Jeremiah 51

1 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, ^aI will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst¹ of them ^bthat rise up against me, a ^cdestroying wind;²

2 And will send unto Babylon ^dfanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of ^etrouble they shall be against her round about.

3 Against him that bendeth ^glet the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine:³ and ^hspare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.

4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are ⁱthrust through in her streets.

5 For^j Israel hath not been forsaken, ^knor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; ^lthough their land was filled with sin against⁴ the Holy One of Israel.

6 Fleeⁿ out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul; be not cut off in her iniquity: for this is ^othe time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.

7 Babylon hath been a ^pgolden cup in the LORD's hand, that ^qmade all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

8 Babylon is ^rsuddenly fallen and destroyed: howl^s for her; ^ttake balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

9 We would have healed Babylon,⁵ but she is ^unot healed: ^vforsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for ^xher judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

10 The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness:⁶ come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.

11 Make^y bright⁷ the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD ^zhath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because ^ait is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.

12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon,⁸ make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes:⁹ for the LORD ^bhath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.¹

13 O thou that dwellest upon ^cmany ²waters, ^dabundant in treasures, ^ethine end is come, and ^gthe measure of thy covetousness.

14 The^h LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself,³ saying, Surely I will fill thee with men ⁱas with caterpillars; and they shall lift up⁴ a shout against thee.

15 He^j hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his ^kunderstanding.

16 When^l he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude⁵ of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

17 Everyⁿ man is brutish by his ⁶knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image:⁷ for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

18 They are ^ovanity, the work of errors: ^pin the time of their visitation they shall perish.

19 The^q Portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things; and ^rIsrael is the rod of his inheritance. The LORD of hosts is his name.

20 Thou⁸ art my battle-axe⁹ and weapons of war: for with¹ thee will I ^sbreak in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;

21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;

22 With thee also will ^tI break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;

23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.

24 And ^uI will render unto Babylon, and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea, all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.

25 Behold, I am against thee, O ^vdestroying mountain,² saith the LORD, which destroyest³ all the earth; and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.

26 And ^xthey shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever,⁴ saith the LORD.

27 Set^y ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, ^zcall together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; ⁵cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars.⁶

28 Prepare against her the nations, with ^athe kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.

29 And ^bthe land shall tremble and sorrow: for ^cevery purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.

30 The^d mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they ^ebecame as women: ^gthey have burned her dwelling-places; her^h bars are broken.

31 Oneⁱ post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show ^jthe king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,

32 And that the ^kpassages⁷ are stopped, and the ⁸reeds⁹ they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.

33 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a^l threshing-floor, it is time to thresh her:¹ yet a little while, and the time of her ⁿharvest shall come.

34 Nebuchadrezzar^o the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.

35 The^p violence² done to me and to ^qmy flesh³ be ^rupon Babylon, shall the inhabitant⁴ of Zion say; and, My blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.

36 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, ^sI will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I ^twill dry up her sea,⁵ and make her springs dry.

37 And^u Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing without an inhabitant.

38 They^v shall roar together like lions: they shall yell⁶ as lions' whelps.

39 In^x their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken,⁷ that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.

40 I^y will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats.

41 How is ^zSheshach⁸ taken! and how is the praise of the whole ^aearth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!

42 The^b sea⁹ is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.

43 Her^c cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.

44 And^d I will punish Bel in Babylon, and ^eI will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up:¹ and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him; yea, ^gthe wall of Babylon shall fall.

45 My people, ^hgo ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.

46 And, lest² your heart faint, and ye fear for the ⁱrumour that shall be heard in the land: ^ja rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and ^kviolence in the land, ruler against ruler.

47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that ^lI will do judgment³ upon the graven images of Babylon: and ⁿher whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

48 Then^o the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for ^pthe spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.

49 ⁴As^q Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.⁵

50 Ye^r that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let ^sJerusalem come into your mind.

51 We^t are confounded,⁶ because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces; for ^ustrangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.

52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that ^vI will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the ^xwounded shall groan.

53 Though^y Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet ^zfrom me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

54 A^a sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:

55 Because ^bthe LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice;⁷ when her waves⁸ do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:

56 Because^c the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and ^dher mighty men are taken; every one of ^etheir bows is broken: for the^g LORD God of recompenses shall surely requite.

57 And ^hI will make drunk⁹ her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the ⁱKing, whose name is The LORD of hosts.

58 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, ¹The broad walls² of Babylon³ shall be utterly broken,⁴ and her ^jhigh gates shall ^kbe burned with fire; and the^l people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.

59 ¶ The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of ⁿNeriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with⁵ Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a ⁶quiet prince.⁷

60 So Jeremiah ^owrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even ^pall these words that are written against Babylon.

61 And Jeremiah said to ^qSeraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt ^rread all these words;

62 Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, ^sto cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate⁸ for ever.

63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that ^tthou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:

64 And thou shalt say, ^uThus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and ^vthey shall be weary. Thus⁹ far¹ are the words of Jeremiah.