Jeremiah 51

A Destroying Wind against Babylon

1Thus says the LORD:

“Look, I am stirring up
against Babylon
and against the inhabitants of Leb-Kamai
a destroying wind. 2I will send winnowers to Babylon,
and they will winnow her
and empty her land,
for on the day of disaster
they will be against her from every side. 3Against the one who bends the bow
let the archer bend his bow,
and against the one who rises
in his coat of armor.
Do not spare her young men;
devote all her army to destruction. 4They will fall slain
in the land of the Chaldeans,
pierced through
in her streets. 5For Israel is not forsaken,
nor Judah,
by his God,
by the LORD of Hosts,
though their land is filled with guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.

Flee from the Midst of Babylon

6Flee from the midst of Babylon!
Each one save his life!
Do not be silenced in her guilt,
for this is the time
of the LORD’s vengeance;
he is repaying her recompense. 7Babylon was a golden cup
in the hand of the LORD,
making all the earth drunk.
The nations drank from her wine;
therefore the nations went mad. 8Suddenly Babylon has fallen
and is broken.
Wail over her!
Take balm for her pain;
perhaps she may be healed. 9“We would have healed Babylon,
but she is not healed.
Abandon her,
and let each of us go to his own land,
for her judgment reaches to the heavens
and is lifted to the skies. 10The LORD has brought forth our righteousness.
Come, let us recount in Zion
the work of the LORD our God.”

Prepare the Medes against Babylon

11Sharpen the arrows;
fill the quivers!
The LORD has stirred up
the spirit of the kings of the Medes,
because his purpose against Babylon
is to destroy her.
For this is the vengeance of the LORD,
the vengeance for his temple. 12Lift up a banner
against the walls of Babylon!
Strengthen the guard;
set the watchmen;
prepare the ambushes.
For the LORD has both purposed
and done what he spoke
concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. 13You who dwell by many waters,
abundant in treasures,
your end has come,
the measure of your gain. 14The LORD of Hosts has sworn by himself:

“Surely I will fill you with people
like locusts,
and they will raise
a shout against you.”

The Maker Is Not Like the Idols

15He made the earth by his power,
established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding
stretched out the heavens. 16At the sound of his voice
there is a roar of waters in the heavens.
He makes clouds rise
from the ends of the earth;
he makes lightning for the rain
and brings wind
from his storehouses. 17Every human being
is senseless, without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame
by the carved image,
for his cast image is falsehood
and there is no breath in them. 18They are emptiness,
a work of mockery;
at the time of their visitation
they will perish. 19The portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the one who formed everything,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance.
The LORD of Hosts
is his name.

My War Club

20“You are my war club,
my weapons of war.
With you I shatter nations;
with you I destroy kingdoms. 21With you I shatter
horse and rider;
with you I shatter
chariot and rider. 22With you I shatter
man and woman;
with you I shatter
old and young;
with you I shatter
young man and young woman. 23With you I shatter
shepherd and flock;
with you I shatter
farmer and team;
with you I shatter
governors and officials. 24But I will repay Babylon
and all the inhabitants of Chaldea
for all their evil
that they did in Zion
before your eyes,”
says the LORD.

O Destroying Mountain

25“Look, I am against you,
O destroying mountain,”
says the LORD,
“you who destroy all the earth.
I will stretch out my hand against you,
roll you down from the cliffs,
and make you
a burned-out mountain. 26They will not take from you
a stone for a corner
or a stone for a foundation,
for you will become
everlasting desolations,”
says the LORD.

Set Up a Banner in the Land

27Lift up a banner in the land!
Blow the ram’s horn among the nations!
Consecrate nations against her;
summon against her
the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a commander against her;
bring up horses
like bristling locusts. 28Consecrate nations against her—
the kings of the Medes,
their governors and all their officials,
and all the land of their rule. 29The earth trembles and writhes,
for the purposes of the LORD
stand against Babylon,
to make the land of Babylon
a desolation without inhabitant. 30The warriors of Babylon
have stopped fighting;
they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength has dried up;
they have become like women.
Her dwellings are set on fire;
her bars are broken. 31Runner runs to meet runner,
and messenger to meet messenger,
to tell the king of Babylon
that his city has been captured
from every side. 32The crossings are seized,
the marshes are burned with fire,
and the men of war
are terrified.

Babylon Is a Threshing Floor

33For thus says the LORD of Hosts,
the God of Israel:

“Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trodden down.
Yet a little while,
and the time of harvest
will come for her.”

Jerusalem Speaks against Babylon

34“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
devoured me and crushed me;
he made me an empty vessel.
Like a sea monster he swallowed me;
he filled his belly with my delicacies
and cast me out. 35‘May the violence done to me and my flesh
be upon Babylon,’
the inhabitant of Zion will say.
‘And may my blood be upon
the inhabitants of Chaldea,’
Jerusalem will say.”

I Will Plead Your Case

36Therefore thus says the LORD:

“Look, I will plead your case
and take vengeance for you.
I will dry up her sea
and make her fountain dry. 37Babylon will become heaps,
a dwelling place for jackals,
a horror and a hissing,
without inhabitant. 38Together they roar like young lions;
they growl like lion cubs. 39When they are heated
I will prepare their feast;
I will make them drunk
so that they become jubilant,
then sleep an everlasting sleep
and not wake,”
says the LORD. 40“I will bring them down
like lambs to slaughter,
like rams
with male goats.

How Sheshach Is Captured

41“How Sheshach is captured!
How the praise of the whole earth
is seized!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations! 42The sea has risen over Babylon;
she is covered
with the multitude of its waves. 43Her cities have become a desolation,
a dry land and a wilderness,
a land in which no one lives
and through which no human being passes. 44I will attend to Bel in Babylon
and bring out of his mouth
what he swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him,
and even the wall of Babylon will fall.

Go Out from the Midst of Her

45“Go out from the midst of her, my people!
Each save his life
from the burning anger
of the LORD. 46Do not let your heart become weak,
and do not fear
because of the report heard in the land.
A report comes in one year,
and after it another report in another year:
violence in the land,
ruler against ruler. 47Therefore look, days are coming
when I will attend to
the carved images of Babylon.
Her whole land will be put to shame,
and all her slain
will fall in her midst. 48Then heaven and earth
and all that is in them
will sing for joy over Babylon,
for from the north
the destroyers will come against her,”
says the LORD. 49“As Babylon caused
the slain of Israel to fall,
so at Babylon will fall
the slain of all the land.

Remember the LORD from Far Away

50“You who escaped the sword,
go! Do not stand still!
Remember the LORD from far away,
and let Jerusalem
come upon your heart. 51‘We are put to shame,
for we have heard reproach;
humiliation has covered our faces,
for foreigners have entered
the holy places of the LORD’s house.’

Babylon Will Not Reach Heaven

52“Therefore look, days are coming,”
says the LORD,
“when I will attend to her carved images,
and throughout all her land
the wounded will groan. 53Though Babylon rises to the heavens,
and though she fortifies
the height of her strength,
from me destroyers will come against her,”
says the LORD.

A Cry from Babylon

54A sound of crying from Babylon,
and great breaking
from the land of the Chaldeans! 55For the LORD is devastating Babylon
and silencing her great voice.
Their waves roar like many waters;
the roar of their voice is given. 56For the destroyer has come against her,
against Babylon.
Her warriors are captured;
their bows are shattered.
For the LORD is a God of recompense;
he will surely repay. 57“I will make her officials drunk,
her wise men, her governors,
her officers, and her warriors.
They will sleep an everlasting sleep
and not wake,”
says the King,
whose name is the LORD of Hosts. 58Thus says the LORD of Hosts:

“The broad wall of Babylon
will be utterly laid bare,
and her high gates
will be burned with fire.
The peoples labor for emptiness,
and the nations for fire,
and they become weary.”

Jeremiah’s Scroll Is Thrown into the Euphrates

59The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60Jeremiah wrote in one book all the disaster that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words. 62Then say, ‘O LORD, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off so that no one lives in it, from human to animal, but that it become an everlasting desolation.’ 63And when you have finished reading this book, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates. 64Then say, ‘Thus Babylon will sink and will not rise because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, and they will become weary.’”

Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.