Judgment on Babylon and Babylonia

50 The word that the Lord spoke aagainst Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.

2 “Declare among the nations,

Proclaim, and 1set up a standard;

Proclaim—do not conceal it—

Say, ‘Babylon is btaken, cBel is shamed.

2Merodach is broken in pieces;

dHer idols are humiliated,

Her images are broken in pieces.’

3 eFor out of the north fa nation comes up against her,

Which shall make her land desolate,

And no one shall dwell therein.

They shall 3move, they shall depart,

Both man and beast.

4 “In those days and in that time,” says the Lord,

“The children of Israel shall come,

gThey and the children of Judah together;

hWith continual weeping they shall come,

iAnd seek the Lord their God.

5 They shall ask the way to Zion,

With their faces toward it, saying,

‘Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord

In ja perpetual covenant

That will not be forgotten.’

6 “My people have been klost sheep.

Their shepherds have led them lastray;

They have turned them away on mthe mountains.

They have gone from mountain to hill;

They have forgotten their resting place.

7 All who found them have ndevoured them;

And otheir adversaries said, p‘We have not offended,

Because they have sinned against the Lord, qthe habitation of justice,

The Lord, rthe hope of their fathers.’

8 “Move sfrom the midst of Babylon,

Go out of the land of the Chaldeans;

And be like the 4rams before the flocks.

9 tFor behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon

An assembly of great nations from the north country,

And they shall array themselves against her;

From there she shall be captured.

Their arrows shall be like those of 5an expert warrior;

uNone shall return in vain.

10 And Chaldea shall become plunder;

vAll who plunder her shall be satisfied,” says the Lord.

11 “Because wyou were glad, because you rejoiced,

You destroyers of My heritage,

Because you have grown fat xlike a heifer threshing grain,

And you 6bellow like bulls,

12 Your mother shall be deeply ashamed;

She who bore you shall be ashamed.

Behold, the least of the nations shall be a ywilderness,

A dry land and a desert.

13 Because of the wrath of the Lord

She shall not be inhabited,

zBut she shall be wholly desolate.

aEveryone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified

And hiss at all her plagues.

14 “Put byourselves in array against Babylon all around,

All you who bend the bow;

Shoot at her, spare no arrows,

For she has sinned against the Lord.

15 Shout against her all around;

She has cgiven her hand,

Her foundations have fallen,

dHer walls are thrown down;

For eit is the vengeance of the Lord.

Take vengeance on her.

As she has done, so do to her.

16 Cut off the sower from Babylon,

And him who handles the sickle at harvest time.

For fear of the oppressing sword

fEveryone shall turn to his own people,

And everyone shall flee to his own land.

17 “Israel is like gscattered sheep;

hThe lions have driven him away.

First ithe king of Assyria devoured him;

Now at last this jNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”

18 Therefore thus says 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 kAssyria.

19 lBut I will bring back Israel to his home,

And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan;

His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.

20 In those days and in that time,” says the Lord,

m“The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none;

And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found;

For I will pardon those nwhom I preserve.

21 “Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it,

And against the inhabitants of oPekod.

7Waste and utterly destroy them,” says the Lord,

“And do paccording to all that I have commanded you.

22 qA sound of battle is in the land,

And of great destruction.

23 How rthe hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken!

How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!

I have laid a snare for you;

24 You have indeed been strapped, O Babylon,

And you were not aware;

You have been found and also caught,

Because you have tcontended against the Lord.

25 The Lord has opened His armory,

And has brought out uthe weapons of His indignation;

For this is the work of the Lord God of hosts

In the land of the Chaldeans.

26 Come against her from the farthest border;

Open her storehouses;

Cast her up as heaps of ruins,

And destroy her utterly;

Let nothing of her be left.

27 Slay all her vbulls,

Let them go down to the slaughter.

Woe to them!

For their day has come, the time of wtheir punishment.

28 The voice of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon

xDeclares in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God,

The vengeance of His temple.

29 “Call together the archers against Babylon.

All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around;

Let none of them 8escape.

yRepay her according to her work;

According to all she has done, do to her;

zFor she has been proud against the Lord,

Against the Holy One of Israel.

30 aTherefore her young men shall fall in the streets,

And all her men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the Lord.

31 “Behold, I am against you,

O most haughty one!” says the Lord God of hosts;

“For your day has come,

9The time that I will punish you.

32 The most bproud shall stumble and fall,

And no one will raise him up;

cI will kindle a fire in his cities,

And it will devour all around him.”

33 Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“The children of Israel were oppressed,

Along with the children of Judah;

All who took them captive have held them fast;

They have refused to let them go.

34 dTheir Redeemer is strong;

eThe Lord of hosts is His name.

He will thoroughly plead their fcase,

That He may give rest to the land,

And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

35 “A sword is against the Chaldeans,” says the Lord,

“Against the inhabitants of Babylon,

And gagainst her princes and hher wise men.

36 A sword is iagainst the soothsayers, and they will be fools.

A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.

37 A sword is against their horses,

Against their chariots,

And against all jthe mixed peoples who are in her midst;

And kthey will become like women.

A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed.

38 lA 1drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up.

For it is the land of carved images,

And they are insane with their idols.

39 “Therefore mthe wild desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals,

And the ostriches shall dwell in it.

nIt shall be inhabited no more forever,

Nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.

40 oAs God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah

And their neighbors,” says the Lord,

“So no one shall reside there,

Nor son of man pdwell in it.

41 “Behold, qa people shall come from the north,

And a great nation and many kings

Shall be raised up from the ends of the earth.

42 rThey shall hold the bow and the lance;

sThey are cruel and shall not show mercy.

tTheir voice shall roar like the sea;

They shall ride on horses,

Set in array, like a man for the battle,

Against you, O daughter of Babylon.

43 “The king of Babylon has uheard the report about them,

And his hands grow feeble;

Anguish has taken hold of him,

Pangs as of a woman in vchildbirth.

44 “Behold, whe shall come up like a lion from the 2floodplain of the Jordan

Against the dwelling place 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?

Who will arraign Me?

And xwho is that shepherd

Who will withstand Me?”

45 Therefore hear ythe counsel of the Lord that He has taken against Babylon,

And His zpurposes that He has proposed against the land of the Chaldeans:

aSurely the least of the flock shall draw them out;

Surely He will make their dwelling place desolate with them.

46 bAt the noise of the taking of Babylon

The earth trembles,

And the cry is heard among the nations.