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1This is what the Lord says:
āI will stir up a destroyer against Babylon
and the people of Babylonia.51:1 Hebrew of Leb-kamai, a code name for Babylonia.
2Foreigners will come and winnow her,
blowing her away as chaff.
They will come from every side
to rise against her in her day of trouble.
3Donāt let the archers put on their armor
or draw their bows.
Donāt spare even her best soldiers!
Let her army be completely destroyed.51:3 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
4They will fall dead in the land of the Babylonians,51:4 Or Chaldeans; also in 51:54.
slashed to death in her streets.
5For the Lord of Heavenās Armies
has not abandoned Israel and Judah.
He is still their God,
even though their land was filled with sin
against the Holy One of Israel.ā
6Flee from Babylon! Save yourselves!
Donāt get trapped in her punishment!
It is the Lordās time for vengeance;
he will repay her in full.
7Babylon has been a gold cup in the Lordās hands,
a cup that made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank Babylonās wine,
and it drove them all mad.
8But suddenly Babylon, too, has fallen.
Weep for her.
Give her medicine.
Perhaps she can yet be healed.
9We would have helped her if we could,
but nothing can save her now.
Let her go; abandon her.
Return now to your own land.
For her punishment reaches to the heavens;
it is so great it cannot be measured.
10The Lord has vindicated us.
Come, let us announce in Jerusalem51:10 Hebrew Zion; also in 51:24.
everything the Lord our God has done.
11Sharpen the arrows!
Lift up the shields!51:11 Greek version reads Fill up the quivers.
For the Lord has inspired the kings of the Medes
to march against Babylon and destroy her.
This is his vengeance against those
who desecrated his Temple.
12Raise the battle flag against Babylon!
Reinforce the guard and station the watchmen.
Prepare an ambush,
for the Lord will fulfill all his plans against Babylon.
13You are a city by a great river,
a great center of commerce,
but your end has come.
The thread of your life is cut.
14The Lord of Heavenās Armies has taken this vow
and has sworn to it by his own name:
āYour cities will be filled with enemies,
like fields swarming with locusts,
and they will shout in triumph over you.ā
A Hymn of Praise to the Lord
15The Lord made the earth by his power,
and he preserves it by his wisdom.
With his own understanding
he stretched out the heavens.
16When he speaks in the thunder,
the heavens roar with rain.
He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain
and releases the wind from his storehouses.
17The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge!
The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make,
for their carefully shaped works are a fraud.
These idols have no breath or power.
18Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies!
On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.
19But the God of Israel51:19 Hebrew the Portion of Jacob. See note on 5:20. is no idol!
He is the Creator of everything that exists,
including his people, his own special possession.
The Lord of Heavenās Armies is his name!
Babylonās Great Punishment
20āYou51:20 Possibly Cyrus, whom God used to conquer Babylon. Compare Isa 44:28; 45:1. are my battle-ax and sword,ā
says the Lord.
āWith you I will shatter nations
and destroy many kingdoms.
21With you I will shatter armiesā
destroying the horse and rider,
the chariot and charioteer.
22With you I will shatter men and women,
old people and children,
young men and young women.
23With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks,
farmers and oxen,
captains and officers.
24āI will repay Babylon
and the people of Babylonia51:24 Or Chaldea; also in 51:35.
for all the wrong they have done
to my people in Jerusalem,ā says the Lord.
25āLook, O mighty mountain, destroyer of the earth!
I am your enemy,ā says the Lord.
āI will raise my fist against you,
to knock you down from the heights.
When I am finished,
you will be nothing but a heap of burnt rubble.
26You will be desolate forever.
Even your stones will never again be used for building.
You will be completely wiped out,ā
says the Lord.
27Raise a signal flag to the nations.
Sound the battle cry!
Mobilize them all against Babylon.
Prepare them to fight against her!
Bring out the armies of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a commander,
and bring a multitude of horses like swarming locusts!
28Bring against her the armies of the nationsā
led by the kings of the Medes
and all their captains and officers.
29The earth trembles and writhes in pain,
for everything the Lord has planned against Babylon stands unchanged.
Babylon will be left desolate without a single inhabitant.
30Her mightiest warriors no longer fight.
They stay in their barracks, their courage gone.
They have become like women.
The invaders have burned the houses
and broken down the city gates.
31The news is passed from one runner to the next
as the messengers hurry to tell the king
that his city has been captured.
32All the escape routes are blocked.
The marshes have been set aflame,
and the army is in a panic.
33This is what the Lord of Heavenās Armies,
the God of Israel, says:
āBabylon is like wheat on a threshing floor,
about to be trampled.
In just a little while
her harvest will begin.ā
34āKing Nebuchadnezzar51:34 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar. of Babylon has eaten and crushed us
and drained us of strength.
He has swallowed us like a great monster
and filled his belly with our riches.
He has thrown us out of our own country.
35Make Babylon suffer as she made us suffer,ā
say the people of Zion.
āMake the people of Babylonia pay for spilling our blood,ā
says Jerusalem.
The Lordās Vengeance on Babylon
36This is what the Lord says to Jerusalem:
āI will be your lawyer to plead your case,
and I will avenge you.
I will dry up her river,
as well as her springs,
37and Babylon will become a heap of ruins,
haunted by jackals.
She will be an object of horror and contempt,
a place where no one lives.
38Her people will roar together like strong lions.
They will growl like lion cubs.
39And while they lie inflamed with all their wine,
I will prepare a different kind of feast for them.
I will make them drink until they fall asleep,
and they will never wake up again,ā
says the Lord.
40āI will bring them down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats to be sacrificed.
41āHow Babylon51:41 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon. is fallenā
great Babylon, praised throughout the earth!
Now she has become an object of horror
among the nations.
42The sea has risen over Babylon;
she is covered by its crashing waves.
43Her cities now lie in ruins;
she is a dry wasteland
where no one lives or even passes by.
44And I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon,
and make him vomit up all he has eaten.
The nations will no longer come and worship him.
The wall of Babylon has fallen!
A Message for the Exiles
45āCome out, my people, flee from Babylon.
Save yourselves! Run from the Lordās fierce anger.
46But do not panic; donāt be afraid
when you hear the first rumor of approaching forces.
For rumors will keep coming year by year.
Violence will erupt in the land
as the leaders fight against each other.
47For the time is surely coming
when I will punish this great city and all her idols.
Her whole land will be disgraced,
and her dead will lie in the streets.
48Then the heavens and earth will rejoice,
for out of the north will come destroying armies
against Babylon,ā says the Lord.
49āJust as Babylon killed the people of Israel
and others throughout the world,
so must her people be killed.
50Get out, all you who have escaped the sword!
Do not stand and watchāflee while you can!
Remember the Lord, though you are in a far-off land,
and think about your home in Jerusalem.ā
51āWe are ashamed,ā the people say.
āWe are insulted and disgraced
because the Lordās Temple
has been defiled by foreigners.ā
52āYes,ā says the Lord, ābut the time is coming
when I will destroy Babylonās idols.
The groans of her wounded people
will be heard throughout the land.
53Though Babylon reaches as high as the heavens
and makes her fortifications incredibly strong,
I will still send enemies to plunder her.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Babylonās Complete Destruction
54āListen! Hear the cry of Babylon,
the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.
55For the Lord is destroying Babylon.
He will silence her loud voice.
Waves of enemies pound against her;
the noise of battle rings through the city.
56Destroying armies come against Babylon.
Her mighty men are captured,
and their weapons break in their hands.
For the Lord is a God who gives just punishment;
he always repays in full.
57I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
along with her captains, officers, and warriors.
They will fall asleep
and never wake up again!ā
says the King, whose name is
the Lord of Heavenās Armies.
58This is what the Lord of Heavenās Armies says:
āThe thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground,
and her massive gates will be burned.
The builders from many lands have worked in vain,
for their work will be destroyed by fire!ā
Jeremiahās Message Sent to Babylon
59The prophet Jeremiah gave this message to Seraiah son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah, a staff officer, when Seraiah went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah. This was during the fourth year of Zedekiahās reign.51:59 The fourth year of Zedekiahās reign was 593 b.c.
60Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the terrible disasters that would soon come upon Babylonāall the words written here.
61He said to Seraiah, āWhen you get to Babylon, read aloud everything on this scroll.
62Then say, āLord, you have said that you will destroy Babylon so that neither people nor animals will remain here. She will lie empty and abandoned forever.ā
63When you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone and throw it into the Euphrates River.
64Then say, āIn this same way Babylon and her people will sink, never again to rise, because of the disasters I will bring upon her.āā
This is the end of Jeremiahās messages.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright Ā© 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.