Chapter 50
1 The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans , by Jeremiah the prophet .
2 " Declare among the nations and publish , and set up a standard ; publish , and don’t conceal ; say, ‘Babylon has been taken , Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed ! Her images are disappointed. Her idols are dismayed .’
3 For a nation comes up out of the north against her , which will make her land desolate , and no one will dwell in it . They have fled . They are gone , both man and animal .
4 " In those days , and in that time ," says Yahweh , " the children of Israel will come , they and the children of Judah together ; they will go on their way weeping , and will seek Yahweh their God .
5 They will inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it , saying, ‘Come, and join yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten .’
6 My 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 .
7 All who found them have devoured them . Their adversaries said, ‘ We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh , the habitation of righteousness , even Yahweh , the hope of their fathers.’
8 " Flee out of the middle of Babylon! Go out of the land of the Chaldeans , and be as the male goats before the flocks .
9 For , behold , I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they will set themselves in array against her . She will be taken from there . Their arrows will be as of an expert mighty man . None of them will return in vain .
10 Chaldea will be a prey . All who prey on her will be satisfied ," says Yahweh .
11 " Because you are glad , because you rejoice , O you who plunder my heritage , because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses,
12 your mother will be utterly disappointed. She who bore you will be confounded . Behold , she will be the least of the nations , a wilderness , a dry land , and a desert .
13 Because of Yahweh ’s wrath she won’t be inhabited , but she will be wholly desolate . Everyone who goes by Babylon will be astonished , and hiss at all her plagues .
14 Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around , all you who bend the bow ; shoot at her . Spare no arrows , for she has sinned against Yahweh .
15 Shout against her all around . She has submitted herself . Her bulwarks have fallen . Her walls have been thrown down , for it is the vengeance of Yahweh . Take vengeance on her . As she has done , do to her .
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest . For fear of the oppressing sword , they will each return to their own people , and they will each flee to their own land .
17 " Israel is a hunted sheep . The lions have driven him away . First , the king of Assyria devoured him , and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones ."
18 Therefore Yahweh of Armies , the God of Israel , says : " Behold , I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19 I will bring Israel again to his pasture , and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan . His soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead .
20 In those days , and in that time ," says Yahweh , " the iniquity of Israel will be sought for , and there will be none , also the sins of Judah , and they won’t be found ; for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant .
21 " Go up against the land of Merathaim , even against it , and against the inhabitants of Pekod . Kill and utterly destroy after them ," says Yahweh , " and do according to all that I have commanded you .
22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction .
23 How the hammer of the whole earth is cut apart and broken ! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations !
24 I have laid a snare for you , and you are also taken , Babylon, and you weren’t aware . You are found , and also caught , because you have fought against Yahweh .
25 Yahweh has opened his armory , and has brought out the weapons of his indignation ; for the Lord , Yahweh of Armies , has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans .
26 Come against her from the farthest border . Open her storehouses . Cast her up as heaps . Destroy her utterly . Let nothing of her be left .
27 Kill all her bulls . Let them go down to the slaughter . Woe to them ! For their day has come , the time of their visitation .
28 Listen to those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God , the vengeance of his temple .
29 " Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow . Encamp against her all around . Let none of it escape . Pay her back according to her work . According to all that she has done , do to her ; for she has been proud against Yahweh , against the Holy One of Israel .
30 Therefore her young men will fall in her streets . All her men of war will be brought to silence in that day ," says Yahweh .
31 " Behold , I am against you , you proud one ," says the Lord , Yahweh of Armies ; " for your day has come , the time that I will visit you .
32 The proud one will stumble and fall , and no one will raise him up . I will kindle a fire in his cities , and it will devour all who are around him ."
33 Yahweh of Armies says : " The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together . All who took them captive hold them fast . They refuse to let them go .
34 Their Redeemer is strong . Yahweh of Armies is his name . He will thoroughly plead their cause , that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 " A sword is on the Chaldeans ," says Yahweh , " and on the inhabitants of Babylon, on her princes , and on her wise men .
36 A sword is on the boasters, and they will become fools . A sword is on her mighty men , and they will be dismayed .
37 A sword is on their horses , on their chariots , and on all the mixed people who are in the middle of her ; and they will become as women. A sword is on her treasures, and they will be robbed.
38 A drought is on her waters , and they will be dried up ; for it is a land of engraved images , and they are mad over idols .
39 Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves will dwell there . The ostriches will dwell therein . It will be inhabited no more forever , neither will it be lived in from generation to generation .
40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities," says Yahweh , " so no man will dwell there , neither will any son of man live therein .
41 " Behold , a people comes from the north . A great nation and many kings will be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
42 They take up bow and spear . They are cruel, and have no mercy . Their voice roars like the sea . They ride on horses , everyone set in array , as a man to the battle , against you , daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard the news of them , and his hands become feeble . Anguish has taken hold of him , pains as of a woman in labor .
44 Behold , the enemy will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against the strong habitation ; for I will suddenly make them run away from it . Whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it , for who is like me ? Who will appoint me a time ? Who is the shepherd who can stand before me ?"
45 Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans : Surely they will drag them away , even the little ones of the flock . Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them .
46 The earth trembles at the noise of the taking of Babylon. The cry is heard among the nations .