Jeremiæ 51
1 Hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce ego suscitabo super Babylonem et super habitatores eius, qui cor suum levaverunt contra me, quasi ventum pestilentem.
This is what the Lord says: Look! I'm going to stir up a destructive wind against Babylon and against the people of Babylonia.
2 Et mittam in Babylonem ventilatores, et ventilabunt eam et demolientur terram eius: quoniam venerunt super eam undique in die afflictionis eius.
I will send foreign soldiers to attack Babylon to winnow her and turn her country into a wasteland—they will attack her from all directions when her time of trouble comes.
3 Non tendat qui tendit arcum suum, et non ascendat loricatus, nolite parcere iuvenibus eius, interficite omnem militiam eius.
The archer doesn't need to use his bow; the infantryman doesn't need to put on his armor. Don't spare her young soldiers; set apart her whole army for destruction!
4 Et cadent interfecti in terra Chaldæorum, et vulnerati in regionibus eius.
They will fall down wounded in her streets, killed in the country of Babylonia.
5 Quoniam non fuit viduatus Israel et Iuda a Deo suo Domino exercituum: terra autem eorum repleta est delicto a sancto Israel.
Israel and Judah have not been deserted by their God, the Lord Almighty, even though they sinned against the Holy One of Israel everywhere in their country.
6 Fugite de medio Babylonis, et salvet unusquisque animam suam: nolite tacere super iniquitatem eius: quoniam tempus ultionis est a Domino, vicissitudinem ipse retribuet ei.
Escape from Babylon! Run for your lives! Don't get caught up in her punishment and die, for this is the time when the Lord pays her back for her sins.
7 Calix aureus Babylon in manu Domini, inebrians omnem terram: de vino eius biberunt Gentes, et ideo commotæ sunt.
Once Babylon was a golden cup the Lord held in his hand. She made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine which is why they went mad.
8 Subito cecidit Babylon, et contrita est: ululate super eam, tollite resinam ad dolorem eius, si forte sanetur.
Now, all of a sudden, Babylon has fallen. She has been smashed to pieces. Weep for her; get her some treatment for her pain. Maybe she can be healed.
9 Curavimus Babylonem, et non est sanata: derelinquamus eam, et eamus unusquisque in terram suam: quoniam pervenit usque ad cælos iudicium eius, et elevatum est usque ad nubes.
“We tried to heal her, but she couldn't be helped. So give up on her! All of us should go home to where we came from. The news of her punishment has reached everywhere, all the way to heaven.
10 Protulit Dominus iustitias nostras: venite, et narremus in Sion opus Domini Dei nostri.
The Lord has encouraged and supported us. Come on, let's tell people here in Jerusalem what the Lord has done for us!”
11 Acuite sagittas, implete pharetras: suscitavit Dominus spiritum regum Medorum: et contra Babylonem mens eius est ut perdat eam, quoniam ultio Domini est, ultio templi sui.
Sharpen the arrows! Pick up the shields! The Lord has encouraged the kings of the Medes, because his plan is directed at the destruction of Babylon. The Lord is paying them back for what happened to his Temple.
12 Super muros Babylonis levate signum, augete custodiam: levate custodes, præparate insidias: quia cogitavit Dominus, et fecit quæcumque locutus est contra habitatores Babylonis.
Raise the signal flag to attack the walls of Babylon; strengthen the guard; have the watchmen take their places; get the ambush ready. The Lord planned and carried out his threats against the people of Babylon.
13 Quæ habitas super aquas multas, locuples in thesauris: venit finis tuus pedalis præcisionis tuæ.
You people who live beside by many waters, and have so much wealth, this is the time of your end—your life will be cut short.
14 Iuravit Dominus exercituum per animam suam: Quoniam replebo te hominibus quasi brucho, et super te celeuma cantabitur.
The Lord Almighty vowed by his own life, saying, I'm going to make sure to fill you with so many enemy soldiers they'll be like locusts. They will shout as they celebrate their victory over you.
15 Qui fecit terram in fortitudine sua, præparavit orbem in sapientia sua, et prudentia sua extendit cælos.
It was God who made the earth by his power. He created the world by his wisdom and by his understanding he put the heavens in place.
16 Dante eo vocem, multiplicantur aquæ in cælo: qui levat nubes ab extremo terræ, fulgura in pluviam fecit: et produxit ventum de thesauris suis.
The waters of the heavens rain down with a roar at his command. He makes the clouds to rise all over the earth. He makes lightning to accompany rain, and sends the wind from his storehouses.
17 Stultus factus est omnis homo a scientia: confusus est omnis conflator in sculptili. quia mendax est conflatio eorum, nec est spiritus in eis.
Everyone is stupid; they don't know anything. Every metalworker is embarrassed by the idols they make. For their images made of molten metal are fraudulent—they're not alive!
18 Vana sunt opera, et risu digna, in tempore visitationis suæ peribunt.
They are useless, an object to be laughed at. They will be destroyed at the time of their punishment.
19 Non sicut hæc pars Iacob: quia qui fecit omnia ipse est, et Israel sceptrum hereditatis eius: Dominus exercituum nomen eius.
The God of Jacob is not like these idols, for he is the creator of everything, including his own people that are special to him. The Lord Almighty is his name.
20 Collidis tu mihi vasa belli, et ego collidam in te Gentes, et disperdam in te regna:
You are my war club, the weapon I use in battle. I use you to destroy nations; I use you to destroy kingdoms.
21 et collidam in te equum, et equitem eius: et collidam in te currum, et ascensorem eius:
I use you to destroy horses and their riders; I use you to destroy chariots and their drivers.
22 et collidam in te virum et mulierem: et collidam in te senem et puerum: et collidam in te iuvenem et virginem:
I use you to destroy men and women; I use you to destroy old men and youths; I use you to destroy young men and girls.
23 et collidam in te pastorem et gregem eius: et collidam in te agricolam et iugales eius: et collidam in te duces et magistratus.
I use you to destroy shepherds and their flocks; I use you to destroy farmers and their cattle; I use you to destroy rulers and state officials.
24 Et reddam Babyloni, et cunctis habitatoribus Chaldææ omne malum suum, quod fecerunt in Sion, in oculis vestris, ait Dominus.
Right in front of you I'm going to pay back Babylon and everyone who live in Babylonia for all the evil they did to Jerusalem, declares the Lord.
25 Ecce ego ad te mons pestifer, ait Dominus, qui corrumpis universam terram: et extendam manum meam super te, et evolvam te de petris, et dabo te in montem combustionis.
Watch out, because I am against you, you destructive monster who devastates the whole world, declares the Lord. I will reach out to attack you; I will roll you down the cliffs; I will turn you into a mountain of ash.
26 Et non tollent de te lapidem in angulum, et lapidem in fundamenta, sed perditus in æternum eris, ait Dominus.
Nobody will be even able to find themselves a cornerstone or a foundation stone among your ruins, because you will be so utterly destroyed, declares the Lord.
27 Levate signum in terra: clangite buccina in Gentibus, sanctificate super eam Gentes: annunciate contra illam regibus Ararat, Menni, et Ascenez: numerate contra eam Taphsar, adducite equum quasi bruchum aculeatum.
Raise a signal flag in the country! Blow the trumpet call to war among the nations! Get the nations ready to attack her; Summon the kingdoms to march against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Choose a commander to lead the armies to attack her; send into battle cavalry like a swarm of locusts.
28 Sanctificate contra eam Gentes, reges Mediæ, duces eius, et universos magistratus eius, cunctamque terram potestatis eius.
Have the armies of the nations prepare for battle against her. This applies to the kings of the Medes, their leaders and all their officers, and every country they rule.
29 Et commovebitur terra, et conturbabitur: quia evigilabit contra Babylonem cogitatio Domini ut ponat Terram Babylonis desertam et inhabitabilem.
The earth quakes and trembles because the Lord is determined to carry out what he threatened against Babylon—to turn Babylonia into a wasteland where no one lives.
30 Cessaverunt fortes Babylonis a prælio, habitaverunt in præsidiis: devoratum est robur eorum, et facti sunt quasi mulieres: incensa sunt tabernacula eius, contriti sunt vectes eius.
Babylon's defenders have given up fighting—they're just sitting in their fortresses. They're worn out; they've become like frightened women. Babylon's houses are burning; the bars securing her gates have been smashed.
31 Currens obviam currenti veniet: et nuncius obvius nuncianti: ut annunciet regi Babylonis quia capta est civitas eius a summo usque ad summum:
A runner hands his message over to another to carry; one messenger follows another messenger, all of them alerting the king of Babylon to the news that his city has been completely conquered,
32 et vada præoccupata sunt, et paludes incensæ sunt igni, et viri bellatores conturbati sunt.
the river crossings have been captured, the marshlands set on fire and his soldiers are panicking.
33 Quia hæc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Israel: Filia Babylonis quasi area, tempus trituræ eius: adhuc modicum, et veniet tempus messionis eius.
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: The people of Babylon are like a threshing floor when the grain is trampled out. Her time of harvest will come very soon.
34 Comedit me, devoravit me Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis: reddidit me quasi vas inane, absorbuit me quasi draco, replevit ventrem suum teneritudine mea, et eiecit me.
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon chewed me up and sucked me dry, making me as empty as a jar with nothing in it. He swallowed me down as if he were some monster, filling himself with the tastiest parts of me and throwing the rest away.
35 Iniquitas adversum me, et caro mea super Babylonem, dicit habitatio Sion: et sanguis meus super habitatores Chaldææ, dicit Ierusalem.
“Babylon must bear the responsibility for the violent attacks on us,” say the inhabitants of Zion. “The people of Babylonia must bear the responsibility for the blood shed in my city,” says Jerusalem.
36 Propterea hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce ego iudicabo causam tuam, et ulciscar ultionem tuam, et desertum faciam mare eius, et siccabo venam eius.
This is what the Lord says: Watch as I present your case for you and make your enemies pay for what they did to you. I'm going to dry up her river and her springs.
37 Et erit Babylon in tumulos, habitatio draconum, stupor, et sibilus, eo quod non sit habitator.
Babylon will be turned into a pile of rubble, a home for jackals, a place that horrifies people, a place they jeer at, a place where no one lives.
38 Simul ut leones rugient, excutient comas veluti catuli leonum.
The Babylonians will roar together like powerful lions and growl like lion cubs.
39 In calore eorum ponam potus eorum, et inebriabo eos, ut sopiantur, et dormiant somnum sempiternum, et non consurgant, dicit Dominus.
But while their passions are aroused, I will serve them a banquet and get them drunk. They'll celebrate so much that they'll pass out and won't ever wake up, declares the Lord.
40 Deducam eos quasi agnos ad victimam, et quasi arietes cum hœdis.
I will take them down like lambs to be slaughtered, like rams and goats.
41 Quomodo capta est Sesach, et comprehensa est inclyta universæ terræ? quomodo facta est in stuporem Babylon inter gentes?
How could it be? Babylon has fallen! The most famous city in the world has been conquered! What a horrible sight Babylon has become to everyone watching!
42 Ascendit super Babylonem mare, multitudine fluctuum eius operta est.
It's as if the sea has flooded over Babylon, covering her in crashing waves.
43 Factæ sunt civitates eius in stuporem, terra inhabitabilis et deserta, terra in qua nullus habitet, nec transeat per eam filius hominis.
The towns of Babylonia are in ruins, turned into a dry desert wasteland where no one lives—no one even passes by.
44 Et visitabo super Bel in Babylone, et eiiciam quod absorbuerat de ore eius, et non confluent ad eum ultra Gentes, siquidem et murus Babylonis corruet.
I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will force him to spit out what he swallowed. People of other nations won't run to worship him anymore. Even Babylon's wall has fallen.
45 Egredimini de medio eius populus meus: ut salvet unusquisque animam suam ab ira furoris Domini.
My people, come out of her! Each one of you, save yourselves from the Lord's furious anger.
46 Et ne forte mollescat cor vestrum, et timeatis auditum, qui audietur in terra: et veniet in anno auditio, et post hunc annum auditio: et iniquitas in terra, et dominator super dominatorem.
Don't lose courage, and don't be afraid when you hear different rumors going around the country. There'll be one rumor one year, and another one the next, talking about violent revolution, of one ruler fighting against another.
47 Propterea ecce dies veniunt, et visitabo super sculptilia Babylonis: et omnis terra eius confundetur, et universi interfecti eius cadent in medio eius.
Look, the time is coming when I will punish Babylon's idols. The whole country will be humiliated; it will be full of the dead bodies of those who have been killed.
48 Et laudabunt super Babylonem cæli et terra, et omnia quæ in eis sunt: quia ab Aquilone venient ei prædones, ait Dominus.
Then everyone in heaven and on earth will celebrate with shouts of joy at what's happened to Babylon, because the destroyers from the north will come and attack her, declares the Lord.
49 Et quomodo fecit Babylon ut caderent occisi in Israel: sic de Babylone cadent occisi in universa terra.
Babylon has to fall because of the Israelites and people of other nations she killed.
50 Qui fugistis gladium, venite, nolite stare: recordamini procul Domini, et Ierusalem ascendat super cor vestrum.
Those of you who have managed to escape being killed, leave now! Don't delay! Remember the Lord in this far away place; think about Jerusalem.
51 Confusi sumus, quoniam audivimus opprobrium: operuit ignominia facies nostras: quia venerunt alieni super sanctificationem domus Domini.
“We are embarrassed because we've been mocked, and we held our heads in shame because foreigners went into the holy places of the Lord's Temple,”
52 Propterea ecce dies veniunt, ait Dominus: et visitabo super sculptilia eius, et in omni terra eius mugiet vulneratus.
So keep watching, declares the Lord, because the time is coming when I will punish her for worshiping idols, and the sound of wounded people moaning will be heard throughout the country.
53 Si ascenderit Babylon in cælum, et firmaverit in excelso robur suum: a me venient vastatores eius, ait Dominus.
Even if Babylon could climb up into the sky to strengthen her high fortresses, those I send to attack her will destroy her, declares the Lord.
54 Vox clamoris de Babylone, et contritio magna de Terra Chaldæorum:
A cry comes from Babylon; the noise of terrible destruction comes from the country of Babylonia.
55 quoniam vastavit Dominus Babylonem, et perdidit ex ea vocem magnam: et sonabunt fluctus eorum quasi aquæ multæ: dedit sonitum vox eorum:
For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon; he will put an end to her boastful talk. The waves of attacking army will roar like the crashing sea; the noise of their shouts will echo all around.
56 Quia venit super eam, id est super Babylonem prædo, et apprehensi sunt fortes eius, et emarcuit arcus eorum, quia fortis ultor Dominus reddens retribuet.
A destroyer is coming to attack Babylon. Her soldiers will be taken prisoner, and their bows will be smashed, for the Lord is a God who punishes fairly; he will definitely pay them back.
57 Et inebriabo principes eius, et sapientes eius, et duces eius, et magistratus eius, et fortes eius: et dormient somnum sempiternum, et non expergiscentur, ait rex, Dominus exercituum nomen eius.
I will make her leaders and wise men drunk, along with her commanders, officers, and soldiers. Then they will pass out, and won't ever wake up, declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty.
58 Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: Murus Babylonis ille latissimus suffossione suffodietur, et portæ eius excelsæ igni comburentur, et labores populorum ad nihilum, et gentium in ignem erunt, et disperibunt.
This is what the Lord Almighty says: Babylon's massive walls will be knocked down to the ground and her high gates burned. All that the people worked for will be for nothing; other nations who came to help will wear themselves out, only to see what they've done go up in flames.
59 Verbum, quod præcepit Ieremias propheta, Saraiæ filio Neriæ filii Maasiæ cum pergeret cum Sedecia rege in Babylonem, in anno quarto regni eius: Saraias autem erat princeps prophetiæ.
This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he accompanied King Zedekiah of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign. Seraiah was the king's personal assistant.
60 Et scripsit Ieremias omne malum, quod venturum erat super Babylonem in libro uno: omnia verba hæc, quæ scripta sunt contra Babylonem.
Jeremiah had written on a scroll a description of all the disasters that would come to Babylon—all these words written here about Babylon.
61 Et dixit Ieremias ad Saraiam: Cum veneris in Babylonem, et videris, et legeris omnia verba hæc,
Jeremiah told Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, make sure you read out loud everything written here,
62 dices: Domine tu locutus es contra locum istum ut disperderes eum: ne sit qui in eo habitet ab homine usque ad pecus, et ut sit perpetua solitudo.
and announce, ‘Lord, you have promised to destroy this place so that none will be left—no people or animals. In fact it will be deserted forever.’
63 Cumque compleveris legere librum istum, ligabis ad eum lapidem, et proiicies illum in medium Euphraten:
After you finish reading this scroll out loud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.
64 et dices: Sic submergetur Babylon, et non consurget a facie afflictionis, quam ego adduco super eam, et dissolvetur. Hucusque verba Ieremiæ.
Then say, ‘This is how Babylon will sink and won't ever rise again, because of the disaster I'm bringing down on her. Her people will grow tired.’” This is the end of Jeremiah's messages.
