹The 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.

²⁰Thou 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;

²¹And 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;

²²With 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;

²³I 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.

²⁴And 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.

²⁵Behold, 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.

²⁶And 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.

²⁷Set 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.

²⁸Prepare 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.

²⁹And 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.

³⁰The 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.

³¹One 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,

³²And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.

³³For 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.

³⁴Nebuchadrezzar 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.

³⁵The 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.

³⁶Therefore 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.

³⁷And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.

³⁸They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps.

³⁹In 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.

⁴⁰I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.

⁴¹How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!

⁴²The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.

⁴³Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.

⁴⁴And 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.

⁴⁵My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord.

⁴⁶And 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.

⁴⁷Therefore, 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.

⁴⁸Then 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.

⁴⁹As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

⁵⁰Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.

⁵¹We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord’s house.

⁵²Wherefore, 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.

⁵³Though 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.

⁵⁴A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:

⁵⁵Because 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:

⁵⁶Because 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.

⁵⁷And 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.

⁵⁸Thus 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.

⁵⁹The 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.

⁶⁰So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.

⁶¹And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;

⁶²Then 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.

⁶³And 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:

⁶⁴And 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.