Jeremiah 50

1 The word that YHWH spoke concerning Babylon [and] concerning the land of the Chaldeans by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.

2 “Declare [it] among the nations, and make [it] heard, and lift up a signal; make [it] heard, [and do] not hide [it]! Say, ‘Is taken Babylon, is put to shame Bel, is dismayed Merodach; are put to shame her idols, are dismayed her images!’

3 For a nation from the north has come up against her, [and] it will set her land as a desolation, and there will be no one dwelling in her, from man even to beast—they will wander off; they will depart.”

4 “In those days and at that time,” a declaration of YHWH, “will come the sons of Israel, they and the sons of Judah together; going on and weeping they will come, and YHWH their God they will seek.

5 They will ask the way [to] Zion, with their faces toward it: Come and let us join ourselves to YHWH [in] a covenant forever that will not be forgotten.

6 My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, [in] the mountains they have turned them away. From mountain to hill they have gone; they have forgotten their resting place.

7 All those finding them have devoured them, and their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty, upon that they have sinned against YHWH, the habitation of righteousness, and the hope of their fathers—YHWH.’

8 Wander off from the midst of Babylon, from the land of the Chaldeans; go forth and become like rams before the faces of the flock.

9 For behold, I am rousing and making come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north, and they will array themselves against her. From there she will be captured. Their arrows [are] like those of a skilled warrior; not one will return empty.

10 Chaldea will become as plunder; all those plundering her will be satisfied,” a declaration of YHWH.

11 “Though you⁺ are glad, though you⁺ rejoice, O spoilers of My heritage, though you⁺ leap like a heifer treading, and bellow like mighty ones,

12 your⁺ mother will be greatly ashamed, she who bore you⁺ will be disgraced. Behold, the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

13 From the wrath of YHWH, she will not be inhabited, and she will become a desolation completely; all passing by Babylon will be horrified, and will hiss at all her wounds.

14 Array yourselves against Babylon all around, all those bending the bow! Shoot at her, do not be sparing with the arrows, for against YHWH she has sinned!

15 Shout against her all around! She has given her hand; her foundations have fallen; her walls are thrown down. For it [is] the vengeance of YHWH—take vengeance on her! As she has done, do to her!

16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the handler of the sickle in the time of harvest; before the face of the oppressing sword, everyone to his people, will turn everyone to his land and will flee.

17 Like a flock scattered [is] Israel, the lions have driven away: The first [who] devoured him [was] the king of Assyria, and this last one to crush his bones [is] Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”

18 Therefore, thus says YHWH of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I am going to visit punishment against the king of Babylon and against his land, as I visited punishment against the king of Assyria.

19 And I will return Israel to his pasture, and he will graze [on] Carmel and Bashan, and in the hill country of Ephraim and [in] Gilead his soul will be satisfied.

20 In those days and at that time,” a declaration of YHWH, “the iniquity of Israel will be sought, and it is not, and the sins of Judah, and they will not be found; for I will grant forgiveness to those whom I leave as a remnant.

21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it and against those dwelling in Pekod! Slay and devote them to destruction,” a declaration of YHWH, “and do according to all that I have commanded you.”

22 “The voice of battle [is] in the land, and of great destruction!

23 How has been cut down and broken the hammer of all the earth! How Babylon has become as a desolation among the nations!

24 I laid a snare for you, and indeed you have been captured, O Babylon, and you did not know [it]; you were found, and also were caught, because against YHWH you have stirred up yourself!

25 YHWH has opened His storehouse, and has brought out the weapons of His anger, for there [is] a work unto the Lord YHWH of the Armies in the land of the Chaldeans!

26 Come against her from the extremity! Open her granaries, [and] pile her up like heaps, and devote her to destruction! Do not let there be unto her a remnant!

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

28 The voice of those fleeing and escaping from the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of YHWH our God, the vengeance for His temple.

29 Call together against Babylon the archers, all those bending the bow: Encamp against her all around—do not let there be one escaping! Repay to her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her! For against YHWH she has seethed, against the Holy One of Israel.

30 Therefore her young men will fall in the streets, and all [her] men of war will be cut off on that day!” A declaration of YHWH.

31 “Behold, I [am] against you, O arrogant one,” a declaration of the Lord YHWH of Hosts. “For your day has come, the time [that] I will visit punishment on you!

32 And the arrogant one will stumble and will fall, and there will not be for him one to raise [him] up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour all around him!”

33 Thus says YHWH of Hosts: “The sons of Israel are oppressed and the sons of Judah together; all [who] took them captive have held firmly to them; they have refused to send them away.

34 Their Redeemer [is] strong—YHWH of Hosts [is] His name! He will fervently plead their case, so as to give rest [to] the land, and to bring trembling to those dwelling in Babylon.

35 A sword [is] upon the Chaldeans,” a declaration of YHWH, “and against those dwelling in Babylon, and against her princes, and against her wise men!

36 A sword [is] against the diviners, that they should become fools! A sword [is] against her mighty ones, that they should be dismayed!

37 A sword [is] against their horses, and against their chariots, and against all the mixture who [are] in her midst, that they should become as women! A sword [is] against her treasures, that they should be plundered!

38 A drought [is] against her waters, that they should be dried up! For it [is] a land of graven images, and over idols they go mad!

39 Therefore the desert creatures will dwell there with the jackals, and in it the daughters of the ostrich will dwell; it will be a habitation no more forever, and it will not be a dwelling place unto generation and generation.

40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors,” a declaration of YHWH, “no man will dwell there, and no a son of man will reside in it.

41 Behold! A people is coming from the north, a great nation, and many kings will be roused from the ends of the earth!

42 The bow and the spear they hold firm; they [are] cruel and they do not have compassion. Their voice roars like the sea, and on horses they are riding, being arrayed like a man for the battle against you, O daughter of Babylon!

43 The king of Babylon has heard the report of them, and his hands hang limp; distress has taken hold of him, writhing like that of a woman in labor.

44 Behold, like a lion [that] comes up from the height of the Jordan against an enduring habitation, so I will act in an instant and will make them run away from her. And who [is] the chosen one over her I will appoint, for who [is] like Me? And who will arraign Me? And who [is] this shepherd who can stand before My face?

45 Therefore, hear the counsel of YHWH that He has counseled against Babylon, and His plans that He has planned against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely not will they drag them out, the least of the flock? Surely not will He make their dwelling place desolate over them?

46 From the sound of Babylon being captured, the earth is shaken, and the outcry among the nations is heard.