A Prophecy against Babylon

1The word that YHWH spoke concerning Babylon and concerning the land of the Chaldeans by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.†

2“Declare it among the nations, and make it heard,

and lift up a signal; make it heard,

and do not hide it! Say,

‘Is taken Babylon,

is put to shame Bel,

is dismayed Merodach;

are put to shame her idols,

are dismayed her images!’

3For a nation from the north has come up against her,

and it will set her land as a desolation,

and there will be no one dwelling in her,

from man even to beast—they will wander off; they will depart.”

Hope for Israel and Judah

4“In those days and at that time,”

a declaration of YHWH,

“will come the sons of Israel,

they and the sons of Judah together;

going on and weeping they will come,

and YHWH their God they will seek.

5They will ask the way to Zion,

with their faces toward it:

Come and let us join ourselves to YHWH

in a covenant forever

that will not be forgotten.

6My people have been lost sheep;

their shepherds have led them astray,

in the mountains they have turned them away.

From mountain to hill they have gone;

they have forgotten their resting place.

7All those finding them have devoured them,

and their adversaries have said,

‘We are not guilty,

upon that they have sinned against YHWH,

the habitation of righteousness,

and the hope of their fathers—YHWH.’

8Wander off from the midst of Babylon,

from the land of the Chaldeans;

go forth and become like rams before the faces of the flock.

9For behold, I am rousing and making come up against Babylon

an assembly of great nations from the land of the north,

and they will array themselves against her.

From there she will be captured.

Their arrows are like those of a skilled warrior;

not one will return empty.

10Chaldea† will become as plunder;

all those plundering her will be satisfied,”

a declaration of YHWH.

Babylon’s Fall Is Certain

11“Though you⁺ are glad,

though you⁺ rejoice,

O spoilers of My heritage,

though you⁺ leap like a heifer treading,

and bellow like mighty ones,

12your⁺ mother will be greatly ashamed,

she who bore you⁺ will be disgraced.

Behold, the least of the nations,

a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

13From the wrath of YHWH,

she will not be inhabited,

and she will become a desolation completely;

all passing by Babylon will be horrified,

and will hiss at all her wounds.

14Array yourselves against Babylon all around,

all those bending the bow!

Shoot at her, do not be sparing with the arrows,

for against YHWH she has sinned!

15Shout against her all around!

She has given her hand;

her foundations have fallen;

her walls are thrown down.

For it is the vengeance of YHWH—

take vengeance on her!

As she has done,

do to her!

16Cut off the sower from Babylon,

and the handler of the sickle in the time of harvest;

before the face of the oppressing sword,

everyone to his people, will turn

everyone to his land and will flee.

Redemption for God’s People

17Like a flock scattered is Israel,

the lions have driven away:

The first who devoured him

was the king of Assyria,

and this last one to crush his bones

is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”

18Therefore, thus says YHWH of Hosts, the God of Israel:

“Behold, I am going to visit punishment against the king of Babylon and against his land,

as I visited punishment against the king of Assyria.

19And I will return Israel to his pasture,

and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan,

and in the hill country of Ephraim

and in Gilead his soul will be satisfied.

20In those days and at that time,”

a declaration of YHWH,

“the iniquity of Israel will be sought,

and it is not,

and the sins of Judah,

and they will not be found;

for I will grant forgiveness

to those whom I leave as a remnant.

The Destruction of Babylon

21Go up against the land of Merathaim,

against it and against those dwelling in Pekod!

Slay† and devote them to destruction,”†

a declaration of YHWH, “and do according to all

that I have commanded you.”

22“The voice of battle is in the land,

and of great destruction!

23How has been cut down and broken

the hammer of all the earth!

How Babylon has become as a desolation

among the nations!

24I laid a snare for you, and indeed you have been captured, O Babylon,

and you did not know it;

you were found, and also were caught,

because against YHWH you have stirred up yourself!

25YHWH has opened His storehouse,

and has brought out the weapons of His anger,

for there is a work unto the Lord YHWH of the Armies

in the land of the Chaldeans!

26Come against her

from the extremity!

Open her granaries,

and pile her up like heaps,

and devote her to destruction!

Do not let there be unto her a remnant!

27Slay all her bulls;

let them go down to the slaughter!

Woe to them! For their day has come,

the time of their punishment.

28The voice of those fleeing and escaping

from the land of Babylon,

to declare in Zion the vengeance of YHWH our God,

the vengeance for His temple.

29Call together against Babylon the archers,

all those bending the bow:

Encamp against her all around—

do not let there be one escaping!

Repay to her according to her work;

according to all that she has done, do to her!

For against YHWH she has seethed,

against the Holy One of Israel.

30Therefore her young men will fall in the streets,

and all her men of war will be cut off on that day!”

A declaration of YHWH.

31“Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,”

a declaration of the Lord YHWH of Hosts.

“For your day has come,

the time that I will visit punishment on you!

32And the arrogant one will stumble and will fall,

and there will not be for him one to raise him up;

and I will kindle a fire in his cities,

and it will devour all around him!”

33Thus says YHWH of Hosts:

“The sons of Israel are oppressed

and the sons of Judah together;

all who took them captive have held firmly to them;

they have refused to send them away.

34Their Redeemer is strong—

YHWH of Hosts is His name!

He will fervently plead their case,

so as to give rest to the land,

and to bring trembling to those dwelling in Babylon.

35A sword is upon the Chaldeans,”

a declaration of YHWH,

“and against those dwelling in Babylon,

and against her princes, and against her wise men!

36A sword is against the diviners,

that they should become fools!

A sword is against her mighty ones,

that they should be dismayed!

37A sword is against their horses, and against their chariots,

and against all the mixture who are in her midst,

that they should become as women!

A sword is against her treasures,

that they should be plundered!

38A drought is against her waters,

that they should be dried up!

For it is a land of graven images,

and over idols they go mad!†

39Therefore the desert creatures will dwell there with the jackals,

and in it the daughters of the ostrich† will dwell;

it will be a habitation no more forever,

and it will not be a dwelling place unto generation and generation.

40As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah

and their neighbors,”

a declaration of YHWH,

“no man will dwell there,

and no a son of man will reside in it.

41Behold! A people is coming from the north,

a great nation, and many kings will be roused

from the ends of the earth!

42The bow and the spear† they hold firm;

they are cruel and they do not have compassion.

Their voice roars like the sea,

and on horses they are riding,

being arrayed like a man for the battle against you,

O daughter of Babylon!

43The king of Babylon has heard the report of them,

and his hands hang limp;

distress has taken hold of him,

writhing like that of a woman in labor.

44Behold, like a lion that comes up from the height of the Jordan

against an enduring habitation,

so I will act in an instant and will make them run away from her.

And who is the chosen one over her I will appoint,

for who is like Me? And who will arraign Me?

And who is this shepherd who can stand before My face?

45Therefore, hear the counsel of YHWH

that He has counseled against Babylon,

and His plans that He has planned

against the land of the Chaldeans:

Surely not will they drag them out, the least of the flock?

Surely not will He make their dwelling place desolate over them?

46From the sound of Babylon being captured, the earth is shaken,

and the outcry among the nations is heard.

Footnotes:

1 That is, the Babylonians; also in verses 8, 25, 35, and 45
10 Or Babylonia
21 LXX Avenge, O sword,
21 Forms of the Hebrew cherem refer to the giving over of things or persons to YHWH, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in verse 26.
38 Or and in horrors they boast
39 Or the daughters of the owl
42 Or javelin