- katapi - New Study Bible ... by URL bible references -
| DB1 | New Jerusalem Bible
Jeremiah 50:1-51:64
The capture of Babylon. (Jr.50.1-3)
501 The word that Yahweh spoke against Babylon, against the country of the Chaldaeans, through the prophet Jeremiah.
2 Announce it to the nations, proclaim it,
hoist a signal and proclaim it,
making no secret of it, say,
'Babylon is captured, Bel disgraced,
Marduk shattered.
(Her idols are disgraced,
her Obscenities shattered.)' 3 For a nation is marching on her from the north,
to turn her country into a desert:
no one will live there any more;
human and animal have fled and gone.
Israel's return. (Jr.50.4-10)
4 In those days and at that time
the people of Israel will return
(they and the people of Judah);
they will come weeping
in search of Yahweh their God. 5 They will ask the way to Zion
and turn their faces towards her,
'Come, let us bind ourselves to Yahweh
by an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten!' 6 Lost sheep, such were my people;
their shepherds led them astray, the mountains misled them;
from mountain to hill they went,
forgetful of their fold. 7 Whoever came across them devoured them,
their enemies said, 'We are not to blame,
since they have sinned against Yahweh, the Home of Justice,
against Yahweh, the Hope of their ancestors.' 8 Escape from Babylon,
leave the country of the Chaldaeans.
Be like he-goats, leading the sheep! 9 For look, I shall raise a league
of mighty nations to attack Babylon,
from the land of the north.
They will take up position against her;
by them she will be taken.
Their arrows, like an experienced soldier's,
never return in vain. 10 Chaldaea will be plundered,
all her plunderers will be satisfied, Yahweh declares.
The fall of Babylon. (Jr.50.11-16)
11 Rejoice! Have your triumph,
you plunderers of my heritage!
Be playful like a heifer let out to grass!
Neigh like stallions! 12 But your mother is covered with shame,
disgraced is the woman who bore you;
she is the least of nations now;
a desert, a parched land, a wasteland. 13 Because of Yahweh's anger,
no one will live there any more,
she will become a total solitude.
All who pass by Babylon will be appalled
and whistle at the sight of all her wounds. 14 Take position against Babylon, surround her,
all you who bend the bow.
Shoot at her! Do not spare your arrows,
for she has sinned against Yahweh! 15 Raise the war cry against her from all sides.
She surrenders! Her bastions fall!
Her walls collapse!
This is Yahweh's vengeance! Take revenge on her.
Treat her as she has treated others. 16 Deprive Babylon of the man who sows,
of the man who wields the sickle at harvest.
Away from the devastating sword,
let everyone return to his own people,
let everyone flee to his own country!
Israel's return. (Jr.50.17-20)
17 Israel was a straying sheep
pursued by lions.
First, the king of Assyria devoured him, and latterly Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon crunched his bones. 18 So Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, says this: Look, I shall punish the king of Babylon and his country as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 I will bring Israel back to his pastures
to browse on Carmel and in Bashan,
on the highlands of Ephraim and in Gilead,
and he will be satisfied. 20 In those days and at that time, Yahweh declares,
you may look for Israel's guilt, it will not be there,
for Judah's sins, you will not find them,
for I shall pardon the remnant that I leave.
God's judgement on Babylon. (Jr.50.21-46)
21 March on the country of Merathaim,
march on it and on the inhabitants of Pekod;
slaughter and curse with destruction every last one of them,
Yahweh declares,
carry out my orders to the letter! 22 The din of battle fills the country,
immense destruction. 23 How utterly shattered
that hammer of the whole world!
What a thing of horror Babylon has become
throughout the nations! 24 I set a snare for you, Babylon;
you were caught before you knew it.
You have been found and overpowered
for having defied Yahweh. 25 Yahweh has opened his armoury
and taken out the weapons of his fury.
For Lord Yahweh Sabaoth has work to do
in the country of the Chaldaeans. 26 Fall on her from every side,
open her granaries,
pile her in heaps,
curse her with destruction,
until nothing is left of her. 27 Slaughter all her bulls,
down to the slaughterhouse with them!
Disaster on them, their day has come,
their time for being punished. 28 Listen! Fugitives and runaways
from the country of Babylon
arrive in Zion and proclaim
the revenge of Yahweh our God,
revenge for his Temple! 29 Call up the archers against Babylon!
All you who bend the bow,
invest her on all sides,
leave her no way of escape.
Repay her as her deeds deserve;
treat her as she has treated others,
for she was arrogant to Yahweh,
to the Holy One of Israel.
30 And so in her squares her young men will fall, and all her fighting men will perish, that day, Yahweh declares.
31 My quarrel is with you, 'Arrogance!'
Lord Yahweh Sabaoth declares,
your day has come,
the time for me to punish you. 32 'Arrogance' will stumble, she will fall,
no one will lift her up:
I shall set fire to her towns
and it will devour all around it. 33 Yahweh Sabaoth says this:
The people of Israel are oppressed
(and the people of Judah too),
all their captors hold them fast,
they will not let them go. 34 But their redeemer is strong:
Yahweh Sabaoth is his name.
He will take up their cause,
to give our country rest
but make the inhabitants of Babylon tremble. 35 A sword against the Chaldaeans, Yahweh declares,
against the inhabitants of Babylon,
against her princes and her sages! 36 A sword against her diviners: may they lose their wits!
A sword against her warriors: may they panic! 37 A sword against her horses, her chariots
and the conglomeration of people inside her:
may they be like women!
A sword against her treasures: may they be plundered! 38 Drought on her waters: may they dry up!
For it is a country of idols,
and they are mad about those bogeys of theirs! 39 Hence wild cats and jackals will live there,
and ostriches make their home there.
She will never again be inhabited, for ever,
but remain uninhabited age after age. 40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and their neighbouring towns, Yahweh declares,
no one will live there any more,
no human being settle there again. 41 Look, a people is coming from the north,
a mighty nation;
from the far ends of the earth
many kings are stirring. 42 They are armed with bow and spear,
they are cruel and pitiless;
their noise is like the roaring of the sea;
they ride horses,
ready as one man to fight you,
daughter of Babylon! 43 The king of Babylon has heard the news,
his hands fall limp,
anguish has seized him,
pain like that of a woman in labour. 44 Look, like a lion he climbs the thickets of the Jordan
to the perennial pasture!
In a flash I shall make them run away
and there appoint someone I shall choose.
For who is there like me?
Who can hale me into court?
Name me the shepherd
who can stand up to me. 45 So now hear the plan
that Yahweh has laid against Babylon,
the schemes he has in mind
against the country of the Chaldaeans:
they will certainly be dragged away
like the smallest in the flock!
Their pastures will certainly be sacked before their eyes! 46 The earth quakes at the sound of Babylon's capture,
and the shouting echoes through the nations.
Further judgement on Babylon. (Jr.51.1-14)
511 Yahweh says this:
Against Babylon and the inhabitants of Leb-Kamai
I shall rouse a destructive wind. 2 I shall send winnowers to Babylon
to winnow her and leave her country bare,
for she will be beleaguered on all sides,
on the day of disaster. 3 Let no archer bend his bow!
Let no man swagger in his breastplate!
—No quarter for her young men!
Curse her whole army with destruction! 4 In the country of the Chaldaeans the slaughtered will fall,
in the streets of Babylon, those run through by the sword. 5 For Israel and Judah have not been bereft
of their God, Yahweh Sabaoth,
although their country was full of sin
against the Holy One of Israel. 6 Escape from Babylon
(save your lives, each one of you);
do not perish for her guilt,
for now is the time for Yahweh's vengeance:
he will pay her her reward! 7 Babylon was a golden cup in Yahweh's hand,
she made the whole world drunk,
the nations drank her wine
and then went mad. 8 Babylon has suddenly fallen, is broken:
wail for her!
Fetch balm for her wounds,
perhaps she can be cured! 9 —'We tried to cure Babylon; she has got no better.
Leave her alone and let us each go to his own country.'
—Yes, her sentence reaches to the sky,
rises to the very clouds. 10 Yahweh has shown the uprightness of our cause.
Come, let us tell in Zion
what Yahweh our God has done. 11 Sharpen the arrows,
fill the quivers!
Yahweh has roused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because he has a plan against Babylon to destroy it; this is Yahweh's revenge, revenge for his Temple.
12 Against the walls of Babylon raise the standard!
Strengthen the guard!
Post the sentries!
Take up concealed positions!
For Yahweh has both planned and done what he promised he would to the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 Enthroned beside abundant waters,
rich in treasures,
you now meet your end,
the finish of your pillaging. 14 By his own self Yahweh Sabaoth has sworn:
I shall fill you with men as though with grasshoppers,
and over you they will raise the triumph-shout.
A hymn of praise. (Jr.51.15-19)
15 By his power he made the earth,
by his wisdom set the world firm,
by his discernment spread out the heavens. 16 When he thunders there is a roaring of waters in heaven;
he raises clouds from the furthest limits of the earth,
makes the lightning flash for the downpour,
and brings the wind from his storehouse. 17 At this everyone stands stupefied, uncomprehending,
every goldsmith blushes for his idols;
his castings are but delusion,
with no breath in them. 18 They are futile, a laughable production,
when the time comes for them to be punished, they will vanish. 19 The Heritage of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the maker of everything,
and Israel is the tribe that is his heritage;
His name is Yahweh Sabaoth. 20 You were my mace,
a weapon of war.
With you I crushed nations,
struck kingdoms down, 21 with you crushed horse and rider,
with you crushed chariot and charioteer, 22 with you crushed man and woman,
with you crushed old man and young,
with you crushed young man and girl, 23 with you crushed shepherd and flock,
with you crushed ploughman and team,
with you crushed governors and magistrates,
Babylon's punishment. (Jr.51.24-35)
24 and I shall repay Babylon and the inhabitants of Chaldaea, before your eyes, for all the wrongs they have done to Zion, Yahweh declares.
25 I am setting myself against you,
mountain of destruction,
Yahweh declares,
destroyer of the whole world!
I shall reach out my hand for you
and send you tumbling from the crags
and make you a burnt-out mountain. 26 No corner-stone will be taken from you again
and no foundation-stone,
for you will be a desert for ever,
Yahweh declares. 27 Raise the standard throughout the world,
sound the trumpet among the nations!
Consecrate nations to make war on her;
summon kingdoms against her:
Ararat, Minni, Ashkenaz;
appoint a recruiting-officer for her enemies,
bring up the cavalry, bristling like locusts.
28 Consecrate nations to make war on her: the kings of Media, her governors, all her magistrates and the whole territory under their rule.
29 Then the earth trembled and writhed,
for Yahweh's plan against Babylon was being executed:
to change the country of Babylon
into an unpopulated desert. 30 The warriors of Babylon have done with fighting,
they have stayed inside their fortresses;
their courage exhausted,
they are now like women.
Her houses are on fire,
her gates are shattered. 31 Courier follows close on courier,
messenger on messenger,
to tell the king of Babylon
that his city has been taken from all sides, 32 the fords occupied,
the bastions burnt down
and the fighting men seized with panic. 33 For Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this:
the daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor
when it is being trodden:
a little while, and then the time
for harvesting her will come. 34 He devoured me, consumed me,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
left me like an empty dish,
like the Dragon he has swallowed me whole,
filled his belly with my titbits
and threw me out. 35 'On Babylon be the wounds I suffered!'
the daughter of Zion will say.
'On the inhabitants of Chaldaea be my blood!'
Jerusalem will say.
The LORD will help Israel. (Jr.51.36-40)
36 So, Yahweh says this:
Look, I am taking up your cause
to make sure you are avenged.
I shall dry her river up,
make her springs run dry. 37 Babylon will become a heap of stones,
the lair of jackals,
a thing of horror and of scorn,
with no one living in it. 38 Like lions they roar together,
they growl like lions' whelps. 39 Are they feverish? I will prepare them a drink
and make them drink until they are tipsy
and fall into an everlasting sleep,
never to wake again,
Yahweh declares. 40 I will drag them away to the slaughterhouse like lambs,
like rams and goats.
Babylon's fate. (Jr.51.41-49)
41 What! Has Sheshak been taken,
been conquered, the pride of the whole world?
What a thing of horror Babylon has become
throughout the nations! 42 The sea has risen over Babylon,
she sinks beneath its boisterous waves. 43 Her towns have been turned into wasteland,
a parched land, a desert,
a country where no one lives
and where nobody goes. 44 I shall punish Bel in Babylon
and make him disgorge what he has swallowed.
In future the nations
will stream to him no more.
The very walls of Babylon will fall. 45 Get out of her, my people;
save your lives, each one of you,
from Yahweh's furious anger.
46 But do not be faint-hearted! Do not take fright at rumours hawked round the country: one rumour spreads one year, next year another follows; violence rules on earth and one tyrant succeeds another.
47 So look, the days are coming
when I shall punish the idols of Babylon.
Her entire country will be humbled,
with all her slaughtered lying on home-soil. 48 The heaven and earth and all within them
will shout for joy over Babylon,
for the destroyers from the north
are coming to her, Yahweh declares. 49 Babylon in her turn must fall,
you slaughtered ones of Israel,
just as through Babylon there fell
men slaughtered all over the world.
God's message to the exiles in Babylon. (Jr.51.50-53)
50 You who have escaped her sword,
leave her, do not wait!
Remember Yahweh from afar,
let Jerusalem come into your mind. 51 —'We were ashamed when we heard of the outrage,
we were covered in confusion
because foreigners had entered
the Temple of Yahweh's holy places.' 52 —So look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares,
when I shall punish her idols,
and the wounded will groan throughout her country. 53 Were Babylon to scale the heavens
or reinforce her towering citadel,
destroyers would still come to her on my orders,
Yahweh declares.
Further destruction on Babylon. (Jr.51.54-58)
54 The din of shouting from Babylon,
of immense destruction, from the country of the Chaldaeans! 55 Yes, Yahweh is laying Babylon waste
and silencing her monstrous din,
whose waves used to roar like the ocean
and their tumultuous voices rang out. 56 For the destroyer has fallen on Babylon,
her warriors are captured,
their bows are broken.
Yes, Yahweh is a God of retribution,
he never fails to repay. 57 I shall make her princes and her sages drink,
her governors, her magistrates, her warriors;
they will fall into an everlasting sleep,
never to wake again,
declares the King,
whose name is Yahweh Sabaoth. 58 Yahweh Sabaoth says this:
The walls of Babylon the Great
will be rased to the ground,
and her lofty gates
will be burnt down.
Thus peoples toil for nothing
and nations wear themselves out, for the flames.
Jeremiah's message is sent to Babylon. (Jr.51.59-64)
59 This is the order that the prophet Jeremiah gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah when Seraiah left for Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was lord chamberlain. 60 Now, on one sheet, Jeremiah had written down the entire disaster that was to befall Babylon, that is, all these words recorded here against Babylon. 61 Jeremiah then said to Seraiah, 'When you reach Babylon, see to it that you read all these words aloud. 62 Then say, 'You, Yahweh, have promised to destroy this place, so that no one will live here ever again, neither human nor animal, and it will be desolate for ever.' 63 Then, when you have finished reading this sheet, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64 with the words, 'So shall Babylon sink, never to rise again from the disaster which I am going to bring on her.' '
- katapi - New Study Bible ... by URL bible references -
| DB1 | New Jerusalem Bible