Jer 50
1
The word that YHWH spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans,
by Jeremiah the prophet.
2
Declare you among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal
not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed; her images
are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.
3
For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land
desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and
beast.
4
In those days, and in that time, says YHWH, the children of Israel shall come, they
and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall
seek YHWH their God.
5
They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces thitherward, [saying], Come you,
and join yourselves to YHWH in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.
6
My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they
have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they
have forgotten their resting-place.
7
All that found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty,
because they have sinned against YHWH, the habitation of righteousness, even YHWH,
the hope of their fathers.
8
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and
be as the he-goats before the flocks.
9
For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great
nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her;
from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none
shall return in vain.
10
And Chaldea shall be a prey: all that prey upon her shall be satisfied, says YHWH.
11
Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you that plunder my heritage, because
you are wanton as a heifer that treads out [the grain], and neigh as strong horses;
12
your mother shall be utterly put to shame; she that bare you shall be confounded:
behold, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and
a desert.
13
Because of the anger of YHWH she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate:
every one that goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
14
Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all you that bend the bow; shoot
at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against YHWH.
15
Shout against her round about: she has submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen,
her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of YHWH: take vengeance upon her;
as she has done, do to her.
16
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him whom handles the sickle in the time of harvest:
for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they
shall flee every one to his own land.
17
Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria
devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.
18
Therefore thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king
of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19
And I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan,
and his soul shall be satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.
20
In those days, and in that time, says YHWH, 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 pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.
21
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants
of Pekod: slay and utterly destroy after them, says YHWH, and do according to all
that I have commanded you.
22
A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
23
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become
a desolation among the nations!
24
I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, O Babylon, and you were not aware:
you are found, and also caught, because you have striven against YHWH.
25
YHWH has opened his armory, and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation;
for the Lord, YHWH of hosts, has a work [to do] in the land of the Chaldeans.
26
Come against her from the utmost border; open her store-houses; cast her up as heaps,
and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left.
27
Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! for their day
is come, the time of their visitation.
28
The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion
the vengeance of YHWH our God, the vengeance of his temple.
29
Call together the archers against Babylon, all them that bend the bow; encamp against
her round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according
to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against YHWH, against
the Holy One of Israel.
30
Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be
brought to silence in that day, says YHWH.
31
Behold, I am against you, O you proud one, says the Lord, YHWH of hosts; for your
day is come, the time that I will visit you.
32
And the proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will
kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all that are round about him.
33
Thus says YHWH of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed
together; and all that took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go.
34
Their Redeemer is strong; YHWH of hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their
cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35
A sword is upon the Chaldeans, says YHWH, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and
upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
36
A sword is upon the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is upon her mighty
men, and they shall be dismayed.
37
A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people
that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her
treasures, and they shall be robbed.
38
A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of graven
images, and they are mad over idols.
39
Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the
ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither
shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40
As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says YHWH,
so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.
41
Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be
stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
42
They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars
like the sea; and they ride upon horses, every one set in array, as a man to the battle,
against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43
The king of Babylon has heard the tidings of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish
has taken hold of him, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail.
44
Behold, [the enemy] shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against
the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoso is
chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a
time? and who is the shepherd that can stand before me?
45
Therefore hear you the counsel of YHWH, that he has taken against Babylon; and his
purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall
drag them away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation
desolate over them.
46
At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among
the nations.