Jeremiah 51-52

New International Version

51 This is what the Lord says:

“See, I will stir^(A) up the spirit of a destroyer
    against Babylon^(B) and the people of Leb Kamai.^[a]
²I will send foreigners^(C) to Babylon
    to winnow^(D) her and to devastate her land;
they will oppose her on every side
    in the day^(E) of her disaster.
³Let not the archer string his bow,^(F)
    nor let him put on his armor.^(G)
Do not spare her young men;
    completely destroy^[b] her army.
⁴They will fall^(H) down slain in Babylon,^[c]
    fatally wounded in her streets.^(I)
⁵For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken^(J)
    by their God, the Lord Almighty,
though their land^[d] is full of guilt^(K)
    before the Holy One of Israel.

⁶“Flee^(L) from Babylon!
    Run for your lives!
    Do not be destroyed because of her sins.^(M)
It is time^(N) for the Lord’s vengeance;^(O)
    he will repay^(P) her what she deserves.
⁷Babylon was a gold cup^(Q) in the Lord’s hand;
    she made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
    therefore they have now gone mad.
⁸Babylon will suddenly fall^(R) and be broken.
    Wail over her!
Get balm^(S) for her pain;
    perhaps she can be healed.

⁹“‘We would have healed Babylon,
    but she cannot be healed;
let us leave^(T) her and each go to our own land,
    for her judgment^(U) reaches to the skies,
    it rises as high as the heavens.’

¹⁰“‘The Lord has vindicated^(V) us;
come, let us tell in Zion
what the Lord our God has done.’^(W)

¹¹“Sharpen the arrows,^(X)
    take up the shields!^(Y)
The Lord has stirred up the kings^(Z) of the Medes,^(AA)
    because his purpose^(AB) is to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will take vengeance,^(AC)
    vengeance for his temple.^(AD)
¹²Lift up a banner^(AE) against the walls of Babylon!
    Reinforce the guard,
station the watchmen,^(AF)
    prepare an ambush!^(AG)
The Lord will carry out his purpose,^(AH)
    his decree against the people of Babylon.
¹³You who live by many waters^(AI)
    and are rich in treasures,^(AJ)
your end has come,
    the time for you to be destroyed.^(AK)
¹⁴The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself:^(AL)
    I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts,^(AM)
    and they will shout^(AN) in triumph over you.

¹⁵“He made the earth by his power;
    he founded the world by his wisdom^(AO)
    and stretched^(AP) out the heavens by his understanding.^(AQ)
¹⁶When he thunders,^(AR) the waters in the heavens roar;
    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain^(AS)
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.^(AT)

¹⁷“Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
    every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;^(AU)
    they have no breath in them.
¹⁸They are worthless,^(AV) the objects of mockery;
    when their judgment comes, they will perish.
¹⁹He who is the Portion^(AW) of Jacob is not like these,
    for he is the Maker of all things,
including the people of his inheritance^(AX)—
    the Lord Almighty is his name.

²⁰“You are my war club,^(AY)
    my weapon for battle—
with you I shatter^(AZ) nations,^(BA)
    with you I destroy kingdoms,
²¹with you I shatter horse and rider,^(BB)
    with you I shatter chariot^(BC) and driver,
²²with you I shatter man and woman,
    with you I shatter old man and youth,
    with you I shatter young man and young woman,^(BD)
²³with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
    with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
    with you I shatter governors and officials.^(BE)

²⁴“Before your eyes I will repay^(BF) Babylon^(BG) and all who live in Babylonia^[e] for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.

²⁵“I am against^(BH) you, you destroying mountain,
    you who destroy the whole earth,”^(BI)
declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand^(BJ) against you,
    roll you off the cliffs,
    and make you a burned-out mountain.^(BK)
²⁶No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
    nor any stone for a foundation,
    for you will be desolate^(BL) forever,”
declares the Lord.

²⁷“Lift up a banner^(BM) in the land!
    Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
    summon against her these kingdoms:^(BN)
    Ararat,^(BO) Minni and Ashkenaz.^(BP)
Appoint a commander against her;
    send up horses like a swarm of locusts.^(BQ)
²⁸Prepare the nations for battle against her—
    the kings of the Medes,^(BR)
their governors and all their officials,
    and all the countries they rule.^(BS)
²⁹The land trembles^(BT) and writhes,
    for the Lord’s purposes^(BU) against Babylon stand—
to lay waste^(BV) the land of Babylon
    so that no one will live there.^(BW)
³⁰Babylon’s warriors^(BX) have stopped fighting;
    they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
    they have become weaklings.^(BY)
Her dwellings are set on fire;^(BZ)
    the bars^(CA) of her gates are broken.
³¹One courier^(CB) follows another
    and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
    that his entire city is captured,^(CC)
³²the river crossings seized,
    the marshes set on fire,^(CD)
    and the soldiers terrified.^(CE)”

³³This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

“Daughter Babylon^(CF) is like a threshing floor^(CG)
at the time it is trampled;
the time to harvest^(CH) her will soon come.^(CI)”

³⁴“Nebuchadnezzar^(CJ) king of Babylon has devoured^(CK) us,^(CL)
    he has thrown us into confusion,
    he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
    and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
    and then has spewed^(CM) us out.
³⁵May the violence^(CN) done to our flesh^[f] be on Babylon,”
    say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
    says Jerusalem.^(CO)

³⁶Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“See, I will defend your cause^(CP)
    and avenge^(CQ) you;
I will dry up^(CR) her sea
    and make her springs dry.
³⁷Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
    a haunt^(CS) of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,^(CT)
    a place where no one lives.^(CU)
³⁸Her people all roar like young lions,^(CV)
    they growl like lion cubs.
³⁹But while they are aroused,
    I will set out a feast for them
    and make them drunk,^(CW)
so that they shout with laughter—
    then sleep forever^(CX) and not awake,”
declares the Lord.^(CY)
⁴⁰“I will bring them down
    like lambs to the slaughter,
    like rams and goats.^(CZ)

⁴¹“How Sheshak^[g]^(DA) will be captured,^(DB)
    the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate^(DC) Babylon will be
    among the nations!
⁴²The sea will rise over Babylon;
    its roaring waves^(DD) will cover her.
⁴³Her towns will be desolate,
    a dry and desert^(DE) land,
a land where no one lives,
    through which no one travels.^(DF)
⁴⁴I will punish Bel^(DG) in Babylon
    and make him spew out^(DH) what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
    And the wall^(DI) of Babylon will fall.

⁴⁵“Come out^(DJ) of her, my people!
    Run^(DK) for your lives!
    Run from the fierce anger^(DL) of the Lord.
⁴⁶Do not lose heart^(DM) or be afraid^(DN)
    when rumors^(DO) are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
    rumors of violence in the land
    and of ruler against ruler.
⁴⁷For the time will surely come
    when I will punish the idols^(DP) of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced^(DQ)
    and her slain will all lie fallen within her.^(DR)
⁴⁸Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
    will shout^(DS) for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north^(DT)
    destroyers^(DU) will attack her,”
declares the Lord.

⁴⁹“Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain,
    just as the slain in all the earth
    have fallen because of Babylon.^(DV)
⁵⁰You who have escaped the sword,
    leave^(DW) and do not linger!
Remember^(DX) the Lord in a distant land,^(DY)
    and call to mind Jerusalem.”

⁵¹“We are disgraced,^(DZ)
    for we have been insulted
    and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
    the holy places of the Lord’s house.”^(EA)

⁵²“But days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will punish her idols,^(EB)
and throughout her land
    the wounded will groan.^(EC)
⁵³Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens^(ED)
    and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
    I will send destroyers^(EE) against her,”
declares the Lord.

⁵⁴“The sound of a cry^(EF) comes from Babylon,
    the sound of great destruction^(EG)
    from the land of the Babylonians.^[h]
⁵⁵The Lord will destroy Babylon;
    he will silence^(EH) her noisy din.
Waves^(EI) of enemies will rage like great waters;
    the roar of their voices will resound.
⁵⁶A destroyer^(EJ) will come against Babylon;
    her warriors will be captured,
    and their bows will be broken.^(EK)
For the Lord is a God of retribution;
    he will repay^(EL) in full.
⁵⁷I will make her officials^(EM) and wise^(EN) men drunk,^(EO)
    her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep^(EP) forever and not awake,”
    declares the King,^(EQ) whose name is the Lord Almighty.

⁵⁸This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Babylon’s thick wall^(ER) will be leveled
and her high gates^(ES) set on fire;
the peoples^(ET) exhaust^(EU) themselves for nothing,
the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”^(EV)

⁵⁹This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah,^(EW) the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah^(EX) king of Judah in the fourth^(EY) year of his reign. ⁶⁰Jeremiah had written on a scroll^(EZ) about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. ⁶¹He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. ⁶²Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate^(FA) forever.’ ⁶³When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.^(FB) ⁶⁴Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more^(FC) because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people^(FD) will fall.’”^(FE)

The words of Jeremiah end^(FF) here.

The Fall of Jerusalem^(FG)^(FH)^(FI)

52 Zedekiah^(FJ) was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.^(FK) ²He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim^(FL) had done. ³It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah,^(FM) and in the end he thrust them from his presence.^(FN)

Now Zedekiah rebelled^(FO) against the king of Babylon.

⁴So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth^(FP) day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem^(FQ) with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege works^(FR) all around it.^(FS) ⁵The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

⁶By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.^(FT) ⁷Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled.^(FU) They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians^[i] were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,^[j] ⁸but the Babylonian^[k] army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, ⁹and he was captured.^(FV)

He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah^(FW) in the land of Hamath,^(FX) where he pronounced sentence on him. ¹⁰There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons^(FY) of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. ¹¹Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.^(FZ)

¹²On the tenth day of the fifth^(GA) month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan^(GB) commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ¹³He set fire^(GC) to the temple^(GD) of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses^(GE) of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. ¹⁴The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls^(GF) around Jerusalem. ¹⁵Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile^(GG) some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen^[l] and those who had deserted^(GH) to the king of Babylon. ¹⁶But Nebuzaradan left behind^(GI) the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.

¹⁷The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars,^(GJ) the movable stands^(GK) and the bronze Sea^(GL) that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.^(GM) ¹⁸They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls,^(GN) dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.^(GO) ¹⁹The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers,^(GP) sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands,^(GQ) dishes^(GR) and bowls used for drink offerings^(GS)—all that were made of pure gold or silver.^(GT)

²⁰The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls^(GU) under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed.^(GV) ²¹Each pillar was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference^[m]; each was four fingers thick, and hollow.^(GW) ²²The bronze capital^(GX) on top of one pillar was five cubits^[n] high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates^(GY) of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. ²³There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates^(GZ) above the surrounding network was a hundred.^(HA)

²⁴The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah^(HB) the chief priest, Zephaniah^(HC) the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers.^(HD) ²⁵Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the secretary^(HE) who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land, sixty of whom were found in the city. ²⁶Nebuzaradan^(HF) the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²⁷There at Riblah,^(HG) in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.

So Judah went into captivity, away^(HH) from her land. ²⁸This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile:^(HI)

in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;

²⁹in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year,

832 people from Jerusalem;

³⁰in his twenty-third year,

745 Jews taken into exile^(HJ) by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard.

There were 4,600 people in all.^(HK)

Jehoiachin Released^(HL)

³¹In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin^(HM) king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison. ³²He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. ³³So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table.^(HN) ³⁴Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance^(HO) as long as he lived, till the day of his death.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 51:1 Leb Kamai is a cryptogram for Chaldea, that is, Babylonia.
Jeremiah 51:3 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
Jeremiah 51:4 Or Chaldea
Jeremiah 51:5 Or Almighty, / and the land of the Babylonians
Jeremiah 51:24 Or Chaldea; also in verse 35
Jeremiah 51:35 Or done to us and to our children
Jeremiah 51:41 Sheshak is a cryptogram for Babylon.
Jeremiah 51:54 Or Chaldeans
Jeremiah 52:7 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 17
Jeremiah 52:7 Or the Jordan Valley
Jeremiah 52:8 Or Chaldean; also in verse 14
Jeremiah 52:15 Or the populace
Jeremiah 52:21 That is, about 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference or about 8.1 meters high and 5.4 meters in circumference
Jeremiah 52:22 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters