Jeremiah 50
Prophecy against Babylon
1 The word which the Lord spoke concerning aBabylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet: 2 “ bDeclare and proclaim among the nations.Proclaim it and clift up a flag,
Do not conceal it. Say,
‘ dBabylon has been captured,
eBel has been put to shame, ▼
▼Heb Merodach
Marduk has been ▼▼Or dismayed
shattered;Her hidols have been put to shame, her images have been shattered.’
3 For a nation has come up against her from the inorth; it will make her land jan object of horror, and there will be kno inhabitant in it. Whether people or animals, they have wandered off, they have gone! 4 “In those days and at that time,” declares the Lord, “the sons of Israel will come, they and the sons of Judah las well; they will go along mweeping as they go, and it will be nthe Lord their God whom they will seek. 5They will oask for the way to Zion, turning their faces ▼
▼Lit toward here
in its direction; ▼▼MT come, that
they ▼▼Or will have come
will come so that they may join themselves to the Lord in an severlasting covenant that will not be forgotten. 6 “My people have become tlost sheep;uTheir shepherds have led them astray.
They have made them turn aside on the vmountains.
They have gone from mountain to hill,
They have forgotten their wresting place.
7 “All who found them have devoured them;
And their adversaries have said, ‘ xWe are not guilty,
Since they have sinned against the Lord who is the yhabitation of righteousness,
The Lord, the zhope of their fathers.’
8 “Wander away from the aamidst of Babylon
And ▼
▼Another reading is let them go out
go out from the land of the Chaldeans;Be like male goats ▼
▼Or in front of
at the head of the flock.9 “For behold, I am going to adrouse and bring up against Babylon
A contingent 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 ▼
▼As in some mss and ancient versions; MT a warrior who makes childless
an expert warriorWho does not return empty-handed.
10 “ ▼
▼Or the Chaldeans
,
agChaldea will become plunder;All who plunder her will have enough,” declares the Lord.
11 “Because you are glad, because you are jubilant,
You who ahpillage My heritage,
Because you skip about ▼
▼Another reading is in the grass
like a threshing ajheiferAnd neigh like ▼
▼Lit mighty ones
stallions,12 Your almother ▼
▼Or has become
will be greatly ashamed,She who gave you birth ▼
▼Or has become
will be humiliated.Behold, she will be the least of the nations,
A aowilderness, a dry land and a desert.
13 “Because of the wrath of the Lord she will apnot be inhabited,
But she will be aqcompletely desolate;
Everyone who passes by Babylon arwill be horrified
And will hiss because of all her wounds.
14 “Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side,
All of you who ▼
▼Lit step on (in order to string)
bend the bow;Shoot at her, do not spare your arrows,
For she has atsinned against the Lord.
15 “Raise your battle cry against her on every side!
She has augiven ▼
▼Lit her hand
herself up, her towers have fallen,Her awwalls have been torn down.
For this is the axvengeance of the Lord:
Take vengeance on her;
ayAs she has done to others, so do to her.
16 “Eliminate the azsower from Babylon
And the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest;
From ▼
▼Or the oppressing sword
the bbsword of the oppressorbcEach of them will turn back to his own people
And each of them will flee to his own land.
17 “Israel is a bdscattered ▼
▼Lit sheep
flock, the bflions have driven them away. The first one who devoured him was the bgking of Assyria, and this last one who has gnawed his bones is bhNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 18Therefore this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I bipunished the king of Assyria. 19And I will bjbring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his ▼▼Lit soul
desire will be satisfied in the blhill country of Ephraim and Gilead. 20In those days and at that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘search will be made for the wrongdoing of Israel, but bmthere will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will forgive those bnwhom I leave as a remnant.’ 21 “Against the land of ▼▼Or double rebellion
Merathaim, go up against it,And against the inhabitants of ▼
▼I.e., punishment (uncertain)
,
bqPekod.Kill and ▼
▼Lit put under the ban
completely destroy them,” declares the Lord,“And do according to everything that I have commanded you.
22 “The bsnoise of battle is in the land,
And great destruction.
23 “How the bthammer of the whole earth
Has been cut off and broken!
How Babylon has become
An object of horror among the nations!
24 “I buset a trap for you and you were also bvcaught, Babylon,
While you yourself were not aware;
You have been found and also seized
Because you have engaged in bwconflict with the Lord.”
25 The Lord has opened His armory
And has brought out the bxweapons of His indignation,
For it is a bywork of the Lord ▼
▼Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
God of armiesIn the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come to her from the ▼
▼Lit end
farthest border;cbOpen up her barns,
Pile her up like heaps of grain
And ▼
▼Lit put under the ban
,
cdcompletely destroy her,Let nothing be left to her.
27 cePut all her bulls to the sword;
Let them cfgo down to the slaughter!
Woe be upon them, for their cgday has come,
The time of their punishment.
28 There is a chsound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon,
To declare in Zion the civengeance of the Lord our God,
Vengeance for His cjtemple.
29 “Summon ▼
▼Another reading is archers
many against Babylon,All those who ▼
▼Lit step on (in order to string)
bend the bow:Encamp against her on every side,
Let there be no escape ▼
▼Some mss add to her
.Repay her according to her work;
cnAccording to all that she has done, so do to her;
For she has become coarrogant against the Lord,
Against the Holy One of Israel.
30 “Therefore her cpyoung men will fall in her streets,
And all her men of war will cqperish on that day,” declares the Lord.
31 “Behold, crI am against you, ▼
▼Lit arrogance
arrogant one,”Declares the Lord ▼
▼Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
God of armies,“For your day has come,
The time ▼
▼Another reading is of your punishment
when I will punish you.32 “The ▼
▼Lit arrogance
,
cwarrogant one will stumble and fallWith no one to raise him up;
And I will cxset fire to his cities,
And it will devour all his surroundings.”
33 This is what the Lord of armies says:
“The sons of Israel are oppressed,
And the sons of Judah as well;
And cyall who took them captive have held them firmly,
They have refused to let them go.
34 “Their czRedeemer is strong, dathe Lord of armies is His name;
He will vigorously dbplead their case
So that He may dcbring rest to their land,
But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 “A ddsword against the Chaldeans,” declares the Lord,
“And against the inhabitants of Babylon
And against her deleaders and her dfwise men!
36 “A sword against the dgoracle priests, and they will become fools!
A sword against her dhwarriors, and they will be ▼
▼Or filled with terror
,
djshattered!37 “A sword against ▼
▼Lit his
their dlhorses, against ▼▼Lit his
their chariots,And against all the ▼
▼Lit mixed multitude
,
doforeigners who are in the midst of her,And they will become dpwomen!
A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!
38 “A ▼
▼Another reading is sword
,
drdrought on her waters, and they will be dried up!For it is a land of dsidols,
And they go insane at frightful images.
39 “Therefore the dtdesert creatures will live there with the jackals;
The ostriches also will live in it.
It will dunever again be inhabited
Nor lived in from generation to generation.
40 “As when God overthrew dvSodom
And Gomorrah with its neighbors,” declares the Lord,
“No one will live there,
Nor will ▼
▼Lit a son of man
anyone of mankind reside in it.41 “Behold, a people is coming dxfrom the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Will be roused from the remote parts of the earth.
42 “They dyseize their bow and javelin;
They are dzcruel and have no mercy.
Their eavoice roars like the sea;
And they ride on ebhorses,
ecDrawn up like a man for the battle
Against you, daughter of Babylon.
43 “The edking of Babylon has heard the report about them,
And his hands hang limp;
eeDistress has gripped him,
Agony like a woman in childbirth.
44 “ efBehold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will chase them away from it, and I will appoint over it whoever is egchosen. For who is ehlike Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can eistand against Me?” 45Therefore hear the ejplan of the Lord which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has in mind against the land of the Chaldeans: ekthey will certainly drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; He will certainly make their pasture desolate because of them. 46At the ▼
▼Lit voice
shout, “Babylon has been conquered!” the emearth quakes, and an enoutcry is heard among the nations.
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