Jeremiah 50
1This is the word that Yahweh declared about Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet, 1
2“Report to the nations and cause them to listen. Lift up a signal and cause them to listen. Do not conceal it. 1 Say, 'Babylon is taken. Bel is made ashamed. Marduk is dismayed. Its idols are put to shame; its images are dismayed.' 1
3A nation from the north will arise against it, and make her land a desolation. 1 No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee away. 1
4In those days and at that time—this is Yahweh's declaration—the people of Israel and the people of Judah 1 will come together to go with weeping and seek Yahweh their God. 1
5They will ask the way to Zion and will set off toward it, saying, 1 We will go and join ourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.”
6My people have been a lost flock. Their shepherds have led them astray in the mountains; 1 they have turned them around from hill to hill. They went, they forgot the place where they had lived. 1
7Everyone who went out to them devoured them. Their adversaries said, 'We are not guilty, 1 because they sinned against Yahweh, their true home—Yahweh, the hope of their ancestors.' 1
8Leave from the midst of Babylon; go out from the land of the Chaldeans; 1 be like male goats that leave before the rest of the flock does. 1
9For see, I am about to set in motion and raise up a group of great nations from the north against Babylon. 1 They will arrange themselves against her. Babylon will be captured from there. 1 Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. 1
10Chaldea will become plunder. All those who plunder it will be satisfied—this is Yahweh's declaration. 1
11You rejoice, you celebrate the plundering of my inheritance; 1 you jump around like a calf stamping in its pasture; 1 you neigh like a powerful horse. 1
12So your mother will be greatly ashamed; the one who bore you will be embarrassed. 1 See, she will be the least of nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. 1
13Because of Yahweh's anger, Babylon will not be inhabited, but will be a complete devastation. 1 Everyone who passes by will shudder because of Babylon and will hiss because all of its wounds. 1
14Arrange yourselves against Babylon all around her. Everyone who bends a bow must shoot at her. 1 Do not keep back any of your arrows, for she has sinned against Yahweh. 1
15Raise a shout against her all around! She has surrendered; her towers have fallen; 1 her walls are torn down, for this is Yahweh's vengeance. 1 Take vengeance on her! Do to her just as she has done! 1
16Destroy both the farmer who sows seed and the one who uses a sickle at the time of harvest in Babylon. 1 Let each person turn back to his own people from the oppressor's sword; let them flee to their own land. 1
17Israel is a sheep scattered and driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him; 1 then after this, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon broke his bones.
18Therefore Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says this: See, I am about to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria. 1
19I will restore Israel to his homeland; he will graze on Carmel and Bashan. 1 Then he will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead. 1
20In those days and at that time, says Yahweh, iniquity will be looked for in Israel, 1 but none will be found. I will inquire about the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant that I spare.” 1
21“Arise against the land of Merathaim, against it and the ones inhabiting Pekod. 1 Put them to the sword and set them apart for destruction—this is Yahweh's declaration—do everything that I am commanding you. 1
22The sounds of battle and enormous destruction are in the land. 1
23How the hammer of all the lands has been cut apart and destroyed. 1 How Babylon has become a destroyed place among the nations. 1
24I have set a trap for you and you were taken, Babylon, and you did not know it! 1 You were found and captured, because you opposed Yahweh. 1
25Yahweh has opened his armory and is bringing out the weapons for carrying out his anger. 1 There is work for the Lord Yahweh of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. 1
26Attack her from far away. Open her granaries and pile her up like heaps of grain. 1 Set her apart for destruction. Leave no remnant of her. 1
27Kill all her bulls. Send them down to the place of slaughter. 1 Woe to them, for their day has come—the time for their punishment. 1
28There is the sound of those fleeing, of those who are survivors, from the land of Babylon. 1 These will report the vengeance of Yahweh our God for Zion, and vengeance for his temple.” 1
29“Summon the archers against Babylon—all those who bend their bows. 1 Camp against her, and let no one escape. 1 Repay her for what she has done. 1 Do to her by the measure she has used. 1 For she had defied Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel. 1
30So her young men will fall in the city squares, 1 and all her fighting men will be destroyed on that day 1 —this is Yahweh's declaration.” 1
31“See, I am against you, proud one—this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts— 1 for your day has come, proud one, the time when I will punish you. 1
32So the proud ones will stumble and fall. No one will raise them up. 1 I will light a fire in their cities; it will devour everything around him. 1
33Yahweh of hosts says this: The people of Israel are oppressed, together with the people of Judah. 1 All the ones who captured them still hold them; they refuse to let them go. 1
34The one who rescues them is strong. Yahweh of hosts is his name. He will truly plead their case, 1 in order to bring rest to the land, and to bring strife to the ones inhabiting Babylon. 1
35A sword is against the Chaldeans—this is Yahweh's declaration— 1 and against the inhabitants of Babylon, her leaders, and her wise men. 1
36A sword against those who say empty words! They will become fools! 1 A sword against her soldiers! They will be filled with terror. 1
37A sword is coming against their horses, their chariots and all of the people who are in the midst of Babylon, 1 so they will become like women. A sword is coming against her storerooms, and they will be plundered. 1
38A drought is coming on her waters, so they will become dry. 1 For she is a land of worthless idols, and they act like people made insane by their dreadful idols. 1
39So desert beasts with the jackals will inhabit there, and the young of ostriches will live in her. 1 For all time, she will no longer be inhabited. From generation to generation, she will not be lived in. 1
40Just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors—this is Yahweh's declaration— 1 no one will live there; no person will stay in her.” 1
41“See, a people is coming from the north; 1 a great nation and many kings 1 are being stirred up from the farthest parts of the earth. 1
42They will pick up bows and spears. They are cruel and have no compassion. 1 Their sound is like the sea roar, 1 and they are riding on horses, 1 set out in order as men for battle, against you, 1 daughter of Babylon. 1
43The king of Babylon heard the reports about them and his hands fell limp in distress. 1 Anguish seized him like a woman giving birth. 1
44Behold! He goes up like a lion from the heights of the Jordan to the enduring grazing place 1 For I will quickly cause them to run from it, and I will put someone who will be chosen in charge of it. 1 For who is like me, and who will summon me? What shepherd is able to resist me? 1
45So listen to the plans that Yahweh has decided against Babylon, 1 the plans that he has planned against the land of the Chaldeans. They will certainly be dragged away, 1 even the smallest flock. Their pasturelands will be turned into ruined places. 1
46At the sound of conquered Babylon the earth shakes, and their shout of distress is heard among the nations.”