51 This is what the Lord says:

“See, I will stirx up the spirit of a destroyer

against Babylony and the people of Leb Kamai.a

2 I will send foreignersz to Babylon

to winnowa her and to devastate her land;

they will oppose her on every side

in the dayb of her disaster.

3 Let not the archer string his bow,c

nor let him put on his armor.d

Do not spare her young men;

completely destroyb her army.

4 They will falle down slain in Babylon,c

fatally wounded in her streets.f

5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsakeng

by their God, the Lord Almighty,

though their landd is full of guilth

before the Holy One of Israel.

6 “Fleei from Babylon!

Run for your lives!

Do not be destroyed because of her sins.j

It is timek for the Lord’s vengeance;l

he will repaym her what she deserves.

7 Babylon was a gold cupn in the Lord’s hand;

she made the whole earth drunk.

The nations drank her wine;

therefore they have now gone mad.

8 Babylon will suddenly fallo and be broken.

Wail over her!

Get balmp for her pain;

perhaps she can be healed.

9 “ ‘We would have healed Babylon,

but she cannot be healed;

let us leaveq her and each go to our own land,

for her judgmentr reaches to the skies,

it rises as high as the heavens.’

10 “ ‘The Lord has vindicateds us;

come, let us tell in Zion

what the Lord our God has done.’t

11 “Sharpen the arrows,u

take up the shields!v

The Lord has stirred up the kingsw of the Medes,x

because his purposey is to destroy Babylon.

The Lord will take vengeance,z

vengeance for his temple.a

12 Lift up a bannerb against the walls of Babylon!

Reinforce the guard,

station the watchmen,c

prepare an ambush!d

The Lord will carry out his purpose,e

his decree against the people of Babylon.

13 You who live by many watersf

and are rich in treasures,g

your end has come,

the time for you to be destroyed.h

14 The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself:i

I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts,j

and they will shoutk in triumph over you.

15 “He made the earth by his power;

he founded the world by his wisdoml

and stretchedm out the heavens by his understanding.n

16 When he thunders,o the waters in the heavens roar;

he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.

He sends lightning with the rainp

and brings out the wind from his storehouses.q

17 “Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;

every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.

The images he makes are a fraud;r

they have no breath in them.

18 They are worthless,s the objects of mockery;

when their judgment comes, they will perish.

19 He who is the Portiont of Jacob is not like these,

for he is the Maker of all things,

including the people of his inheritanceu—

the Lord Almighty is his name.

20 “You are my war club,v

my weapon for battle—

with you I shatterw nations,x

with you I destroy kingdoms,

21 with you I shatter horse and rider,y

with you I shatter chariotz and driver,

22 with you I shatter man and woman,

with you I shatter old man and youth,

with you I shatter young man and young woman,a

23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock,

with you I shatter farmer and oxen,

with you I shatter governors and officials.b

24 “Before your eyes I will repayc Babylond and all who live in Babyloniae for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.

25 “I am againste you, you destroying mountain,

you who destroy the whole earth,”f

declares the Lord.

“I will stretch out my handg against you,

roll you off the cliffs,

and make you a burned-out mountain.h

26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,

nor any stone for a foundation,

for you will be desolatei forever,”

declares the Lord.

27 “Lift up a bannerj in the land!

Blow the trumpet among the nations!

Prepare the nations for battle against her;

summon against her these kingdoms:k

Ararat,l Minni and Ashkenaz.m

Appoint a commander against her;

send up horses like a swarm of locusts.n

28 Prepare the nations for battle against her—

the kings of the Medes,o

their governors and all their officials,

and all the countries they rule.p

29 The land tremblesq and writhes,

for the Lord’s purposesr against Babylon stand—

to lay wastes the land of Babylon

so that no one will live there.t

30 Babylon’s warriorsu have stopped fighting;

they remain in their strongholds.

Their strength is exhausted;

they have become weaklings.v

Her dwellings are set on fire;w

the barsx of her gates are broken.

31 One couriery follows another

and messenger follows messenger

to announce to the king of Babylon

that his entire city is captured,z

32 the river crossings seized,

the marshes set on fire,a

and the soldiers terrified.b”

33 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

“Daughter Babylonc is like a threshing floord

at the time it is trampled;

the time to harveste her will soon come.f”

34 “Nebuchadnezzarg king of Babylon has devouredh us,i

he has thrown us into confusion,

he has made us an empty jar.

Like a serpent he has swallowed us

and filled his stomach with our delicacies,

and then has spewedj us out.

35 May the violencek done to our fleshf be on Babylon,”

say the inhabitants of Zion.

“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”

says Jerusalem.l

36 Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“See, I will defend your causem

and avengen you;

I will dry upo her sea

and make her springs dry.

37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins,

a hauntp of jackals,

an object of horror and scorn,q

a place where no one lives.r

38 Her people all roar like young lions,s

they growl like lion cubs.

39 But while they are aroused,

I will set out a feast for them

and make them drunk,t

so that they shout with laughter—

then sleep foreveru and not awake,”

declares the Lord.v

40 “I will bring them down

like lambs to the slaughter,

like rams and goats.w

41 “How Sheshakg x will be captured,y

the boast of the whole earth seized!

How desolatez Babylon will be

among the nations!

42 The sea will rise over Babylon;

its roaring wavesa will cover her.

43 Her towns will be desolate,

a dry and desertb land,

a land where no one lives,

through which no one travels.c

44 I will punish Beld in Babylon

and make him spew oute what he has swallowed.

The nations will no longer stream to him.

And the wallf of Babylon will fall.

45 “Come outg of her, my people!

Runh for your lives!

Run from the fierce angeri of the Lord.

46 Do not lose heartj or be afraidk

when rumorsl are heard in the land;

one rumor comes this year, another the next,

rumors of violence in the land

and of ruler against ruler.

47 For the time will surely come

when I will punish the idolsm of Babylon;

her whole land will be disgracedn

and her slain will all lie fallen within her.o

48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them

will shoutp for joy over Babylon,

for out of the northq

destroyersr will attack her,”

declares the Lord.

49 “Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain,

just as the slain in all the earth

have fallen because of Babylon.s

50 You who have escaped the sword,

leavet and do not linger!

Rememberu the Lord in a distant land,v

and call to mind Jerusalem.”

51 “We are disgraced,w

for we have been insulted

and shame covers our faces,

because foreigners have entered

the holy places of the Lord’s house.”x

52 “But days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when I will punish her idols,y

and throughout her land

the wounded will groan.z

53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavensa

and fortifies her lofty stronghold,

I will send destroyersb against her,”

declares the Lord.

54 “The sound of a cryc comes from Babylon,

the sound of great destructiond

from the land of the Babylonians.h

55 The Lord will destroy Babylon;

he will silencee her noisy din.

Wavesf of enemies will rage like great waters;

the roar of their voices will resound.

56 A destroyerg will come against Babylon;

her warriors will be captured,

and their bows will be broken.h

For the Lord is a God of retribution;

he will repayi in full.

57 I will make her officialsj and wisek men drunk,l

her governors, officers and warriors as well;

they will sleepm forever and not awake,”

declares the King,n whose name is the Lord Almighty.

58 This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Babylon’s thick wallo will be leveled

and her high gatesp set on fire;

the peoplesq exhaustr themselves for nothing,

the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”s

59 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah,t the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiahu king of Judah in the fourthv year of his reign. 60 Jeremiah had written on a scrollw about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. 61 He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62 Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolatex forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.y 64 Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no morez because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her peoplea will fall.’ ”b

The words of Jeremiah endc here.

The Fall of Jerusalem

52:1–3pp—2Ki 24:18–20; 2Ch 36:11–16
52:4–16pp—Jer 39:1–10
52:4–21pp—2Ki 25:1–21; 2Ch 36:17–20

52 Zedekiahd was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.e 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakimf had done. 3 It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah,g and in the end he thrust them from his presence.h

Now Zedekiah rebelledi against the king of Babylon.

4 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenthj day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalemk with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege worksl all around it.m 5 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

6 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so …