Severe Judgment against Babylon
1Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
2And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
3Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
4Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
5For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
6Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD'S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
7Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
11Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
12Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
14The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
Song of Praise
15He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
16When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
17Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.
Babylon's Punishment
20Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
21And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
22With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
23I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
24And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.
25Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
26And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.
27Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
28Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
29And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
30The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
31One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
32And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
33For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
34Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.
35The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
37And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
38They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.
39In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.
40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
41How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
42The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
43Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
44And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
Instructions for the Exiles
45My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
46And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
47Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.
49As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
50Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD'S house.
52Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.
54A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
55Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
56Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.
57And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
58Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
Jeremiah's Prophecy to Seraiah
59The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. 60So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. 61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; 62Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. 63And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: 64And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
King James Bible
Text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.
Judgment on Babylon
1 Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.
2 I will send to Babylon strangers, who shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her around.
3 Against him who bends let the archer bend his bow, and against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail: and don’t spare her young men; utterly destroy all her army.
4 They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets.
5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of Yahweh of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; don’t be cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of Yahweh’s vengeance; he will render to her a recompense.
7 Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh’s hand, who made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go everyone into his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10 Yahweh has brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.
11 Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance of his temple.
12 Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Yahweh has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness.
14 Yahweh of Armies has sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill you with men, as with the canker worm; and they shall lift up a shout against you.
Praise to the God of Jacob
(Isaiah 25:1–12)
15 He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:
16 when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightning for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.
17 Every man has become brutish without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18 They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name.
Babylon’s Punishment
20 You are my battle axe and weapons of war: and with you will I break in pieces the nations; and with you will I destroy kingdoms;
21 and with you will I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
22 and with you will I break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein; and with you will I break in pieces man and woman; and with you will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with you will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin;
23 and with you will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with you will I break in pieces the farmer and his yoke; and with you will I break in pieces governors and deputies.
24 I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, says Yahweh.
25 Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain, says Yahweh, which destroys all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand on you, and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.
26 They shall not take of you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be desolate for ever, says Yahweh.
27 Set up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker worm.
28 Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion.
29 The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might has failed; they are become as women: her dwelling places are set on fire; her bars are broken.
31 One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter:
32 and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are frightened.
33 For thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her.
34 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has, like a monster, swallowed me up, he has filled his maw with my delicacies; he has cast me out.
35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.
37 Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
38 They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions’ cubs.
39 When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says Yahweh.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.
41 How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
42 The sea has come up on Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of its waves.
43 Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells, neither does any son of man pass thereby.
44 I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow any more to him: yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45 My people, go away from the midst of her, and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of Yahweh.
46 Don’t let your heart faint, neither fear for the news that shall be heard in the land; for news shall come one year, and after that in another year shall come news, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will execute judgment on the engraved images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come to her from the north, says Yahweh.
49 As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land.
50 You who have escaped the sword, go, don’t stand still; remember Yahweh from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach; confusion has covered our faces: for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of Yahweh’s house.
52 Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will execute judgment on her engraved images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come to her, says Yahweh.
54 The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For Yahweh lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered:
56 for the destroyer has come on her, even on Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces; for Yahweh is a God of recompenses, he will surely requite.
57 I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies.
58 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they shall be weary.
Jeremiah’s Message to Seraiah
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief quartermaster. 60 Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words, 62 and say, Yahweh, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor animal, but that it shall be desolate forever. 63 It shall be, when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates: 64 and you shall say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Judgment on Babylon
1 This is what the LORD says:
“Behold, I will stir up against Babylon
and against the people of Leb-kamai a
the spirit of a destroyer.
2 I will send strangers to Babylon
to winnow her and empty her land;
for they will come against her from every side
in her day of disaster.
3 Do not let the archer bend his bow
or put on his armor.
Do not spare her young men;
devote all her army to destruction! b
4 And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans, c
and pierced through in her streets.
5 For Israel and Judah have not been abandoned
by their God, the LORD of Hosts,
though their land is full of guilt
before the Holy One of Israel.”
6 Flee from Babylon! Escape with your lives!
Do not be destroyed in her punishment.
For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance;
He will pay her what she deserves.
7 Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD,
making the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore the nations have gone mad.
8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been shattered.
Wail for her; get her balm for her pain;
perhaps she can be healed.
9 “We tried to heal Babylon,
but she could not be healed.
Abandon her!
Let each of us go to his own land,
for her judgment extends to the sky
and reaches to the clouds.”
10 “The LORD has brought forth our vindication;
come, let us tell in Zion
what the LORD our God has accomplished.”
11 Sharpen the arrows!
Fill the quivers! d
The LORD has aroused the spirit
of the kings of the Medes,
because His plan is aimed at Babylon
to destroy her,
for it is the vengeance of the LORD—
vengeance for His temple.
12 Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon;
post the guard;
station the watchmen;
prepare the ambush.
For the LORD has both devised and accomplished
what He spoke against the people of Babylon.
13 You who dwell by many waters,
rich in treasures,
your end has come;
the thread of your life is cut.
14 The LORD of Hosts has sworn by Himself:
“Surely I will fill you up with men as with locusts,
and they will shout in triumph over you.”
Praise to the God of Jacob
(Isaiah 25:1–12)
15 The LORD made the earth by His power;
He established the world by His wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
16 When He thunders,
the waters in the heavens roar;
He causes the clouds to rise
from the ends of the earth.
He generates the lightning with the rain
and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
17 Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols.
For his molten images are a fraud,
and there is no breath in them.
18 They are worthless, a work to be mocked.
In the time of their punishment they will perish.
19 The Portion of Jacob is not like these,
for He is the Maker of all things,
and of the tribe of His inheritance—
the LORD of Hosts is His name.
Babylon’s Punishment
20 “You are My war club,
My weapon for battle.
With you I shatter nations;
with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
21 With you I shatter the horse and rider;
with you I shatter the chariot and driver.
22 With you I shatter man and woman;
with you I shatter the old man and the youth;
with you I shatter the young man and the maiden.
23 With you I shatter the shepherd and his flock;
with you I shatter the farmer and his oxen;
with you I shatter the governors and officials.
24 Before your very eyes I will repay
Babylon and all the dwellers of Chaldea e
for all the evil they have done in Zion,”
declares the LORD.
25 “Behold, I am against you,
O destroying mountain,
you who devastate the whole earth,
declares the LORD.
I will stretch out My hand against you;
I will roll you over the cliffs
and turn you into a charred mountain.
26 No one shall retrieve from you a cornerstone
or a foundation stone,
because you will become desolate forever,”
declares the LORD.
27 “Raise a banner in the land!
Blow the ram’s horn among the nations!
Prepare the nations against her.
Summon the kingdoms against her—
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a captain against her;
bring up horses like swarming locusts.
28 Prepare the nations for battle against her—
the kings of the Medes,
their governors and all their officials,
and all the lands they rule.
29 The earth quakes and writhes
because the LORD’s intentions against Babylon stand:
to make the land of Babylon a desolation,
without inhabitant.
30 The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting;
they sit in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
they have become like women.
Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze,
the bars of her gates are broken.
31 One courier races to meet another,
and messenger follows messenger,
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his city has been captured from end to end.
32 The fords have been seized,
the marshes set on fire,
and the soldiers are terrified.”
33 For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:
“The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trampled.
In just a little while
her harvest time will come.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me;
he has crushed me.
He has set me aside like an empty vessel;
he has swallowed me like a monster;
he filled his belly with my delicacies
and vomited me out. f
35 May the violence done to me
and to my flesh
be upon Babylon,”
says the dweller of Zion.
“May my blood be on the dwellers of Chaldea,”
says Jerusalem.
36 Therefore this is what the LORD says:
“Behold, I will plead your case
and take vengeance on your behalf;
I will dry up her sea
and make her springs run dry.
37 Babylon will become a heap of rubble,
a haunt for jackals, g
an object of horror and scorn,
without inhabitant.
38 They will roar together like young lions;
they will growl like lion cubs.
39 While they are flushed with heat,
I will serve them a feast,
and I will make them drunk
so that they may revel;
then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up,
declares the LORD.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams with male goats.
41 How Sheshach h has been captured!
The praise of all the earth has been seized.
What a horror Babylon has become
among the nations!
42 The sea has come up over Babylon;
she is covered in turbulent waves.
43 Her cities have become a desolation,
a dry and arid land,
a land where no one lives,
where no son of man passes through.
44 I will punish Bel in Babylon.
I will make him spew out what he swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him;
even the wall of Babylon will fall.
45 Come out of her, My people! i
Save your lives, each of you,
from the fierce anger of the LORD.
46 Do not let your heart grow faint,
and do not be afraid
when the rumor is heard in the land;
for a rumor will come one year—
and then another the next year—
of violence in the land
and of ruler against ruler.
47 Therefore, behold, the days are coming
when I will punish the idols of Babylon.
Her entire land will suffer shame,
and all her slain will lie fallen within her.
48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will shout for joy over Babylon
because the destroyers from the north
will come against her,”
declares the LORD.
49 “Babylon must fall
on account of the slain of Israel,
just as the slain of all the earth
have fallen because of Babylon.
50 You who have escaped the sword,
depart and do not linger!
Remember the LORD from far away,
and let Jerusalem come to mind.”
51 “We are ashamed because we have heard reproach;
disgrace has covered our faces,
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the LORD’s house.”
52 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,”
declares the LORD,
“when I will punish her idols,
and throughout her land the wounded will groan.
53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens
and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
the destroyers I send will come against her,”
declares the LORD.
54 “The sound of a cry
comes from Babylon,
the sound of great destruction
from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For the LORD will destroy Babylon;
He will silence her mighty voice.
The waves will roar like great waters;
the tumult of their voices will resound.
56 For a destroyer is coming against her—
against Babylon.
Her warriors will be captured,
and their bows will be broken,
for the LORD is a God of retribution;
He will repay in full.
57 I will make her princes and wise men drunk,
along with her governors, officials, and warriors.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and not wake up,”
declares the King,
whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
58 This is what the LORD of Hosts says:
“Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled,
and her high gates consumed by fire.
So the labor of the people will be for nothing;
the nations will exhaust themselves to fuel the flames.”
Jeremiah’s Message to Seraiah
59 This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to the quartermaster Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign. 60 Jeremiah had written on a single scroll about all the disaster that would come upon Babylon—all these words that had been written concerning Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud, 62 and say, ‘O LORD, You have promised to cut off this place so that no one will remain—neither man nor beast. Indeed, it will be desolate forever.’
63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates. 64 Then you are to say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again, because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will grow weary.’ ”
Here end the words of Jeremiah.
Footnotes:
1 a Leb-kamai is a code name for Chaldea, that is, Babylonia.
3 b Forms of the Hebrew cherem refer to the giving over of things or persons to the LORD, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
4 c That is, the Babylonians; also in verse 54
11 d LXX and some translations of the Hebrew; literally Fill the hand with the shields! or Take up the shields!
24 e That is, Babylonia; also in verse 35
34 f Or expelled me
37 g Or serpents or dragons
41 h Sheshach is a code name for Babylon.
45 i See Revelation 18:4.
Severe Judgment against Babylon
1Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am stirring up against Babylon, And the inhabitants of Leb -- My withstanders, A destroying wind,
2And I have sent to Babylon fanners, And they have fanned it, and they empty its land, For they have been against it, Round about -- in the day of evil.
3Let not the treader tread his bow, Nor lift himself up in his coat of mail, Nor have ye pity on her young men, Devote ye to destruction all her host.
4And fallen have the wounded in the land of the Chaldeans, And the pierced-through in her streets.
5For, not forsaken is Israel and Judah, By its God -- by Jehovah of Hosts, For their land hath been full of guilt, Against the Holy One of Israel.
6Flee ye from the midst of Babylon, And deliver ye each his soul, Be not cut off in its iniquity, For a time of vengeance it is to Jehovah, Recompence He is rendering to her.
7A golden cup is Babylon in the hand of Jehovah, Making drunk all the earth, Of its wine drunk have nations, Therefore boast themselves do nations.
8Suddenly hath Babylon fallen, Yea, it is broken, howl ye for it, Take balm for her pain, if so be it may be healed.
9We healed Babylon, and she was not healed, Forsake her, and we go, each to his land, For come unto the heavens hath its judgment, And it hath been lifted up unto the clouds.
10Jehovah hath brought forth our righteousnesses, Come, and we recount in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.
11Cleanse ye the arrows, fill the shields, Stirred up hath Jehovah the spirit of the kings of Madia, For against Babylon His device is to destroy it, For the vengeance of Jehovah it is, The vengeance of His temple.
12Unto the walls of Babylon lift up an ensign, Strengthen the watch, Establish the watchers, prepare the ambush, For Jehovah hath both devised and done that which He spake, Concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13O dweller on many waters, abundant in treasures, Come in hath thine end, the measure of thy dishonest gain.
14Sworn hath Jehovah of Hosts by Himself, That, Surely I have filled thee with men as the cankerworm, And they have cried against thee -- shouting.
Song of Praise
15The maker of earth by His power, The establisher of the world by His wisdom, Who by His understanding stretched out the heavens,
16At the voice He giveth forth, A multitude of waters are in the heavens, And He causeth vapours to come up from the end of the earth, Lightnings for rain He hath made, And He bringeth out wind from His treasures.
17Brutish hath been every man by knowledge, Put to shame hath been every refiner by a graven image, For false is his molten image, And there is no breath in them.
18Vanity are they -- work of errors, In the time of their inspection they perish.
19Not like these is the portion of Jacob, For He is former of all things, And Israel is the rod of His inheritance, Jehovah of Hosts is His name.
Babylon's Punishment
20An axe art thou to me -- weapons of war, And I have broken in pieces by thee nations, And I have destroyed by thee kingdoms,
21And I have broken in pieces by thee horse and its rider, And I have broken in pieces by thee chariot and its charioteer,
22And I have broken in pieces by thee man and woman, And I have broken in pieces by thee old and young, And I have broken in pieces by thee young man and virgin,
23And I have broken in pieces by thee shepherd and his drove, And I have broken in pieces by thee husbandman and his team, And I have broken in pieces by thee governors and prefects.
24And I have recompensed to Babylon, And to all inhabitants of Chaldea, All the evil that they have done in Zion, Before your eyes -- an affirmation of Jehovah.
25Lo, I am against thee, O destroying mount, An affirmation of Jehovah, That is destroying all the earth, And I have stretched out My hand against thee, And I have rolled thee from the rocks, And given thee for a burnt mountain.
26And they take not out of thee a stone for a corner, And a stone for foundations, For desolations age-during art thou, An affirmation of Jehovah.
27Lift ye up an ensign in the land, Blow a trumpet among nations, Sanctify against it nations, Summon against it the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz, Appoint against it an infant head, Cause the horse to ascend as the rough cankerworm.
28Sanctify against it the nations with the kings of Media, Its governors and all its prefects, And all the land of its dominion.
29And shake doth the land, and it is pained, For stood against Babylon have the purposes of Jehovah, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.
30Ceased have the mighty of Babylon to fight, They have remained in strongholds, Failed hath their might, they have become woman, They have burnt her tabernacles, Broken have been her bars.
31Runner to meet runner doth run, And announcer to meet announcer, To announce to the king of Babylon, For, captured hath been his city -- at the extremity.
32And the passages have been captured, And the reeds they have burnt with fire, And the men of war have been troubled.
33For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, The daughter of Babylon is as a threshing-floor, The time of her threshing -- yet a little, And come hath the time of her harvest.
34Devoured us, crushed us, hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, He hath set us as an empty vessel, He hath swallowed us as a dragon, He hath filled his belly with my dainties, He hath driven us away.
35My wrong, and that of my flesh is on Babylon, Say doth the inhabitant of Zion, And my blood is on the inhabitants of Chaldea, Say doth Jerusalem.
36Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am pleading thy cause, And I have avenged thy vengeance, And dried up its sea, and made its fountains dry.
37And Babylon hath been for heaps, A habitation of dragons, An astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
38Together as young lions they roar, They have shaken themselves as lions' whelps.
39In their heat I make their banquets, And I have caused them to drink, so that they exult, And have slept a sleep age-during, And awake not -- an affirmation of Jehovah.
40I cause them to go down as lambs to slaughter, As rams with he-goats.
41How hath Sheshach been captured, Yea, caught is the praise of the whole earth, How hath Babylon been for an astonishment among nations.
42Come up against Babylon hath the sea, With a multitude of its billows it hath been covered.
43Its cities have been for a desolation, A dry land, and a wilderness, A land -- none doth dwell in them, Nor pass over into them doth a son of man.
44And I have seen after Bel in Babylon, And I have brought forth that which he swallowed -- from his mouth, And flow no more unto him do nations, Also the wall of Babylon hath fallen.
Instructions for the Exiles
45Go forth from its midst, O My people, And deliver ye, each his soul, Because of the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah,
46And lest your heart be tender, And ye be afraid of the report that is heard in the land, And come in a year hath the report, And after it in a year the report, And violence is in the land, ruler against ruler;
47Therefore, lo, days are coming, And I have seen after the graven images of Babylon. And all its land is ashamed, And all its pierced ones do fall in its midst.
48And cried aloud against Babylon Have heavens and earth, and all that is in them, For, from the north come to it do the spoilers, An affirmation of Jehovah.
49Even Babylon is to fall, ye pierced of Israel, Even they of Babylon have fallen, Ye pierced of all the earth.
50Ye escaped of the sword, go on, stand not, Remember ye from afar Jehovah, And let Jerusalem come up on your heart.
51We have been ashamed, for we heard reproach, Covered hath shame our faces, For come in have strangers, against the sanctuaries of the house of Jehovah.
52Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have seen after its graven images, And in all its land groan doth the wounded.
53Because Babylon goeth up to the heavens, And because it fenceth the high place of its strength, From Me come into it do spoilers, An affirmation of Jehovah.
54A voice of a cry is from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldean.
55For Jehovah is spoiling Babylon, And hath destroyed out of it a great voice, And sounded have its billows as many waters, Given forth a noise hath their voice.
56For come in against it -- against Babylon -- hath a spoiler, And captured have been its mighty ones, Broken have been their bows, For the God of recompences -- Jehovah -- doth certainly repay.
57And I have caused its princes to drink, And its wise men, its governors, And its prefects, and its mighty ones, And they have slept a sleep age-during, And they awake not -- an affirmation of the king, Jehovah of Hosts is His name.
58Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, the wall of Babylon -- The broad one -- is utterly made bare, And her high gates with fire are burnt, And peoples labour in vain, And nations in fire, and have been weary!
Jeremiah's Prophecy to Seraiah
59The word that Jeremiah the prophet hath commanded Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, in his going with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign -- and Seraiah is a quiet prince; 60and Jeremiah writeth all the evil that cometh unto Babylon on one book -- all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61And Jeremiah saith unto Seraiah, 'When thou dost enter Babylon, then thou hast seen, and hast read all these words, 62and hast said: Jehovah, Thou, Thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that there is none dwelling in it, from man even unto cattle, for it is a desolation age-during. 63And it hath come to pass, when thou dost finish reading this book, thou dost bind to it a stone, and hast cast it into the midst of Phrat, 64and said, Thus sink doth Babylon, and it doth not arise, because of the evil that I am bringing in against it, and they have been weary.' Hitherto are words of Jeremiah.
