Jeremiah, 50

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

1. This is the word Yahweh spoke against Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans, through the prophet Jeremiah:

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.

2. "Do not hide this, but announce among the nations that Babylon is taken, Bel confounded, Merodach dismayed; her images are put to shame, her idols destroyed.

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.

3. A people from the north marches against her, set to turn her into a wasteland abandoned by both man and beast.

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.

4. In those days - declares Yahweh - the people of Israel and Judah will come in tears to seek their God Yahweh.

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.

5. Their faces turned toward Zion, they will ask the way to it. They will come and say, 'Let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten.'

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.

6. My people were lost sheep misled by their shepherds and left to roam on the mountains. They wandered from hill to hill and lost the way to their fold.

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.

7. They were devoured by enemies who chanced upon them and said, 'We have no guilt. This is their due for they sinned against Yahweh, their true shepherd and hope of their fathers.'

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.

8. Flee from Babylon, leave the land of the Chaldeans, be like the rams that lead the flock!

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.

9. For I will stir up nations from the north to march against Babylon. Their arrows are like those of skilled warriors, that never return empty-handed; and Babylon will be captured.

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

10. Chaldea will be plundered, and the plunderers will be filled.

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;

11. Rejoice as long as you can, you plunderers of my inheritance! Frolic like heifers threshing grain, and neigh like stallions!

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.

12. But your mother will be disgraced; she will be the least of the nations, laid waste and a desert.

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.

13. Yahweh's fury will leave her desolate, an empty solitude, uninhabited. Every passerby will be horrified at the sight of the wounds of Babylon.

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.

14. Take your posts around the city, all you who bend the bow. Shoot at her, spare no arrows, for great is her iniquity.

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.

15. Raise the war cry! Now she surrenders! Her walls are torn down, her towers fallen. Since this is Yahweh's vengeance, take revenge on her; do to her as she has done to others.

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.

16. Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the reaper with his sickle at harvest time. Escape from the oppressor's sword; let everyone return to his own people, let everyone flee to his own land.

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.

17. Israel was a straying sheep which lions pursued. First to devour her was the Assyrian; and the last to crush her bones was Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

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.

18. Therefore Yahweh, God of Israel, says: I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as once I punished the king of Assyria.

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.

19. But I will return Israel to her fold, to feed on Bashan and Carmel and on Mount Ephraim and Gilead, till she has her fill.

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.

20. In those days, Yahweh says, a search will be made for Israel's guilt, but none will be found, and for the sins of Judah, and none will be found; for I will forgive the remnant whose lives I have spared.

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.

21. Attack the land of Merathaim, and those who live in Pekod; pursue and kill them, says Yahweh; do all as I have commanded.

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

22. Battle alarm is in the land, the alarm of great destruction.

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

23. How broken and shattered is the hammer of the whole earth! How horrifying has Babylon become among the nations!

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.

24. You ensnared yourself, O Babylon, and were caught before you knew it; you were found out and seized because you challenged Yahweh.

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.

25. Yahweh has opened his armory, brought out the arms of his fury, for Yahweh Sabaoth has work to do in the land of Chaldea.

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.

26. Come against her from every side; break open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain, destroy her, leaving no remnant.

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.

27. Slay all her oxen, down to the slaughterhouse with them! Woe to them! Their day has come, the time for their chastisement.

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.

28. Listen! Fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon have come to announce in Zion Yahweh's vengeance for his temple.

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.

29. Surround Babylon with archers, and leave her no way of escape. Repay her as her deeds deserve; do to her as she has done to others. Give her the due for her defiance of Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.

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.

30. That day her warriors and young men as well will fall and lie in silence.

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.

31. I am against you, arrogant one! It is Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks - the time to punish you has come.

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.

32. The arrogant one will stumble; no one will help her up. In her towns I will kindle a fire that will consume everything around.

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.

33. Thus says Yahweh Sabaoth: The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well, for their captors hold them fast and refuse to let them go.

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.

34. But strong is their avenger, Yahweh Sabaoth is his name. He will fight for their cause and succeed; he will give them rest in their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.

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].

35. A sword upon the Chaldeans, upon the people of Babylon, her princes and sages!

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

36. A sword upon her false prophets: may they lose their wits! A sword upon her warriors: may they tremble in terror!

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.

37. A sword upon her mercenaries: may they become women! A sword upon her treasures: may they be plundered!

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.

38. A sword upon her waters: may they dry up! For hers is a land of idols that go mad with terrors.

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.

39. So, desert beasts will live there; there will the owl and ostrich dwell. From generation to generation, the land will never be inhabited 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.

40. As when God overturned Sodom and Gomorrah with their neighbors, no man will live there any more, no one will make his home there again.

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.

41. A strong people is coming from the north, a mighty nation. Stirred up from the far ends of the earth

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.

42. are men armed with bows and spears who are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on galloping steeds. They come in battle formation against you, daughter of Babylon.

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.

43. Your king has heard news of them, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, and pain as that of a woman in travail.

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?

44. As a lion comes from the thicket of Jordan to a rich feeding ground, so I, in an instant, will drive them off, and whom I choose I will establish there. For who is like me? And who can call me to account? What shepherd can stand against me?

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.

45. Therefore hear Yahweh's plans against Babylon, against the land of the Chaldeans: they will be dragged away, even the smallest sheep, their pasture will be destroyed on account of them.

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

46. The earth quakes at the cry 'Babylon is captured!' Among the nations the outcry is heard."