Jeremiah, 50

1. The word that Yahweh spoke against Babylon, against the country of the Chaldaeans, through the prophet Jeremiah.

1. The word that the LORD spake against Babylon [and] against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.

2. Announce it to the nations, proclaim it, hoist a signal and proclaim it, making no secret of it, say, 'Babylon is captured, Bel disgraced, Marduk shattered. (Her idols are disgraced, her Obscenities shattered.)'

2. Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, [and] conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.

3. For a nation is marching on her from the north, to turn her country into a desert: no one will live there any more; human and animal have fled and gone.

3. For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.

4. In those days and at that time the people of Israel will return (they and the people of Judah); they will come weeping in search of Yahweh their God.

4. In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.

5. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces towards her, 'Come, let us bind ourselves to Yahweh by an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten!'

5. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, [saying], Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant [that] shall not be forgotten.

6. Lost sheep, such were my people; their shepherds led them astray, the mountains misled them; from mountain to hill they went, forgetful of their fold.

6. My people hath 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 restingplace.

7. Whoever came across them devoured them, their enemies said, 'We are not to blame, since they have sinned against Yahweh, the Home of Justice, against Yahweh, the Hope of their ancestors.'

7. All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.

8. Escape from Babylon, leave the country of the Chaldaeans. Be like he-goats, leading the sheep!

8. Remove 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.

9. For look, I shall raise a league of mighty nations to attack Babylon, from the land of the north. They will take up position against her; by them she will be taken. Their arrows, like an experienced soldier's, never return in vain.

9. For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly 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 a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.

10. Chaldaea will be plundered, all her plunderers will be satisfied, Yahweh declares.

10. And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD.

11. Rejoice! Have your triumph, you plunderers of my heritage! Be playful like a heifer let out to grass! Neigh like stallions!

11. Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;

12. But your mother is covered with shame, disgraced is the woman who bore you; she is the least of nations now; a desert, a parched land, a wasteland.

12. Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations [shall be] a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

13. Because of Yahweh's anger, no one will live there any more, she will become a total solitude. All who pass by Babylon will be appalled and whistle at the sight of all her wounds.

13. Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.

14. Take position against Babylon, surround her, all you who bend the bow. Shoot at her! Do not spare your arrows, for she has sinned against Yahweh!

14. Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.

15. Raise the war cry against her from all sides. She surrenders! Her bastions fall! Her walls collapse! This is Yahweh's vengeance! Take revenge on her. Treat her as she has treated others.

15. Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it [is] the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.

16. Deprive Babylon of the man who sows, of the man who wields the sickle at harvest. Away from the devastating sword, let everyone return to his own people, let everyone flee to his own country!

16. Cut 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.

17. Israel was a straying sheep pursued by lions. First, the king of Assyria devoured him, and latterly Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon crunched his bones.

17. Israel [is] a scattered sheep; the lions have driven [him] away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.

18. So Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, says this: Look, I shall punish the king of Babylon and his country as I punished the king of Assyria.

18. Therefore thus saith the LORD 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.

19. I will bring Israel back to his pastures to browse on Carmel and in Bashan, on the highlands of Ephraim and in Gilead, and he will be satisfied.

19. And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.

20. In those days and at that time, Yahweh declares, you may look for Israel's guilt, it will not be there, for Judah's sins, you will not find them, for I shall pardon the remnant that I leave.

20. In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, 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 reserve.

21. March on the country of Merathaim, march on it and on the inhabitants of Pekod; slaughter and curse with destruction every last one of them, Yahweh declares, carry out my orders to the letter!

21. Go up against the land of Merathaim, [even] against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

22. The din of battle fills the country, immense destruction.

22. A sound of battle [is] in the land, and of great destruction.

23. How utterly shattered that hammer of the whole world! What a thing of horror Babylon has become throughout the nations!

23. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

24. I set a snare for you, Babylon; you were caught before you knew it. You have been found and overpowered for having defied Yahweh.

24. I 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 the LORD.

25. Yahweh has opened his armoury and taken out the weapons of his fury. For Lord Yahweh Sabaoth has work to do in the country of the Chaldaeans.

25. The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this [is] the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

26. Fall on her from every side, open her granaries, pile her in heaps, curse her with destruction, until nothing is left of her.

26. Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.

27. Slaughter all her bulls, down to the slaughterhouse with them! Disaster on them, their day has come, their time for being punished.

27. Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.

28. Listen! Fugitives and runaways from the country of Babylon arrive in Zion and proclaim the revenge of Yahweh our God, revenge for his Temple!

28. The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.

29. Call up the archers against Babylon! All you who bend the bow, invest her on all sides, leave her no way of escape. Repay her as her deeds deserve; treat her as she has treated others, for she was arrogant to Yahweh, to the Holy One of Israel.

29. Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it 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 the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.

30. And so in her squares her young men will fall, and all her fighting men will perish, that day, Yahweh declares.

30. Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD.

31. My quarrel is with you, 'Arrogance!' Lord Yahweh Sabaoth declares, your day has come, the time for me to punish you.

31. Behold, I [am] against thee, [O thou] most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time [that] I will visit thee.

32. 'Arrogance' will stumble, she will fall, no one will lift her up: I shall set fire to her towns and it will devour all around it.

32. And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.

33. Yahweh Sabaoth says this: The people of Israel are oppressed (and the people of Judah too), all their captors hold them fast, they will not let them go.

33. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah [were] oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.

34. But their redeemer is strong: Yahweh Sabaoth is his name. He will take up their cause, to give our country rest but make the inhabitants of Babylon tremble.

34. Their Redeemer [is] strong; the LORD of hosts [is] his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

35. A sword against the Chaldaeans, Yahweh declares, against the inhabitants of Babylon, against her princes and her sages!

35. A sword [is] upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise [men].

36. A sword against her diviners: may they lose their wits! A sword against her warriors: may they panic!

36. A sword [is] upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword [is] upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.

37. A sword against her horses, her chariots and the conglomeration of people inside her: may they be like women! A sword against her treasures: may they be plundered!

37. A 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.

38. Drought on her waters: may they dry up! For it is a country of idols, and they are mad about those bogeys of theirs!

38. A drought [is] upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it [is] the land of graven images, and they are mad upon [their] idols.

39. Hence wild cats and jackals will live there, and ostriches make their home there. She will never again be inhabited, for ever, but remain uninhabited age after age.

39. Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell [there], and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.

40. As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and their neighbouring towns, Yahweh declares, no one will live there any more, no human being settle there again.

40. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour [cities] thereof, saith the LORD; [so] shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

41. Look, a people is coming from the north, a mighty nation; from the far ends of the earth many kings are stirring.

41. Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

42. They are armed with bow and spear, they are cruel and pitiless; their noise is like the roaring of the sea; they ride horses, ready as one man to fight you, daughter of Babylon!

42. They shall hold the bow and the lance: they [are] cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, [every one] put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

43. The king of Babylon has heard the news, his hands fall limp, anguish has seized him, pain like that of a woman in labour.

43. The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail.

44. Look, like a lion he climbs the thickets of the Jordan to the perennial pasture! In a flash I shall make them run away and there appoint someone I shall choose. For who is there like me? Who can hale me into court? Name me the shepherd who can stand up to me.

44. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who [is] a chosen [man, that] I may appoint over her? for who [is] like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who [is] that shepherd that will stand before me?

45. So now hear the plan that Yahweh has laid against Babylon, the schemes he has in mind against the country of the Chaldaeans: they will certainly be dragged away like the smallest in the flock! Their pastures will certainly be sacked before their eyes!

45. Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make [their] habitation desolate with them.

46. The earth quakes at the sound of Babylon's capture, and the shouting echoes through the nations.

46. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.