Jeremiah 50-52
New International Reader's Version
A Message About Babylon
50 Here is the message the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. It was about the city of Babylon and the land of Babylon. He said,
2 “Announce this message among the nations.
Lift up a banner.
Let the nations hear the message.
Do not keep anything back.
Say, ‘Babylon will be captured.
The god named Bel will be put to shame.
The god named Marduk will be filled with terror.
Babylon’s gods will be put to shame.
The gods its people made will be filled with terror.’
3 A nation from the north will attack it.
That nation will destroy Babylon.
No one will live there.
People and animals alike will run away.
4 “The days are coming,”
announces the Lord.
“At that time the people of Israel and Judah will gather together.
They will come in tears to me.
I am the Lord their God.
5 They will ask how to get to Zion.
Then they will turn their faces toward it.
They will come and join themselves to me.
They will enter into the covenant I make with them.
It will last forever.
It will never be forgotten.
6 “My people have been like lost sheep.
Their shepherds have led them astray.
They have caused them to wander in the mountains.
They have wandered over mountains and hills.
They have forgotten that I am their true resting place.
7 Everyone who found them destroyed them.
Their enemies said, ‘We aren’t guilty.
They sinned against the Lord.
He gave them everything they needed.
He has always been Israel’s hope.’
8 “People of Judah, run away from Babylon.
Leave the land of Babylon.
Be like the goats that lead the flock.
9 I will stir up great nations
that will join forces against Babylon.
I will bring them from the land of the north.
They will take up their battle positions against Babylon.
They will come from the north and capture it.
Their arrows will be like skilled soldiers.
They will not miss their mark.
10 So the riches of Babylon will be taken away.
All those who steal from it will have more than enough,”
announces the Lord.
11 “People of Babylon, you have stolen what belongs to me.
That has made you glad and full of joy.
You dance around like a young cow on a threshing floor.
You neigh like stallions.
12 Because of that, you will bring great shame on your land.
Your whole nation will be dishonored.
It will become the least important of the nations.
It will become a dry and empty desert.
13 Because I am angry with it, no one will live there.
It will be completely deserted.
All those who pass by Babylon will be shocked.
They will make fun of it because of all its wounds.
14 “All you who shoot arrows,
take up your battle positions around Babylon.
Shoot at it! Do not spare any arrows!
Its people have sinned against me.
15 Shout against them on every side!
They are giving up.
The towers of the city are falling.
Its walls are being pulled down.
The Lord is paying back its people.
So pay them back yourselves.
Do to them what they have done to others.
16 Do not leave anyone in Babylon to plant the fields.
Do not leave anyone to harvest the grain.
Let each of them return to their own people.
Let them run away to their own land.
If they don’t, their enemy’s sword will bring them great harm.
17 “Israel is like a scattered flock
that lions have chased away.
The first lion that ate them up
was the king of Assyria.
The last one that broke their bones
was Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.”
18 The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,
“I punished the king of Assyria.
In the same way, I will punish
the king of Babylon and his land.
19 But I will bring Israel back to their own grasslands.
I will feed them on Mount Carmel and in Bashan.
I will satisfy their hunger
on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 The days are coming,”
announces the Lord.
“At that time people will search for Israel’s guilt.
But they will not find any.
They will search for Judah’s sins.
But they will not find any.
That is because I will forgive the people I have spared.
21 “Enemies of Babylon, attack their land of Merathaim.
Make war against those who live in Pekod.
Chase them and kill them. Destroy them completely,”
announces the Lord.
“Do everything I have commanded you to do.
22 The noise of battle is heard in the land.
It is the noise of a great city being destroyed!
23 It has been broken to pieces.
It was the hammer that broke the whole earth.
How empty Babylon is among the nations!
24 Babylon, I set a trap for you.
And you were caught before you knew it.
You were found and captured.
That is because you opposed me.
25 I have opened up my storeroom.
I have brought out the weapons I use when I am angry.
I am the Lord and King who rules over all.
I have work to do in the land of the Babylonians.
26 So come against it from far away.
Open up its storerooms.
Stack everything up like piles of grain.
Completely destroy that country.
Do not leave anyone alive there.
27 Kill all Babylon’s strongest warriors.
Let them die in battle.
How terrible it will be for them!
Their time to be judged has come.
Now they will be punished.
28 Listen to those who have escaped.
Listen to those who have returned from Babylon.
They are announcing in Zion
how I have paid Babylon back.
I have paid it back for destroying my temple.
29 “Send for men armed with bows and arrows.
Send them against Babylon.
Set up camp all around it.
Do not let anyone escape.
Pay it back for what its people have done.
Do to them what they have done to others.
They have dared to disobey me.
I am the Holy One of Israel.
30 You can be sure its young men will fall dead in the streets.
All its soldiers will be put to death at that time,”
announces the Lord.
31 “Proud Babylonians, I am against you,”
announces the Lord.
The Lord who rules over all says,
“Your day to be judged has come.
It is time for you to be punished.
32 You proud people will trip and fall.
No one will help you up.
I will start a fire in your towns.
It will burn up everyone around you.”
33 The Lord who rules over all says,
“The people of Israel are being treated badly.
So are the people of Judah.
Those who have captured them are holding them.
They refuse to let them go.
34 But I am strong and will save them.
My name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
I will stand up for them.
I will bring peace and rest to their land.
But I will bring trouble to those who live in Babylon.
35 “A sword is coming against the Babylonians!”
announces the Lord.
“It is coming against those who live in Babylon.
It is coming against their officials and wise men.
36 A sword is coming against their prophets.
But they are not really prophets at all!
So they will look foolish.
A sword is coming against their soldiers!
They will be filled with terror.
37 A sword is coming against their horses and chariots!
It is coming against all the hired soldiers in their armies.
They will become weak.
A sword is coming against their treasures!
They will be stolen.
38 There will not be any rain for their rivers.
So they will dry up.
Those things will happen because their land is full of statues of gods.
Those gods will go crazy with terror.
39 “Desert creatures and hyenas will live in Babylon.
And so will owls.
People will never live there again.
It will not be lived in for all time to come.
40 I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
I also destroyed the towns that were near them,”
announces the Lord.
“Babylon will be just like them.
No one will live there.
No human beings will stay there.
41 “Look! An army is coming from the north.
I am stirring up a great nation and many kings.
They are coming from a land that is very far away.
42 Their soldiers are armed with bows and spears.
They are mean.
They do not show any mercy at all.
They come riding in on their horses.
They sound like the roaring ocean.
They are lined up for battle.
They are coming to attack you, city of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard reports about them.
His hands can’t help him.
He is in great pain.
It is like the pain of a woman having a baby.
44 I will be like a lion coming up from the bushes by the Jordan River.
I will hunt in rich grasslands.
I will chase the people of Babylon from their land in an instant.
What nation will I choose to do this?
Which one will I appoint?
Is anyone like me? Who would dare to argue with me?
What leader can stand against me?”
45 So listen to what the Lord has planned against Babylon.
Hear what he has planned against the land of the Babylonians.
Their young people will be dragged away.
Their grasslands will be shocked at their fate.
46 At the news of Babylon’s capture,
the earth will shake.
The people’s cries will be heard among the nations.
51 The Lord says,
“I will stir up the spirits of destroyers.
They will march out against Babylon and its people.
2 I will send other nations against it
to separate the straw from the grain.
I will send them to destroy Babylon completely.
They will oppose it on every side.
At that time it will be destroyed.
3 Do not let its soldiers get their bows ready to use.
Do not let them put on their armor.
Do not spare their young men.
Destroy their armies completely.
4 They will fall down dead in Babylon.
They will receive deadly wounds in its streets.
5 The land of Israel and Judah is full of guilt.
Its people have sinned against me.
But I have not deserted them. I am their God.
I am the Lord who rules over all.
I am the Holy One of Israel.
6 “People of Judah, run away from Babylon!
Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of the sins of its people.
It is time for me to pay them back.
I will punish them for what they have done.
7 Babylon was like a gold cup in my hand.
That city made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank its wine.
So now they have gone crazy.
8 Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken.
Weep for it!
Get healing lotion for its pain.
Perhaps it can be healed.
9 “The nations say, ‘We would have healed Babylon.
But it can’t be healed.
So let’s leave it. Let’s each go to our own land.
Babylon’s sins reach all the way to the skies.
They rise up as high as the heavens.’
10 “The people of Judah say,
‘The Lord has made things right for us again.
So come. Let’s tell in Zion
what the Lord our God has done.’
11 “I have stirred up you kings of the Medes.
So sharpen your arrows!
Get your shields!
I plan to destroy Babylon.
I will pay the Babylonians back.
They have destroyed my temple.
12 Lift up a banner! Attack Babylon’s walls!
Put more guards on duty!
Station more of them to watch over you!
Hide and wait to attack them!
I will do what I have planned.
I will do what I have decided to do
against the people of Babylon.
13 You who live by the rivers of Babylon,
your end has come.
You who are rich in treasures,
it is time for you to be destroyed.
14 I am the Lord who rules over all.
I have made a promise in my own name.
I have said, ‘I will certainly fill your land with soldiers.
They will be as many as a huge number of locusts.
They will win the battle over you.
They will shout for joy.’
15 “I used my power to make the earth.
I used my wisdom to set the world in place.
I used my understanding to spread out the heavens.
16 When I thunder, the waters in the heavens roar.
I make clouds rise from one end of the earth to the other.
I send lightning with the rain.
I bring out the wind from my storerooms.
17 “No one has any sense.
No one knows anything.
Everyone who works with gold is put to shame
by his wooden gods.
His metal gods are fakes.
They can’t even breathe.
18 They are worthless, and people make fun of them.
When I judge them, they will be destroyed.
19 But I, the God of Jacob, am not like them.
I give my people everything they need.
I can do this because I made everything, including Israel.
They are the people who belong to me.
My name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
20 “Babylon, you are my war club.
You are my weapon for battle.
I use you to destroy nations.
I use you to wipe out kingdoms.
21 I use you to destroy horses and their riders.
I use you to destroy chariots and their drivers.
22 I use you to destroy men and women.
I use you to destroy old people and young people.
I use you to destroy young men and young women.
23 I use you to destroy shepherds and their flocks.
I use you to destroy farmers and their oxen.
I use you to destroy governors and officials.
24 “Judah, I will pay Babylon back. You will see it with your own eyes. I will pay back all those who live in Babylon. I will pay them back for all the wrong things they have done in Zion,” announces the Lord.
25 “Babylon, I am against you.
Your kingdom is like a destroying mountain.
You have destroyed the whole earth,”
announces the Lord.
“I will reach out my hand against you.
I will roll you off the cliffs.
I will make you like a mountain that has been burned up.
26 No rock will be taken from you to be used
as the most important stone for a building.
No stones will be taken from you
to be used for a foundation.
Your land will be empty forever,”
announces the Lord.
27 “Nations, lift up a banner in the land of Babylon!
Blow a trumpet among yourselves!
Prepare yourselves for battle against Babylon.
Send the kingdoms
of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz against it.
Appoint a commander against it.
Send many horses against it.
Let them be as many as a huge number of locusts.
28 Prepare yourselves for battle against Babylon.
Prepare the kings of the Medes.
Prepare their governors and all their officials.
Prepare all the countries they rule over.
29 The Babylonians tremble and shake with fear.
My plans against them stand firm.
I plan to destroy their land completely.
Then no one will live there.
30 Babylon’s soldiers have stopped fighting.
They remain in their forts.
Their strength is all gone.
They have become weak.
Their buildings are set on fire.
The metal bars that lock their gates are broken.
31 One messenger after another
comes to the king of Babylon.
All of them announce that
his entire city is captured.
32 The places where people go across the Euphrates River have been captured.
The swamps have been set on fire.
And the soldiers are terrified.”
33 The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,
“The city of Babylon is like a threshing floor
when cattle are walking on it.
The time to destroy it will soon come.”
34 The people of Jerusalem say,
“Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has destroyed us.
He has thrown us into a panic.
He has emptied us out like a jar.
Like a snake he has swallowed us up.
He has filled his stomach with our rich food.
Then he has spit us out of his mouth.”
35 The people continue, “May the people of Babylon
pay for the harmful things they have done to us.
May those who live in Babylon
pay for spilling the blood of our people.”
That’s what the people who live in Zion say.
36 So the Lord says,
“I will stand up for you.
I will pay the Babylonians back for what they did to you.
I will dry up their water supply.
I will make their springs run dry.
37 Babylon will have all its buildings knocked down.
It will be a home for wild dogs.
No one will live there.
People will be shocked at it.
They will make fun of it.
38 All its people roar like young lions.
They growl like lion cubs.
39 They are stirred up.
So I will set a feast in front of them.
I will make them drunk.
And they will shout and laugh.
But then they will lie down and die.
They will never wake up,”
announces the Lord.
40 “I will lead them down like lambs to be put to death.
They will be like rams and goats that have been killed.
41 “Babylon will be captured!
The whole earth was very proud of it.
But it will be taken over by others!
It will be a deserted place among the nations.
42 Babylon’s enemies will sweep over it like an ocean.
Like roaring waves they will cover it.
43 The towns of Babylon will be empty.
It will become a dry and desert land.
No one will live there.
No one will even travel through it.
44 I will punish the god named Bel in Babylon.
I will make Bel spit out what he has swallowed.
The nations will not come and worship him anymore.
And Babylon’s walls will fall down.
45 “Come out of there, my people!
Run for your lives!
Run away from my great anger.
46 You will hear about terrible things
that are happening in Babylon.
But do not lose hope. Do not be afraid.
You will hear one thing this year.
And you will hear something else next year.
You will hear about awful things in the land.
You will hear about one ruler fighting against another.
47 I will punish the gods of Babylon.
That time will certainly come.
Then the whole land will be full of shame.
Its people will lie down and die there.
48 So heaven and earth and everything in them will shout for joy.
They will be glad because of what will happen to Babylon.
Armies will attack it from the north.
And they will destroy it,”
announces the Lord.
49 “Babylon’s people have killed my people Israel.
They have also killed people all over the earth.
So now Babylon itself must fall.
50 You who have not been killed in the war against Babylon,
leave! Do not wait!
In a land far away remember me.
And think about Jerusalem.”
51 The people of Judah reply, “No one honors us anymore.
People make fun of us.
Our faces are covered with shame.
People from other lands have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s house.”
52 “But the days are coming,” announces the Lord.
“At that time I will punish the gods of Babylon.
And all through its land
wounded people will groan.
53 What if Babylon reached all the way to the heavens?
What if it made its high walls even stronger?
I would still send destroyers against it,”
announces the Lord.
54 “The noise of people screaming comes from Babylon.
A terrible sound comes from its land.
It is the sound of a mighty city being destroyed.
55 I will destroy Babylon.
I will put an end to all its noise.
Waves of enemies will sweep through it like great waters.
The roar of their voices will fill the air.
56 A destroying army will come against Babylon.
The soldiers in the city will be captured.
Their bows will be broken.
I am the Lord God who pays people back.
I will pay them back in full.
57 I will make Babylon’s officials and wise men drunk.
I will do the same thing to its governors, officers and soldiers.
They will lie down and die. They will never wake up,”
announces the King. His name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
58 The Lord who rules over all says,
“Babylon’s thick walls will fall down flat.
Its high gates will be set on fire.
The nations wear themselves out for no reason at all.
Their hard work will only be burned up in the flames.”
59 Jeremiah the prophet gave a message to the staff officer Seraiah, the son of Neriah. Neriah was the son of Mahseiah. Jeremiah told Seraiah to take the message with him to Babylon. Seraiah went there with Zedekiah, the king of Judah. He left in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s rule. 60 Jeremiah had written about all the trouble that would come on Babylon. He had written it down on a scroll. It included everything that had been recorded about Babylon. 61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, here’s what I want you to do. Make sure that you read all these words out loud. 62 Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place. You have said that no people or animals will live here. It will be empty forever.’ 63 Finish reading the scroll. Tie a stone to it. Throw it into the Euphrates River. 64 Then say, ‘In the same way, Babylon will sink down. It will never rise again. That is because I will bring such horrible trouble on it. And its people will fall along with it.’ ”
The words of Jeremiah end here.
Nebuchadnezzar Destroys Jerusalem
52 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother’s name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah. She was from Libnah. 2 Zedekiah did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did just as Jehoiakim had done. 3 The enemies of Jerusalem and Judah attacked them because the Lord was angry. In the end he threw them out of his land.
Zedekiah refused to obey the king of Babylon.
4 Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon. He marched out against Jerusalem. All his armies went with him. It was in the ninth year of the rule of Zedekiah. It was on the tenth day of the tenth month. The armies set up camp outside the city. They set up ladders and built ramps and towers all around it. 5 It was surrounded until the 11th year of King Zedekiah’s rule.
6 By the ninth day of the fourth month, there wasn’t any food left in the city. So the people didn’t have anything to eat. 7 Then the Babylonians broke through the city wall. Judah’s whole army ran away. They left the city at night. They went out through the gate between the two walls that were near the king’s garden. They escaped even though the Babylonians surrounded the city. Judah’s army ran toward the Arabah Valley. 8 But the armies of Babylon chased King Zedekiah. They caught up with him in the plains near Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him. They had scattered in every direction. 9 The king was captured.
He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Riblah was in the land of Hamath. That’s where Nebuchadnezzar decided how Zedekiah would be punished. 10 At Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah. He forced him to watch it with his own eyes. Nebuchadnezzar also killed all the officials of Judah. 11 Then he poked out Zedekiah’s eyes. He put him in bronze chains. And he took him to Babylon. There he put Zedekiah in prison until the day he died.
12 Nebuzaradan served the king of Babylon. In fact, he was commander of the royal guard. He came to Jerusalem. It was in the 19th year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. It was on the tenth day of the fifth month. 13 Nebuzaradan set the Lord’s temple on fire. He also set fire to the royal palace and all the houses in Jerusalem. He burned down every important building. 14 The armies of Babylon broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. That’s what the commander told them to do. 15 Some of the poorest people still remained in the city along with the others. But the commander Nebuzaradan took them away as prisoners. He also took the rest of the skilled workers. That included the people who had joined the king of Babylon. 16 But Nebuzaradan left the rest of the poorest people of the land behind. He told them to work in the vineyards and fields.
17 The armies of Babylon destroyed the Lord’s temple. They broke the bronze pillars into pieces. They broke up the bronze stands that could be moved around. And they broke up the huge bronze bowl. Then they carried away all the bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick cutters, sprinkling bowls and dishes. They took away all the bronze objects that were used for any purpose in the temple. 19 The commander of the royal guard took away the bowls and the shallow cups for burning incense. He took away the sprinkling bowls, the pots, the lampstands and the dishes. He took away the bowls used for drink offerings. So he took away everything made out of pure gold or silver.
20 The bronze was more than anyone could weigh. It included the bronze from the two pillars. It included the bronze from the huge bowl and the 12 bronze bulls under it. It also included the stands. King Solomon had made all those things for the Lord’s temple. 21 Each pillar was 27 feet high and 18 feet around. The pillars were hollow. The metal in each of them was three inches thick. 22 The bronze top of one pillar was seven and a half feet high. It was decorated with a set of bronze chains and pomegranates all around it. The other pillar was just like it. It also had pomegranates. 23 There were 96 pomegranates on the sides of each of the two tops. The total number of pomegranates above the bronze chains around each top was 100.
24 The commander of the guard took many prisoners. They included Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the priest who reported to him. They also included the three men who guarded the temple doors. 25 Some people were still left in the city. The commander took as a prisoner the officer in charge of the fighting men. He took the seven men who gave advice to the king. He also took the secretary who was the chief officer in charge of getting the people of the land to serve in the army. There were 60 people of the land still in the city. 26 The commander Nebuzaradan took all of them away. He brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 There the king had them put to death. Riblah was in the land of Hamath.
So the people of Judah were taken as prisoners. They were taken far away from their own land.
28 Here is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylon as prisoners.
In the seventh year of his rule,
he took 3,023 Jews.
29 In his 18th year,
he took 832 people from Jerusalem.
30 In Nebuchadnezzar’s 23rd year,
Nebuzaradan, the commander of the royal guard, took 745 Jews to Babylon.
The total number of people taken to Babylon was 4,600.
Jehoiachin Is Set Free
31 Awel-Marduk set Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, free from prison. It was in the 37th year after Jehoiachin had been taken away to Babylon. It was also the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon. It was on the 25th day of the 12th month. 32 Awel-Marduk spoke kindly to Jehoiachin. He gave him a place of honor. Other kings were with Jehoiachin in Babylon. But his place was more important than theirs. 33 So Jehoiachin put away his prison clothes. For the rest of Jehoiachin’s life the king of Babylon provided what he needed. 34 The king did that for Jehoiachin day by day as long as he lived. He did it until the day Jehoiachin died.
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