Jeremiah 50

¹The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon , concerning the land of the Chaldeans , by Jeremiah the prophet :

²Declare among the nations and proclaim , set up a banner and proclaim , conceal it not , and say : Babylon is taken , Bel is put to shame , Merodach is dismayed . Her images are put to shame , her idols are dismayed .

³For out of the north a nation has come up against her, which shall make her land a desolation , and none shall dwell in it; both man and beast shall flee away .

⁴In those days and in that time , declares the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together , weeping as they come , and they shall seek the Lord their God .

⁵They shall ask the way to Zion , with faces turned toward it , saying, Come , let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten .

⁶My people have been lost sheep . Their shepherds have led them astray , turning them away on the mountains . From mountain to hill they have gone . They have forgotten their fold .

⁷All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said , We are not guilty , for they have sinned against the Lord, their habitation of righteousness , the Lord, the hope of their fathers .

⁸Flee from the midst of Babylon , and go out of the land of the Chaldeans , and be as male goats before the flock .

⁹For behold , I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a gathering of great nations , from the north country . And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken . Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed .

¹⁰Chaldea shall be plundered ; all who plunder her shall be sated , declares the Lord.

¹¹Though you rejoice , though you exult , O plunderers of my heritage , though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture , and neigh like stallions ,

¹²your mother shall be utterly shamed , and she who bore you shall be disgraced . Behold , she shall be the last of the nations , a wilderness , a dry land , and a desert .

¹³Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited but shall be an utter desolation ; everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled , and hiss because of all her wounds .

¹⁴Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around , all you who bend the bow ; shoot at her, spare no arrows , for she has sinned against the Lord.

¹⁵Raise a shout against her all around ; she has surrendered ; her bulwarks have fallen ; her walls are thrown down . For this is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done .

¹⁶Cut off from Babylon the sower , and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest ; because of the sword of the oppressor , every one shall turn to his own people , and every one shall flee to his own land .

¹⁷Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions . First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones .

¹⁸Therefore , thus says the Lord of hosts , the God of Israel : Behold , I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land , as I punished the king of Assyria .

¹⁹I will restore Israel to his pasture , and he shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan , and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead .

²⁰In those days and in that time , declares the Lord, iniquity shall be sought in Israel , and there shall be none , and sin in Judah , and none shall be found , for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant .

²¹Go up against the land of Merathaim , and against the inhabitants of Pekod . Kill , and devote them to destruction , declares the Lord, and do all that I have commanded you.

²²The noise of battle is in the land , and great destruction !

²³How the hammer of the whole earth is cut down and broken ! How Babylon has become a horror among the nations !

²⁴I set a snare for you and you were taken , O Babylon , and you did not know it; you were found and caught , because you opposed the Lord.

²⁵The Lord has opened his armory and brought out the weapons of his wrath , for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans .

²⁶Come against her from every quarter ; open her granaries ; pile her up like heaps of grain , and devote her to destruction ; let nothing be left of her.

²⁷Kill all her bulls ; let them go down to the slaughter . Woe to them, for their day has come , the time of their punishment .

²⁸A voice ! They flee and escape from the land of Babylon , to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God , vengeance for his temple .

²⁹Summon archers against Babylon , all those who bend the bow . Encamp around her ; let no one escape . Repay her according to her deeds ; do to her according to all that she has done . For she has proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel .

³⁰Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares , and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day , declares the Lord.

³¹Behold , I am against you, O proud one , declares the Lord God of hosts , for your day has come , the time when I will punish you.

³²The proud one shall stumble and fall , with none to raise him up , and I will kindle a fire in his cities , and it will devour all that is around him.

³³Thus says the Lord of hosts : The people of Israel are oppressed , and the people of Judah with them . All who took them captive have held them fast ; they refuse to let them go .

³⁴Their Redeemer is strong ; the Lord of hosts is his name . He will surely plead their cause , that he may give rest to the earth , but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon .

³⁵A sword against the Chaldeans , declares the Lord, and against the inhabitants of Babylon , and against her officials and her wise men !

³⁶A sword against the diviners , that they may become fools ! A sword against her warriors , that they may be destroyed !

³⁷A sword against her horses and against her chariots , and against all the foreign troops in her midst , that they may become women ! A sword against all her treasures , that they may be plundered !

³⁸A drought against her waters , that they may be dried up ! For it is a land of images , and they are mad over idols .

³⁹Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon, and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people , nor be inhabited for all generations .

⁴⁰As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the Lord, so no man shall dwell there , and no son of man shall sojourn in her.

⁴¹Behold , a people comes from the north ; a mighty nation and many kings are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth .

⁴²They lay hold of bow and spear ; they are cruel and have no mercy . The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea ; they ride on horses , arrayed as a man for battle against you, O daughter of Babylon !

⁴³The king of Babylon heard the report of them, and his hands fell helpless ; anguish seized him, pain as of a woman in labor .

⁴⁴Behold , like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture , I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose . For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me?

⁴⁵Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon , and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans : Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away ; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate .

⁴⁶At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble , and her cry shall be heard among the nations .