511 This is what the Lord says: "See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai.[1] 2 I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and to devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster. 3 Let not the archer string his bow, nor let him put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy[2] her army. 4 They will fall down slain in Babylon,[3]fatally wounded in her streets. 5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the Lord Almighty, though their land[4] is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel. 6 "Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord's vengeance; he will repay her what she deserves. 7 Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord's hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad. 8 Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed. 9 " 'We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens.' 10 " 'The Lord has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the Lord our God has done.' 11 "Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The Lord will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple. 12 Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon! Reinforce the guard, station the watchmen, prepare an ambush! The Lord will carry out his purpose, his decree against the people of Babylon. 13 You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be destroyed. 14 The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself: I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you. 15 "He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. 16 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. 17 "Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them. 18 They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish. 19 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the people of his inheritance- the Lord Almighty is his name. 20 "You are my war club, my weapon for battle- with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms, 21 with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver, 22 with you I shatter man and woman, with you I shatter old man and youth, with you I shatter young man and young woman, 23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock, with you I shatter farmer and oxen, with you I shatter governors and officials. 24 "Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia[5] for all the wrong they have done in Zion," declares the Lord. 25 "I am against you, you destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth," declares the Lord. "I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain. 26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone, nor any stone for a foundation, for you will be desolate forever," declares the Lord. 27 "Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts. 28 Prepare the nations for battle against her- the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the countries they rule. 29 The land trembles and writhes, for the Lord's purposes against Babylon stand- to lay waste the land of Babylon so that no one will live there. 30 Babylon's warriors have stopped fighting; they remain in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become weaklings. Her dwellings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken. 31 One courier follows another and messenger follows messenger to announce to the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured, 32 the river crossings seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers terrified." 33 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; the time to harvest her will soon come." 34 "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us, he has thrown us into confusion, he has made us an empty jar. Like a serpent he has swallowed us and filled his stomach with our delicacies, and then has spewed us out. 35 May the violence done to our flesh[6] be on Babylon," say the inhabitants of Zion. "May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia," says Jerusalem. 36 Therefore this is what the Lord says: "See, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. 37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives. 38 Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion cubs. 39 But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout with laughter- then sleep forever and not awake," declares the Lord. 40 "I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats. 41 "How Sheshak[7] will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized! How desolate Babylon will be among the nations! 42 The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her. 43 Her towns will be desolate, a dry and desert land, a land where no one lives, through which no one travels. 44 I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him spew out what he has swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him. And the wall of Babylon will fall. 45 "Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the Lord. 46 Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. 47 For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her. 48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her," declares the Lord. 49 "Babylon must fall because of Israel's slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon. 50 You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember the Lord in a distant land, and call to mind Jerusalem." 51 "We are disgraced, for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the Lord's house." 52 "But days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan. 53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her," declares the Lord. 54 "The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.[8] 55 The Lord will destroy Babylon; he will silence her noisy din. Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound. 56 A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the Lord is a God of retribution; he will repay in full. 57 I will make her officials and wise men drunk, her governors, officers and warriors as well; they will sleep forever and not awake," declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty. 58 This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Babylon's thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing, the nations' labor is only fuel for the flames."
511 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst
511 Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon, against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai,
511 There's more. God says more: "Watch this: I'm whipping up A death-dealing hurricane against Babylon - 'Hurricane Persia' - against all who live in that perverse land. 2 I'm sending a cleanup crew into Babylon. They'll clean the place out from top to bottom. When they get through there'll be nothing left of her worth taking or talking about. They won't miss a thing. A total and final Doomsday! 3 Fighters will fight with everything they've got. It's no holds barred. They will spare nothing and no one. It's final and wholesale destruction - the end! 4 Babylon littered with the wounded, streets piled with corpses. 5 It turns out that Israel and Judah are not widowed after all. As their God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, I am still alive and well, committed to them even though They filled their land with sin against Israel's most Holy God. 6 "Get out of Babylon as fast as you can. Run for your lives! Save your necks! Don't linger and lose your lives to my vengeance on her as I pay her back for her sins. 7 Babylon was a fancy gold chalice held in my hand, Filled with the wine of my anger to make the whole world drunk. The nations drank the wine and they've all gone crazy. 8 Babylon herself will stagger and crash, senseless in a drunken stupor - tragic! Get anointing balm for her wound. Maybe she can be cured." 9 "We did our best, but she can't be helped. Babylon is past fixing. Give her up to her fate. Go home. The judgment on her will be vast, a skyscraper-memorial of vengeance. Your Lifeline Is Cut 10 "God has set everything right for us. Come! Let's tell the good news Back home in Zion. Let's tell what our God did to set things right. 11 "Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! God has stirred up the kings of the Medes, infecting them with war fever: 'Destroy Babylon!' God's on the warpath. He's out to avenge his Temple. 12 Give the signal to attack Babylon's walls. Station guards around the clock. Bring in reinforcements. Set men in ambush. God will do what he planned, what he said he'd do to the people of Babylon. 13 You have more water than you need, you have more money than you need - But your life is over, your lifeline cut." 14 God-of-the-Angel-Armies has solemnly sworn: "I'll fill this place with soldiers. They'll swarm through here like locusts chanting victory songs over you." 15 By his power he made earth. His wisdom gave shape to the world. He crafted the cosmos. 16 He thunders and rain pours down. He sends the clouds soaring. He embellishes the storm with lightnings, launches the wind from his warehouse. 17 Stick-god worshipers look mighty foolish! god-makers embarrassed by their handmade gods! Their gods are frauds, dead sticks - deadwood gods, tasteless jokes. 18 They're nothing but stale smoke. When the smoke clears, they're gone. 19 But the Portion-of-Jacob is the real thing; he put the whole universe together, With special attention to Israel. His name? God-of-the-Angel-Armies! They'll Sleep and Never Wake Up 20 God says, "You, Babylon, are my hammer, my weapon of war. I'll use you to smash godless nations, use you to knock kingdoms to bits. 21 I'll use you to smash horse and rider, use you to smash chariot and driver. 22 I'll use you to smash man and woman, use you to smash the old man and the boy. I'll use you to smash the young man and young woman, 23 use you to smash shepherd and sheep. I'll use you to smash farmer and yoked oxen, use you to smash governors and senators. 24 "Judeans, you'll see it with your own eyes. I'll pay Babylon and all the Chaldeans back for all the evil they did in Zion." God's Decree. 25 "I'm your enemy, Babylon, Mount Destroyer, you ravager of the whole earth. I'll reach out, I'll take you in my hand, and I'll crush you till there's no mountain left. I'll turn you into a gravel pit - 26 no more cornerstones cut from you, No more foundation stones quarried from you! Nothing left of you but gravel." 27 "Raise the signal in the land, blow the shofar-trumpet for the nations. Consecrate the nations for holy work against her. Call kingdoms into service against her. Enlist Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a field marshal against her, and round up horses, locust hordes of horses! 28 Consecrate the nations for holy work against her - the king of the Medes, his leaders and people. 29 "The very land trembles in terror, writhes in pain, terrorized by my plans against Babylon, Plans to turn the country of Babylon into a lifeless moonscape - a wasteland. 30 Babylon's soldiers have quit fighting. They hide out in ruins and caves - Cowards who've given up without a fight, exposed as cowering milksops. Babylon's houses are going up in flames, the city gates torn off their hinges. 31 Runner after runner comes racing in, each on the heels of the last, Bringing reports to the king of Babylon that his city is a lost cause. 32 The fords of the rivers are all taken. Wildfire rages through the swamp grass. Soldiers desert left and right. 33 I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, said it would happen: 'Daughter Babylon is a threshing floor at threshing time. Soon, oh very soon, her harvest will come and then the chaff will fly!' 34 "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon chewed up my people and spit out the bones. He wiped his dish clean, pushed back his chair, and belched - a huge gluttonous belch. 35 Lady Zion says, 'The brutality done to me be done to Babylon!' And Jerusalem says, 'The blood spilled from me be charged to the Chaldeans!' 36 Then I, God, step in and say, 'I'm on your side, taking up your cause. I'm your Avenger. You'll get your revenge. I'll dry up her rivers, plug up her springs. 37 Babylon will be a pile of rubble, scavenged by stray dogs and cats, A dumping ground for garbage, a godforsaken ghost town.' 38 "The Babylonians will be like lions and their cubs, ravenous, roaring for food. 39 I'll fix them a meal, all right - a banquet, in fact. They'll drink themselves falling-down drunk. Dead drunk, they'll sleep - and sleep, and sleep . . . and they'll never wake up." God's Decree. 40 "I'll haul these 'lions' off to the slaughterhouse like the lambs, rams, and goats, never to be heard of again. 41 "Babylon is finished - the pride of the whole earth is flat on her face. What a comedown for Babylon, to end up inglorious in the sewer! 42 Babylon drowned in chaos, battered by waves of enemy soldiers. 43 Her towns stink with decay and rot, the land empty and bare and sterile. No one lives in these towns anymore. Travelers give them a wide berth. 44 I'll bring doom on the glutton god-Bel in Babylon. I'll make him vomit up all he gulped down. No more visitors stream into this place, admiring and gawking at the wonders of Babylon. The wonders of Babylon are no more. 45 Run for your lives, my dear people! Run, and don't look back! Get out of this place while you can, this place torched by God's raging anger. 46 Don't lose hope. Don't ever give up when the rumors pour in hot and heavy. One year it's this, the next year it's that - rumors of violence, rumors of war. 47 Trust me, the time is coming when I'll put the no-gods of Babylon in their place. I'll show up the whole country as a sickening fraud, with dead bodies strewn all over the place. 48 Heaven and earth, angels and people, will throw a victory party over Babylon When the avenging armies from the north descend on her." God's Decree! Remember God in Your Long and Distant Exile 49 "Babylon must fall - compensation for the war dead in Israel. Babylonians will be killed because of all that Babylonian killing. 50 But you exiles who have escaped a Babylonian death, get out! And fast! Remember God in your long and distant exile. Keep Jerusalem alive in your memory." 51 How we've been humiliated, taunted and abused, kicked around for so long that we hardly know who we are! And we hardly know what to think - our old Sanctuary, God's house, desecrated by strangers. 52 "I know, but trust me: The time is coming" - God's Decree - "When I will bring doom on her no-god idols, and all over this land her wounded will groan. 53 Even if Babylon climbed a ladder to the moon and pulled up the ladder so that no one could get to her, That wouldn't stop me. I'd make sure my avengers would reach her." God's Decree. 54 "But now listen! Do you hear it? A cry out of Babylon! An unearthly wail out of Chaldea! 55 God is taking his wrecking bar to Babylon. We'll be hearing the last of her noise - Death throes like the crashing of waves, death rattles like the roar of cataracts. 56 The avenging destroyer is about to enter Babylon: Her soldiers are taken, her weapons are trashed. Indeed, God is a God who evens things out. All end up with their just deserts. 57 "I'll get them drunk, the whole lot of them - princes, sages, governors, soldiers. Dead drunk, they'll sleep - and sleep and sleep . . . and never wake up." The King's Decree. His name? God-of-the-Angel-Armies! 58 God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaks: "The city walls of Babylon - those massive walls! - will be flattened. And those city gates - huge gates! - will be set on fire. The harder you work at this empty life, the less you are. Nothing comes of ambition like this but ashes."
511 Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, Against those who dwell in Leb Kamai, A destroying wind. 2 And I will send winnowers to Babylon, Who shall winnow her and empty her land. For in the day of doom They shall be against her all around. 3 Against her let the archer bend his bow, And lift himself up against her in his armor. Do not spare her young men; Utterly destroy all her army. 4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, And those thrust through in her streets. 5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, By his God, the Lord of hosts, Though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel." 6 Flee from the midst of Babylon, And every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; He shall recompense her. 7 Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand, That made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; Therefore the nations are deranged. 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 us go everyone to his own country; For her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies. 10 The Lord has revealed our righteousness. Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God. 11 Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it, Because it is the vengeance of the Lord, The vengeance for His temple. 12 Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon; Make the guard strong, Set up the watchmen, Prepare the ambushes. For the Lord has both devised and done What He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. 13 O you who dwell by many waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your covetousness. 14 The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself: "Surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, And they shall lift up a shout against you." 15 He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, And stretched out the heaven by His understanding. 16 When He utters His voice-- There is a multitude of waters in the heavens: "He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries." 17 Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there is no breath in them. 18 They are futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment they shall perish. 19 The Portion of Jacob is not like them, For He is the Maker of all things; And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The Lord of hosts is His name. 20 "You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nation in pieces; With you I will destroy kingdoms; 21 With you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider; With you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider; 22 With you also I will break in pieces man and woman; With you I will break in pieces old and young; With you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden; 23 With you also I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen; And with you I will break in pieces governors and rulers. 24 "And I will repay Babylon And all the inhabitants of Chaldea For all the evil they have done In Zion in your sight," says the Lord. 25 "Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys all the earth," says the Lord. "And I will stretch out My hand against you, Roll you down from the rocks, And make you a burnt mountain. 26 They shall not take from you a stone for a corner Nor a stone for a foundation, But you shall be desolate forever," says the Lord. 27 Set up a banner in the land, Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, Call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her; Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts. 28 Prepare against her the nations, With the kings of the Medes, Its governors and all its rulers, All the land of his dominion. 29 And the land will tremble and sorrow; For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant. 30 The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, They have remained in their strongholds; Their might has failed, They became like women; They have burned her dwelling places, The bars of her gate 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 all sides; 32 The passages are blocked, The reeds they have burned with fire, And the men of war are terrified. 33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor When it is time to thresh her; Yet a little while And the time of her harvest will come." 34 "Nebuchadnezzar 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 monster; He has filled his stomach with my delicacies, He has spit me out. 35 Let the violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon," The inhabitant of Zion will say; "And my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!" Jerusalem will say. 36 Therefore thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. 37 Babylon shall become a heap, A dwelling place for jackals, An astonishment and a hissing, Without an inhabitant. 38 They shall roar together like lions, They shall growl like lions' whelps. 39 In their excitement I will prepare their feasts; I will make them drunk, That they may rejoice, And sleep a perpetual sleep And not awake," says the Lord. 40 "I will bring them down Like lambs to the slaughter, Like rams with male goats. 41 "Oh, how Sheshach is taken! Oh, how the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become desolate among the nations! 42 The sea has come up over Babylon; She is covered with the multitude of its waves. 43 Her cities are a desolation, A dry land and a wilderness, A land where no one dwells, Through which no son of man passes. 44 I will punish Bel in Babylon, And I will bring out of his mouth what he has swallowed; And the nations shall not stream to him anymore. Yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall. 45 "My people, go out of the midst of her! And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of the Lord. 46 And lest your heart faint, And you fear for the rumor that will be heard in the land (A rumor will come one year, And after that, in another year A rumor will come, And violence in the land, Ruler against ruler), 47 Therefore behold, the days are coming That I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon; Her whole land shall be ashamed, And all her slain shall fall in her midst. 48 Then the heavens and the earth and all that is in them Shall sing joyously over Babylon; For the plunderers shall come to her from the north," says the Lord. 49 As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, So at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall. 50 You who have escaped the sword, Get away! Do not stand still! Remember the Lord afar off, And let Jerusalem come to your mind. 51 We are ashamed because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, For strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's house. 52 "Therefore behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "That I will bring judgment on her carved images, And throughout all her land the wounded shall groan. 53 Though Babylon were to mount up to heaven, And though she were to fortify the height of her strength, Yet from Me plunderers would come to her," says the Lord. 54 The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, And great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans, 55 Because the Lord is plundering Babylon And silencing her loud voice, Though her waves roar like great waters, And the noise of their voice is uttered, 56 Because the plunderer comes against her, against Babylon, And her mighty men are taken. Every one of their bows is broken; For the Lord is the God of recompense, He will surely repay. 57 "And I will make drunk Her princes and wise men, Her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men. And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep And not awake," says the King, Whose name is the Lord of hosts. 58 Thus says the Lord of hosts: "The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, And her high gates shall be burned with fire; The people will labor in vain, And the nations, because of the fire; And they shall be weary."
511 This is what the Lord says: "I will stir up a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Babylonia. 2 Foreigners will come and winnow her, blowing her away as chaff. They will come from every side to rise against her in her day of trouble. 3 Don't let the archers put on their armor or draw their bows. Don't spare even her best soldiers! Let her army be completely destroyed. 4 They will fall dead in the land of the Babylonians, slashed to death in her streets. 5 For the Lord of Heaven's Armies has not abandoned Israel and Judah. He is still their God, even though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel." 6 Flee from Babylon! Save yourselves! Don't get trapped in her punishment! It is the Lord 's time for vengeance; he will repay her in full. 7 Babylon has been a gold cup in the Lord 's hands, a cup that made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank Babylon's wine, and it drove them all mad. 8 But suddenly Babylon, too, has fallen. Weep for her. Give her medicine. Perhaps she can yet be healed. 9 We would have helped her if we could, but nothing can save her now. Let her go; abandon her. Return now to your own land. For her punishment reaches to the heavens; it is so great it cannot be measured. 10 The Lord has vindicated us. Come, let us announce in Jerusalem everything the Lord our God has done. 11 Sharpen the arrows! Lift up the shields! For the Lord has inspired the kings of the Medes to march against Babylon and destroy her. This is his vengeance against those who desecrated his Temple. 12 Raise the battle flag against Babylon! Reinforce the guard and station the watchmen. Prepare an ambush, for the Lord will fulfill all his plans against Babylon. 13 You are a city by a great river, a great center of commerce, but your end has come. The thread of your life is cut. 14 The Lord of Heaven's Armies has taken this vow and has sworn to it by his own name: "Your cities will be filled with enemies, like fields swarming with locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you." 15 The Lord made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. 16 When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses. 17 The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge! The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make, for their carefully shaped works are a fraud. These idols have no breath or power. 18 Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies! On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed. 19 But the God of Israel is no idol! He is the Creator of everything that exists, including his people, his own special possession. The Lord of Heaven's Armies is his name! 20 "You are my battle-ax and sword," says the Lord . "With you I will shatter nations and destroy many kingdoms. 21 With you I will shatter armies- destroying the horse and rider, the chariot and charioteer. 22 With you I will shatter men and women, old people and children, young men and young women. 23 With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks, farmers and oxen, captains and officers. 24 "I will repay Babylon and the people of Babylonia for all the wrong they have done to my people in Jerusalem," says the Lord . 25 "Look, OÂ mighty mountain, destroyer of the earth! I am your enemy," says the Lord . "I will raise my fist against you, to knock you down from the heights. When I am finished, you will be nothing but a heap of burnt rubble. 26 You will be desolate forever. Even your stones will never again be used for building. You will be completely wiped out," says the Lord . 27 Raise a signal flag to the nations. Sound the battle cry! Mobilize them all against Babylon. Prepare them to fight against her! Bring out the armies of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander, and bring a multitude of horses like swarming locusts! 28 Bring against her the armies of the nations- led by the kings of the Medes and all their captains and officers. 29 The earth trembles and writhes in pain, for everything the Lord has planned against Babylon stands unchanged. Babylon will be left desolate without a single inhabitant. 30 Her mightiest warriors no longer fight. They stay in their barracks, their courage gone. They have become like women. The invaders have burned the houses and broken down the city gates. 31 The news is passed from one runner to the next as the messengers hurry to tell the king that his city has been captured. 32 All the escape routes are blocked. The marshes have been set aflame, and the army is in a panic. 33 This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Babylon is like wheat on a threshing floor, about to be trampled. In just a little while her harvest will begin." 34 "King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has eaten and crushed us and drained us of strength. He has swallowed us like a great monster and filled his belly with our riches. He has thrown us out of our own country. 35 Make Babylon suffer as she made us suffer," say the people of Zion. "Make the people of Babylonia pay for spilling our blood," says Jerusalem. 36 This is what the Lord says to Jerusalem: "I will be your lawyer to plead your case, and I will avenge you. I will dry up her river, as well as her springs, 37 and Babylon will become a heap of ruins, haunted by jackals. She will be an object of horror and contempt, a place where no one lives. 38 Her people will roar together like strong lions. They will growl like lion cubs. 39 And while they lie inflamed with all their wine, I will prepare a different kind of feast for them. I will make them drink until they fall asleep, and they will never wake up again," says the Lord . 40 "I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats to be sacrificed. 41 "How Babylon is fallen- great Babylon, praised throughout the earth! Now she has become an object of horror among the nations. 42 The sea has risen over Babylon; she is covered by its crashing waves. 43 Her cities now lie in ruins; she is a dry wasteland where no one lives or even passes by. 44 And I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon, and make him vomit up all he has eaten. The nations will no longer come and worship him. The wall of Babylon has fallen! 45 "Come out, my people, flee from Babylon. Save yourselves! Run from the Lord 's fierce anger. 46 But do not panic; don't be afraid when you hear the first rumor of approaching forces. For rumors will keep coming year by year. Violence will erupt in the land as the leaders fight against each other. 47 For the time is surely coming when I will punish this great city and all her idols. Her whole land will be disgraced, and her dead will lie in the streets. 48 Then the heavens and earth will rejoice, for out of the north will come destroying armies against Babylon," says the Lord . 49 "Just as Babylon killed the people of Israel and others throughout the world, so must her people be killed. 50 Get out, all you who have escaped the sword! Do not stand and watch-flee while you can! Remember the Lord, though you are in a far-off land, and think about your home in Jerusalem." 51 "We are ashamed," the people say. "We are insulted and disgraced because the Lord 's Temple has been defiled by foreigners." 52 "Yes," says the Lord, "but the time is coming when I will destroy Babylon's idols. The groans of her wounded people will be heard throughout the land. 53 Though Babylon reaches as high as the heavens and makes her fortifications incredibly strong, I will still send enemies to plunder her. I, the Lord, have spoken! 54 "Listen! Hear the cry of Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians. 55 For the Lord is destroying Babylon. He will silence her loud voice. Waves of enemies pound against her; the noise of battle rings through the city. 56 Destroying armies come against Babylon. Her mighty men are captured, and their weapons break in their hands. For the Lord is a God who gives just punishment; he always repays in full. 57 I will make her officials and wise men drunk, along with her captains, officers, and warriors. They will fall asleep and never wake up again!" says the King, whose name is the Lord of Heaven's Armies. 58 This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says: "The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground, and her massive gates will be burned. The builders from many lands have worked in vain, for their work will be destroyed by fire!"
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 51:1-58
Commentary on Jeremiah 51:1-58
(Read Jeremiah 51:1-58)
The particulars of this prophecy are dispersed and interwoven, and the same things left and returned to again. Babylon is abundant in treasures, yet neither her waters nor her wealth shall secure her. Destruction comes when they did not think of it. Wherever we are, in the greatest depths, at the greatest distances, we are to remember the Lord our God; and in the times of the greatest fears and hopes, it is most needful to remember the Lord. The feeling excited by Babylon's fall is the same with the New Testament Babylon, Revelation 18:9,19. The ruin of all who support idolatry, infidelity, and superstition, is needful for the revival of true godliness; and the threatening prophecies of Scripture yield comfort in this view. The great seat of antichristian tyranny, idolatry, and superstition, the persecutor of true Christians, is as certainly doomed to destruction as ancient Babylon. Then will vast multitudes mourn for sin, and seek the Lord. Then will the lost sheep of the house of Israel be brought back to the fold of the good Shepherd, and stray no more. And the exact fulfilment of these ancient prophecies encourages us to faith in all the promises and prophecies of the sacred Scriptures.