Jeremiah 49:23-50:46

English Standard Version

Judgment on Damascus

²³Concerning ^(A)Damascus:

^(B)“Hamath and ^(C)Arpad are confounded,
    for they have heard bad news;
they melt in fear,
    ^(D)they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
²⁴^(E)Damascus has become feeble, ^(F)she turned to flee,
    and panic seized her;
anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
    as ^(G)of a woman in labor.
²⁵How is ^(H)the famous city not forsaken,
    the city of my joy?
²⁶^(I)Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares,
    and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,
declares the Lord of hosts.
²⁷And ^(J)I will kindle a fire in the wall of ^(K)Damascus,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of ^(L)Ben-hadad.”

Judgment on Kedar and Hazor

²⁸Concerning ^(M)Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down.

Thus says the Lord:
^(N)“Rise up, advance against ^(O)Kedar!
    Destroy ^(P)the people of the east!
²⁹^(Q)Their tents and their flocks shall be taken,
    their ^(R)curtains and all their goods;
their camels shall be led away from them,
    and men shall cry to them: ^(S)‘Terror on every side!’
³⁰^(T)Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,
    O inhabitants of Hazor!
declares the Lord.
For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
    has made a plan against you
    and formed a purpose against you.

³¹^(U)“Rise up, advance against a nation ^(V)at ease,
    ^(W)that dwells securely,
declares the Lord,
^(X)that has no gates or bars,
    that dwells alone.
³²^(Y)Their camels shall become plunder,
    their herds of livestock a spoil.
^(Z)I will scatter to every wind
    ^(AA)those who cut the corners of their hair,
and I will bring their calamity
    from every side of them,
declares the Lord.
³³Hazor shall become ^(AB)a haunt of jackals,
    an everlasting waste;
^(AC)no man shall dwell there;
    ^(AD)no man shall sojourn in her.”

Judgment on Elam

³⁴The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning ^(AE)Elam, in the beginning of the reign of ^(AF)Zedekiah king of Judah.

³⁵Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will break ^(AG)the bow of ^(AH)Elam, the mainstay of their might. ³⁶And I will bring upon ^(AI)Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of ^(AJ)Elam shall not come. ³⁷I will ^(AK)terrify ^(AL)Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, ^(AM)my fierce anger, declares the Lord. ^(AN)I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, ³⁸and I will set my throne in ^(AO)Elam and destroy their king and officials, declares the Lord.

³⁹“But in the latter days ^(AP)I will restore the fortunes of ^(AQ)Elam, declares the Lord.”

Judgment on Babylon

50 The word that the Lord spoke concerning ^(AR)Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, ^(AS)by Jeremiah the prophet:

²“Declare among the nations and proclaim,
    set up a banner and proclaim,
    conceal it not, and say:
^(AT)‘Babylon is taken,
    ^(AU)Bel is put to shame,
    Merodach is dismayed.
^(AV)Her images are put to shame,
    her idols are dismayed.’

³“For ^(AW)out of the north a nation has come up against her, ^(AX)which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; ^(AY)both man and beast shall flee away.

⁴^(AZ)“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, ^(BA)the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, ^(BB)weeping as they come, and they ^(BC)shall seek the Lord their God. ⁵^(BD)They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, ^(BE)saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an ^(BF)everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’

⁶^(BG)“My people have been lost sheep. ^(BH)Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. ⁷All who found them have devoured them, ^(BI)and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for ^(BJ)they have sinned against the Lord, ^(BK)their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, ^(BL)the hope of their fathers.’

⁸^(BM)“Flee from the midst of Babylon, ^(BN)and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. ⁹For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon ^(BO)a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. ¹⁰^(BP)Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord.

¹¹^(BQ)“Though you rejoice, though you exult,
    O plunderers of my heritage,
though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture,
    and neigh like stallions,
¹²your mother shall be utterly shamed,
    and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
Behold, she shall be the last of the nations,
    ^(BR)a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
¹³^(BS)Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited
    but shall be an utter desolation;
^(BT)everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled,
    ^(BU)and hiss because of all her wounds.
¹⁴^(BV)Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around,
    ^(BW)all you who bend the bow;
shoot at her, spare no arrows,
    ^(BX)for she has sinned against the Lord.
¹⁵^(BY)Raise a shout against her all around;
    she has surrendered;
her bulwarks have fallen;
    ^(BZ)her walls are thrown down.
For ^(CA)this is the vengeance of the Lord:
    take vengeance on her;
    ^(CB)do to her as she has done.
¹⁶Cut off from Babylon the sower,
    and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest;
^(CC)because of the sword of the oppressor,
    ^(CD)every one shall turn to his own people,
    and every one shall flee to his own land.

¹⁷^(CE)“Israel is a hunted sheep ^(CF)driven away by lions. ^(CG)First the king of Assyria ^(CH)devoured him, and now at last ^(CI)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^(CJ)has gnawed his bones. ¹⁸Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, ^(CK)I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, ^(CL)as I punished the king of Assyria. ¹⁹^(CM)I will restore Israel to his pasture, and ^(CN)he shall feed on ^(CO)Carmel and in ^(CP)Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in ^(CQ)Gilead. ²⁰In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, ^(CR)iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for ^(CS)I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.

²¹“Go up against the land of Merathaim,^[a]
    and against the inhabitants of Pekod.^[b]
Kill, ^(CT)and devote them to destruction,^[c]
declares the Lord,
    and do all that I have commanded you.
²²^(CU)The noise of battle is in the land,
    and great destruction!
²³^(CV)How the hammer of the whole earth
    is cut down and broken!
^(CW)How Babylon ^(CX)has become
    a horror among the nations!
²⁴^(CY)I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon,
    and ^(CZ)you did not know it;
you were found and caught,
    because you opposed the Lord.
²⁵The Lord has opened his armory
    and brought out ^(DA)the weapons of his wrath,
for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do
    in the land of the Chaldeans.
²⁶Come against her from every quarter;
    open her granaries;
^(DB)pile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction;
    let nothing be left of her.
²⁷Kill all ^(DC)her bulls;
    let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
    ^(DD)the time of their punishment.

²⁸“A voice! They ^(DE)flee and escape from the land of Babylon, ^(DF)to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for ^(DG)his temple.

²⁹^(DH)“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. ^(DI)Encamp around her; let no one escape. ^(DJ)Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has ^(DK)proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰^(DL)Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, declares the Lord.

³¹“Behold, I am against you, O ^(DM)proud one,
    declares the Lord God of hosts,
^(DN)for your day has come,
    the time when I will punish you.
³²^(DO)The proud one shall stumble and fall,
    with none to raise him up,
^(DP)and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
    and it will devour all that is around him.

³³“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(DQ)The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; ^(DR)they refuse to let them go. ³⁴^(DS)Their Redeemer is strong; ^(DT)the Lord of hosts is his name. ^(DU)He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵“A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord,
    and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
    and against ^(DV)her officials and her ^(DW)wise men!
³⁶A sword against the diviners,
    that they may become fools!
A sword against her ^(DX)warriors,
    that they may be destroyed!
³⁷A sword against her horses and against her chariots,
    and against all ^(DY)the foreign troops in her midst,
    that ^(DZ)they may become women!
^(EA)A sword against all her treasures,
    that they may be plundered!
³⁸^(EB)A drought against her waters,
    that they may be dried up!
^(EC)For it is a land of images,
    and they are mad over idols.

³⁹^(ED)“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon,^[d] and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations. ⁴⁰^(EE)As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the Lord, ^(EF)so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.

⁴¹^(EG)“Behold, a people comes from the north;
    a mighty nation and many kings
    are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
⁴²They lay hold of bow and spear;
    they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;
    they ride on horses,
arrayed as a man for battle
    against you, O daughter of Babylon!

⁴³“The king of Babylon heard the report of them,
and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
pain as of a woman in labor.

⁴⁴^(EH)“Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd ^(EI)can stand before me? ⁴⁵Therefore hear ^(EJ)the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon, ^(EK)and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: ^(EL)Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. ⁴⁶^(EM)At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 50:21 Merathaim means double rebellion
Jeremiah 50:21 Pekod means punishment
Jeremiah 50:21 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
Jeremiah 50:39 Hebrew lacks in Babylon