Jer 51 | NASB2020 | STEP | This is what the Lord says : “ Behold , I am going to stir up The spirit of a destroyer against Babylon And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai .

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 ^bspirit 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 ^ewinnow 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
,} ^hbends his bow ^{▼▼Lit step(s) on; MT in order to string}bend it,
Nor let him rise up in his ^jcoat 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 ^lpierced through in their streets.”

5 For ^mneither Israel nor Judah has been ^{▼▼Lit widowed}forsaken
By his God, the Lord of armies,
Although their land is ^ofull of guilt
^{▼▼Lit From}Before the Holy One of Israel.
6 ^qFlee from the midst of Babylon,
And each of you save his life!
Do not ^rperish in her ^{▼▼Or penalty for wrongdoing}punishment,
For this is the ^tLord’s time of vengeance;
He is going to ^urepay to her what she deserves.
7 Babylon has been a golden ^vcup in the hand of the Lord,
Intoxicating all the earth.
The ^wnations have drunk of her wine;
Therefore the nations are ^xgoing insane.
8 Suddenly ^yBabylon has fallen and been broken;
^zWail over her!
^aaBring ^{▼▼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 ^aclet’s each go to his own country,
For her judgment has ^adreached to heaven
And it rises to the clouds.
10 The Lord has ^aebrought ^{▼▼Lit forth}about our vindication;
Come and let’s ^agrecount in Zion
The work of the Lord our God!

11 ^ahSharpen 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 ^aivengeance of the Lord, vengeance for His temple.
12 ^ajLift 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 ^alplanned and performed
What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 You who ^amlive by many waters,
Abundant in ^antreasures,
Your end has come,
The ^{▼▼Lit cubit}measure of your ^{▼▼Lit being cut off
,} ^aqend.
14 The ^arLord of armies has sworn by Himself:
“I will certainly fill you with a ^{▼▼Or mankind}population like ^atlocusts,
And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you.”

15 It is ^auHe who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom,
And by His understanding He ^avstretched out the heavens.
16 When He utters His ^awvoice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
And He makes the ^axclouds ascend from the end of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
And brings out ^aywind from His storehouses.
17 ^azEvery person is stupid, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his ^{▼▼Or images}idols,
For his cast metal images are ^bbdeceitful,
And there is no breath in them.
18 They are ^bcworthless, a work of mockery;
At the time of their punishment they will perish.
19 The ^bdportion 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 ^bgLord of armies is His name.
20 He says, “You are My ^{▼▼Lit shatterer
,} ^biwar-club, My weapon of war;
And with you I ^bjshatter nations,
And with you I destroy kingdoms.
21 “With you I ^bkshatter the horse and his rider,
And with you I shatter the ^blchariot and its rider,
22 And with you I shatter ^bmman and woman,
And with you I shatter the old man and ^bnyouth,
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 ^boChaldea for ^bpall their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares the Lord.

25 “Behold, ^bqI am against you, mountain of ^brdestruction
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 ^bsburnt out mountain.
26 “They will not take from you even a stone for a corner
Nor a stone for foundations,
But you will be ^btdesolate forever,” declares the Lord.

27 ^buLift up a signal flag in the land,
Blow a trumpet among the nations!
Consecrate the nations against her,
Summon against her the ^bvkingdoms of ^bwArarat, Minni, and ^bxAshkenaz;
Appoint an officer against her,
Bring up the ^byhorses 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 ^ccland quakes and writhes,
For the plans of the Lord against Babylon stand,
To make the land of Babylon
^{▼▼Or An object of horror}A ^cedesolation without inhabitants.
30 The ^cfwarriors of Babylon have ceased fighting,
They stay in the strongholds;
^cgTheir strength is ^{▼▼Lit dried up}exhausted,
They are becoming ^cilike women;
Their homes are set on fire,
The ^cjbars of her gates are broken.
31 One ^{▼▼Lit runner
,} ^clcourier runs to meet ^{▼▼Lit runner}another,
And one ^{▼▼Lit announcer
,} ^comessenger 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 ^cqthreshing floor
At the time that ^{▼▼Lit of treading it}it is tread down;
In just a little while the time of ^csharvest will come for her.”

34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has ^ctdevoured me, he has crushed me,
He has set me down like an ^cuempty vessel;
He has ^cvswallowed me like a monster,
He has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
He has washed me away.
35 “May the ^cwviolence 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 ^cyplead your case
And ^cztake vengeance for you;
And ^daI will dry up her ^{▼▼Or broad river}sea
And make her fountain dry.
37 “ ^dcBabylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals,
An ^ddobject of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.
38 “They will roar together like ^deyoung lions,
They will growl like lions’ cubs.
39 “When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet
And ^dfmake them drunk, so that they may rejoice in triumph,
And may ^dgsleep a perpetual sleep
And not wake up,” declares the Lord.
40 “I will bring them down like ^{▼▼Or young rams}lambs ^dito the slaughter,
Like rams together with male goats.

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

45 “ ^dvCome out from her midst, My people,
And each of you ^dwsave yourselves
From the fierce anger of the Lord.
46 “Now, ^dxso that your heart does not grow faint,
And you are not afraid at the ^dyreport 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 ^ecruler against ruler--
47 Therefore behold, days are coming
When I will punish the ^edidols of Babylon;
And her whole land will be ^eeput to shame.
And all her slain will fall in her midst.
48 “Then ^efheaven and earth and everything that is in them
Will shout for joy over Babylon,
Because ^egthe destroyers will come to her from the north,”
Declares the Lord.

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

54 The ^essound 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 ^euwaves will roar like many waters;
The clamor of their voices ^{▼▼Lit is given}sounds forth.
56 For the ^ewdestroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
And her warriors will be captured,
Their ^exbows shattered;
For the Lord is a God of ^eyretribution,
He will fully repay.
57 “I will ^ezmake her leaders and her wise men drunk,
Her governors, her officials, and her warriors,
So that they will sleep a ^faperpetual sleep and not wake up,”
^fbDeclares the King, whose name is the Lord of armies.
58 This is what the Lord of armies says:

“The broad ^fcwall of Babylon will be completely demolished,
And her high ^fdgates will be set on fire;
So the peoples will ^felabor for nothing,
And the nations become ^ffexhausted only for fire.”
59 The ^{▼▼Lit word}command that Jeremiah the prophet ^{▼▼Lit commanded}gave Seraiah the son of ^fiNeriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with ^fjZedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (And Seraiah was quartermaster.) 60 Jeremiah ^fkwrote ^{▼▼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 ^fncut it off, so that there will be ^fonothing 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 ^frthrow it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64 and say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and ^fsnot rise again, because of the disaster that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become ^ftexhausted.’” ^fuTo this point are the words of Jeremiah.