1 Yahweh says:
"Behold, I will raise up against Babylon,
and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.
2 I will send to Babylon strangers, who will winnow her.
They will empty her land;
for in the day of trouble they will be against her all around.
3 Against him who bends, let the archer bend his bow,
also against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail.
Don’t spare her young men!
Utterly destroy all her army!
4 They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
and thrust through in her streets.
5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God,
by Yahweh of Armies;
though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
6 "Flee out of the middle of Babylon!
Everyone save his own life!
Don’t be cut off in her iniquity,
for it is the time of Yahweh’s vengeance.
He will render to her a recompense.
7 Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh’s hand,
who made all the earth drunk.
The nations have drunk of her wine;
therefore the nations have gone mad.
8 Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed!
Wail for her!
Take balm for her pain.
Perhaps she may be healed.
9 "We would have healed Babylon,
but she is not healed.
Forsake her,
and let’s each go into his own country;
for her judgment reaches to heaven,
and is lifted up even to the skies.
10 ‘Yahweh has produced our righteousness.
Come, and let’s declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.’
11 "Make the arrows sharp!
Hold the shields firmly!
Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes,
because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it;
for it is the vengeance of Yahweh,
the vengeance of his temple.
12 Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon!
Make the watch strong!
Set the watchmen,
and prepare the ambushes;
for Yahweh has both purposed and done
that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures,
your end has come, the measure of your covetousness.
14 Yahweh of Armies has sworn by himself, saying,
‘Surely I will fill you with men,
as with locusts,
and they will lift up a shout against you.’
15 "He has made the earth by his power.
He has established the world by his wisdom.
By his understanding he has stretched out the heavens.
16 When he utters his voice,
there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and brings the wind out of his treasuries.
17 "Every man has become stupid and without knowledge.
Every goldsmith is disappointed by his image,
for his molten images are falsehood,
and there is no breath in them.
18 They are vanity,
a work of delusion.
In the time of their visitation, they will perish.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he formed all things,
including the tribe of his inheritance.
Yahweh of Armies is his name.
20 "You are my battle ax and weapons of war.
With you I will break the nations into pieces.
With you I will destroy kingdoms.
21 With you I will break in pieces
the horse and his rider.
22 With you I will break in pieces
the chariot and him who rides therein.
With you I will break in pieces
man and woman.
With you I will break in pieces
the old man and the youth.
With you I will break in pieces
the young man and the virgin.
23 With you I will break in pieces
the shepherd and his flock.
With you I will break in pieces
the farmer and his yoke.
With you I will break in pieces
governors and deputies.
24 "I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight," says Yahweh.
25 "Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain," says Yahweh,
"which destroys all the earth.
I will stretch out my hand on you,
roll you down from the rocks,
and will make you a burned mountain.
26 They won’t take a cornerstone from you,
nor a stone for foundations;
but you will be desolate forever," says Yahweh.
27 "Set up a standard in the land!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations against her!
Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz!
Appoint a marshal against her!
Cause the horses to come up as the swarming locusts!
28 Prepare against her the nations,
the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion!
29 The land trembles and is in pain;
for the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon have stopped fighting,
they remain in their strongholds.
Their might has failed.
They have become as women.
Her dwelling places are set on fire.
Her bars are broken.
31 One runner will run to meet another,
and one messenger to meet another,
to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter.
32 So the passages are seized.
They have burned the reeds with fire.
The men of war are frightened."
33 For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says:
"The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden.
Yet a little while, and the time of harvest comes for her."
34 "Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me.
He has crushed me.
He has made me an empty vessel.
He has, like a monster, swallowed me up.
He has filled his mouth with my delicacies.
He has cast me out.
35 May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon!"
the inhabitant of Zion will say; and,
"May my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea!"
will Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore Yahweh says:
"Behold, I will plead your cause,
and take vengeance for you.
I will dry up her sea,
and make her fountain dry.
37 Babylon will become heaps,
a dwelling place for jackals,
an astonishment, and a hissing,
without inhabitant.
38 They will roar together like young lions.
They will growl as lions’ cubs.
39 When they are inflamed, I will make their feast,
and I will make them drunk,
that they may rejoice,
and sleep a perpetual sleep,
and not wake up," says Yahweh.
40 "I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams with male goats.
41 "How Sheshach is taken!
How the praise of the whole earth is seized!
How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
42 The sea has come up on Babylon.
She is covered with the multitude of its waves.
43 Her cities have become a desolation,
a dry land, and a desert,
a land in which no man dwells.
No son of man passes by it.
44 I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon,
and I will bring out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up.
The nations will not flow any more to him.
Yes, the wall of Babylon will fall.
45 "My people, go away from the middle of her,
and each of you save yourselves from Yahweh’s fierce anger.
46 Don’t let your heart faint.
Don’t fear for the news that will be heard in the land.
For news will come one year,
and after that in another year news will come,
and violence in the land,
ruler against ruler.
47 Therefore behold, the days come that I will execute judgment on the engraved images of Babylon;
and her whole land will be confounded.
All her slain will fall in the middle of her.
48 Then the heavens and the earth,
and all that is therein,
will sing for joy over Babylon;
for the destroyers will come to her from the north," says Yahweh.
49 "As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall,
so the slain of all the land will fall at Babylon.
50 You who have escaped the sword, go!
Don’t stand still!
Remember Yahweh from afar,
and let Jerusalem come into your mind."
51 "We are confounded
because we have heard reproach.
Confusion has covered our faces,
for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of Yahweh’s house."
52 "Therefore behold, the days come," says Yahweh,
"that I will execute judgment on her engraved images;
and through all her land the wounded will groan.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to the sky,
and though she should fortify the height of her strength,
yet destroyers will come to her from me," says Yahweh.
54 "The sound of a cry comes from Babylon,
and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For Yahweh lays Babylon waste,
and destroys out of her the great voice!
Their waves roar like many waters.
The noise of their voice is uttered.
56 For the destroyer has come on her,
even on Babylon.
Her mighty men are taken.
Their bows are broken in pieces,
for Yahweh is a God of retribution.
He will surely repay.
57 I will make her princes, her wise men,
her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men drunk.
They will sleep a perpetual sleep,
and not wake up,"
says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies.
58 Yahweh of Armies says:
"The wide walls of Babylon will be utterly overthrown.
Her high gates will be burned with fire.
The peoples will labor for vanity,
and the nations for the fire;
and they will be weary."
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief quartermaster. 60 Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words, 62 and say, ‘Yahweh, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that no one will dwell in it, neither man nor animal, but that it will be desolate forever.’ 63 It will be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the middle of the Euphrates. 64 Then you shall say, ‘Thus will Babylon sink, and will not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they will be weary.’"
Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
1 Thus hath the LORD said; Behold, I raise up against Babylon and against her inhabitants that rise up against me from the heart, a destroying wind.
2 And I will send unto Babylon fanners that shall fan her and shall empty her land; for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
3 [I shall say] to the archer that bends his bow and unto him that lifts himself up in his brigandine, Spare ye not her young men; utterly destroy all her host.
4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans and [those that are] thrust through in her streets.
5 For Israel and Judah have not been made widows of their God, of the LORD of the hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon and deliver each one his soul that ye not perish because of her iniquity, for this [is] the time of the LORD'S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.
7 Babylon [has been] a golden cup in the LORD'S hand that made all the earth drunken: the Gentiles have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed; howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9 We applied [the medicine to] Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go each one into his own land; for her judgment is come unto heaven and is lifted up [even] to the clouds.
10 The LORD has brought our righteousness to light; come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
11 Make bright the arrows; gather the shields; the LORD has awakened the spirit of the kings of the Medes; for his thought [is] against Babylon to destroy her; for it [is] vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
12 Set up the banner upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for the LORD has deliberated and shall put into effect that which he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O thou that dwellest among many waters, rich in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy covetousness.
14 The LORD of the hosts has sworn by himself, [saying], Surely I will fill thee with men as with locusts; and they shall sing the song [of the winepress] against thee.
15 He is the one who makes the earth by his power; he upholds the world by his wisdom and extends the heavens by his intelligence;
16 he who gives with [his] voice a multitude of waters from heaven, then he causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightnings with the rain and brings forth the wind out of his treasures.
17 Every man has become carnal and is without knowledge; let every founder be ashamed of the graven image: for his molten image [is] falsehood, and [there is] no breath in them.
18 They [are] vanity, the work of errors; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19 The portion of Jacob [is] not like them; for he [is] the Former of all things; and [Israel is] the rod of his inheritance; the LORD of the hosts [is] his name.
20 Thou [art] my hammer, O weapons of war: for with thee I will break in pieces the Gentiles, and with thee I will destroy kingdoms;
21 and with thee I will break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee I will break in pieces the chariots and their riders;
22 with thee also I will break in pieces men and women; and with thee I will break in pieces old and young; and with thee I will break in pieces young men and virgins;
23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee I will break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee I will break in pieces dukes and princes.
24 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, said the LORD.
25 Behold, I [am] against thee, O destroying mountain, said the LORD, which destroys all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand upon thee and roll thee down from the rocks and will make thee a burnt mountain.
26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, said the LORD.
27 Set ye up a banner in the land, blow the shofar among the Gentiles, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause [the] horses to come up as raised up locusts.
28 Prepare the nations against her: the kings of Media, the captains thereof, and all the princes thereof, and all the land of their dominion.
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow for every thought of the LORD is confirmed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight; they have remained in [their] holds; their might has failed; they became as women: the [enemies] have burned her dwellingplaces; they have broken her bars.
31 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken in all places,
32 And the fords were taken, and they have burned the reeds with fire, and the men of war were astounded.
33 For thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel said: The daughter of Babylon [is] like a threshingfloor; [it is] now time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a dragon; he has filled his belly with my delicates; he has cast me out.
35 The violence against me and my flesh [be] upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus hath the LORD said: Behold, I judge thy cause and shall take thy vengeance; and I will dry up her sea and make her flowing [waters] dry.
37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and a hissing, without an inhabitant.
38 They shall roar together like lions; they shall roar as lions' whelps.
39 In their heat I will place their feasts [before them], and I will make them drunken that they may rejoice and sleep an eternal sleep and not wake, said the LORD.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
41 How is Sheshach a prey! and how is she who was the praise of the whole earth taken! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the Gentiles!
42 The sea is come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
43 Her cities were devastated, the land dry and desert, a land in which no man dwells, neither shall [any] son of man pass thereby.
44 And I will visit Bel himself in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up; and the Gentiles shall not flow together any more unto him; and the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45 Come out of the midst of her, my people, and save each one his life from the fierce anger of the LORD.
46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear because of the news that shall be heard in the land; in one year shall the news come, and after that in the [next] year [shall come] the rumour, and [then shall come] the violence in the land, and the ruler over him who rules.
47 Therefore, behold, the days come that I will visit the graven images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be ashamed, and all her dead shall fall in the midst of her.
48 Then the heavens and the earth and all that [is] therein shall sing praises over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come unto her from the north, said the LORD.
49 As Babylon [has caused the] dead of Israel to fall, so because of Babylon [the] dead of all the earth fell.
50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, do not tarry: remember the LORD for many days, and remember Jerusalem.
51 We are ashamed, because we have heard the reproach; confusion has covered our faces; for strangers are come against the sanctuaries of the LORD'S house.
52 Therefore, behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will visit her graven images; and through all her [land the wounded] unto death shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify her strength upon high, [yet] from me shall destroyers come unto her, said the LORD.
54 The sound of a cry [comes] from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 Because the LORD destroys Babylon and takes out of her the many thunders, her waves shall roar; like many waters shall be the sound of their voice:
56 because the destroyer is come against her, [even] upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bow is broken: for the LORD God of recompenses shall surely requite.
57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise [men], her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep an eternal sleep and shall not wake, saith the King, whose name [is] the LORD of the hosts.
58 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly cast down, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and peoples and nations shall labour in vain in the fire [to save her], and they shall become weary.
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet sent to Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And [this] Seraiah [was] the chief steward of the bedchambers.
60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, [even] all these words that are written against Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon and shalt see and shalt read all these things;
62 then thou shalt say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that no one shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, [that] thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates;
64 and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be overcome. Thus far [are] the words of Jeremiah.: