THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH

 

Jeremiah Chapter 50

1 ¶ The word that the LORD spoke by Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans.

2 Declare it among the nations, publish it, and set up a standard; proclaim it, and do not conceal it: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is disgraced, Merodach is broken in pieces; Babylon’s idols are put to shame, her images are thrown down.

3 For out of the north a nation comes against her, which will make her land desolate, and no one will live in it: they will have fled, they will leave, both man and beast.

4 In those days, and at that time, says the LORD, the children of Israel will come, together with the children of Judah, they will come up weeping: and seek the LORD their God.

5 They will ask the road to Zion and turn that way, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.

6 My people were lost sheep: their shepherds caused them to go astray, they led them away on the mountains: they have gone from hill to hill, and have forgotten their resting place.

7 All who find them devour them: and their enemies say, We are not to blame, because they have sinned against the LORD, their righteous habitation, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.

8 Escape from the midst of Babylon, and leave the land of the Chaldeans, behave like rams who lead the flock.

9 ¶ For I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon a assemblage of great nations from the north country: and they will line up in battle formation against her; from there she will be taken: their arrows will be like those of a mighty skilled warrior; none will return empty handed.

10 And Chaldea will be plundered: all who plunder her will be satisfied, says the LORD.

11 Because you were glad, and rejoiced, you who destroy my heritage, because you have grown fat like a heifer eating grass, and bellow like bulls;

12 Your mother will be bitterly disappointed; she who bore you will be ashamed: she will be the last of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

13 Because of the wrath of the LORD no one will live there, and it will be completely forsaken: every one who passes by Babylon will be astonished, and whistle in amazement at all her wounds.

14 Set yourselves in array around Babylon: all you who bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against the LORD.

15 Shout a battle cry against her all around: she will give up: her foundations will crumble, her walls will be torn down: for this is the LORD’S vengeance: take vengeance on her; do to her what she has done to others.

16 Eliminate the farmer from Babylon, and him who wields the sickle at the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressors sword each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land.

17 Israel is a stray lamb; chased by lions: first the king of Assyria devoured him; and now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.

18 Therefore the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel says; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.

19 And I will bring Israel back to his land, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his hunger will be satisfied on mount Ephraim and Gilead.

20 In those days, and at that time, says the LORD, one will search for Israel’s guilt, and there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, and they will not be found: for I will forgive those whom I preserve.

21 ¶ Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it, and against those who live in Pekod: put them to the sword and completely destroy them, says the LORD, and do just as I have commanded you.

22 The noise of battle and great destruction fills the land.

23 How is it that the hammer of the whole earth is cut and broken to pieces! how is it that Babylon has become a desolate ruin among the nations!

24 I will lay a snare for you, and you will be taken, O Babylon, you will be caught without knowing it: you will be discovered, and caught, because you have fought against the LORD.

25 The LORD will open his armory, and bring out the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

26 Come against her from every quarter, open her storehouses: pile up their contents in heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing be left of her.

27 Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! for their time has come, the time of their punishment.

28 There is the sound of those who are fleeing and escaping from the land of Babylon, to tell in Zion how the LORD our God takes vengeance, vengeance for his temple.

29 Call up archers against Babylon: all who bend the bow, set up camp all around her; do not let anyone escape: repay her according to her deeds; do to her just as she has done: for she has acted arrogantly against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.

30 Therefore her young men will fall in the streets, and all her fighting men will be silenced in that day, says the LORD.

31 Behold, I am against you, O you arrogant one, says the Lord GOD of hosts: for your day has come, the time when I will punish you.

32 And the most proud will stumble and fall, and no one will help her get up: and I will kindle a fire in her cities, and it will consume all who are around her.

33 ¶ The LORD of hosts says this; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were both oppressed: and all who took them away as captives held them firmly; and refused to let them go.

34 But their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of armies is his name: he will certainly plead their case, so that he may give rest to the land, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

35 A sword is upon the Chaldeans, says the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.

36 A sword is upon her liars, the fortune-tellers; that they may become fools: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they will be destroyed.

37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the foreign troops that are in the midst of her; and they will become like women: a sword comes against her treasures; and they will be looted.

38 A drought is upon her waters; and they will be dried up: for it is a land of idols, and they delude themselves with graven images.

39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert will dwell there with the jackals, and ostriches: and it will never again be inhabited; nor will anyone live there from generation to generation.

40 As God overthrew Sodom, Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, says the LORD; so no one will live there, nor will any human call it home.

41 Behold, people will come from the north, a great nation, and many kings will rise from the distant coasts of the world.

42 They will take up the bow and the spear: they are cruel, and will not show mercy: their sound will be like the sea when it roars, and they will ride on horses, every one equipped for battle, like men ready to attack you, O daughter of Babylon.

43 When the king of Babylon hears about them, his hands will grow weak: anguish will take hold of him, and pangs like those of a woman in childbirth.

44 Behold, the enemy will come up like a lion from the thickets of Jordan to a land of pastures: but I will suddenly drive them away from her: and I will appoint over her him whom I chose? for who is like me? and who will challenge me? and who is the shepherd who can stand against me?

45 Therefore listen to what the LORD is planning against Babylon; and what he intends to do against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the flock’s little lambs will be dragged away: surely he will make their habitation desolate because of them.

46 The news, Babylon has fallen, will make the world tremble, and the cry will be heard among the nations.