Jer 50-51 | NASB2020 | STEP | The word which the Lord spoke concerning Babylon , the land of the Chaldeans , through Jeremiah the prophet :

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. 5 They 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 warrior
Who 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 ^ajheifer
And 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 oppressor
^bcEach 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. 18 Therefore 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. 19 And 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. 20 In 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 armies
In 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 fall
With 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?” 45 Therefore 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. 46 At the ^{▼▼Lit voice}shout, “Babylon has been conquered!” the ^emearth quakes, and an ^enoutcry is heard among the nations.

Jeremiah 51

Babylon Judged for Sins against Israel

1 This is what the Lord says:

“Behold, I am going to stir up
^{▼▼Or a destroying wind}The ^epspirit of a destroyer against Babylon
And against the inhabitants of ^{▼▼Cryptic name for Chaldea; or the heart of those who rise up against Me}Leb-kamai.
2 “I will send ^{▼▼Some ancient versions winnowers}foreigners to Babylon so that they may ^eswinnow her
And devastate her land;
For they will be opposed to her on every side
On the day of her disaster.
3 “Let not ^{▼▼I.e., the Chaldean defender}him who ^{▼▼Lit step(s) on; MT in order to string
,} ^evbends his bow ^{▼▼Lit step(s) on; MT in order to string}bend it,
Nor let him rise up in his ^excoat of armor.
Do not spare her young men;
Devote all her army to destruction.
4 “They will fall down ^{▼▼Lit killed; or wounded}dead in the land of the Chaldeans,
And ^ezpierced through in their streets.”

5 For ^faneither Israel nor Judah has been ^{▼▼Lit widowed}forsaken
By his God, the Lord of armies,
Although their land is ^fcfull of guilt
^{▼▼Lit From}Before the Holy One of Israel.
6 ^feFlee from the midst of Babylon,
And each of you save his life!
Do not ^ffperish in her ^{▼▼Or penalty for wrongdoing}punishment,
For this is the ^fhLord’s time of vengeance;
He is going to ^firepay to her what she deserves.
7 Babylon has been a golden ^fjcup in the hand of the Lord,
Intoxicating all the earth.
The ^fknations have drunk of her wine;
Therefore the nations are ^flgoing insane.
8 Suddenly ^fmBabylon has fallen and been broken;
^fnWail over her!
^foBring ^{▼▼Or balsam resin}balm for her pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.
9 We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed;
Abandon her and ^fqlet’s each go to his own country,
For her judgment has ^frreached to heaven
And it rises to the clouds.
10 The Lord has ^fsbrought ^{▼▼Lit forth}about our vindication;
Come and let’s ^furecount in Zion
The work of the Lord our God!

11 ^fvSharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes,
Because His plan is against Babylon to destroy it;
For it is the ^fwvengeance of the Lord, vengeance for His temple.
12 ^fxLift up a signal flag against the walls of Babylon;
Post a strong guard,
Station ^{▼▼Or watchmen}sentries,
Set up an ambush!
For the Lord has both ^fzplanned and performed
What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 You who ^galive by many waters,
Abundant in ^gbtreasures,
Your end has come,
The ^{▼▼Lit cubit}measure of your ^{▼▼Lit being cut off
,} ^geend.
14 The ^gfLord of armies has sworn by Himself:
“I will certainly fill you with a ^{▼▼Or mankind}population like ^ghlocusts,
And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you.”

15 It is ^giHe who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom,
And by His understanding He ^gjstretched out the heavens.
16 When He utters His ^gkvoice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
And He makes the ^glclouds ascend from the end of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
And brings out ^gmwind from His storehouses.
17 ^gnEvery person is stupid, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his ^{▼▼Or images}idols,
For his cast metal images are ^gpdeceitful,
And there is no breath in them.
18 They are ^gqworthless, a work of mockery;
At the time of their punishment they will perish.
19 The ^grportion of Jacob is not like these;
For He is the ^{▼▼Lit Fashioner}Maker of everything,
And of the ^{▼▼Or scepter; cf. Num 24:17}tribe of His inheritance;
The ^guLord of armies is His name.
20 He says, “You are My ^{▼▼Lit shatterer
,} ^gwwar-club, My weapon of war;
And with you I ^gxshatter nations,
And with you I destroy kingdoms.
21 “With you I ^gyshatter the horse and his rider,
And with you I shatter the ^gzchariot and its rider,
22 And with you I shatter ^haman and woman,
And with you I shatter the old man and ^hbyouth,
And with you I shatter the 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 officials.
24 “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of ^hcChaldea for ^hdall their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares the Lord.

25 “Behold, ^heI am against you, mountain of ^hfdestruction
That destroys the whole earth,” declares the Lord,
“And I will stretch out My hand against you,
And roll you down from the rocky cliffs,
And I will make you a ^hgburnt out mountain.
26 “They will not take from you even a stone for a corner
Nor a stone for foundations,
But you will be ^hhdesolate forever,” declares the Lord.

27 ^hiLift up a signal flag in the land,
Blow a trumpet among the nations!
Consecrate the nations against her,
Summon against her the ^hjkingdoms of ^hkArarat, Minni, and ^hlAshkenaz;
Appoint an officer against her,
Bring up the ^hmhorses like bristly locusts.
28 Consecrate the nations against her,
The kings of the Medes,
^{▼▼Lit her}Their governors and all ^{▼▼Lit her}their officials,
And every land ^{▼▼Lit of his dominion}under their control.
29 So the ^hqland quakes and writhes,
For the plans of the Lord against Babylon stand,
To make the land of Babylon
^{▼▼Or An object of horror}A ^hsdesolation without inhabitants.
30 The ^htwarriors of Babylon have ceased fighting,
They stay in the strongholds;
^huTheir strength is ^{▼▼Lit dried up}exhausted,
They are becoming ^hwlike women;
Their homes are set on fire,
The ^hxbars of her gates are broken.
31 One ^{▼▼Lit runner
,} ^hzcourier runs to meet ^{▼▼Lit runner}another,
And one ^{▼▼Lit announcer
,} ^icmessenger to meet ^{▼▼Lit announcer}another,
To tell the king of Babylon
That his city has been captured from end to end;
32 The river crossing places have been seized,
And they have burned the marshes with fire,
And the men of war are terrified.

33 For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says:
“The daughter of Babylon is like a ^iethreshing floor
At the time that ^{▼▼Lit of treading it}it is tread down;
In just a little while the time of ^igharvest will come for her.”

34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has ^ihdevoured me, he has crushed me,
He has set me down like an ⁱⁱempty vessel;
He has ^ijswallowed me like a monster,
He has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
He has washed me away.
35 “May the ^ikviolence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,”
The ^{▼▼Lit inhabitress}inhabitant of Zion will say;
And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
Jerusalem will say.
36 Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“Behold, I am going to ^implead your case
And ⁱⁿtake vengeance for you;
And ^ioI will dry up her ^{▼▼Or broad river}sea
And make her fountain dry.
37 “ ^iqBabylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals,
An ^irobject of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.
38 “They will roar together like ^isyoung lions,
They will growl like lions’ cubs.
39 “When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet
And ^itmake them drunk, so that they may rejoice in triumph,
And may ^iusleep a perpetual sleep
And not wake up,” declares the Lord.
40 “I will bring them down like ^{▼▼Or young rams}lambs ^iwto the slaughter,
Like rams together with male goats.

41 “How ^{▼▼Cryptic name for Babylon
,} ^iySheshak has been captured,
And ^izthe praise of the whole earth has been seized!
How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!
42 “The ^{▼▼Or broad river
,} ^jbsea has come up over Babylon;
She has been engulfed by its roaring waves.
43 “Her cities have become an ^jcobject of horror,
A dry land and a desert,
A land in which ^jdno one lives
And through which no ^{▼▼Lit son of man}one of mankind passes.
44 “ ^jfI will punish Bel in Babylon,
And I will make what he has swallowed ^jgcome out of his mouth;
And the nations will no longer ^jhstream toward him.
Even the ^jiwall of Babylon has fallen down!

45 “ ^jjCome out from her midst, My people,
And each of you ^jksave yourselves
From the fierce anger of the Lord.
46 “Now, ^jlso that your heart does not grow faint,
And you are not afraid at the ^jmreport that will be heard in the land--
For the report will come in ^{▼▼Lit the}one year,
And after that ^{▼▼Lit the}another report in ^{▼▼Lit the}another year,
And violence will be in the land
With ^jqruler against ruler--
47 Therefore behold, days are coming
When I will punish the ^jridols of Babylon;
And her whole land will be ^jsput to shame.
And all her slain will fall in her midst.
48 “Then ^jtheaven and earth and everything that is in them
Will shout for joy over Babylon,
Because ^juthe destroyers will come to her from the north,”
Declares the Lord.

49 ^jvIndeed, Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel,
As ^jwthe slain of all the earth have also fallen for Babylon.
50 You ^jxwho have escaped the sword,
Go! Do not stay!
^jyRemember the Lord from far away,
And let Jerusalem ^{▼▼Lit come upon your heart}come to your mind.
51 ^kaWe are ashamed because we have heard rebuke;
Disgrace has covered our faces,
Because ^kbstrangers 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 ^kcidols,
And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.
53 “Though Babylon ^kdascends to the heavens,
And though she fortifies ^{▼▼Lit the height of her strength}her lofty stronghold,
Destroyers will come from ^kfMe to her,” declares the Lord.

54 The ^kgsound of an outcry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon,
And He will make her loud ^{▼▼Or voice}noise vanish from her.
And their ^kiwaves will roar like many waters;
The clamor of their voices ^{▼▼Lit is given}sounds forth.
56 For the ^kkdestroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
And her warriors will be captured,
Their ^klbows shattered;
For the Lord is a God of ^kmretribution,
He will fully repay.
57 “I will ^knmake her leaders and her wise men drunk,
Her governors, her officials, and her warriors,
So that they will sleep a ^koperpetual sleep and not wake up,”
^kpDeclares the King, whose name is the Lord of armies.
58 This is what the Lord of armies says:

“The broad ^kqwall of Babylon will be completely demolished,
And her high ^krgates will be set on fire;
So the peoples will ^kslabor for nothing,
And the nations become ^ktexhausted only for fire.”
59 The ^{▼▼Lit word}command that Jeremiah the prophet ^{▼▼Lit commanded}gave Seraiah the son of ^kwNeriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with ^kxZedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (And Seraiah was quartermaster.) 60 Jeremiah ^kywrote ^{▼▼Or in...book}on a single scroll all the disaster which would come against 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, see that you read all these words aloud, 62 and say, ‘You, Lord, have ^{▼▼Lit spoken}promised concerning this place to ^lbcut it off, so that there will be ^lcnothing living in it, ^{▼▼Lit from man even to beast}whether man or animal; but it will be a permanent desolation.’ 63 And as soon as you finish reading this ^{▼▼Or book}scroll, you shall tie a stone to it and ^lfthrow it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64 and say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and ^lgnot rise again, because of the disaster that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become ^lhexhausted.’” ^liTo this point are the words of Jeremiah.