Chapter 50

Prophecy against Babylon

1 The word which the Lord spoke concerning aBabylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:

2 “aDeclare and proclaim among the nations.

Proclaim it and blift up a standard.

Do not conceal it but say,

‘cBabylon has been captured,

dBel has been put to shame, 1Marduk has been 2shattered;

Her eimages have been put to shame, her idols have been shattered.’

3 “For a nation has come up against her out of the anorth; it will make her land ban object of horror, and there will be cno inhabitant in it. Both man and beast have wandered off, they have gone away!

4 “In those days and at that time,” declares the Lord, “the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah aas well; they will go along bweeping as they go, and it will be cthe Lord their God they will seek.

5 “They will aask for the way to Zion, turning their faces 1in its direction; 2they 3will come that they may join themselves to the Lord in an beverlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.

6 “My people have become alost sheep;

bTheir shepherds have led them astray.

They have made them turn aside on the cmountains;

They have gone along from mountain to hill

And have forgotten their dresting place.

7 “All who came upon them have devoured them;

And their adversaries have said, ‘aWe are not guilty,

Inasmuch as they have sinned against the Lord who is the bhabitation of righteousness,

Even the Lord, the chope of their fathers.’

8 “Wander away from the amidst of Babylon

And 1go forth from the land of the Chaldeans;

Be also like male goats 2at the head of the flock.

9 “For behold, I am going to aarouse and bring up against Babylon

A horde of great nations from the land of the north,

And they will draw up their battle lines against her;

From there she will be taken captive.

Their arrows will be like 1an expert warrior

Who does not return empty-handed.

10 “1aChaldea will become plunder;

All who plunder her will have enough,” declares the Lord.

11 “Because you are glad, because you are jubilant,

O you who apillage My heritage,

Because you skip about 1like a threshing bheifer

And neigh like 2stallions,

12 Your amother 1will be greatly ashamed,

She who gave you birth 1will be humiliated.

Behold, she will be the least of the nations,

A bwilderness, a parched land and a desert.

13 “Because of the indignation of the Lord she will anot be inhabited,

But she will be bcompletely desolate;

Everyone who passes by Babylon cwill be horrified

And will hiss because of all her wounds.

14 “Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side,

All you who 1bend the bow;

Shoot at her, do not be sparing with your arrows,

For she has asinned against the Lord.

15 “Raise your battle cry against her on every side!

She has agiven 1herself up, her pillars have fallen,

Her bwalls have been torn down.

For this is the cvengeance of the Lord:

Take vengeance on her;

dAs she has done to others, so do to her.

16 “Cut off the asower from Babylon

And the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest;

From before 1the bsword of the oppressor

cThey will each turn back to his own people

And they will each flee to his own land.

17 “Israel is a ascattered 1flock, the blions have driven them away. The first one who devoured him was the cking of Assyria, and this last one who has broken his bones is dNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

18 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I apunished the king of Assyria.

19 ‘And I will abring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his 1desire will be satisfied in the bhill country of Ephraim and Gilead.

20 ‘In those days and at that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but athere will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those bwhom I leave as a remnant.’

21 “Against the land of 1Merathaim, go up against it,

And against the inhabitants of 2aPekod.

Slay and 3utterly destroy them,” declares the Lord,

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

22 “The anoise of battle is in the land,

And great destruction.

23 “How the ahammer of the whole earth

Has been cut off and broken!

How Babylon has become

An object of horror among the nations!

24 “I aset a snare for you and you were also bcaught, O Babylon,

While you yourself were not aware;

You have been found and also seized

Because you have engaged in cconflict with the Lord.”

25 The Lord has opened His armory

And has brought forth the aweapons of His indignation,

For it is a bwork of the Lord 1God of hosts

In the land of the Chaldeans.

26 Come to her from the 1farthest border;

aOpen up her barns,

Pile her up like heaps

And 2butterly destroy her,

Let nothing be left to her.

27 aPut all her young bulls to the sword;

Let them bgo down to the slaughter!

Woe be upon them, for their cday has come,

The time of their punishment.

28 There is a asound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon,

To declare in Zion the bvengeance of the Lord our God,

Vengeance for His ctemple.

29 “Summon 1many against Babylon,

All those who 2bend the bow:

Encamp against her on every side,

Let there be no escape3.

Repay her according to her work;

aAccording to all that she has done, so do to her;

For she has become barrogant against the Lord,

Against the Holy One of Israel.

30 “Therefore her ayoung men will fall in her streets,

And all her men of war will be 1bsilenced in that day,” declares the Lord.

31 “Behold, aI am against you, O 1arrogant one,”

Declares the Lord 2God of hosts,

“For your day has come,

The time 3when I will punish you.

32 “The 1aarrogant one will stumble and fall

With no one to raise him up;

And I will bset fire to his cities

And it will devour all his environs.”

33 Thus says the Lord of hosts,

“The sons of Israel are oppressed,

And the sons of Judah as well;

And aall who took them captive have held them fast,

They have refused to let them go.

34 “Their aRedeemer is strong, bthe Lord of hosts is His name;

He will vigorously cplead their case

So that He may dbring rest to 1the earth,

But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

35 “A asword against the Chaldeans,” declares the Lord,

“And against the inhabitants of Babylon

And against her bofficials and her cwise men!

36 “A sword against the aoracle priests, and they will become fools!

A sword against her bmighty men, and they will be 1cshattered!

37 “A sword against 1their ahorses and against 1their chariots

And against all the 2bforeigners who are in the midst of her,

And they will become cwomen!

A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!

38 “A 1adrought on her waters, and they will be dried up!

For it is a land of bidols,

And they are mad over fearsome idols.

39 “Therefore the adesert creatures will live there along with the jackals;

The ostriches also will live in it,

And it will bnever again be inhabited

Or dwelt in from generation to generation.

40 “As when God overthrew aSodom

And Gomorrah with its neighbors,” declares the Lord,

“No man will live there,

Nor will any son of man reside in it.

41 “Behold, a people is coming afrom the north,

And a great nation and many kings

Will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.

42 “They aseize their bow and javelin;

They are bcruel and have no mercy.

Their cvoice roars like the sea;

And they ride on dhorses,

eMarshalled like a man for the battle

Against you, O daughter of Babylon.

43 “The aking of Babylon has heard the report about them,

And his hands hang limp;

bDistress has gripped him,

Agony like a woman in childbirth.

44 “aBehold, one will come up like a lion from the 1thicket of the Jordan to 2a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make them run away from it, and whoever is bchosen I will appoint over it. For who is clike Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can dstand before Me?”

45 Therefore hear the aplan of the Lord which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: bsurely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their 1pasture desolate because of them.

46 At the 1shout, “Babylon has been seized!” the aearth is shaken, and an boutcry is heard among the nations.