Jeremiah 50

1 The word which the Lord said about Babylon, about the land of the Chaldaeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.

The word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet:

2 Give it out among the nations, make it public, and let the flag be lifted up; give the word and keep nothing back; say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is broken, her images are put to shame, her gods are broken.

'Declare ye among nations, and sound, And lift up an ensign, sound, do not hide, Say ye: Captured hath been Babylon, Put to shame hath been Bel, Broken hath been Merodach, Put to shame have been her grievous things, Broken have been her idols.

3 For out of the north a nation is coming up against her, which will make her land waste and unpeopled: they are in flight, man and beast are gone.

For come up against her hath a nation from the north, It maketh her land become a desolation, And there is not an inhabitant in it. From man even unto beast, They have moved, they have gone.

4 In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on their way weeping and making prayer to the Lord their God.

In those days, and at that time, An affirmation of Jehovah, Come in do sons of Israel, They and sons of Judah together, Going on and weeping they go, And Jehovah their God they seek.

5 They will be questioning about the way to Zion, with their faces turned in its direction, saying, Come, and be united to the Lord in an eternal agreement which will be kept in mind for ever.

[To] Zion they ask the way, Thitherward [are] their faces: Come in, and we are joined unto Jehovah, A covenant age-during — not forgotten.

6 My people have been wandering sheep: their keepers have made them go out of the right way, turning them loose on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, having no memory of their resting-place.

A perishing flock hath My people been, Their shepherds have caused them to err, [To] the mountains causing them to go back, From mountain unto hill they have gone, They have forgotten their crouching-place.

7 They have been attacked by all those who came across them: and their attackers said, We are doing no wrong, because they have done evil against the Lord in whom is righteousness, against the Lord, the hope of their fathers.

All finding them have devoured them, And their adversaries have said: We are not guilty, Because that they sinned against Jehovah, The habitation of righteousness, And the hope of their fathers — Jehovah.

8 Go in flight out of Babylon, go out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and be like he-goats before the flocks.

Move ye from the midst of Babylon, And from the land of the Chaldeans go out. And be as he-goats before a flock.

9 For see, I am moving and sending up against Babylon a band of great nations from the north country: and they will put their armies in position against her; and from there she will be taken: their arrows will be like those of an expert man of war; not one will come back without getting its mark.

For, lo, I am stirring up, And am causing to come up against Babylon, An assembly of great nations from a land of the north, And they have set in array against her, From thence she is captured, Its arrow — as a skilful hero — returneth not empty,

10 And the wealth of Chaldaea will come into the hands of her attackers: all those who take her wealth will have enough, says the Lord.

And Chaldea hath been for a spoil, All her spoilers are satisfied, An affirmation of Jehovah.

11 Because you are glad, because you are lifted up with pride, you wasters of my heritage, because you are playing like a young cow put out to grass, and you make a noise like strong horses;

Because thou rejoicest, because thou exultest, O spoilers of Mine inheritance, Because thou increasest as a heifer [at] the tender grass, And dost cry aloud as bulls,

12 Your mother will be put to shame; she who gave you birth will be looked down on: see, she will be the last of the nations, a waste place, a dry and unwatered land.

Ashamed hath been your mother greatly, Confounded hath she been that bare you, Lo, the hindermost of nations [is] a wilderness, A dry land, and a desert.

13 Because of the wrath of the Lord no one will be living in it, and it will be quite unpeopled: everyone who goes by Babylon will be overcome with wonder, and make sounds of fear at all her punishments.

Because of the wrath of Jehovah it is not inhabited, And it hath been a desolation — all of it. Every passer by at Babylon is astonished, And doth hiss because of all her plagues.

14 Put your armies in position against Babylon on every side, all you bowmen; let loose your arrows at her, not keeping any back: for she has done evil against the Lord.

Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, All ye treading a bow, Shoot at her, have no pity on the arrow, For against Jehovah she hath sinned.

15 Give a loud cry against her on every side; she has given herself up, her supports are overturned, her walls are broken down: for it is the payment taken by the Lord; give her payment; as she has done, so do to her.

Shout against her round about, She hath given forth her hand, Fallen have her foundations, Thrown down have been her walls, For it [is] the vengeance of Jehovah, Be avenged of her, as she did — do ye to her.

16 Let the planter of seed be cut off from Babylon, and everyone using the curved blade at the time of the grain-cutting: for fear of the cruel sword, everyone will be turned to his people, everyone will go in flight to his land.

Cut off the sower from Babylon, And him handling the sickle in the time of harvest, Because of the oppressing sword, Each unto his people — they turn, And each to his land — they flee.

17 Israel is a wandering sheep; the lions have been driving him away: first he was attacked by the king of Assyria, and now his bones have been broken by Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon.

A scattered sheep is Israel, lions have driven away, At first, devour him did the king of Asshur, And now, at last, broken his bone Hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.

18 So this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: See, I will send punishment on the king of Babylon and on his land, as I have given punishment to the king of Assyria.

Therefore thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am seeing after the king of Babylon, And after his land, As I have seen after the king of Asshur;

19 And I will make Israel come back to his resting-place, and he will get his food on Carmel and Bashan, and have his desire in full measure on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.

And I have brought back Israel unto his habitation, And he hath fed on Carmel, and on Bashan. And in mount Ephraim, and on Gilead is his soul satisfied.

20 In those days and in that time, says the Lord, when the evil-doing of Israel is looked for, there will be nothing; and in Judah no sins will be seen: for I will have forgiveness for those whom I will keep safe.

In those days, and at that time, An affirmation of Jehovah, Sought is the iniquity of Israel, and it is not, And the sin of Judah, and it is not found, For I am propitious to those whom I leave!

21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the people of Pekod; put them to death and send destruction after them, says the Lord, and do everything I have given you orders to do.

Against the land of Merathaim: Go up against it, and unto the inhabitants of Pekod, Waste and devote their posterity, An affirmation of Jehovah, And do according to all that I have commanded thee.

22 There is a sound of war in the land and of great destruction.

A noise of battle [is] in the land, and of great destruction.

23 How is the hammer of all the earth cut in two and broken! how has Babylon become a waste among the nations!

How hath it been cut and broken, The hammer of the whole earth! How hath Babylon been for a desolation among nations!

24 I have put a net for you, and you have been taken, O Babylon, without your knowledge: you have been uncovered and taken because you were fighting against the Lord.

I have laid a snare for thee, And also — thou art captured, O Babylon, And thou — thou hast known, Thou hast been found, and also art caught, For against Jehovah thou hast stirred thyself up.

25 From his store-house the Lord has taken the instruments of his wrath: for the Lord, the Lord of armies, has a work to do in the land of the Chaldaeans.

Jehovah hath opened His treasury, And He bringeth out the weapons of His indignation, For a work [is] to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, In the land of the Chaldeans.

26 Come up against her one and all, let her store-houses be broken open: make her into a mass of stones, give her to the curse, till there is nothing of her to be seen.

Come ye in to her from the extremity, Open ye her storehouses, Raise her up as heaps, and devote her, Let her have no remnant.

27 Put all her oxen to the sword; let them go down to death: sorrow is theirs, for their day has come, the time of their punishment.

Slay all her kine, they go down to slaughter, Woe [is] on them, for come hath their day, The time of their inspection.

28 The voice of those who are in flight, who have got away safe from the land of Babylon, to give news in Zion of punishment from the Lord our God, even payment for his Temple.

A voice of fugitives and escaped ones [Is] from the land of Babylon, To declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, The vengeance of His temple.

29 Send for the archers to come together against Babylon, all the bowmen; put up your tents against her on every side; let no one get away: give her the reward of her work; as she has done, so do to her: for she has been uplifted in pride against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.

Summon unto Babylon archers, all treading the bow, Encamp against her round about, Let [her] have no escape; Recompense to her according to her work, According to all that she did — do to her, For unto Jehovah she hath been proud, Unto the Holy One of Israel.

30 For this cause her young men will be falling in her streets, and all her men of war will be cut off in that day, says the Lord.

Therefore fall do her young men in her broad places, And all her men of war are cut off in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah.

31 See, I am against you, O pride, says the Lord, the Lord of armies, for your day has come, the time when I will send punishment on you.

Lo, I [am] against thee, O pride, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, For thy day hath come, the time of thy inspection.

32 And pride will go with uncertain steps and have a fall, and there will be no one to come to his help: and I will put a fire in his towns, burning up everything round about him.

And stumbled hath pride, And he hath fallen, and hath no raiser up, And I have kindled a fire in his cities, And it hath devoured all round about him.

33 This is what the Lord of armies has said: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are crushed down together: all those who took them prisoner keep them in a tight grip; they will not let them go.

Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Oppressed are the sons of Israel, And the sons of Judah together, And all their captors have kept hold on them, They have refused to send them away.

34 Their saviour is strong; the Lord of armies is his name: he will certainly take up their cause, so that he may give rest to the earth and trouble to the people of Babylon.

Their Redeemer [is] strong, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name, He doth thoroughly plead their cause, So as to cause the land to rest, And He hath given trouble to the inhabitants of Babylon.

35 A sword is on the Chaldaeans, says the Lord, and on the people of Babylon, and on her rulers and on her wise men.

A sword [is] for the Chaldeans, An affirmation of Jehovah, And it [is] on the inhabitants of Babylon, And on her heads, and on her wise men;

36 A sword is on the men of pride, and they will become foolish: a sword is on her men of war, and they will be broken.

A sword [is] on the princes, And they have become foolish; A sword [is] on her mighty ones, And they have been broken down;

37 A sword is on all the mixed people in her, and they will become like women: a sword is on her store-houses, and they will be taken by her attackers.

A sword [is] on his horses and on his chariot, And on all the rabble who [are] in her midst, And they have become women; A sword [is] on her treasuries, And they have been spoiled;

38 A sword is on her waters, drying them up; for it is a land of images, and their minds are fixed on false gods.

A sword [is] on her waters, and they have been dried up, For it [is] a land of graven images, And in idols they do boast themselves.

39 For this reason the beasts of the waste land with the wolves will make their holes there and the ostriches will be living in it: never again will men be living there, it will be unpeopled from generation to generation.

Therefore dwell do Ziim with Iim, Yea, dwelt in her have daughters of the ostrich, And it is not inhabited any more for ever, Nor dwelt in unto all generations.

40 As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbouring towns were overturned by God, says the Lord, so no man will be living in it, and no son of man will have a resting-place there.

As overthrown by God with Sodom, And with Gomorrah, and with its neighbours, An affirmation of Jehovah, none doth dwell there, Nor sojourn in her doth a son of man.

41 See, a people is coming from the north; a great nation and a number of kings will be put in motion from the inmost parts of the earth.

Lo, a people hath come from the north, Even a great nation, And many kings are stirred up from the sides of the earth.

42 Bows and spears are in their hands; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice is like the thunder of the sea, and they go on horses; everyone in his place like men going to the fight, against you, O daughter of Babylon.

Bow and halbert they seize, Cruel [are] they, and they have no mercy, Their voice as a sea soundeth, and on horses they ride, Set in array as a man for battle, Against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

43 The king of Babylon has had news of them, and his hands have become feeble: trouble has come on him and pain like the pain of a woman in childbirth.

Heard hath the king of Babylon their report, And feeble have been his hands, Distress hath seized him; pain as a travailing woman.

44 See, he will come up like a lion from the thick growth of Jordan against the resting-place of Teman: but I will suddenly make them go in flight from her; and I will put over her the man of my selection: for who is like me? and who will put forward his cause against me? and what keeper of sheep will keep his place before me?

Lo, as a lion he cometh up, Because of the rising of the Jordan, Unto the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause them to run from off her. And who is chosen? on her I lay a charge, For who [is] like Me? And who doth convene Me? And who [is] this shepherd who standeth before Me?

45 So give ear to the decision of the Lord which he has made against Babylon, and to his purposes designed against the land of the Chaldaeans; Truly, they will be pulled away by the smallest of the flock; truly, he will make waste their fields with them.

Therefore, hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, That He counselled concerning Babylon, And His devices that He hath devised Concerning the land of the Chaldeans; Drag them out do not little ones of the flock, Doth He not make desolate over them the habitation?

46 At the cry, Babylon is taken! the earth is shaking, and the cry comes to the ears of the nations.

From the voice: Captured was Babylon, Hath the earth been shaken, And a cry among nations hath been heard!