Jeremiah 51

1Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in Leb-kamai, a destroying wind.

1This is what the LORD says: I will stir up a destructive wind against Babylon and against the people who live in Chaldea.

2And I will send unto Babylon strangers, that shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.

2I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her like grain and leave her land empty. They will attack her from every side when her day of trouble arrives.

3Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his coat of mail: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.

3Don't let the archer even draw his bow or put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy her entire army.

4And they shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets.

4They will fall down dead in the land of the Chaldeans, stabbed to death in her own streets.

5For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of Jehovah of hosts; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.

5For Israel and Judah have not been abandoned by their God, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, even though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.

6Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; be not cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of Jehovah’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.

6Run away from Babylon! Every person should save their own life! Do not be destroyed because of her sin, for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; he will pay her back what she deserves.

7Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

7Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD’s hand, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine, and that is why they have gone mad.

8Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

8Babylon will suddenly fall and be shattered. Cry for her! Get medicine for her pain; perhaps she can still be healed.

9We 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.

9We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Leave her and let us each go back to our own country, for her judgment reaches up to the heavens; it is lifted as high as the clouds.

10Jehovah hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.

10The LORD has cleared our name. Come, let us tell in Jerusalem what the LORD our God has done.

11Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: Jehovah hath stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of his temple.

11Sharpen the arrows! Lift up the shields! The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes because he plans to destroy Babylon. This is the vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for his temple.

12Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Jehovah hath both purposed and done that which he spake concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

12Raise the signal flag against the walls of Babylon! Make the watch strong! Place the guards in position! Prepare the ambush! For the LORD has planned and carried out what he promised against the people of Babylon.

13O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy covetousness.

13You who live by great rivers and have many treasures, your end has come; the thread of your life is cut.

14Jehovah of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with the canker-worm; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.

14The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has sworn by himself: I will fill you with enemy soldiers as thick as locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.

15He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens.

15He made the earth by his power, established the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

16When he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries.

16When he speaks, the waters in the heavens roar. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings the wind out of his storehouses.

17Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

17Every person is stupid and lacks knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. His statues are a lie; they have no breath in them.

18They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

18They are worthless, objects of mockery. When the time of judgment comes, they will perish.

19The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name.

19The God of Jacob is not like these idols. He is the one who made everything, and Israel is the tribe that belongs to him. The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is his name.

20Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war: and with thee will I break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;

20You are my war club, my weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I destroy kingdoms.

21and with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider;

21With you I shatter the horse and its rider; with you I shatter the chariot and the driver.

22and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and him that rideth therein; and with thee will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin;

22With you I shatter men and women; with you I shatter the old and the young; with you I shatter young men and young women.

23and with thee will I break in pieces 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 governors and deputies.

23With you I shatter the shepherd and his flock; with you I shatter the farmer and his oxen; with you I shatter governors and officials.

24And 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 Jehovah.

24I will pay back Babylon and all the people of Chaldea for all the evil they did in Jerusalem while you watched, says the LORD.

25Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith Jehovah, which destroyest all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.

25I am against you, O mountain of destruction, says the LORD. You have destroyed the whole earth. I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you down from the cliffs, and turn you into a burned-out mountain.

26And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith Jehovah.

26No one will take a cornerstone from you or a foundation stone, for you will be a wasteland forever, says the LORD.

27Set 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 Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker-worm.

27Raise a signal flag in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations for war against her. Call the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz against her. Appoint a commander to lead the attack. Move the horses up like a swarm of locusts.

28Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, the governors thereof, and all the deputies thereof, and all the land of their dominion.

28Prepare the nations for war against her—the kings of the Medes, their governors, all their officials, and all the lands they rule.

29And the land trembleth and is in pain; for the purposes of Jehovah against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.

29The earth trembles and shakes in pain, for the LORD’s plan against Babylon stands: to turn the land of Babylon into a desert where no one lives.

30The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might hath failed; they are become as women: her dwelling-places are set on fire; her bars are broken.

30Babylon’s soldiers have stopped fighting; they stay in their fortresses. Their strength is gone; they have become like frightened women. Her homes are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken.

31One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter:

31One runner follows another, and messenger follows messenger, to tell the king of Babylon that his entire city has been captured.

32and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.

32The river crossings have been seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers are terrified.

33For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her.

33This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: The city of Babylon is like a threshing floor that is being trodden down. In just a little while, her harvest time will come.

34Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath, like a monster, swallowed me up, he hath filled his maw with my delicacies; he hath cast me out.

34King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me and crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty jar. Like a sea monster he swallowed me; he filled his belly with my riches and then spat me out.

35The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.

35May the violence done to me and my relatives be blamed on Babylon, the people of Jerusalem will say. May the blood I shed be blamed on those who live in Chaldea, Jerusalem will say.

36Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.

36Therefore, the LORD says: I will defend your cause and get revenge for you. I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.

37And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.

37Babylon will become a pile of ruins, a home for wild dogs. People will be shocked and hiss in disgust when they see her; no one will live there.

38They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions’ whelps.

38Her people roar together like young lions; they growl like lion cubs.

39When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith Jehovah.

39While they are inflamed with thirst, I will set out a feast for them. I will make them drunk so that they laugh and then fall into a sleep from which they will never wake up, says the LORD.

40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats.

40I will lead them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and male goats.

41How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

41How Babylon has been captured! The city praised by the whole world has been seized! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!

42The sea is come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.

42The sea has risen over Babylon; she is covered by its roaring waves.

43Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.

43Her towns are now a wasteland, a dry and thirsty desert. No one lives in them; no one even travels through them.

44And I will execute judgment upon Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

44I will punish the god Bel in Babylon and make him vomit out what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him, and the wall of Babylon will fall.

45My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of Jehovah.

45Come out of her, my people! Save your lives from the fierce anger of the LORD!

46And let not your heart faint, neither fear ye for the tidings that shall be heard in the land; for tidings shall come one year, and after that in another year shall come tidings, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

46Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors spread through the land. One rumor comes this year, another the next—rumors of violence in the land and of ruler fighting against ruler.

47Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will execute 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.

47The days are surely coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her whole land will be put to shame, and her dead will lie everywhere.

48Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come unto her from the north, saith Jehovah.

48Then heaven and earth and everything in them will shout for joy over Babylon, because the destroyers from the north will come against her, says the LORD.

49As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land.

49Babylon must fall because she killed the people of Israel, just as people all over the earth have been killed by Babylon.碎

50Ye that have escaped the sword, go ye, stand not still; remember Jehovah from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.

50You who escaped the sword, leave! Don't just stand there! Remember the LORD in that distant land, and think about Jerusalem.

51We are confounded, because we have heard reproach; confusion hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Jehovah’s house.

51We are ashamed because we have been insulted. God has covered our faces with shame because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD’s temple.

52Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will execute judgment upon her graven images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan.

52Therefore, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will punish her idols, and the wounded will groan throughout her land.

53Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come unto her, saith Jehovah.

53Even if Babylon climbs as high as the sky and makes her fortresses reach the heavens, I will still send destroyers against her, says the LORD.

54The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!

54Listen! A cry comes from Babylon, a sound of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans.

55For Jehovah layeth Babylon waste, and destroyeth out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered:

55For the LORD is destroying Babylon; he will silence her loud voice. The waves of the enemy roar like great waters; the noise of their voices resounds.

56for the destroyer is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces; for Jehovah is a God of recompenses, he will surely requite.

56A destroyer has come against Babylon. Her mighty soldiers are captured, and their bows are broken. For the LORD is a God who pays back; he will give them exactly what they deserve.

57And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts.

57I will make her officials and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officers, and warriors. They will fall into a sleep from which they will never wake up, says the King, whose name is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

58Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they shall be weary.

58This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates will be burned. The work of the nations is for nothing; the result of their hard work only feeds the fire.

59The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain.

59This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the king’s quartermaster.

60And Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon.

60Jeremiah had written in a scroll all the disasters that would happen to Babylon—everything that had been recorded here concerning Babylon.

61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, then see that thou read all these words,

61Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you get to Babylon, make sure you read all these words out loud.

62and say, O Jehovah, thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.

62Then say, LORD, you have said that you will destroy this place so that neither people nor animals will live here anymore. It will be a wasteland forever.

63And 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 the Euphrates:

63When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River.

64and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

64Then say, In the same way, Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the disaster I am bringing on her. And her people will grow weary. This concludes the words of Jeremiah.