51:1 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I stir up
against Babylon, and against the Chaldeans dwelling therein, a deadly
burning wind.
51:2 And I will send forth against Babylon spoilers, and they shall spoil
her, and shall ravage her land. Woe to Babylon round about [her] in the day
of her affliction.
51:3 Let the archer bend his bow, and him that has armour put it on: and
spare ye not her young men, but destroy ye all her host.
51:4 And slain men shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and [men]
pierced through shall fall without it.
51:5 For Israel and Juda have not been forsaken of their God, of the Lord
Almighty; whereas their land was filled with iniquity against the holy
things of Israel.
51:6 Flee ye out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every one his soul:
and be not overthrown in her iniquity; for it is the time of her retribution
from the Lord; he is rendering to her a recompence.
51:7 Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, causing all the earth
to be drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore they were
shaken.
51:8 And Babylon is fallen suddenly, and is broken to pieces: lament for
her; take balm for her deadly wound, if by any means she may be healed.
51:9 We tried to heal Babylon, but she was not healed: let us forsake her,
and depart every one to his own country: for her judgment has reached to the
heaven, it has mounted up to the stars.
51:10 The Lord has brought forth his judgment: come, and let us declare in
Sion the works of the Lord our God.
51:11 Prepare the arrows; fill the quivers: the Lord has stirred up the
spirit of the king of the Medes: for his wrath is against Babylon, to
destroy it utterly; for it is the Lord's vengeance, it is the vengeance of
his people.
51:12 Lift up a standard on the walls of Babylon, prepare the quivers, rouse
the guards, prepare the weapons: for the Lord has taken [the work] in hand,
and will execute what he has spoken against the inhabitants of Babylon,
51:13 dwelling on many waters, and amidst the abundance of her treasures;
thine end is come verily into thy bowels.
51:14 For the Lord has sworn by his arm, [saying,] I will fill thee with men
as with locusts; and they that come down shall cry against thee.
51:15 The Lord made the earth by his power, preparing the world by his
wisdom, by his understanding he stretched out the heaven.
51:16 At [his] voice he makes a sound of water in the heaven, and brings up
clouds from the extremity of the earth; he makes lightnings for rain, and
brings light out of his treasures.
51:17 Every man has completely lost understanding; every goldsmith is
confounded because of his graven [images]: for they have cast false [gods],
there is no breath in them.
51:18 They are vain works, objects of scorn; in the time of their visitation
they shall perish.
51:19 Not such is Jacob's portion; for he that formed all things, he is his
inheritance; the Lord is his name.
51:20 Thou scatterest for me the weapons of war: and I will scatter nations
by thee, and will destroy kings by means of thee.
51:21 And by thee I will scatter the horse and his rider; and by thee I will
scatter chariots and them that ride in them.
51:22 And by thee I will scatter youth and maid; and by thee I will scatter
man and woman.
51:23 And by thee I will scatter the shepherd and his flock; and by thee I
will scatter the husbandman and his husbandry; and by thee I will scatter
leaders and the captains.
51:24 And I will recompense to Babylon and to all the Chaldeans that dwell
[there] all their mischiefs that they have done to Sion before your eyes,
saith the Lord.
51:25 Behold, I am against thee, the ruined mountain, that destroys the
whole earth; and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will roll thee
down upon the rocks, and will make thee as a burnt mountain.
51:26 And they shall not take from thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone
for a foundation: for thou shalt be a desolation for ever, saith the Lord.
51:27 Lit up a standard in the land, sound the trumpet among the nations,
consecrate the nations against her, raise up kings against her by me, and
[that] for the people of Achanaz; set against her engines of war; bring up
against her horses as a multitude of locusts.
51:28 Bring up nations against her, [even] the king of the Medes and of the
whole earth, his rulers, and all his captains.
51:29 The earth has quaked and been troubled, because the purpose of the
Lord has risen up against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation,
and uninhabitable.
51:30 The warrior of Babylon has failed to fight; they shall sit there in
the siege; their power is broken; they are become like women; her
tabernacles have been set on fire; her bars are broken.
51:31 One shall rush, running to meet [another] runner, and one [shall go]
with tidings to meet [another] with tidings, to bring tidings to the king of
Babylon, that his city is taken.
51:32 At the end of his passages they were taken, and his cisterns they have
burnt with fire, and his warriors are going forth.
51:33 For thus saith the Lord, The houses of the king of Babylon shall be
threshed as a floor in the season; yet a little while, and her harvest shall
come.
51:34 He has devoured me, he has torn me asunder, airy darkness has come
upon me; Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon has swallowed me up, as a dragon has
he filled his belly with my delicacies.
51:35 My troubles and my distresses have driven me out into Babylon, shall
she that dwells in Sion say; and my blood [shall be] upon the Chaldeans
dwelling [there], shall Jerusalem say.
51:36 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will judge thine adversary,
and I will execute vengeance for thee; and I will waste her sea, and dry up
her fountain.
51:37 And Babylon shall be a desolation, and shall not be inhabited.
51:38 For they rose up together as lions, and as lions' whelps.
51:39 In their heat I will give them a draught, and make them drunk, that
they may be stupefied, and sleep an everlasting sleep, and not awake, saith
the Lord.
51:40 And bring thou them down as lambs to the slaughter, and rams with
kids.
51:41 How has the boast of all the earth been taken and caught in a snare!
how has Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
51:42 The sea has come up upon Babylon with the sound of its waves, and she
is covered.
51:43 Her cities are become like a dry and trackless land; not so much as
one [man] shall dwell in it, neither shall a son of man lodge in it.
51:44 And I will take vengeance on Babylon, and bring forth out of her mouth
what she has swallowed down, and the nations shall no more be gathered to
her:
51:45
51:46
51:47
51:48
51:49 and in Babylon the slain men of all the earth shall fall.
51:50 Go forth of the land, ye that escape, and stay not; ye that are afar
off, remember the Lord, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51:51 We are ashamed, because we have heard our reproach; disgrace has
covered our face; aliens are come into our sanctuary, [even] into the house
of the Lord.
51:52 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will take
vengeance upon her graven [images]: and slain men shall fall in all her
land.
51:53 For though Babylon should go up as the heaven, and though she should
strengthen her walls with her power, from me shall come they that shall
destroy her, saith the Lord.
51:54 A sound of a cry in Babylon, and great destruction in the land of the
Chaldeans:
51:55 for the Lord has utterly destroyed Babylon, and cut off from her the
great voice sounding as many waters: he has consigned her voice to
destruction.
51:56 For distress has come upon Babylon, her warriors are taken, their bows
are useless: for God recompenses them.
51:57 The Lord recompenses, and will make her leaders and her wise men and
her captains completely drunk, saith the King, the Lord Almighty is his
name.
51:58 Thus saith the Lord, The wall of Babylon was made broad, but it shall
be completely broken down, and her high gates shall be burnt with fire; and
the peoples shall not labour in vain, nor the nations fail in [their] rule.
51:59 THE WORD WHICH THE LORD COMMANDED THE PROPHET JEREMIAS to say to
Saraeas son of Nerias, son of Maasaeas, when he went from Sedekias king of
Juda to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. And Saraeas was over the
bounties.
51:60 And Jeremias wrote in a book all the evils which should come upon
Babylon, [even] all these words that are written against Babylon.
51:61 And Jeremias said to Saraeas, When thou art come to Babylon, and shalt
see and read all these words;
51:62 then thou shalt say, O Lord God, thou hast spoken against this place,
to destroy it, and that there should be none to dwell in it, neither man nor
beast; for it shall be a desolation for ever.
51:63 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt cease from reading this
book, that thou shalt bind a stone upon it, and cast it into the midst of
Euphrates;
51:64 and shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and not rise, because of the
evils which I bring upon it. |
51:1 Thus 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;
51:2 And 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.
51:3 Against 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.
51:4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that
are thrust through in her streets.
51:5 For 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.
51:6 Flee 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.
51:7 Babylon 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.
51:8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for
her pain, if so be she may be healed.
51:9 We 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.
51:10 The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us
declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
51:11 Make 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.
51:12 Set 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.
51:13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine
end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
51:14 The 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.
51:15 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by
his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
51:16 When 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.
51:17 Every 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.
51:18 They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation
they shall perish.
51:19 The 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.
51:20 Thou 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;
51:21 And 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;
51:22 With 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;
51:23 I 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.
51:24 And 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.
51:25 Behold, 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.
51:26 And 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.
51:27 Set 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.
51:28 Prepare 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.
51:29 And 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.
51:30 The 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.
51:31 One 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,
51:32 And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with
fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
51:33 For 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.
51:34 Nebuchadrezzar 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.
51:35 The 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.
51:36 Therefore 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.
51:37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an
astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
51:38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.
51:39 In 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.
51:40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he
goats.
51:41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth
surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
51:42 The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of
the waves thereof.
51:43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land
wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
51:44 And 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.
51:45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his
soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
51:46 And 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.
51:47 Therefore, 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.
51:48 Then 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.
51:49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon
shall fall the slain of all the earth.
51:50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the
LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51:51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered
our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.
51:52 Wherefore, 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.
51:53 Though 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.
51:54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the
land of the Chaldeans:
51:55 Because 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:
51:56 Because 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.
51:57 And 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.
51:58 Thus 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.
51:59 The 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.
51:60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon
Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
51:61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt
see, and shalt read all these words;
51:62 Then 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.
51:63 And 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:
51:64 And 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. |