Jeremiah

CHAPTER 50

The First Oracle Against Babylon.

Announce it, do not hide it, but say:

Babylon is captured, Bel^* put to shame, Marduk terrified;

its images are put to shame, its idols shattered.

making the land desolate

So that no one can live there;

human beings and animals have fled.^b

Israelite and Judahite shall come together,

Weeping as they come, to seek the LORD, their God;^c

seeking out the way.

“Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD

in an everlasting covenant, never to be forgotten.”^d

their shepherds misled them,

leading them astray on the mountains;

From mountain to hill they wandered,

forgetting their fold.^e

their enemies said, “We are not guilty,

Because they sinned against the LORD,

the abode of justice, the hope of their ancestors.”^f

leave the land of the Chaldeans,

be like rams at the head of the flock.^g

a band of great nations from the land of the north;

They are arrayed against her,

from there she shall be taken.

Their arrows are like the arrows of a skilled warrior

who never returns empty-handed.^h

all its plunderers shall be enriched—

oracle of the LORD.

you that plunder my heritage;

Frisk like calves on the grass,

neigh like stallions!

she that bore you shall be abashed;

See, the last of the nations,

a wilderness, a dry wasteland.ⁱ

become an utter wasteland;

Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled

and hiss at all its wounds.^j

you who bend the bow;

Shoot at it, do not spare your arrows,^k

It surrenders, its bastions fall,

its walls are torn down:^*

This is retribution from the LORD! Take retribution on her,

as she has done, do to her;

for she sinned against the LORD.^l

and those who wield sickles at harvest time!

Before the destroying sword,

all of them turn back to their own people,

all flee to their own land.^m

that lions pursued;

The king of Assyria once devoured him;

now Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnaws his bones.ⁿ

I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,

as I once punished the king of Assyria;^o

to feed on Carmel and Bashan,

And on Mount Ephraim and Gilead,

until they have their fill.^p

The guilt of Israel may be sought, but it no longer exists,

the sin of Judah, but it can no longer be found;

for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.^q

and those who live in Pekod;^*

Slaughter and put them under the ban—oracle of the LORD—

do all I have commanded you.

great destruction!

has been cut off and broken!

What an object of horror

Babylon has become among the nations!^r

Babylon, before you knew it!

You were discovered and seized,

because you challenged the LORD.^s

brings out the weapons of his wrath;

The Lord GOD of hosts has work to do

in the land of the Chaldeans.^t

open their granaries,

Pile them up in heaps and put them under the ban;

do not leave a remnant.

take them down to slaughter;

Woe to them! their day has come,

the time of their punishment.

from the land of Babylon:

They announce in Zion

the retribution of the LORD, our God.^u

all who bend the bow;

Encamp around them;

let no one escape.

Repay them for their deeds;

what they have done, do to them,

For they insulted the LORD,

the Holy One of Israel.^v

all their warriors shall be stilled on that day—

oracle of the LORD.^w

oracle of the Lord GOD of hosts;

For your day has come,

the time for me to punish you.

there is no one to raise him up.

I will kindle a fire in his cities

to devour everything around him.

Oppressed are the people of Israel,

together with the people of Judah;

All their captors hold them fast

and refuse to let them go.

whose name is LORD of hosts,

The sure defender of their cause,

who gives rest to their land,

but unrest to those who live in Babylon.^x

upon the inhabitants of Babylon, her princes and sages!

and they become fools!

A sword upon the warriors,

and they tremble;

and they become women!

A sword upon their treasures,

and they are plundered;^y

and they dry up!

For it is a land of idols,

soon made frantic by phantoms.^z

and ostriches occupy it;

Never again shall it be inhabited or settled,

from age to age.^a

and Gomorrah and their neighbors—oracle of the LORD—

No one shall dwell there,

no mortal shall settle there.^b

a great nation, and mighty kings

rising from the ends of the earth.^c

cruel and pitiless are they;

They sound like the roaring sea,

as they ride forth on horses,

Each in place for battle

against you, daughter Babylon.

and his hands hang helpless;

Anguish takes hold of him,

like the pangs of a woman giving birth.^d

to permanent pasture,

So I, in an instant, will chase them off,

and establish there whomever I choose!

For who is like me? Who can call me to account?

What shepherd can stand against me?^e

which he has devised against Babylon;

Hear the plans drawn up

against the land of the Chaldeans:

They shall be dragged away, even the smallest sheep;

their own pasture aghast because of them.^f

the outcry is heard among the nations.^g

* [50:1–51:58] A collection of miscellaneous oracles against Babylon introducing the story in 51:59–64.

* [50:2] Bel: originally the title of the god of Nippur in Mesopotamia, later associated with Merodach (Marduk), chief god of Babylon (cf. Is 46:1).

* [50:15] Its walls are torn down: the prophet describes the downfall of Babylon in conventional language. Babylon surrendered peacefully to the Persians in 539 B.C.

* [50:21] Merathaim…Pekod: “twice bitter,” “punishment,” symbolic terms for Babylon that recall the names of regions in the country.

a. [50:1] Jer 51:1; Is 13:1–14; 21:1–10.

b. [50:3] Jer 51:48; Is 13:17.

c. [50:4] Jer 3:18; Ps 126:6.

d. [50:5] Jer 31:31; 32:40.

e. [50:6] Is 53:6; 1 Pt 2:25.

f. [50:7] Jer 31:23.

g. [50:8] Jer 51:6, 45; Is 48:20.

h. [50:9] Jer 51:27.

i. [50:12] Jer 51:43; Is 13:20–22.

j. [50:13] Jer 25:12.

k. [50:14] Jer 51:11; Is 21:2.

l. [50:15] Jer 51:11, 44, 58; Ps 137:8.

m. [50:16] Is 13:14.

n. [50:17] 2 Kgs 17:24; 18:14.

o. [50:18] Is 10:12; 14:24–25.

p. [50:19] Jer 23:3; Ez 34:13–14.

q. [50:20] Jer 31:34; Is 43:25; Mi 7:19.

r. [50:23] Jer 51:20; Is 14:6.

s. [50:24] Jer 51:57.

t. [50:25] Jer 51:11–12; Is 13:5.

u. [50:28] Jer 51:10–11.

v. [50:29] Jer 51:56.

w. [50:30] Jer 49:26; 51:4.

x. [50:34] Jer 51:36.

y. [50:37] Jer 51:30; Na 3:13.

z. [50:38] Jer 51:32, 36.

a. [50:39] Jer 51:37; Is 13:21–22.

b. [50:40] Jer 51:43.

c. [50:41] Jer 51:27–28.

d. [50:43] Is 13:7.

e. [50:44] Jer 49:19.

f. [50:45] Jer 51:12, 29.

g. [50:46] Jer 51:29.