Jeremiah 50

Judgment Against Babylon

1 This is the word the LORD spoke concerning Babylon, The land of the Chaldeans, Through Jeremiah the prophet.

2 “Announce it among the nations; Raise a banner and proclaim it. Hold nothing back and say: ‘Babylon is captured. Bel is put to shame. Marduk is shattered. Her idols are disgraced; Her images are smashed.’”

3 “For a nation from the north has come against her. It will make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; Both people and animals have fled.”

Israel and Judah Return

4 “In those days and at that time,” declares the LORD, “the people of Israel and the people of Judah together Will come, weeping as they come, And they will seek the LORD their God.”

5 “They will ask about Zion, Turning their faces toward it, saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD In an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’”

6 “My people were lost sheep. Their shepherds led them astray, Turning them loose on the mountains. They wandered from mountain to hill; They forgot their resting place.”

7 “All who found them devoured them. Their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, Because they sinned against the LORD, Their true pasture, The LORD, the hope of their fathers.’”

Babylon Must Fall

8 “Flee from Babylon! Leave the land of the Chaldeans. Be like male goats leading the flock.”

9 “For I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon An assembly of great nations from the land of the north. They will line up against her, And from there she will be captured.”

10 “Chaldea will become plunder; All who plunder her will have their fill,” Declares the LORD.

Pride Brought Low

11 “Because you rejoice, because you celebrate, You who plunder My inheritance, You frolic like a heifer in the grass And neigh like stallions?”

12 “your mother will be utterly ashamed; She who bore you will be disgraced. Look, she will be last of the nations, A wilderness, a dry land, a desert.”

13 “Because of the LORD’s wrath she will not be inhabited But will be completely desolate. All who pass by Babylon will be appalled And hiss at all her wounds.”

The LORD Takes Vengeance

14 “Line up against Babylon on every side, All you who draw the bow. Shoot at her; do not spare arrows, For she has sinned against the LORD.”

15 “Raise a war cry against her on every side. She surrenders; her towers have fallen; Her walls are torn down. Since this is the LORD’s vengeance, Take vengeance on her; Do to her as she has done.”

16 “Cut off the sower from Babylon And the one who wields the sickle at harvest time. Because of the sword of the oppressor, Each one will turn to his own people And flee to his own land.”

God Will Restore His People

17 “Israel is a scattered flock; Lions chased them away. First the king of Assyria devoured him, Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon crushed his bones.”

18 “Therefore this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to punish the king of Babylon and his land, Just as I punished the king of Assyria.”

19 “I will bring Israel back to his pasture, And he will graze on Carmel and Bashan. His appetite will be satisfied On the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.”

20 “In those days and at that time,” declares the LORD, “search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, And for Judah’s sins, but they will not be found, For I will forgive the remnant I spare.”

Total Destruction of Babylon

21 “Attack the land of Merathaim, And those who live in Pekod. Kill and completely destroy them,” Declares the LORD. “Do everything I have commanded you.”

22 “The sound of battle is in the land, A great destruction.”

23 “How the hammer of the whole earth Is cut down and shattered! How Babylon has become a horror Among the nations!”

24 “I set a trap for you, Babylon, And you were caught before you knew it. You were found and captured Because you challenged the LORD.”

25 “The LORD has opened His armory And brought out the weapons of His wrath, For this is the work of the Lord GOD of armies In the land of the Chaldeans.”

No Mercy for the Proud

26 “Come against her from the farthest border. Open her granaries; Pile her up like heaps of grain And completely destroy her. Let nothing be left.”

27 “Kill all her bulls; Let them go down to slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come, The time of their punishment.”

28 “The sound of fugitives and refugees From the land of Babylon Declaring in Zion The vengeance of the LORD our God, Vengeance for His temple.”

Babylon’s Arrogance Ends

29 “Summon archers against Babylon, All who draw the bow. Camp all around her; Let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; Do to her as she has done.”

30 “Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, And all her warriors will be silenced in that day,” Declares the LORD.

31 “Look, I am against you, you arrogant one,” Declares the Lord GOD of armies, “for your day has come, The time when I will punish you.”

32 “The arrogant one will stumble and fall, With no one to raise him up. I will kindle a fire in his cities, And it will consume everything around him.”

The LORD Redeems Israel

33 “This is what the LORD of armies says: The people of Israel are oppressed, And the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast And refuse to let them go.”

34 “But their Redeemer is strong; The LORD of armies is His name. He will vigorously defend their cause So He may bring rest to the earth But turmoil to those who live in Babylon.”

The Final Blow

35 “A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares the LORD, “against those who live in Babylon, Against her officials and her wise men!”

36 “A sword against the diviners, They will become fools. A sword against her warriors, They will be terrified.”

37 “A sword against her horses and chariots And against all the foreigners among her, They will become like women. A sword against her treasures, They will be plundered.”

38 “A drought against her waters, They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, And they go mad over images.”

Babylon Becomes a Desert

39 “So desert creatures will live there with hyenas, And ostriches will dwell in it. It will never again be inhabited Or lived in from generation to generation.”

40 “As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah And their neighboring towns,” declares the LORD, “no one will live there; No man will dwell in it.”

The North Brings the End

41 “Look, a people is coming from the north; A great nation and many kings Are being stirred up from the ends of the earth.”

42 “They grasp bow and spear; They are cruel and show no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, And they ride on horses, Lined up like a man for battle Against you, daughter Babylon.”

43 “The king of Babylon has heard the report; His hands fall limp. Anguish grips him, Pain like a woman in labor.”

44 “Like a lion coming up from the Jordan thickets To a perennial pasture, I will chase Babylon away in an instant. I will appoint whoever I choose over her. For who is like Me, Who can challenge Me?”

45 “Therefore hear the plan the LORD has made against Babylon, And His purposes against the land of the Chaldeans: The little ones of the flock will be dragged away; Their pasture will be appalled because of them.”

46 When Babylon gets captured, the whole earth will shake, and her cry will be heard across the nations.