Jeremiah 50

Revised Geneva Translation

50 The Word that the LORD spoke concerning Babel, and concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the ministry of Jeremiah the Prophet:

² “Declare among the nations, and proclaim it, and set up a standard! Proclaim it, do not conceal it! Say, ‘Babel is taken! Bel is put to shame! Merodach is broken down! Her idols are humiliated, and their images have burst in pieces!’

³ “For out of the North there comes up a nation against her which shall make her land waste. And no one shall dwell in her. They shall flee and depart, both man and beast.

⁴ “In those days and at that time,” says the LORD, “the children of Israel shall come—they and the children of Judah going together and weeping—as they go and seek the LORD their God.

⁵ “They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces looking there, saying, ‘Come and let us cling to the LORD in a perpetual Covenant that shall not be forgotten.’

⁶ “My people have been like lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray and have turned them away to the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill, forgetting their resting place.

⁷ “All that found them have devoured them, and their enemies said, ‘We have not offended,’ because they have sinned against the LORD, the Habitation of Justice, the LORD, the Hope of Their Fathers.

⁸ “Flee from the midst of Babel, and depart out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flock.

⁹ “For lo, I will raise, and cause to come up against Babel, a multitude of mighty nations from the North country. And they shall set themselves in formation against her, by which she shall be taken. Their arrows shall be like an expert strong man’s. For not one shall return empty.

¹⁰ “And Chaldea shall be a spoil. All who plunder her shall be satisfied,” says the LORD.

¹¹ “Because you were glad and rejoiced in destroying My heritage. Because you have grown fat as the calves in the grass, and neighed like strong horses,

¹² “your mother shall be very ashamed. And she who bore you shall be made least. Behold, the uttermost of the nations shall be a desert, a dry land, and a wilderness.

¹³ “Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited but shall be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babel shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.

¹⁴ “Put yourselves in formation against Babel all around. All you who bend the bow, shoot at her. Spare no arrows! For she has sinned against the LORD.

¹⁵ “Cry against her all around! She has given her hand. Her foundations have fallen. Her walls are destroyed. For it is the vengeance of the LORD. Take vengeance upon her! As she has done, do to her!

¹⁶ “Destroy the sower from Babel, and he who handles the scythe in the time of harvest. Because of the sword of the oppressor, everyone shall turn to his people. And everyone shall flee to his own land.

¹⁷ “Israel is like scattered sheep. The lions have dispersed them. First, the king of Assyria devoured him. And last, this Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, broke his bones.”

¹⁸ Therefore, thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will visit the king of Babel and his land, as I have visited the king of Assyria.

¹⁹ “And I will bring Israel back to his habitation. He shall feed in Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead.

²⁰ “In those days and at that time,” says the LORD, “the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none — and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found — for I will be merciful to those whom I reserve.

²¹ “Go up against the land of the rebels, against it and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Destroy and lay it waste after them,” says the LORD, “and do according to all that I have Commanded you.

²² “A cry of battle is in the land, and of great destruction!

²³ “How the hammer of the whole world has been destroyed and broken! How desolate Babel has become among the nations!

²⁴ “I have ensnared you, and you are captured, O Babel. And you were not aware. You are found, and also caught, because you have striven against the LORD.

²⁵ “The LORD has opened His treasure, and has brought forth the weapons of His wrath. For this is the work of the LORD God of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

²⁶ “Come against her from the utmost border. Open her storehouses, tread on her as on sheaves, and destroy her utterly. Let nothing of her be left.

²⁷ “Destroy all her young bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their reckoning!”

²⁸ The voice of those who flee and escape from the land of Babel to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of His Temple:

²⁹ “Call up the archers against Babel! All you who bend the bow, besiege it all around! Let no one escape! Repay her according to her work! According to all that she has done, do to her! For she has been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel!”

³⁰ “Therefore, her young men shall fall in the streets. And all her men of war shall be destroyed on that day,” says the LORD.

³¹ “Behold, I come to you, O proud,” says the LORD God of Hosts, “For your day has come, the time that I will visit you.

³² “And the proud shall stumble and fall; and no one shall raise him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities; and it shall devour all around him.”

³³ Thus says the LORD of Hosts: “The children of Israel, and the children of Judah, were oppressed together. And all who took them captives held them and would not let them go.

³⁴ “Their strong Redeemer, Whose Name is the LORD of Hosts, He shall maintain their cause, so that He may give rest to the land and disquiet the inhabitants of Babel.

³⁵ “A sword upon the Chaldeans,” says the LORD, “and upon the inhabitants of Babel, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men!

³⁶ “A sword upon the soothsayers; and they shall become fools! A sword upon her strong men; and they shall be afraid!

³⁷ “A sword upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the multitude that is in the midst of her; and they shall be like women! A sword upon her treasures; and they shall be plundered!

³⁸ “A drought upon her waters; and they shall be dried up! For it is the land of graven images; and they boast of their idols.

³⁹ “Therefore, the Ziims shall dwell with the Iims; and the ostriches shall dwell there. For it shall no longer be inhabited; nor shall it be inhabited from generation to generation.

⁴⁰ “As God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with its nearby places,” says the LORD, “so shall no man dwell there; nor shall the son of man remain there.

⁴¹ “Behold, a people shall come from the North, and a great nation. And many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the Earth.

⁴² “They shall hold the bow and the buckler. They are cruel and unmerciful. Their voice shall roar like the sea. And they shall ride upon horses, be put in formation, like men to battle, against you, O daughter of Babel.

⁴³ “The king of Babel has heard the report of them; and his hands grew feeble. Sorrow came upon him, sorrow as of a woman in labor.

⁴⁴ “Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan to the strong habitation. For I will make them rest; and I will make them hurry away from her. And who is chosen whom I may appoint against her? For who is like Me; and who will summon Me; and who is the shepherd who will stand before Me?”

⁴⁵ Therefore, hear the counsel of the LORD that He has advised against Babel, and His purpose that he has planned against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out. Surely, He shall make their habitation desolate with them.

⁴⁶ At the noise of the winning of Babel, the Earth is moved; and the cry is heard among the nations!