Jeremiah 51
51
Yahweh’s War against Babylon
1Yahweh says,
“I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer # 51:1 Or “a destructive wind.” Hebrew uses the same word (ruach) for both “spirit” and “wind.” The prophecy in this verse would be fulfilled by Cyrus, the Persian king who defeated Babylon. to fight
against Babylon and the heart of my enemies. # 51:1 Or “Leb Kamai,” a possible cryptogram or code name for Chaldea.
2I will bring foreigners against Babylon to winnow # 51:2 The Hebrew contains a play on words with “foreigners [Hb. zarim]” and “winnow [Hb. zeruha].” her
and plunder her country.
They will attack her on every side
in the day of her disaster.
3Shoot down all their archers
and all their proud warriors dressed in armor. # 51:3 The Hebrew is uncertain. It is literally “Against let bend the bowman his bow and against let him stand up in his armor.” One possible interpretation is “Don’t bend the bow or put on your armor [there will be no need to fight].”
Do not spare her soldiers!
Destroy her entire army!
4The slaughtered will fall throughout the land of the Chaldeans.
They will be wounded and die in their city streets.
5Remember, your God, Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies,
has not forsaken # 51:5 The Hebrew word for “forsaken” means “to be made [left] a widow.” God’s people are never “widowed [helpless],” for God is our Redeemer. Israel and Judah
even though the land is awash with their sins against me,
the Holy One of Israel.
6Flee from Babylon!
Save your lives!
Don’t you perish when I punish her for her guilt;
the time of revenge is here.
Now Yahweh will pay her back for what she has done.
7Babylon was like a golden cup in Yahweh’s hand;
she made the whole world drunk.
The nations drank her wine
and then went mad.
8Suddenly the cup of Babylon falls to the ground and is shattered.
Wail for her!
Get medicine for her wounds;
perhaps she can be cured.
9They said, ‘We tried to heal Babylon but failed.
She can’t be healed, so let’s each go to our own country.
For her judgment has reached up to heaven
and rises to the very clouds.
10Yahweh has judged in our favor.
Come, let us tell the news in Zion,
all the wonders that Yahweh our God has done!’ ”
The End of Babylon
11Yahweh has stirred up a spirit of hostility
in the king of the Medes # 51:11 The king (LXX, Syriac; Hebrew is “kings”) of the Medes was likely Cyrus, who became king of Persia but who was from Media (see 50:3).
because Yahweh’s plan is to destroy Babylon.
This is Yahweh’s revenge for destroying his temple.
“Sharpen the arrows;
fill up your quivers! # 51:11 Or “take up your shields.”
12Give the signal to attack Babylon’s walls!
Post sentries and reinforce the guards!
Prepare a surprise attack!
Yahweh has done what he said he would do
to the people of Babylon.
13You who are enthroned beside many rivers and canals
and are rich in treasures, # 51:13 These riches consisted of the plunder they gained in battle from other nations.
your end has come.
The thread of your life is cut. # 51:13 That is, “the web of your destiny is finished.”
14For I have sworn by my great name, Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies,
that I will fill your land with warriors as a swarm of locusts,
and they will raise up the victory shout over you.”
A Song of Praise
15Yahweh # 51:15 Verses 15–19 are nearly identical with 10:12–16. made the earth by his glorious power
and firmly established it by his great wisdom.
His skill stretched out the sky.
16When he speaks, a roar is released in the waters of heaven.
Clouds rise from the far-off horizons.
He unleashes on the earth from his storehouses, # 51:16 Enoch saw these storehouses (see 1 Enoch 17–18).
rain, lightning bolts, and stormy winds.
17Idolaters are senseless and know so little.
Idol-makers are shamed by what they make
since their idols are nothing but lifeless lies.
18They are worthless—nothing but a joke!
When Yahweh comes to punish them, they will perish.
19Yahweh, the Riches of Jacob,
you are nothing like these.
He created the universe
and has chosen Israel to be his inheritance.
Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, is his name!
Babylon, Yahweh’s War Club
20“You were my war club, my battle club.
I used you to crush nations and overthrow kingdoms.
21With you I defeated horses and riders,
and with you I broke chariots and their riders in pieces.
22With you I shattered men and women,
with you I conquered old and young,
and with you I triumphed over young men and girls.
23With you I overpowered shepherds and flocks,
with you I devastated plowmen and animals that pull the plow,
and with you I crushed governors and officials.”
Babylon’s Time Has Come
24“But now,” Yahweh says, “you will see with your own eyes
how I repay you, Babylon and the Chaldeans,
for all the wrongs you have done to Zion.
25I have become your enemy,” says Yahweh,
“O mountain # 51:25 A mountain is a frequently used metaphor for a kingdom. of destruction,
destroyer of the whole world!
I will unleash my power against you,
send you tumbling to the ground,
and turn you into a mountain of soot and ashes.
26I, Yahweh, declare:
After I am through with you,
people will not be able to find any among you
to rebuild you,
not one foundation stone or cornerstone.
You will lie desolate forever.”
Babylon Has Fallen
27“Raise up a signal flag throughout the world;
sound the war trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations to attack her!
Assemble the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, Ashkenaz # 51:27 Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz were kingdom-states north of Babylonia.
to make war against her.
Appoint a commanding officer to lead her enemies in battle;
send multitudes of horsemen like swarms of locusts.
28Prepare the kings of Media, her governors, all her officials,
and all the lands they rule to come make war against Babylon.”
29Then, when Yahweh executed his plan against Babylon,
the earth trembled and convulsed.
He determined to make Babylon an uninhabited desert.
30Babylon’s warriors had enough of fighting,
so they stayed inside their forts.
With their courage melted away,
they have been left like ordinary civilians.
Their city gates have been broken through,
and her houses are on fire.
31Courier after courier,
messenger after messenger,
runs to inform the king of Babylon:
One says, “Your city has been taken from every side.”
32Another says, “The river crossings have been overrun.”
And another, “The thickets and reed marshes have all been burned.”
And yet another one says, “All your fighting men are gripped with panic.”
33For Yahweh, the God of Israel,
Commander of Angel Armies, says to you:
“When people trample down the threshing place,
the time of threshing is not far off.
The time to harvest Fair Babylon is almost here!”
Jerusalem’s Lament
34Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, devoured us, chewed us up,
and consumed us like a hungry man consumes a meal. # 51:34 Or “made me [us] like an empty vessel.”
Like a monster he swallowed us whole,
filled his belly with our delicacies # 51:34 That is, Israel’s national treasures. See 20:4–5.
and then expelled us.
35Let the people of Zion say,
“May the violence done to our people fall upon Babylon!”
Let Jerusalem say,
“May the Chaldeans pay for the crime of shedding my blood!”
Yahweh Promises to Help Israel
36This is what Yahweh says:
“Look, I am taking up your cause
to make sure you are avenged.
I will dry up her water source
and make her rivers run dry.
37Babylon will be reduced to a pile of ruins,
the haunt of jackals,
a thing of horror and scorn,
a place where no one lives.
38Like lions, the Babylonians all roar over their prey;
they growl like lions’ cubs.
39Are they ready to feast? I will prepare them a drink
that will make them drunk. # 51:39 This is possibly a reference to Belshazzar’s banquet of Dan. 5. See Jer. 25:15–29.
They will drink themselves tipsy
and fall into an everlasting sleep,”
declares Yahweh.
40“I will lead these proud lions down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats to be sacrificed.”
Babylon’s Fate
41“What! Has the great city of Babylon # 51:41 Or “Sheshak,” an alternate, cryptic name for the city of Babylon. been taken?
Has the pride of the whole world been seized?
Babylon has become an object of horror
throughout the nations.
42The sea has risen over Babylon; # 51:42 The sea is a metaphor for the sweeping hordes of enemy soldiers attacking the nation. See 46:7–8; 47:2.
she sinks beneath its crashing waves.
43Her nearby towns have become desolate, a parched land,
a desert where no one lives and where nobody goes.
44I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon,
and make him give back what he has stolen. # 51:44 Or “take out of his mouth what he has swallowed.”
The people will no longer stream to him
to bring him their offering.
The walls of Babylon have fallen.” # 51:44 This summary statement seems to be a rhetorical device known as an inclusio, in which the sense of the opening statement in v. 41 is repeated here.
Yahweh Punishes Idolatry
45“Leave Babylon behind, my people.
Each of you, save your lives
from Yahweh’s furious anger.
46But make sure that you are not discouraged.
Do not worry about the many conspiracy theories
that are being circulated throughout the country.
For every year a different rumor spreads—
rumors of violence, rumors of one king fighting another.
47“Behold, the days are coming
when I will punish Babylon’s ‘gods.’
Her entire country will be humiliated,
with all her slaughtered lying in the streets.
48Creation itself will sing for joy over Babylon’s demise.
Destroyers from the north will attack her,” declares Yahweh.
49“For people throughout the world have been slain by Babylon.
And now, because of Israel’s slaughtered ones,
Babylon will fall.” # 51:49 Or “Also, Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, just as for Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen.”
Yahweh’s Message to the Israelite Captives in Babylon
50“You who have escaped with your life,
do not wait to leave Babylon behind.
Remember Yahweh your God in a distant land,
and let your thoughts turn to beautiful Jerusalem.”
51“We were mocked and ashamed;
we were covered with disgrace
because foreigners had entered
the temple of Yahweh’s holy places.”
52Yahweh declares,
“Behold, the days are coming
when I will punish Babylon’s ‘gods,’
and throughout the land, wounded people
will be groaning in pain.
53I, Yahweh, say,
even if Babylon should climb up to the sky,
and entrench herself in an inaccessible height,
I would still call her enemies to destroy her.”
Babylon’s Doom
54“Listen! The voice of a shout from Babylon.
It is a noise of great destruction
coming from the country of the Chaldeans.
55I am attacking Babylon and will destroy her
and will silence the noise of the city.
The enemy armies rush in like roaring waves
and attack with shouts and battle cries.
56An enemy has come to destroy Babylon.
They have captured Babylon’s soldiers
and broken their bows into pieces.
For Yahweh is a God of recompense;
he never fails to repay.
57I will make her soldiers and all her leaders drunk,
including the advisers, officials, and military commanders.
They will fall into an everlasting sleep,
never to wake again,”
declares the King,
whose name is Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies.
58“The attacking army will demolish
the massive walls protecting Babylon
and burn down the lofty gates of the city. # 51:58 According to Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian, the outer walls of Babylon were over 350 feet (107 meters) high (200 royal cubits) and over 80 feet (24 meters) thick. However, other historians and scholars believe the walls to be over 80 feet (24 meters) high and over 30 feet (9 meters) thick, allowing for a team of four horses to be driven along the top of the walls. “In the circuit of the wall are a hundred gates, all of brass, with brazen lintels and side-posts” (see Herodotus 1.179, trans. George Rawlinson).
The nations wear themselves out to no avail;
they will see the flames destroy what they’ve done,”
declares Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies.
Jeremiah’s Written Prophecy Thrown into the Euphrates
59-60Now Jeremiah had written all these prophecies of Babylon’s doom on a scroll. In the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, the king traveled to Babylonia, accompanied by his personal attendant, # 51:59–60 Or “officer of the resting place,” which suggests that Seraiah oversaw making arrangements for the king’s accommodations when the king traveled. It is believed that Seraiah was Baruch’s brother (see 32:12). Seraiah son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. Jeremiah gave Seraiah the scroll 61together with this command: “When you arrive in Babylon, be sure to read all the prophecies written on this scroll to all the people. 62Afterward, pray this prayer: ‘O Yahweh, you have promised to destroy this place so that no one will live here ever again, neither human nor animal. You said it will be desolate forever.’
63“Then, Seraiah, when you finish reading this book to the people, tie a heavy stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River 64with these words: ‘Just as this scroll will sink, so Babylon will sink to the depths, never to rise again from the disaster I am going to bring on her.’ ” # 51:64 As translated from the Septuagint. The Hebrew adds “and they shall weary themselves.”
This ends Jeremiah’s writings. # 51:64 According to tradition, Jeremiah did continue writing with the book of Lamentations. This verse implies that Jer. 52 was possibly added by another author and seems to parallel 2 Kings 24:18–25:30.
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Jeremiah 51: TPT
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