Jeremiah 50

Concerning Babylon and the Chaldeans

1The word that the LORD spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet: 2“Declare among the nations and make it heard;
lift up a banner and make it heard.
Do not conceal it. Say:

‘Babylon is captured;
Bel is put to shame;
Marduk is shattered.
Her images are put to shame;
her idols are shattered. 3For a nation is coming up against her
from the north.
It will make her land a desolation,
and no one will live in it.
From human to animal,
they have fled; they have gone away.’

Israel and Judah Will Seek the LORD

4“In those days and at that time,”
says the LORD,
“the children of Israel will come,
they and the children of Judah together.
They will go along weeping as they go,
and they will seek the LORD their God. 5They will ask the way to Zion,
with their faces turned toward it:

‘Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD
in an everlasting covenant
that will not be forgotten.’

My People Have Been Lost Sheep

6“My people have been lost sheep.
Their shepherds led them astray;
they turned them loose on the mountains.
From mountain to hill they went;
they forgot their resting place. 7All who found them devoured them,
and their adversaries said,
‘We are not guilty,
because they sinned against the LORD,
the habitation of righteousness,
the LORD, the hope of their ancestors.’

Flee from Babylon

8“Flee from the midst of Babylon;
go out from the land of the Chaldeans.
Be like male goats
before the flock. 9For look, I am stirring up
and bringing against Babylon
an assembly of great nations
from the land of the north.
They will arrange themselves against her;
from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like those of a skilled warrior;
none returns empty. 10Chaldea will become plunder;
all who plunder her will be satisfied,”
says the LORD.

Babylon Will Become a Wilderness

11“Though you rejoice,
though you exult,
you who plunder my inheritance,
though you frolic like a heifer in grass
and neigh like stallions, 12your mother will be greatly put to shame;
she who bore you will be humiliated.
Look, she will be the least of the nations,
a wilderness,
a dry land, and a desert. 13Because of the wrath of the LORD
she will not be inhabited
but will become entirely desolate.
Everyone who passes by Babylon
will be horrified
and hiss because of all her wounds.

As She Has Done, Do to Her

14“Arrange yourselves against Babylon all around,
all who bend the bow.
Shoot at her;
do not spare arrows,
for she has sinned against the LORD. 15Shout against her all around!
She has given her hand;
her pillars have fallen,
her walls are torn down.
For this is the vengeance of the LORD.
Take vengeance upon her;
as she has done,
do to her. 16Cut off the sower from Babylon
and the one who handles the sickle
at harvest time.
Because of the sword of the oppressor,
each will turn to his own people,
and each will flee
to his own land.

Israel Will Return to His Pasture

17“Israel is a scattered sheep;
lions drove him away.
First the king of Assyria devoured him,
and now, last, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
has crushed his bones. 18Therefore thus says the LORD of Hosts,
the God of Israel:

Look, I am attending to the king of Babylon
and to his land
as I attended
to the king of Assyria. 19I will bring Israel back
to his pasture.
He will feed on Carmel and Bashan,
and on the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead
his life will be satisfied. 20In those days and at that time,”
says the LORD,
“the guilt of Israel will be sought,
but there will be none,
and the sins of Judah,
but they will not be found,
for I will forgive
those whom I leave as a remnant.

The Hammer of the Whole Earth Is Broken

21“Go up against the land of Merathaim
and against the inhabitants of Pekod.
Strike and devote to destruction after them,”
says the LORD,
“and do according to all
that I have commanded you. 22A sound of battle is in the land,
and great breaking! 23How the hammer of the whole earth
is cut down and broken!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations! 24I laid a snare for you,
and you were caught, Babylon,
but you did not know it.
You were found and seized
because you contended
against the LORD. 25The LORD has opened his armory
and brought out the weapons of his fury,
for the Lord GOD of Hosts
has a work to do
in the land of the Chaldeans.

The Time of Babylon’s Visitation

26“Come against her from the farthest end.
Open her storehouses.
Pile her up like heaps
and devote her to destruction.
Let no remnant be left to her. 27Slaughter all her bulls;
let them go down to slaughter.
Woe to them,
for their day has come,
the time of their visitation. 28A sound of those who flee and escape
from the land of Babylon,
to declare in Zion
the vengeance of the LORD our God,
the vengeance for his temple.

Repay Her According to Her Work

29“Call archers against Babylon,
all who bend the bow.
Camp against her all around;
let no one escape.
Repay her according to her work;
according to all she has done,
do to her,
for she acted proudly against the LORD,
against the Holy One of Israel. 30Therefore her young men will fall
in her public squares,
and all her men of war
will be silenced on that day,”
says the LORD. 31“Look, I am against you, O Pride,”
says the Lord GOD of Hosts,
“for your day has come,
the time when I attend to you. 32Pride will stumble and fall,
and no one will raise him up.
I will kindle fire in his cities,
and it will consume
all around him.”

Their Redeemer Is Strong

33Thus says the LORD of Hosts:

“The children of Israel are oppressed,
and the children of Judah with them.
All who took them captive
hold them fast;
they refuse to let them go. 34Their Redeemer is strong;
the LORD of Hosts is his name.
He will surely plead their case
so that he may give rest to the earth
and make the inhabitants of Babylon tremble.

A Sword against Babylon

35“A sword against the Chaldeans,”
says the LORD,
“and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
against her officials
and against her wise men! 36A sword against the boasters,
and they will become fools!
A sword against her warriors,
and they will be terrified! 37A sword against their horses
and against their chariots,
and against all the mixed people
who are in her midst,
and they will become like women!
A sword against her treasures,
and they will be plundered! 38A drought against her waters,
and they will dry up!
For it is a land of carved images,
and they act madly
over terrors. 39Therefore desert creatures
will live there with jackals,
and daughters of the ostrich will live in her.
She will never again be inhabited,
nor lived in
from generation to generation. 40As when God overthrew
Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors,”
says the LORD,
“no one will live there,
and no human being
will stay in her.

A People Comes from the North

41“Look, a people comes
from the north,
a great nation
and many kings are stirred up
from the farthest parts of the earth. 42They grasp bow and javelin;
they are cruel
and have no compassion.
Their sound roars like the sea,
and they ride upon horses,
arranged like a man for battle
against you, daughter Babylon. 43The king of Babylon heard the report of them,
and his hands became weak.
Distress seized him,
pain like a woman giving birth.

Hear the Counsel of the LORD

44“Look, like a lion coming up
from the pride of the Jordan
against an enduring pasture,
so suddenly I will make them run away from her.
And whoever is chosen
I will appoint over her.
For who is like me?
Who will summon me?
And what shepherd
can stand before me? 45Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD
that he has counseled against Babylon,
and his purposes
that he has purposed
against the land of the Chaldeans:
Surely they will drag away
the little ones of the flock;
surely he will make their pasture
desolate over them. 46At the sound, “Babylon is captured!”
the earth trembles,
and the cry is heard
among the nations.