The Book of Jeremiah
50: 1The word that Jehovah spake concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the
Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet. 50:2Declare ye among the nations and publish,
and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put
to shame, Merodach is dismayed; her images are put to shame, her idols are
dismayed. 50:3For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall
make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone,
both man and beast. 50:4In those days, and in that time, saith Jehovah, the children
of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on
their way weeping, and shall seek Jehovah their God. 50:5They shall inquire
concerning Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come ye, and join
yourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten. 50:6My
people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they
have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill;
they have forgotten their resting-place. 50:7All that found them have devoured
them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned
against Jehovah, the habitation of righteousness, even Jehovah, the hope of their
fathers. 50:8Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the
Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks. 50:9For, lo, I will stir up and
cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north
country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall
be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in
vain. 50:10And Chaldea shall be a prey: all that prey upon her shall be satisfied, saith
Jehovah. 50:11Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye that plunder my
heritage, because ye are wanton as a heifer that treadeth out the grain, and neigh
as strong horses; 50:12your mother shall be utterly put to shame; she that bare you
shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a
wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. 50:13Because of the wrath of Jehovah she shall
not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by
Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. 50:14Set yourselves in array
against Babylon round about, all ye that bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no
arrows: for she hath sinned against Jehovah. 50:15Shout against her round about: she
hath submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it
is the vengeance of Jehovah: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto
her. 50:16Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the
time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his
people, and they shall flee every one to his own land. 50:17Israel is a hunted sheep;
the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now
at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. 50:18Therefore thus
saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of
Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 50:19And I will bring
Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul
shall be satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. 50:20In those days, and in
that time, saith Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall
be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them
whom I leave as a remnant. 50:21Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against
it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: slay and utterly destroy after them, saith
Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. 50:22A sound of battle
is in the land, and of great destruction. 50:23How is the hammer of the whole earth
cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
50:24I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast
not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against
Jehovah. 50:25Jehovah hath opened his armory, and hath brought forth the weapons
of his indignation; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a work to do in the land of
the Chaldeans. 50:26Come against her from the utmost border; open her
store-houses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be
left. 50:27Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them!
for their day is come, the time of their visitation. 50:28The voice of them that flee
and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of
Jehovah our God, the vengeance of his temple. 50:29Call together the archers against
Babylon, all them that bend the bow; encamp against her round about; let none
thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she
hath done, do unto her; for she hath been proud against Jehovah, against the Holy
One of Israel. 50:30Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men
of war shall be brought to silence in that day, saith Jehovah. 50:31Behold, I am
against thee, O thou proud one, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts; for thy day is
come, the time that I will visit thee. 50:32And the proud one shall stumble and fall,
and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall
devour all that are round about him. 50:33Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The children
of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all that took them
captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go. 50:34Their Redeemer is strong;
Jehovah of hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may
give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. 50:35A sword is upon
the Chaldeans, saith Jehovah, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her
princes, and upon her wise men. 50:36A sword is upon the boasters, and they shall
become fools; a sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed. 50:37A
sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled
people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is
upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed. 50:38A drought is upon her waters, and
they shall be dried up; for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad over
idols. 50:39Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there,
and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever;
neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. 50:40As when God
overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith Jehovah,
so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.
50:41Behold, a people cometh from the north; and a great nation and many kings
shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. 50:42They lay hold on bow
and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and
they ride upon horses, every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee,
O daughter of Babylon. 50:43The king of Babylon hath heard the tidings of them,
and his hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of him, and pangs as of a
woman in travail. 50:44Behold, the enemy shall come up like a lion from the pride of
the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away
from it; and whoso is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and
who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd that can stand before me?
50:45Therefore hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, that he hath taken against Babylon;
and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely
they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make
their habitation desolate over them. 50:46At the noise of the taking of Babylon the
earth trembleth, and the cry is heard among the nations.