| Berean Study Bible | NET Bible |
| 1This is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will stir up against Babylon and against the people of Leb-kamai the spirit of a destroyer. | 1The LORD says, "I will cause a destructive wind to blow against Babylon and the people who inhabit Babylonia. |
| 2I will send strangers to Babylon to winnow her and empty her land; for they will come against her from every side in her day of disaster. | 2I will send people to winnow Babylonia like a wind blowing away chaff. They will winnow her and strip her land bare. This will happen when they come against her from every direction, when it is time to destroy her. |
| 3Do not let the archer bend his bow or put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; devote all her army to destruction! | 3Do not give her archers time to string their bows or to put on their coats of armor. Do not spare any of her young men. Completely destroy her whole army. |
| 4And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and pierced through in her streets. | 4Let them fall slain in the land of Babylonia, mortally wounded in the streets of her cities. |
| 5For Israel and Judah have not been abandoned by their God, the LORD of Hosts, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.” | 5"For Israel and Judah will not be forsaken by their God, the LORD who rules over all. For the land of Babylonia is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. |
| 6Flee from Babylon! Escape with your lives! Do not be destroyed in her punishment. For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves. | 6Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people. Flee to save your lives. Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins. For it is time for the LORD to wreak his revenge. He will pay Babylonia back for what she has done. |
| 7Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad. | 7Babylonia had been a gold cup in the LORD's hand. She had made the whole world drunk. The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath. So they have all gone mad. |
| 8Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been shattered. Wail for her; get her balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed. | 8But suddenly Babylonia will fall and be destroyed. Cry out in mourning over it! Get medicine for her wounds! Perhaps she can be healed! |
| 9“We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Abandon her! Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches to the clouds.” | 9Foreigners living there will say, 'We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed. Let's leave Babylonia and each go back to his own country. For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions. It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.' |
| 10“The LORD has brought forth our vindication; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has accomplished.” | 10The exiles from Judah will say, 'The LORD has brought about a great deliverance for us! Come on, let's go and proclaim in Zion what the LORD our God has done!' |
| 11Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the LORD—vengeance for His temple. | 11"Sharpen your arrows! Fill your quivers! The LORD will arouse a spirit of hostility in the kings of Media. For he intends to destroy Babylonia. For that is how the LORD will get his revenge--how he will get his revenge for the Babylonians' destruction of his temple. |
| 12Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon; post the guard; station the watchmen; prepare the ambush. For the LORD has both devised and accomplished what He spoke against the people of Babylon. | 12Give the signal to attack Babylon's wall! Bring more guards! Post them all around the city! Put men in ambush! For the LORD will do what he has planned. He will do what he said he would do to the people of Babylon. |
| 13You who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come; the thread of your life is cut. | 13"You who live along the rivers of Babylon, the time of your end has come. You who are rich in plundered treasure, it is time for your lives to be cut off. |
| 14The LORD of Hosts has sworn by Himself: “Surely I will fill you up with men as with locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.” | 14The LORD who rules over all has solemnly sworn, 'I will fill your land with enemy soldiers. They will swarm over it like locusts. They will raise up shouts of victory over it.' |
| 15The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. | 15He is the one who by his power made the earth. He is the one who by his wisdom fixed the world in place, by his understanding he spread out the heavens. |
| 16When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses. | 16When his voice thunders, the waters in the heavens roar. He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons. He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain. He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it. |
| 17Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them. | 17All idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols. |
| 18They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish. | 18They are worthless, objects to be ridiculed. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed. |
| 19The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and of the tribe of His inheritance—the LORD of Hosts is His name. | 19The LORD, who is the portion of the descendants of Jacob, is not like them. For he is the one who created everything, including the people of Israel whom he claims as his own. He is known as the LORD who rules over all. |
| 20“You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin. | 20"Babylon, you are my war club, my weapon for battle. I used you to smash nations. I used you to destroy kingdoms. |
| 21With you I shatter the horse and rider; with you I shatter the chariot and driver. | 21I used you to smash horses and their riders. I used you to smash chariots and their drivers. |
| 22With you I shatter man and woman; with you I shatter the old man and the youth; with you I shatter the young man and the maiden. | 22I used you to smash men and women. I used you to smash old men and young men. I used you to smash young men and young women. |
| 23With you I shatter the shepherd and his flock; with you I shatter the farmer and his oxen; with you I shatter the governors and officials. | 23I used you to smash shepherds and their flocks. I used you to smash farmers and their teams of oxen. I used you to smash governors and leaders." |
| 24Before your very eyes I will repay Babylon and all the dwellers of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion,” declares the LORD. | 24"But I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wicked things they did in Zion right before the eyes of you Judeans," says the LORD. |
| 25“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who devastate the whole earth, declares the LORD. I will stretch out My hand against you; I will roll you over the cliffs and turn you into a charred mountain. | 25The LORD says, "Beware! I am opposed to you, Babylon! You are like a destructive mountain that destroys all the earth. I will unleash my power against you; I will roll you off the cliffs and make you like a burned-out mountain. |
| 26No one shall retrieve from you a cornerstone or a foundation stone, because you will become desolate forever,” declares the LORD. | 26No one will use any of your stones as a cornerstone. No one will use any of them in the foundation of his house. For you will lie desolate forever," says the LORD. |
| 27“Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts. | 27"Raise up battle flags throughout the lands. Sound the trumpets calling the nations to do battle. Prepare the nations to do battle against Babylonia. Call for these kingdoms to attack her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander to lead the attack. Send horses against her like a swarm of locusts. |
| 28Prepare the nations for battle against her—the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the lands they rule. | 28Prepare the nations to do battle against her. Prepare the kings of the Medes. Prepare their governors and all their leaders. Prepare all the countries they rule to do battle against her. |
| 29The earth quakes and writhes because the LORD’s intentions against Babylon stand: to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant. | 29The earth will tremble and writhe in agony. For the LORD will carry out his plan. He plans to make the land of Babylonia a wasteland where no one lives. |
| 30The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken. | 30The soldiers of Babylonia will stop fighting. They will remain in their fortified cities. They will lose their strength to do battle. They will be as frightened as women. The houses in her cities will be set on fire. The gates of her cities will be broken down. |
| 31One courier races to meet another, and messenger follows messenger, to announce to the king of Babylon that his city has been captured from end to end. | 31One runner after another will come to the king of Babylon. One messenger after another will come bringing news. They will bring news to the king of Babylon that his whole city has been captured. |
| 32The fords have been seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers are terrified.” | 32They will report that the fords have been captured, the reed marshes have been burned, the soldiers are terrified. |
| 33For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her harvest time will come.” | 33For the LORD God of Israel who rules over all says, 'Fair Babylon will be like a threshing floor which has been trampled flat for harvest. The time for her to be cut down and harvested will come very soon.' |
| 34“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies and vomited me out. | 34"King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon devoured me and drove my people out. Like a monster from the deep he swallowed me. He filled his belly with my riches. He made me an empty dish. He completely cleaned me out." |
| 35May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,” says the dweller of Zion. “May my blood be on the dwellers of Chaldea,” says Jerusalem. | 35The person who lives in Zion says, "May Babylon pay for the violence done to me and to my relatives." Jerusalem says, "May those living in Babylonia pay for the bloodshed of my people." |
| 36Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry. | 36Therefore the LORD says, "I will stand up for your cause. I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done to you. I will dry up their sea. I will make their springs run dry. |
| 37Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant. | 37Babylon will become a heap of ruins. Jackals will make their home there. It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn, a place where no one lives. |
| 38They will roar together like young lions; they will growl like lion cubs. | 38The Babylonians are all like lions roaring for prey. They are like lion cubs growling for something to eat. |
| 39While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD. | 39When their appetites are all stirred up, I will set out a banquet for them. I will make them drunk so that they will pass out, they will fall asleep forever, they will never wake up," says the LORD. |
| 40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats. | 40"I will lead them off to be slaughtered like lambs, rams, and male goats." |
| 41How Sheshach has been captured! The praise of all the earth has been seized. What a horror Babylon has become among the nations! | 41"See how Babylon has been captured! See how the pride of the whole earth has been taken! See what an object of horror Babylon has become among the nations! |
| 42The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered in turbulent waves. | 42The sea has swept over Babylon. She has been covered by a multitude of its waves. |
| 43Her cities have become a desolation, a dry and arid land, a land where no one lives, where no son of man passes through. | 43The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins. She has become a dry and barren desert. No one lives in those towns any more. No one even passes through them. |
| 44I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him spew out what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him; even the wall of Babylon will fall. | 44I will punish the god Bel in Babylon. I will make him spit out what he has swallowed. The nations will not come streaming to him any longer. Indeed, the walls of Babylon will fall." |
| 45Come out of her, My people! Save your lives, each of you, from the fierce anger of the LORD. | 45"Get out of Babylon, my people! Flee to save your lives from the fierce anger of the LORD! |
| 46Do not let your heart grow faint, and do not be afraid when the rumor is heard in the land; for a rumor will come one year—and then another the next year—of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. | 46Do not lose your courage or become afraid because of the reports that are heard in the land. For a report will come in one year. Another report will follow it in the next. There will be violence in the land with ruler fighting against ruler." |
| 47Therefore, behold, the days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her entire land will suffer shame, and all her slain will lie fallen within her. | 47"So the time will certainly come when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her whole land will be put to shame. All her mortally wounded will collapse in her midst. |
| 48Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon because the destroyers from the north will come against her,” declares the LORD. | 48Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will sing for joy over Babylon. For destroyers from the north will attack it," says the LORD. |
| 49“Babylon must fall on account of the slain of Israel, just as the slain of all the earth have fallen because of Babylon. | 49"Babylon must fall because of the Israelites she has killed, just as the earth's mortally wounded fell because of Babylon. |
| 50You who have escaped the sword, depart and do not linger! Remember the LORD from far away, and let Jerusalem come to mind.” | 50You who have escaped the sword, go, do not delay. Remember the LORD in a faraway land. Think about Jerusalem. |
| 51“We are ashamed because we have heard reproach; disgrace has covered our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD’s house.” | 51We are ashamed because we have been insulted. Our faces show our disgrace. For foreigners have invaded the holy rooms in the LORD's temple.' |
| 52“Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan. | 52Yes, but the time will certainly come," says the LORD, "when I will punish her idols. Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan. |
| 53Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, the destroyers I send will come against her,” declares the LORD. | 53Even if Babylon climbs high into the sky and fortifies her elevated stronghold, I will send destroyers against her," says the LORD. |
| 54“The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! | 54Cries of anguish will come from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians. |
| 55For the LORD will destroy Babylon; He will silence her mighty voice. The waves will roar like great waters; the tumult of their voices will resound. | 55For the LORD is ready to destroy Babylon, and put an end to her loud noise. Their waves will roar like turbulent waters. They will make a deafening noise. |
| 56For a destroyer is coming against her—against Babylon. Her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken, for the LORD is a God of retribution; He will repay in full. | 56For a destroyer is attacking Babylon. Her warriors will be captured; their bows will be broken. For the LORD is a God who punishes; he pays back in full. |
| 57I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts. | 57"I will make her officials and wise men drunk, along with her governors, leaders, and warriors. They will fall asleep forever and never wake up," says the King whose name is the LORD who rules over all. |
| 58This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates consumed by fire. So the labor of the people will be for nothing; the nations will exhaust themselves to fuel the flames.” | 58This is what the LORD who rules over all says, "Babylon's thick wall will be completely demolished. Her high gates will be set on fire. The peoples strive for what does not satisfy. The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed." |
| 59This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to the quartermaster Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign. | 59This is the order Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went to King Zedekiah of Judah in Babylon during the fourth year of his reign. (Seraiah was a quartermaster.) |
| 60Jeremiah had written on a single scroll about all the disaster that would come upon Babylon—all these words that had been written concerning Babylon. | 60Jeremiah recorded on one scroll all the judgments that would come upon Babylon--all these prophecies written about Babylon. |
| 61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud, | 61Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "When you arrive in Babylon, make sure you read aloud all these prophecies. |
| 62and say, ‘O LORD, You have promised to cut off this place so that no one will remain—neither man nor beast. Indeed, it will be desolate forever.’ | 62Then say, 'O LORD, you have announced that you will destroy this place so that no people or animals live in it any longer. Certainly it will lie desolate forever!' |
| 63When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates. | 63When you finish reading this scroll aloud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River. |
| 64Then you are to say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again, because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will grow weary.’ ” Here end the words of Jeremiah. | 64Then say, 'In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the judgments I am ready to bring upon her; they will grow faint.'" The prophecies of Jeremiah end here. |
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