Jeremiah 50:38
New International Version
A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror.

New Living Translation
A drought will strike her water supply, causing it to dry up. And why? Because the whole land is filled with idols, and the people are madly in love with them.

English Standard Version
A drought against her waters, that they may be dried up! For it is a land of images, and they are mad over idols.

Berean Standard Bible
A drought is upon her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and the people go mad over idols.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, And they are insane with their idols.

New American Standard Bible
“A drought on her waters, and they will be dried up! For it is a land of idols, And they go insane at frightful images.

NASB 1995
“A drought on her waters, and they will be dried up! For it is a land of idols, And they are mad over fearsome idols.

NASB 1977
“A drought on her waters, and they will be dried up! For it is a land of idols, And they are mad over fearsome idols.

Legacy Standard Bible
A drought on her waters, and they will be dried up! For it is a land of graven images, And they are mad over terrifying idols.

Amplified Bible
“A drought on her waters, and they will dry up! For it is a land of [worthless] idols, And they are mad over fearsome idols [those objects of terror in which they foolishly trust].

Christian Standard Bible
A drought will come on her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of carved images, and they go mad because of terrifying things.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
A drought will come on her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of carved images, and they go mad because of terrifying things.

American Standard Version
A 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.

Contemporary English Version
Your rivers and canals will dry up. All of this will happen, because your land is full of idols, and they have made fools of you.

English Revised Version
A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up: for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad upon idols.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
A drought will diminish their water supply, and it will dry up. Babylon is a land of idols, statues that will go crazy with fear.

Good News Translation
Bring a drought on its land and dry up its rivers. Babylonia is a land of terrifying idols that have made fools of the people.

International Standard Version
A drought against her waters. They'll dry up. For it's a land of idols, and they go mad over their terrifying images.

Majority Standard Bible
A drought is upon her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and the people go mad over idols.

NET Bible
A drought will come upon her land; her rivers and canals will be dried up. All of this will happen because her land is filled with idols. Her people act like madmen because of those idols they fear.

New Heart English Bible
A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they glory over idols.

Webster's Bible Translation
A drouth 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.

World English Bible
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.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
A sword [is] on her waters, and they have been dried up, "" For it [is] a land of carved images, "" And they boast themselves in idols.

Young's Literal Translation
A sword is on her waters, and they have been dried up, For it is a land of graven images, And in idols they do boast themselves.

Smith's Literal Translation
A sword upon her waters, and they shall be dried up: for it is a land of carved images, and in their terrors they will be foolish.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
A drought upon her waters, and they shall be dried up: because it is a land of idols, and they glory in monstrous things.

Catholic Public Domain Version
A drought is over her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and they glory in portents.

New American Bible
A drought upon the waters, and they dry up! For it is a land of idols, soon made frantic by phantoms.

New Revised Standard Version
A drought against her waters, that they may be dried up! For it is a land of images, and they go mad over idols.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; for she is the land of the makers of images, who boast in their idols.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
A sword on her waters, and they shall dry up, because it is a land of carvers of images, and they boast in idols
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; For it is a land of graven images, And they are mad upon things of horror.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
and they shall be ashamed: for it is a land of graven images; and in the islands, where they boasted.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Destruction of Babylon
37A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered. 38A drought is upon her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and the people go mad over idols. 39So the desert creatures and hyenas will live there and ostriches will dwell there. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.…

Cross References
Revelation 17:1-2
Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. / The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”

Isaiah 44:27
who says to the depths of the sea, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your currents,’

Revelation 18:2-3
And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable beast. / All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury.”

Isaiah 47:9-11
These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells. / You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’ / But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.

Nahum 3:4
because of the many harlotries of the harlot, the seductive mistress of sorcery, who betrays nations by her prostitution and clans by her witchcraft.

Isaiah 21:9
Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”

Revelation 14:8
Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”

Isaiah 46:1-2
Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal. / The gods cower; they crouch together, unable to relieve the burden; but they themselves go into captivity.

Revelation 18:23
The light of a lamp will never shine in you again, and the voices of a bride and bridegroom will never call out in you again. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.”

Isaiah 13:19-22
And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. / She will never be inhabited or settled from generation to generation; no nomad will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flock there. / But desert creatures will lie down there, and howling creatures will fill her houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will leap about. ...

Revelation 17:5
And on her forehead a mysterious name was written: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Isaiah 19:5-10
The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty. / The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither. / The bulrushes by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the fields sown along the Nile, will wither, blow away, and be no more. ...

Revelation 18:21
Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be cast down, never to be seen again.

Isaiah 14:22-23
“I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will cut off from Babylon her name and her remnant, her offspring and her posterity,” declares the LORD. / “I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of Hosts.

Revelation 17:15
Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.


Treasury of Scripture

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

A drought

Jeremiah 50:12
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.

Jeremiah 51:32-36
And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted…

Isaiah 44:27
That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

the land

Jeremiah 50:2
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.

Jeremiah 51:44,47,52
And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall…

Isaiah 46:1-7
Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast

mad

Jeremiah 51:7
Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

Isaiah 44:25
That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

Acts 17:16
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

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Jeremiah 50
1. The judgment of Babylon and the redemption of Israel














A drought is upon her waters
The phrase "A drought is upon her waters" signifies a divine judgment that is both literal and symbolic. In the Hebrew context, the word for "drought" (צָחֳרָה, tsachorah) can also imply dryness or desolation. Historically, Babylon was known for its intricate system of canals and reliance on the Euphrates River. A drought would have been catastrophic, symbolizing God's power over nature and His ability to disrupt the very lifeline of a nation. Spiritually, water often represents life and blessing, so a drought indicates a withdrawal of divine favor.

and they will be dried up
The continuation "and they will be dried up" emphasizes the totality of the judgment. The Hebrew root יָבֵשׁ (yabesh) means to be dry or withered, suggesting a complete cessation of vitality. This drying up is not just a physical phenomenon but also a metaphor for the spiritual barrenness that results from idolatry. In a broader biblical context, this reflects the principle that turning away from God leads to spiritual desolation.

For it is a land of idols
The phrase "For it is a land of idols" identifies the root cause of the judgment. The Hebrew word for idols, אֱלִילִים (elilim), often denotes worthless or vain things. Babylon was infamous for its pantheon of gods and the pervasive idol worship that permeated its culture. This idolatry is seen as a direct affront to the sovereignty of the one true God, who demands exclusive worship. The land's identity is intertwined with its idols, highlighting the depth of its spiritual corruption.

and they go mad over their idols
Finally, "and they go mad over their idols" describes the irrational devotion and frenzy associated with idol worship. The Hebrew verb הָלַל (halal) in this context can mean to boast or to act foolishly. This madness is a spiritual blindness, a delusion that leads people away from truth and into chaos. The Bible consistently portrays idolatry as a form of spiritual insanity, where people exchange the glory of God for lifeless images. This madness is both a cause and a consequence of the spiritual drought that afflicts the land.

(38) A drought is upon her waters.--Better, A sword. The Hebrew word for "drought" has the same consonants as that for "sword," with different vowel-points. In the original text the form of the two words must have been identical, as the vowel-points were of later introduction. The editors of the present text were probably guided by the thought that the context in this case determined the meaning of the word as meaning "drought," and not a "sword." So in Deuteronomy 28:22 the text of the Authorised version gives "sword," and the margin "drought." There is, however, a certain loss of rhetorical emphasis in the change of the word with which the three previous verses had begun. The "waters" include the canals of Babylon as well as the Euphrates.

They are mad upon their idols.--The word for "idols" means literally "terrors," or "objects of terror," as in Psalm 88:16; Job 20:25, and this is the only place in which it is used of the objects of worship. In Genesis 14:5; Deuteronomy 2:10-11 it appears as the name of the Emim, probably as meaning "the terrible, or gigantic ones." Here it seems used for the colossal figures--winged bulls, human-headed lions, and the like--which were the objects of Babylonian worship. (See note on Jeremiah 49:16.) . . .

Verse 38. - A drought. The Maasoretic critics, in their prosaic realism, were unable to see how a "sword" could be "upon the waters;" hence they altered khereb into khoreb. But the sword is merely a symbol of the Divine vengeance, and may be interpreted differently according to the exigencies of the context. Render, Sword upon the waters. They are mad upon their idols; rather, through Terrors they befool themselves. "Terrors" is a synonym for the gods of the heathen, which inspired a feeling of awe rather than affection, unlike Jehovah as he revealed himself through the authors of the psalms and prophecies.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
A drought
חֹ֥רֶב (ḥō·reḇ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2721: Dryness, drought, heat

[is] upon
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

her waters,
מֵימֶ֖יהָ (mê·me·hā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

and they will be dried up.
וְיָבֵ֑שׁוּ (wə·yā·ḇê·šū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 3001: To be ashamed, confused, disappointed, to dry up, wither

For
כִּ֣י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

it
הִ֔יא (hî)
Pronoun - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

is a land
אֶ֤רֶץ (’e·reṣ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 776: Earth, land

of graven images,
פְּסִלִים֙ (pə·si·lîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6456: An idol, image

and [the people] go mad
וּבָאֵימִ֖ים (ū·ḇā·’ê·mîm)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 367: Fright, an idol

over idols.
יִתְהֹלָֽלוּ׃ (yiṯ·hō·lā·lū)
Verb - Hitpael - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 1984: To shine


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 50:38 A drought is on her waters (Jer.)
Jeremiah 50:37
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