The Utter Destruction of Babylon
Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will stir up athe spirit of a destroyer
against Babylon,
against the inhabitants of Leb‑kamai,
2 and I will send to Babylon winnowers,
and athey shall winnow her,
and they shall empty her land,
when they come against her from every side
bon the day of trouble.
3 aLet not the archer bend his bow,
and let him not stand up in his armor.
Spare not her young men;
bdevote to destruction all her army.
4 They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
aand wounded in her streets.
5 aFor Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
by their God, the Lord of hosts,
but the land of the Chaldeans is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.
6 a“Flee from the midst of Babylon;
let every one save his life!
bBe not cut off in her punishment,
cfor this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance,
the repayment he is rendering her.
7 Babylon was aa golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
bmaking all the earth drunken;
cthe nations drank of her wine;
therefore the nations went mad.
8 aSuddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
bwail for her!
cTake balm for her pain;
perhaps she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon,
but she was not healed.
aForsake her, and blet us go
each to his own country,
for cher judgment has reached up to heaven
and has been lifted up even to the skies.
10 aThe Lord has brought about our vindication;
bcome, let us declare in Zion
the work of the Lord our God.
11 a“Sharpen the arrows!
Take up the shields!
bThe Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of cthe Medes, because dhis purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, efor that is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for ehis temple.
12 a“Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon;
bmake the watch strong;
set up watchmen;
prepare the ambushes;
cfor the Lord has both planned and done
what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 aO you who dwell by many waters,
rich in treasures,
your end has come;
the thread of your life is cut.
14 aThe Lord of hosts has sworn by himself:
Surely I will fill you with men, bas many as locusts,
cand they shall raise the shout of victory over you.
15 a“It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
16 When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
17 Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
and there is no breath in them.
18 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
19 Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
20 “You are my hammer and weapon of war:
with you I abreak nations in pieces;
with you I destroy kingdoms;
21 with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer;
22 with you I break in pieces man and woman;
with you I break in pieces athe old man and the youth;
with you I break in pieces athe young man and the young woman;
23 with you I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;
with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team;
with you I break in pieces agovernors and commanders.
24 a“I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the Lord.
25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,
declares the Lord,
which destroys the whole earth;
I will stretch out my hand against you,
and roll you down from the crags,
aand make you a burnt mountain.
26 No astone shall be taken from you for a corner
and no stone for a foundation,
but you shall be ba perpetual waste,
declares the Lord.
27 a“Set up a standard on the earth;
bblow the trumpet among the nations;
cprepare dthe nations for war against her;
summon against her ethe kingdoms,
fArarat, Minni, and gAshkenaz;
appoint a hmarshal against her;
ibring up horses like bristling locusts.
28 aPrepare bthe nations for war against her,
the kings of cthe Medes, dwith their governors dand deputies,
and every eland under their dominion.
29 aThe land trembles and writhes in pain,
bfor the Lord’s purposes against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon a desolation,
without inhabitant.
30 The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting;
they remain in their strongholds;
their strength has failed;
athey have become women;
bher dwellings are on fire;
cher bars are broken.
31 One arunner runs to meet another,
and one messenger to meet another,
to tell the king of Babylon
that his city is taken on every side;
32 the fords have been aseized,
the marshes are burned with fire,
and the soldiers are in panic.
33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
aThe daughter of Babylon is like aa threshing floor
at the time when it is trodden;
yet a little while
and bthe time of her harvest will come.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon ahas devoured me;
he has crushed me;
he has made me an empty vessel;
bhe has swallowed me like ca monster;
he has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
he has rinsed me out.
35 The violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon,”
let the inhabitant of Zion say.
“My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
let Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, aI will plead your cause
and take vengeance for you.
bI will dry up her sea
and cmake her fountain dry,
37 and Babylon shall become aa heap of ruins,
bthe haunt of jackals,
ca horror cand a hissing,
without inhabitant.
38 a“They shall roar together blike lions;
they shall growl like lions’ cubs.
39 aWhile they are inflamed aI will prepare them a feast
and bmake them drunk, that they may become merry,
bthen sleep a perpetual sleep
and not wake, declares the Lord.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and male goats.
41 “How aBabylon is taken,
bthe praise of the whole earth cseized!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations!
42 aThe sea has come up on Babylon;
she is covered with its tumultuous waves.
43 Her cities have become a horror,
aa land of drought and a desert,
ba land in which no one dwells,
and through which no son of man passes.
44 And I will punish aBel in Babylon,
and btake out of his mouth cwhat he has swallowed.
dThe nations shall no longer flow to him;
ethe wall of Babylon has fallen.
45 “Go out of the midst of her, amy people!
Let every one save his life
from bthe fierce anger of the Lord!
46 Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful
aat the report heard in the land,
bwhen a report comes in one year
and afterward a report in another year,
and violence is in the land,
band ruler is against ruler.
47 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming
when aI will punish the images of Babylon;
bher whole land shall be put to shame,
and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 aThen the heavens and the earth,
and all that is in them,
shall sing for joy over Babylon,
bfor the destroyers shall come against them out of the north,
declares the Lord.
49 Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel,
ajust as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.
50 a“You who have escaped from the sword,
go, do not stand still!
Remember the Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come into your mind:
51 a‘We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach;
adishonor has covered our face,
bfor foreigners have come
into the holy places of the Lord’s house.’
52 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when aI will execute judgment upon her images,
band through all her land
the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should amount up to heaven,
and though she should bfortify her strong height,
yet destroyers would come from me against her,
declares the Lord.
54 a“A voice! A cry from Babylon!
The noise of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For the Lord is laying Babylon waste
and stilling her mighty voice.
aTheir waves roar like many waters;
the noise of their voice is raised,
56 for a destroyer has come upon her,
upon Babylon;
her warriors are taken;
their bows are broken in pieces,
afor the Lord is a God of recompense;
he will surely repay.
57 aI will make drunk her officials and her wise men,
bher governors, her commanders, and her warriors;
they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake,
declares cthe King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
58 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
The broad awall of Babylon
shall be leveled to the ground,
band her high gates
shall be burned with fire.
cThe peoples labor for nothing,
and dthe nations weary themselves only for fire.”
59 The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah athe son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, bin the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60 aJeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon, ball these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, 62 and say, ‘O Lord, you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off, so athat nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be bdesolate forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this book, abtie a stone to it aand cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, 64 and say, a‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, band they shall become exhausted.’”
Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.