New American Standard Bible JEREMIAH 51

Babylon Judged for Sins against Israel

1 Thus says the Loʀᴅ:

“Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon

And against the inhabitants of 1Leb-kamai

2The Aspirit of a destroyer.

2 “I will dispatch 1foreigners to Babylon that they may Awinnow her

And may devastate her land;

For on every side they will be opposed to her

In the day of her calamity.

3 “1Let not 2him who 3 Abends his bow 3bend it,

1Nor let him rise up in his Bscale-armor;

So do not spare her young men;

Devote all her army to destruction.

4 “They will fall down 1slain in the land of the Chaldeans,

And Apierced through in their streets.”

5 For Aneither Israel nor Judah has been 1forsaken

By his God, the Loʀᴅ of hosts,

Although their land is Bfull of guilt

2Before the Holy One of Israel.

6 AFlee from the midst of Babylon,

And each of you save his life!

Do not be 1 Bdestroyed in her 2punishment,

For this is the CLoʀᴅ’s time of vengeance;

He is going to Drender recompense to her.

7 Babylon has been a golden Acup in the hand of the Loʀᴅ,

Intoxicating all the earth.

The Bnations have drunk of her wine;

Therefore the nations are Cgoing mad.

8 Suddenly ABabylon has fallen and been broken;

BWail over her!

CBring 1balm for her pain;

Perhaps she may be healed.

9 We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed;

Forsake her and Alet us each go to his own country,

For her judgment has Breached to heaven

And 1towers up to the very skies.

10 The Loʀᴅ has Abrought 1about our vindication;

Come and let us Brecount in Zion

The work of the Loʀᴅ our God!

11 ASharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!

The Loʀᴅ has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes,

Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it;

For it is the Bvengeance of the Loʀᴅ, vengeance for His temple.

12 ALift up a 1signal against the walls of Babylon;

Post a strong guard,

Station 2sentries,

Place men in ambush!

For the Loʀᴅ has both Bpurposed and performed

What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

13 O you who Adwell by many waters,

Abundant in Btreasures,

Your end has come,

The 1measure of your 2 Cend.

14 The ALoʀᴅ of hosts has sworn by Himself:

“Surely I will fill you with a 1population like Blocusts,

And they will cry out with 2shouts of victory over you.”

15 It is AHe who made the earth by His power,

Who established the world by His wisdom,

And by His understanding He Bstretched out the heavens.

16 When He utters His Avoice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

And He causes the Bclouds to ascend from the end of the earth;

He makes lightning for the rain

And brings forth the Cwind from His storehouses.

17 AAll mankind is stupid, devoid of knowledge;

Every goldsmith is put to shame by his 1idols,

For his molten images are Bdeceitful,

And there is no breath in them.

18 They are Aworthless, a work of mockery;

In the time of their punishment they will perish.

19 The Aportion of Jacob is not like these;

For the 1Maker of all is He,

And of the 2tribe of His inheritance;

The BLoʀᴅ of hosts is His name.

20 He says, “You are My 1 Awar-club, My weapon of war;

And with you I Bshatter nations,

And with you I destroy kingdoms.

21 “With you I Ashatter the horse and his rider,

And with you I shatter the Bchariot and its rider,

22 And with you I shatter Aman and woman,

And with you I shatter old man and Byouth,

And with you I shatter young man and virgin,

23 And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock,

And with you I shatter the farmer and his team,

And with you I shatter governors and prefects.

24 “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of AChaldea for Ball their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares the Loʀᴅ.

25 “Behold, AI am against you, BO destroying mountain,

Who destroys the whole earth,” declares the Loʀᴅ,

“And I will stretch out My hand against you,

And roll you down from the crags,

And I will make you a Cburnt out mountain.

26 “They will not take from you even a stone for a corner

Nor a stone for foundations,

But you will be Adesolate forever,” declares the Loʀᴅ.

27 ALift up a 1signal in the land,

Blow a trumpet among the nations!

Consecrate the nations against her,

Summon against her the Bkingdoms of CArarat, Minni and DAshkenaz;

Appoint a marshal against her,

Bring up the Ehorses like bristly locusts.

28 Consecrate the nations against her,

The kings of the Medes,

1Their governors and all 1their 2prefects,

And every land of 3their dominion.

29 So the Aland quakes and writhes,

For the purposes of the Loʀᴅ against Babylon stand,

To make the land of Babylon

1A Bdesolation without inhabitants.

30 The Amighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting,

They stay in the strongholds;

BTheir strength is 1exhausted,

They are becoming Blike women;

Their dwelling places are set on fire,

The Cbars of her gates are broken.

31 One 1 Acourier runs to meet 1another,

And one 2 Bmessenger to meet 2another,

To tell the king of Babylon

That his city has been captured from end to end;

32 The fords also have been seized,

And they have burned the marshes with fire,

And the men of war are terrified.

33 For thus says the Loʀᴅ of hosts, the God of Israel:

“The daughter of Babylon is like a Athreshing floor

At the time 1it is stamped firm;

Yet in a little while the time of Bharvest will come for her.”

34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has Adevoured me and crushed me,

He has set me down like an Bempty vessel;

He has Cswallowed me like a monster,

He has filled his stomach with my delicacies;

He has washed me away.

35 “May the Aviolence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,”

The 1inhabitant of Zion will say;

And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”

Jerusalem will say.

36 Therefore thus says the Loʀᴅ,

“Behold, I am going to Aplead your case

And Bexact full vengeance for you;

And CI will dry up her 1sea

And make her fountain dry.

37 “ABabylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals,

An Bobject of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.

38 “They will roar together like Ayoung lions,

They will growl like lions’ cubs.

39 “When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet

And Amake them drunk, that they may become jubilant

And may Bsleep a perpetual sleep

And not wake up,” declares the Loʀᴅ.

40 “I will bring them down like 1lambs Ato the slaughter,

Like rams together with male goats.

41 “How 1 ASheshak has been captured,

And Bthe praise of the whole earth been seized!

How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!

42 “The 1 Asea has come up over Babylon;

She has been engulfed with its tumultuous waves.

43 “Her cities have become an Aobject of horror,

A parched land and a desert,

A land in which Bno man lives

And through which no son of man passes.

44 “AI will punish Bel in Babylon,

And I will make what he has swallowed Bcome out of his mouth;

And the nations will no longer Cstream to him.

Even the Dwall of Babylon has fallen down!

45 “ACome forth from her midst, My people,

And each of you Bsave yourselves

From the fierce anger of the Loʀᴅ.

46 “Now Aso that your heart does not grow faint,

And you are not afraid at the Breport that will be heard in the land—

For the report will come 1one year,

And after that 2another report in 2another year,

And violence will be in the land

With Cruler against ruler—

47 Therefore behold, days are coming

When I will punish the Aidols of Babylon;

And her whole land will be Bput to shame

And all her slain will fall in her midst.

48 “Then Aheaven and earth and all that is in them

Will shout for joy over Babylon,

For Bthe destroyers will come to her from the north,”

Declares the Loʀᴅ.

49 AIndeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel,

As also for Babylon Bthe slain of all the earth have fallen.

50 You Awho have escaped the sword,

Depart! Do not stay!

BRemember the Loʀᴅ from afar,

And let Jerusalem 1come to your mind.

51 AWe are ashamed because we have heard reproach;

Disgrace has covered our faces,

For Baliens have entered

The holy places of the Loʀᴅ’s house.

52 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Loʀᴅ,

“When I will punish her Aidols,

And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.

53 “Though Babylon should Aascend to the heavens,

And though she should fortify 1her lofty stronghold,

From BMe destroyers will come to her,” declares the Loʀᴅ.

54 The Asound of an outcry from Babylon,

And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!

55 For the Loʀᴅ is going to destroy Babylon,

And He will make her loud 1noise vanish from her.

And their Awaves will roar like many waters;

The tumult of their voices 2sounds forth.

56 For the Adestroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,

And her mighty men will be captured,

Their Bbows are shattered;

For the Loʀᴅ is a God of Crecompense,

He will fully repay.

57 “I will Amake her princes and her wise men drunk,

Her governors, her prefects and her mighty men,

That they may sleep a Bperpetual sleep and not wake up,”

CDeclares the King, whose name is the Loʀᴅ of hosts.

58 Thus says the Loʀᴅ of hosts,

“The broad Awall of Babylon will be completely razed

And her high Bgates will be set on fire;

So the peoples will Ctoil for nothing,

And the nations become Dexhausted only for fire.”

59 The 1message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of ANeriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with BZedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (Now Seraiah was quartermaster.) 60 So Jeremiah Awrote in a single 1scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon. 61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud, 62 and say, ‘You, O Loʀᴅ, have 1promised concerning this place to Acut it off, so that there will be Bnothing dwelling in it, 2whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.’ 63 “And as soon as you finish reading this 1scroll, you will tie a stone to it and Athrow it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64 and say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and Anot rise again because of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become Bexhausted.’ ” CThus far are the words of Jeremiah.

151:1 Cryptic name for Chaldea; or the heart of those who rise up against Me

251:1 Or a destroying wind

A51:1 Jer 4:11, 12; 23:19; Hos 13:15

151:2 Some versions read winnowers

A51:2 Is 41:16; Jer 15:7; Matt 3:12

151:3 M.T. reads Against him who

251:3 I.e. the Chaldean defender

351:3 Lit tread(s) (in order to string)

A51:3 Jer 50:14, 29

351:3 Lit tread(s) (in order to string)

151:3 M.T. reads Against him who

B51:3 Jer 46:4