Jeremiah 51

51This is what the Lord says:

“See, I will stir^x up the spirit of a destroyer

against Babylon^y and the people of Leb Kamai.^a

²I will send foreigners^z to Babylon

to winnow^a her and to devastate her land;

they will oppose her on every side

in the day^b of her disaster.

³Let not the archer string his bow,^c

nor let him put on his armor.^d

Do not spare her young men;

completely destroy^b her army.

⁴They will fall^e down slain in Babylon,^c

fatally wounded in her streets.^f

⁵For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken^g

by their God, the Lord Almighty,

though their land^d is full of guilt^h

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 time^k for the Lord’s vengeance;^l

he will repay^m her what she deserves.

⁷Babylon 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.

⁸Babylon will suddenly fall^o and be broken.

Wail over her!

Get balm^p for her pain;

perhaps she can be healed.

⁹“ ‘We would have healed Babylon,

but she cannot be healed;

let us leave^q her and each go to our own land,

for her judgment^r reaches to the skies,

it rises as high as the heavens.’

¹⁰“ ‘The Lord has vindicated^s 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 kings^w of the Medes,^x

because his purpose^y is to destroy Babylon.

The Lord will take vengeance,^z

vengeance for his temple.^a

¹²Lift up a banner^b 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.

¹³You who live by many waters^f

and are rich in treasures,^g

your end has come,

the time for you to be destroyed.^h

¹⁴The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself:ⁱ

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

and they will shout^k in triumph over you.

¹⁵“He made the earth by his power;

he founded the world by his wisdom^l

and stretched^m out the heavens by his understanding.ⁿ

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

he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.

He sends lightning with the rain^p

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.

¹⁸They are worthless,^s the objects of mockery;

when their judgment comes, they will perish.

¹⁹He who is the Portion^t of Jacob is not like these,

for he is the Maker of all things,

including the people of his inheritance^u—

the Lord Almighty is his name.

²⁰“You are my war club,^v

my weapon for battle—

with you I shatter^w nations,^x

with you I destroy kingdoms,

²¹with you I shatter horse and rider,^y

with you I shatter chariot^z and driver,

²²with you I shatter man and woman,

with you I shatter old man and youth,

with you I shatter young man and young woman,^a

²³with 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 repay^c Babylon^d and all who live in Babylonia^e for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.

²⁵“I am against^e you, you destroying mountain,

you who destroy the whole earth,”^f

declares the Lord.

“I will stretch out my hand^g against you,

roll you off the cliffs,

and make you a burned-out mountain.^h

²⁶No 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 banner^j 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

²⁸Prepare 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

²⁹The land trembles^q and writhes,

for the Lord’s purposes^r against Babylon stand—

to lay waste^s the land of Babylon

so that no one will live there.^t

³⁰Babylon’s warriors^u 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 bars^x of her gates are broken.

³¹One courier^y follows another

and messenger follows messenger

to announce to the king of Babylon

that his entire city is captured,^z

³²the river crossings seized,

the marshes set on fire,^a

and the soldiers terrified.^b”

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

“Daughter Babylon^c is like a threshing floor^d

at the time it is trampled;

the time to harvest^e her will soon come.^f”

³⁴“Nebuchadnezzar^g king of Babylon has devoured^h 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 spewed^j us out.

³⁵May the violence^k done to our flesh^f be on Babylon,”

say the inhabitants of Zion.

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

says Jerusalem.^l

³⁶Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“See, I will defend your cause^m

and avengeⁿ you;

I will dry up^o her sea

and make her springs dry.

³⁷Babylon will be a heap of ruins,

a haunt^p of jackals,

an object of horror and scorn,^q

a place where no one lives.^r

³⁸Her people all roar like young lions,^s

they growl like lion cubs.

³⁹But 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 forever^u 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 Sheshak^gx will be captured,^y

the boast of the whole earth seized!

How desolate^z Babylon will be

among the nations!

⁴²The sea will rise over Babylon;

its roaring waves^a will cover her.

⁴³Her towns will be desolate,

a dry and desert^b land,

a land where no one lives,

through which no one travels.^c

⁴⁴I will punish Bel^d in Babylon

and make him spew out^e what he has swallowed.

The nations will no longer stream to him.

And the wall^f of Babylon will fall.

⁴⁵“Come out^g of her, my people!

Run^h for your lives!

Run from the fierce angerⁱ of the Lord.

⁴⁶Do not lose heart^j or be afraid^k

when rumors^l are heard in the land;

one rumor comes this year, another the next,

rumors of violence in the land

and of ruler against ruler.

⁴⁷For the time will surely come

when I will punish the idols^m of Babylon;

her whole land will be disgracedⁿ

and her slain will all lie fallen within her.^o

⁴⁸Then heaven and earth and all that is in them

will shout^p for joy over Babylon,

for out of the north^q

destroyers^r 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

⁵⁰You who have escaped the sword,

leave^t and do not linger!

Remember^u 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

⁵³Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens^a

and fortifies her lofty stronghold,

I will send destroyers^b against her,”

declares the Lord.

⁵⁴“The sound of a cry^c comes from Babylon,

the sound of great destruction^d

from the land of the Babylonians.^h

⁵⁵The Lord will destroy Babylon;

he will silence^e her noisy din.

Waves^f of enemies will rage like great waters;

the roar of their voices will resound.

⁵⁶A destroyer^g 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.

⁵⁷I will make her officials^j and wise^k men drunk,^l

her governors, officers and warriors as well;

they will sleep^m forever and not awake,”

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

⁵⁸This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Babylon’s thick wall^o will be leveled

and her high gates^p set on fire;

the peoples^q exhaust^r themselves for nothing,

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

⁵⁹This 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 Zedekiah^u king of Judah in the fourth^v year of his reign. ⁶⁰Jeremiah had written on a scroll^w about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. ⁶¹He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. ⁶²Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate^x forever.’ ⁶³When 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 more^z because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people^a will fall.’ ”^b

The words of Jeremiah end^c here.