Jeremiah 50

A Message About Babylon

51:15–19pp—Jer 10:12–16

50This is the word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylonⁿ and the land of the Babylonians^a:

²“Announce and proclaim^o among the nations,

lift up a banner^p and proclaim it;

keep nothing back, but say,

‘Babylon will be captured;^q

Bel^r will be put to shame,^s

Marduk^t filled with terror.

Her images will be put to shame

and her idols^u filled with terror.’

³A nation from the north^v will attack her

and lay waste her land.

No one will live^w in it;

both people and animals^x will flee away.

⁴“In those days, at that time,”

declares the Lord,

“the people of Israel and the people of Judah together^y

will go in tears^z to seek^a the Lord their God.

⁵They will ask the way^b to Zion

and turn their faces toward it.

They will come^c and bind themselves to the Lord

in an everlasting covenant^d

that will not be forgotten.

⁶“My people have been lost sheep;^e

their shepherds^f have led them astray^g

and caused them to roam on the mountains.

They wandered over mountain and hill^h

and forgot their own resting place.ⁱ

⁷Whoever found them devoured^j them;

their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty,^k

for they sinned against the Lord, their verdant pasture,

the Lord, the hope^l of their ancestors.’

⁸“Flee^m out of Babylon;ⁿ

leave the land of the Babylonians,

and be like the goats that lead the flock.

⁹For I will stir^o up and bring against Babylon

an alliance of great nations^p from the land of the north.^q

They will take up their positions against her,

and from the north she will be captured.^r

Their arrows^s will be like skilled warriors

who do not return empty-handed.

¹⁰So Babylonia^b will be plundered;^t

all who plunder her will have their fill,”

declares the Lord.

¹¹“Because you rejoice and are glad,

you who pillage my inheritance,^u

because you frolic like a heifer^v threshing grain

and neigh like stallions,

¹²your mother will be greatly ashamed;

she who gave you birth will be disgraced.^w

She will be the least of the nations—

a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.^x

¹³Because of the Lord’s anger she will not be inhabited

but will be completely desolate.^y

All who pass Babylon will be appalled;^z

they will scoff^a because of all her wounds.^b

¹⁴“Take up your positions around Babylon,

all you who draw the bow.^c

Shoot at her! Spare no arrows,^d

for she has sinned against the Lord.

¹⁵Shout^e against her on every side!

She surrenders, her towers fall,

her walls^f are torn down.

Since this is the vengeance^g of the Lord,

take vengeance on her;

do to her^h as she has done to others.ⁱ

¹⁶Cut off from Babylon the sower,

and the reaper with his sickle at harvest.

Because of the sword^j of the oppressor

let everyone return to their own people,^k

let everyone flee to their own land.^l

¹⁷“Israel is a scattered flock^m

that lionsⁿ have chased away.

The first to devour^o them

was the king^p of Assyria;

the last to crush their bones^q

was Nebuchadnezzar^r king^s of Babylon.”

¹⁸Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

“I will punish the king of Babylon and his land

as I punished the king^t of Assyria.^u

¹⁹But I will bring^v Israel back to their own pasture,

and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan;

their appetite will be satisfied^w

on the hills^x of Ephraim and Gilead.^y

²⁰In those days, at that time,”

declares the Lord,

“search will be made for Israel’s guilt,

but there will be none,^z

and for the sins^a of Judah,

but none will be found,

for I will forgive^b the remnant^c I spare.

²¹“Attack the land of Merathaim

and those who live in Pekod.^d

Pursue, kill and completely destroy^c them,”

declares the Lord.

“Do everything I have commanded you.

²²The noise^e of battle is in the land,

the noise of great destruction!

²³How broken and shattered

is the hammer^f of the whole earth!^g

How desolate^h is Babylon

among the nations!

²⁴I set a trapⁱ for you, Babylon,

and you were caught before you knew it;

you were found and captured^j

because you opposed^k the Lord.

²⁵The Lord has opened his arsenal

and brought out the weapons^l of his wrath,

for the Sovereign Lord Almighty has work to do

in the land of the Babylonians.^m

²⁶Come against her from afar.ⁿ

Break open her granaries;

pile her up like heaps of grain.^o

Completely destroy^p her

and leave her no remnant.

²⁷Kill all her young bulls;^q

let them go down to the slaughter!^r

Woe to them! For their day^s has come,

the time^t for them to be punished.

²⁸Listen to the fugitives^u and refugees from Babylon

declaring in Zion^v

how the Lord our God has taken vengeance,^w

vengeance for his temple.^x

²⁹“Summon archers against Babylon,

all those who draw the bow.^y

Encamp all around her;

let no one escape.^z

Repay^a her for her deeds;^b

do to her as she has done.

For she has defied^c the Lord,

the Holy One^d of Israel.

³⁰Therefore, her young men^e will fall in the streets;

all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,”

declares the Lord.

³¹“See, I am against^f you, you arrogant one,”

declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty,

“for your day^g has come,

the time for you to be punished.

³²The arrogant^h one will stumble and fallⁱ

and no one will help her up;^j

I will kindle a fire^k in her towns

that will consume all who are around her.”

³³This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“The people of Israel are oppressed,^l

and the people of Judah as well.

All their captors hold them fast,

refusing to let them go.^m

³⁴Yet their Redeemerⁿ is strong;

the Lord Almighty^o is his name.

He will vigorously defend their cause^p

so that he may bring rest^q to their land,

but unrest to those who live in Babylon.

³⁵“A sword^r against the Babylonians!”^s

declares the Lord—

“against those who live in Babylon

and against her officials and wise^t men!

³⁶A sword against her false prophets!

They will become fools.

A sword against her warriors!^u

They will be filled with terror.^v

³⁷A sword against her horses and chariots^w

and all the foreigners in her ranks!

They will become weaklings.^x

A sword against her treasures!^y

They will be plundered.

³⁸A drought on^d her waters!^z

They will dry^a up.

For it is a land of idols,^b

idols that will go mad with terror.

³⁹“So desert creatures^c and hyenas will live there,

and there the owl will dwell.

It will never again be inhabited

or lived in from generation to generation.^d

⁴⁰As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah^e

along with their neighboring towns,”

declares the Lord,

“so no one will live there;

no people will dwell in it.^f

⁴¹“Look! An army is coming from the north;^g

a great nation and many kings

are being stirred^h up from the ends of the earth.ⁱ

⁴²They are armed with bows^j and spears;

they are cruel^k and without mercy.^l

They sound like the roaring sea^m

as they ride on their horses;

they come like men in battle formation

to attack you, Daughter Babylon.ⁿ

⁴³The king of Babylon has heard reports about them,

and his hands hang limp.^o

Anguish has gripped him,

pain like that of a woman in labor.^p

⁴⁴Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets^q

to a rich pastureland,

I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant.

Who is the chosen^r one I will appoint for this?

Who is like me and who can challenge me?^s

And what shepherd can stand against me?”

⁴⁵Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Babylon,

what he has purposed^t against the land of the Babylonians:^u

The young of the flock will be dragged away;

their pasture will be appalled at their fate.

⁴⁶At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble;^v

its cry^w will resound among the nations.