Jeremiah 46-51
New Catholic Bible
Prophecies against the Nations[a]
Chapter 46
1 This is the word of the Lord that came to the prophet Jeremiah in regard to the nations.
Against Egypt.[b] 2 Concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, which was stationed at Carchemish on the Euphrates River, and which Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, defeated in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim of Judah, the son of Josiah:
3 Prepare your bucklers and
shields and march forth for battle.
4 Harness the horses;
let the riders mount.
Don your helmets
and take your stations.
Sharpen your spears
and put on your breastplates.
5 What is this shameful spectacle I behold?
They fall back in terror.
Their warriors are routed
and are in headlong flight
without glancing back.
There is terror on every side,
says the Lord.
6 The swift cannot flee,
nor can the brave warriors escape.
In the north, by the River Euphrates,
they have stumbled and fallen.
7 Who is this that rises like the Nile,
like rivers of torrential waters?
8 Egypt rises up like the Nile,
like rivers of torrential waters.
I will rise up, Egypt says, and cover the earth;
I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.
9 Advance, O horses,
and drive madly, O chariots.
Let the warriors advance:
men from Ethiopia and Put bearing shields,
and men from Lud who draw their bows.
10 This day belongs to the Lord God of hosts,
a day of retribution
and vengeance on his enemies.
The sword will devour and be sated
until drunk with their blood.
For the Lord God of hosts
is holding a sacrificial feast
in the land of the north
by the River Euphrates.
11 Go up to Gilead and obtain balm,
O virgin daughter Egypt.
The many medicines you have used
have afforded you no healing.
12 The nations have heard of your shame;
the earth is filled with your cries.
Warrior stumbles against warrior,
and both fall down together.
13 The word that the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah in regard to the advance of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to attack the land of Egypt:
14 Announce it in Egypt and proclaim it in Migdol;
proclaim it also in Noph and Tahpanhes.
Say, “Take your stations and be prepared,
for the sword will devour those around you.”
15 Why have your warriors been laid low?
They were unable to stand
because the Lord has thrust them down.
16 They stumbled and fell,
and then they said to one another,
“Come, let us return to our own people
and to the land of our birth,
far from the swords of our oppressors.”
17 They gave this nickname to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt:
“One who boasts but never succeeds.”
18 As I live, says the King,
whose name is the Lord of hosts,
one is coming like Tabor[c] among the mountains,
like Carmel by the sea.
19 Prepare your baggage to go into exile,
you inhabitants of Egypt.
Memphis will become a desert waste,
a desolate, uninhabited ruin.
20 Egypt is a beautiful heifer,[d]
but a gadfly from the north
is preparing to move against her.
21 Even the mercenaries in her midst
are like fatted calves,
but they have turned and fled together
rather than stand their ground.
For the day of disaster has overtaken them,
the time of their punishment.
22 Egypt is hissing like a retreating snake,
for her enemies are advancing in force.
They move against her with axes,
like men who fell her trees.
23 They will cut down her forest,[e] says the Lord,
even though it appears impenetrable,
because they are more numerous than locusts;
they are beyond counting.
24 Daughter Egypt will be disgraced,
handed over to a people from the north.
25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, has said: Behold, I will punish Amon[f] of Thebes, and Egypt, her gods and her kings, Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26 I will hand them over to those who seek their lives, to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and his officials. At a later time, Egypt will be inhabited again as in times past, says the Lord.
27 But as for you, my servant Jacob, fear not;
Israel, do not be dismayed.
Behold, I will rescue you from afar
and your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will return and be at peace again,
tranquil, with no one to trouble him.
28 Have no fear, my servant Jacob,
for I am with you, says the Lord.
I will make an end of all the nations
where I have dispersed you,
but I will not make an end of you.
I will discipline you only as you deserve;
I will not allow you to escape totally unpunished.
Chapter 47[g]
Against the Philistines. 1 This is the word of the Lord that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza. 2 Thus says the Lord:
Behold how the waters are rising from the north;
they will become an everlasting torrent.
They shall flood the land and all that is in it,
the towns and those who live in them.
People will cry out for help,
and all the inhabitants of the land will wail.
3 On hearing the thundering hooves of the stallions,
the noise of the chariots and their rumbling wheels,
fathers do not turn to help their children;
their hands fall limp,
4 [h]because the day has come
to destroy all the Philistines,
and to cut off Tyre and Sidon
from any allies who could support them.
The Lord is destroying the Philistines,
the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.
5 Baldness has afflicted Gaza;
Ashkelon has been silenced.
O remnant of the Philistine strength,
how long will you continue to gash yourselves?
6 Ah, sword of the Lord,
how long will it be before you rest?
Return back to your scabbard.
Cease and be still.
7 But how can you be at rest
when the Lord has given you an order,
when he has commanded you to subdue
Ashkelon and the seacoast?
Chapter 48[i]
Against Moab. 1 In regard to Moab, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
How sad it is that Nebo has been laid waste;
Kiriathaim has been captured and put to shame.
The fortress has been disgraced and overthrown;
2 the glory of Moab no longer exists.
In Heshbon, they plot her downfall:
“Come, let us put an end to her as a nation.”
And you too, inhabitants of Madmen,
will be reduced to silence,
slain by the sword.
3 Cries of anguish rise up from Horonaim,
speaking of devastation and complete destruction.
4 Moab has been crushed;
the agonized cries of her little ones
can be heard as far away as Zoar.
5 On the ascent to Luhith
they climb weeping bitterly.
On the descent to Horonaim
the anguished cry of destruction is heard:
6 “Flee! Save your lives!
Survive like a wild ass in the desert!”
7 Because you placed your trust
in your strongholds and your treasures,
you also will be captured.
Chemosh will go into exile,
along with all his priests and attendants.
8 The destroyer will move against every town;
not a single town will escape.
The valley will be laid waste,
and the plain will be destroyed,
as the Lord has said.
9 Set aside salt for Moab,
for she will be laid waste;
her towns will be left in ruins,
without a single inhabitant.
10 Accursed are those who are negligent
in doing the work of the Lord,
and accursed also is the one
who withholds his sword from bloodshed.
11 From its earliest days
Moab has been undisturbed
and never has gone into exile.
It has been like wine settled on its lees
that has never been transferred
from one decanter to another.
Thus its flavor has remained unaltered,
and its aroma has stayed unchanged.
12 Therefore, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will send men to him
to tilt the jars.
They will empty the vessels
and smash the jars.
13 Moab will then be ashamed of Chemosh,
as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel[j]
in which they placed their trust.
14 How can you say, “We are heroes,
men who are valiant in battle”?
15 The destroyer of Moab and its towns
has launched an attack,
and the flower of its youth has been slaughtered,
says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
16 The destruction of Moab is near at hand,
and its doom will come shortly.
17 Grieve, all you neighbors of Moab
and all who were familiar with its name.
Say, “How the mighty staff is broken,
the glorious scepter!”
18 Descend from your seat of glory
and sit on the parched ground,
you who dwell in Dibon.
For the ravager of Moab has advanced against you
and destroyed your strongholds.
19 Stand by the roadside and watch,
you who dwell in Aroer.
Question the man fleeing and the woman escaping;
ask them, “What has happened?”
20 Moab has been destroyed and reduced to shame.
Wail and cry out, proclaim by the Arnon,
that Moab has been laid waste.
21 Judgment has come upon the plateau: upon Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath, 22 upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23 upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, 24 upon Kiriath, and Bozrah, and all the towns of the land of Moab, far and near.
25 The horn of Moab has been cut off,
and her arm has been broken, says the Lord.
26 Make Moab drunk, because she has placed herself on an equal level with the Lord. Let Moab wallow in her vomit and become a laughingstock. 27 Israel was once a laughingstock for you, although she was never caught in the company of thieves. Yet each time you spoke about her, you would shake your head.
28 Leave your towns, O inhabitants of Moab,
and make your home among the rocks.
Be like a dove that makes its nest
along the edge of a gorge.
29 [k]We have heard about the pride of Moab,
pride that exceeds all bounds:
her pride and her arrogance
and the haughtiness of her heart.
30 I am fully aware of her arrogance, says the Lord;
her boasts are false, her deeds are false.
31 Therefore, I wail over Moab;
I cry out in anguish for all of Moab;
I mourn for the men of Kir-heres.
32 More than for Jazer I weep for you,
O vineyard of Sibmah.
Your branches stretched beyond the sea,
reaching all the way to Jazer.
Upon your harvest and your vintage,
the despoiler has descended.
33 Gladness and joy have been removed
from the orchards of Moab.
I have stanched the flow of wine from the vats;
the joyful shouts of the treader of grapes
can no longer be heard.
34 Heshbon and Elealeh utter cries of anguish that can be heard as far away as Jahaz. The shrieks echo from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For even the waters of Nimrim have become a desert waste. 35 In Moab, I will bring to an end the practice of those who offer holocausts on the high places or burn incense to their gods, says the Lord.
36 That is the reason why my heart wails like a flute for Moab and laments like a flute for the men of Kir-heres. The wealth that they accumulated has been lost. 37 Every head has been shaved, and every beard has been cut off. There are gashes on every hand, and every waist is covered with sackcloth.
38 On all the housetops of Moab and in all its squares nothing is heard but cries of lamentation, for I have broken Moab like a piece of pottery that no one wants, says the Lord. 39 How terrified Moab is, and how loudly does it wail as it retreats in shame. Moab has become a laughingstock and a source of horror to all of its neighbors.
40 For thus says the Lord:
Behold, like an eagle I will swoop down
and spread my wings over Moab.
41 The towns will be captured
and the strongholds will be seized.
On that day, the hearts of Moab’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42 Moab will be destroyed as a nation,
for it established itself in opposition to the Lord.
43 Terror, the pit, and the snare await you,
O inhabitants of Moab, says the Lord.
44 Everyone who flees from the terror
will fall into the pit,
and everyone who climbs out of the pit
will be caught in the snare.
For I will bring all this upon Moab
in the year of her punishment, says the Lord.
45 In the shadow of Heshbon,
the fugitives stop in exhaustion.
For a fire has blazed forth from Heshbon,
and flames from the house of Sihon,
consuming the brow of Moab
and the skulls of the noisy revelers.[l]
46 Woe to you, O Moab!
You have been destroyed, O people of Chemosh.
For your sons have been led forth in exile
and your daughters into captivity.
47 Even so, I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the days to come, says the Lord.
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.
Chapter 49
Against the Ammonites.[m] 1 In regard to the Ammonites, thus says the Lord:
Has Israel no sons?
Has he no heir?
Why then has Milcom inherited Gad,
and why have his people settled in its towns?
2 Therefore, the days are coming,
says the Lord,
when I will sound the battle cry
against Rabbah of the Ammonites.
It will become a desolate mound,
and its villages will be burned to the ground.
Then Israel will dispossess
those who dispossessed her, says the Lord.
3 Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been laid waste.
Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah.
Wrap yourselves in sackcloth and mourn;
run to and fro and gash your bodies.
For Milcom will go into exile
together with his priests and his attendants.
4 Why do you glory in your strength
that is now beginning to ebb?
O rebellious daughter,
you place your trust in your treasures,
saying, “Who will dare to attack me?”
5 I will bring terror upon you from every side,
says the Lord God of hosts.
Every one of you will be driven away and scattered,
with no one to rally the fugitives.
6 But afterward, says the Lord,
I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites.
Against Edom.[n] 7 In regard to Edom, thus says the Lord of hosts:
Can wisdom no longer be found in Teman?
Has counsel ceased to exist in the prudent?
Has their wisdom become a thing of the past?
8 Turn away and flee, O inhabitants of Dedan;
seek refuge in remote locales.
For I will inflict retribution on Esau
when I decide upon the time to punish him.
9 If those who gather grapes were to come upon you,
would they not leave behind some gleanings?
If thieves came during the night,
would they not steal only what they wanted?
10 But I for my part will strip Esau bare;
I will discover his hiding places,
and he will have nowhere to conceal himself.
His children will perish,
as will his relatives and neighbors,
and he will be no more.
11 Leave behind your orphans;
I will support them,
and your widows will place their trust in me.
12 For thus says the Lord: If those who were not doomed to drink the cup still must drink it, should you alone be the one to go unpunished? You will not go unpunished. You will be required to drink it. 13 For by my own self I have sworn, says the Lord, that Bozrah will become an object of horror and reproach, a desolate wasteland, and a curse, and all her towns will be ruins forevermore.
14 I have received a message from the Lord,
a herald has been sent to all the nations,
“Gather together and prepare to attack her;
rise up for battle.”
15 I will make you the least among the nations,
the most despised of people, O Edom.
16 You have been deceived by your proud heart
and by the terror you inspire,
you who dwell in rocky crags
and look down from the heights of the hill.
Even though you build your nest as high as the eagle’s,
I will drag you down from there, says the Lord.
17 Edom will become an object of horror. Everyone who passes by will be appalled and astounded at the sight of all her wounds. 18 As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors were overthrown, no one will live there, nor will anyone ever again settle there.
19 As when a lion comes up to rich pastures
from the dense thickets of the Jordan,
so will I in an instant drive away Edom from its land
and designate those whom I wish to settle there.
For who is like me?
Who can bring charges against me?
What shepherd can stand his ground against me?
20 Therefore, hear the plan
that the Lord has devised against Edom
and the schemes that he has in mind
to forestall the inhabitants of Teman.
They will be dragged away
like the smallest of the flock,
and their pastures will be completely destroyed.
21 At the sound of their downfall,
the earth will tremble,
and their anguished cries will be heard
as far away as the Red Sea.
22 Like an eagle he will soar and swoop down
and spread his wings against Bozrah,
and the hearts of Edom’s warriors on that day
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
23 Against Damascus.[o] Concerning Damascus:
Hamath and Arpad are deeply troubled,
for they have heard distressing news.
In their concern, they are filled with anxiety,
tossed about like the sea
that cannot be calmed.
24 Damascus has been weakened;
gripped with panic, she prepares to flee.
Anguish and sorrow have overwhelmed her;
her pain is like that of a woman in labor.
25 How can this renowned city be forsaken
in which I take such delight?
26 Her young men will fall in her squares,
and all her warriors will perish on that day,
says the Lord of hosts.
27 Then I will set fire to the walls of Damascus
that will devour the palaces of Benhadad.
28 Against Arabia.[p] In regard to Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, thus says the Lord:
Rise up and attack Kedar.
Destroy the desert dwellers of the east.
29 Carry away their tents and their flocks,
their tent curtains and all their goods.
Seize their camels for yourselves
and let the shout be raised,
“There is terror on every side.”
30 Flee quickly to distant areas,
and take refuge in remote places,
inhabitants of Hazor, says the Lord.
For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
is determined to eradicate you
and has formulated a plan against you.
31 Thus says the Lord:
Rise up against a nation
that never bothers to strengthen its security,
that has no gates or bars
and is located in a remote area.
32 Their camels will become your booty,
and their herds of cattle will be your spoil.
I will scatter to the winds
those who shave their temples,
and I will bring ruin on them
from every side, says the Lord.
33 Hazor will become the lair of jackals,
an everlasting place of desolation,
where no one will live anymore,
nor will anyone stay there again.
34 Against Elam.[q] This word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah in regard to Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah. 35 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,
the mainstay of their might.
36 I will bring upon Elam the four winds
from the four quarters of the heavens.
I will scatter them to all these winds,
and there will not be a single nation
to which the exiles of Elam will not go.
37 I will cause the people of Elam
to tremble before their foes
and before those who are determined to kill them.
I will bring disaster upon them,
my burning anger, says the Lord.
I will pursue them with the sword
until I have completely destroyed them.
38 Then I will establish my throne in Elam
and destroy their king and his officials, says the Lord.
39 However, in the days to come
I will restore the fortunes of Elam, says the Lord.
Chapter 50
A Prophecy against Babylon.[r] 1 This is the word which the Lord spoke against Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans, through the prophet Jeremiah:
2 Declare this among the nations and proclaim it;
lift up a banner and proclaim it;
keep nothing back, but announce,
“Babylon will be captured;
Bel[s] will be put to shame;
Marduk will be dismayed.
Her images are disgraced;
her idols are shattered.”
3 A nation from the north is marching against her
that will turn her land into a desolate waste,
so that no one will be able to live there anymore;
both men and beasts have fled and are gone.
4 In those days and at that time,
says the Lord,
the people of Israel and of Judah will come,
weeping as they seek the Lord, their God.
5 They will ask the way to Zion
and turn their faces toward it, saying,
“Come, let us bind ourselves to the Lord
in an everlasting covenant
that will never be forgotten.”
6 My people were lost sheep;
their shepherds led them astray
and caused them to roam on the mountains.
They wandered over mountains and hills
and lost the way to their fold.
7 Whoever came upon them devoured them,
and their enemies insisted,
“We incur no guilt,
because they have sinned
against the Lord, their true pasture,
against the Lord, the hope of their fathers.”
8 Flee from Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans;
be like male goats leading the flock.
9 Behold, I will stir up against Babylon
a host of mighty nations from the land of the north.
They will advance against her,
and there she will be conquered.
Their arrows are like those of a skilled warrior
that are never shot unsuccessfully.
10 Chaldea will be plundered,
and all who plunder her will be sated,
says the Lord.
11 O you who plundered my heritage,
although you rejoice and exult,
although you playfully frolic
like heifers on the grass
and neigh like stallions,
12 your mother[t] will be cruelly put to shame;
she who bore you will be completely disgraced.
She is now the least of the nations,
a desert, a parched land, a wilderness.
13 Because of the wrath of the Lord
she will not be inhabited
but will be totally desolate.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled
and stunned at the enormity of her wounds.
14 Take up your positions and surround Babylon,
all you who draw the bow.
Shoot at her, and do not spare your arrows,
for she has sinned against the Lord.[u]
15 Raise your war cries against her on all sides;
shout in triumph,
“She has surrendered,
her bastions have fallen,
her walls have been demolished.”
This is the vengeance of the Lord.
Avenge yourselves on her;
as she has done, so do to her.
16 Drive out from Babylon the sowers
and those who wield the sickle at harvest time.
To escape the destroying sword,
all of them will return to their own people;
all of them will flee to their own land.
17 Israel is a scattered flock
that was pursued by lions.
First the king of Assyria devoured her,
and now her bones have been crushed
by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.
18 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
I intend to punish the king of Babylon and his land,
as I formerly punished the king of Assyria.
19 I will restore Israel to her pastures,
and she will graze on Carmel and in Bashan;
on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead
her hunger will be satisfied.
20 In those days, and at that time,
says the Lord,
you will search for evidence of the iniquity of Israel,
but there will be none,
and for the sins of Judah,
but these will no longer be found,
for I will pardon the remnant
of those that I have preserved.
21 Attack the land of Merathaim[v]
and the inhabitants of Pekod.
Put them to the sword and destroy them;
do all I have commanded you, says the Lord.
22 The noise of battle amid great destruction
is heard throughout the land.
23 See how the hammer of the whole world
has been broken and shattered,
how Babylon has become
an object of horror among the nations.
24 I set a snare for you, O Babylon,
and you were caught before you realized it.
You were discovered and seized
because you challenged the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his armory
and brought forth the weapons of his wrath.
For the Lord God has work to do
in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from every side;
open her granaries,
pile up her goods in heaps,
and completely destroy her
until nothing of her is left.
27 Slay all her bulls;
lead them down to the slaughterhouse.
Woe to them, for their time has come,
their day of punishment.
28 Listen! Fugitives and refugees
from the land of Babylon
have arrived in Zion to proclaim
the vengeance of the Lord, our God,
the vengeance he inflicts for his temple.
29 Summon against Babylon the archers,
all those who are skilled with the bow.
Surround her on all sides;
allow no one to escape.
Repay her in full for her misdeeds;
treat her as she has treated others.
30 Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets,
and all her soldiers will be destroyed on that day,
says the Lord.
31 I am against you, O arrogant city,
says the Lord of hosts.
For your day has come,
the time for me to punish you.
32 You will stumble and fall, O arrogant city,
and no one will offer to raise you up.
I will kindle a fire in your cities
that will devour everything within it.
33 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
The people of Israel are oppressed,
as are the people of Judah.
All their captors hold them fast
and refuse to let them go.
34 But their redeemer[w] is strong;
his name is the Lord of hosts.
He will successfully take up their cause,
thereby affording rest to the earth
while leaving the inhabitants of Babylon in turmoil.
35 A sword against the Chaldeans, says the Lord,
against the inhabitants of Babylon,
and against her officials and her wise men.
36 A sword against her false prophets;
they will become fools.
A sword against her warriors;
they will succumb to panic.
37 A sword against her horses and her chariots
and all the foreign troops in her midst;
they will become like women.
A sword against her treasures;
they will be plundered.
38 A drought against her waters;
they will be dried up.
For it is a land of idols,
and they will be overcome with terror
when confronted by them.
39 Therefore, wildcats and jackals will dwell there,
and there ostriches will make their home.
Never again will it be inhabited;
no people ever again will dwell there.
40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
and all their neighboring towns, says the Lord,
no one will live there anymore
or attempt to settle there.
41 Look! A people is coming from the north,
a mighty nation.
Many kings are rousing themselves
from the ends of the earth.
42 They wield bows and spears,
and their cruelty allows no mercy.
As they ride forth on their horses,
their sound resembles that of the roaring sea.
All of them are arrayed for battle
to fight against you, daughter of Babylon.
43 News of their approach has reached the king of Babylon,
and his hands fall limp at his side.
Anguish has seized him,
pangs like those of a woman in labor.
44 Behold, like a lion coming up
from the thickets of the Jordan
to the perennial feeding grounds,
I will in a single instant drive them away
and appoint over her whomever I choose.
For who is there like me?
Who can challenge me?
What shepherd can stand up to me?
45 Therefore, hear the plan
that the Lord has devised against Babylon,
and what he proposes to do
against the land of the Chaldeans:
The young of the flock will be dragged away,
and he will completely destroy their pastures.
46 The earth will tremble at the news,
and the shouting will be heard among the nations.
Chapter 51
Another Prophecy against Babylon
1 Thus says the Lord:
Against Babylon and the inhabitants of Chaldea
I will rouse a destructive wind.
2 I will send foreigners to Babylon
to winnow her and lay waste her land.
They will besiege her from all sides
on the day of disaster.
3 Let no archer draw his bow
or array himself in his coat of armor.
Do not spare her young men;
completely destroy her entire army.
4 Let them be slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
lying mortally wounded in her streets.
5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
by their God, the Lord of hosts,
although their land is full of guilt
that will not be ignored by the Holy One of Israel.
6 Flee from Babylon!
Save your lives, each one of you!
Do not perish for her guilt.
This is the time of vengeance for the Lord;
he will exact full recompense for their deeds.
7 Babylon was a golden cup
in the hand of the Lord,
and she made the entire earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine,
and now they have gone mad.
8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and is shattered.
Wail for her.
Fetch balm for her wounds;
perhaps she can be cured.
9 We tried to heal Babylon,
but she cannot be healed.
Leave her and let us depart,
each one to his own land.
For her judgment reaches up to heaven
and touches the clouds.
10 The Lord has made clear our vindication.
Come, let us proclaim in Zion
what the Lord, our God, has done.
11 Sharpen the arrows;
fill the quivers.
The Lord has stirred up
the spirit of the kings of the Medes
because he is determined to destroy Babylon.
This will be the vengeance of the Lord,
vengeance for his temple.
12 Raise the standard against the walls of Babylon.
Strengthen the watch.
Post sentinels and prepare ambushes,
for the Lord has both planned and will carry out
his threat against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 You lands that lie on the shores of abundant waters
and are rich in treasures,
your end has now come,
the cessation of your power.
14 The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself,
“I will fill you with enemies
as numerous as a swarm of locusts,
and they will raise a shout of victory over you.”
15 By his power, he made the earth;
by his wisdom, he established the world;
by his discernment, he stretched out the heavens.
16 When he thunders,
there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
and he causes the clouds to rise
from the farthest ends of the earth.
He sends forth lightning with the rain,
and he brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17 Everyone is stupid and lacking in knowledge;
goldsmiths are put to shame by their idols,
for the images they cast are a sham,
with no breath of life in them.
18 They devise worthless objects of mockery;
at the time of judgment, they will perish.
19 Not like these is the portion of Jacob,
for he is the Creator of all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
20 You are my war club,
my weapon in battle.
With you I shatter nations,
with you I destroy kingdoms.
21 With you I crush horse and rider,
with you I crush chariot and charioteer.
22 With you I crush man and woman,
with you I crush old and young,
with you I crush youth and maiden.
23 With you I crush shepherd and flock,
with you I crush the plowman and his team,
with you I crush governors and magistrates.
24 Thus will I repay Babylon
and all the inhabitants of Chaldea
for all the wrongs that they have done in Zion
before your very eyes, says the Lord.
25 I am against you, O mountain of destruction,
destroyer of the entire earth, says the Lord.
I will stretch forth my hand against you,
send you tumbling down from the cliffs,
and make you a burned-out mountain.
26 No rock will be taken from you
to be used for a cornerstone,
nor any stone for a foundation,
for you will be forever desolate,
says the Lord.
27 Raise a standard throughout the earth.
Blow the trumpet among the nations.
Consecrate nations for war against her.
Summon against her these kingdoms:
Ararat,[x] Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a commander against her.
Bring forward horses bristling like locusts.
28 Consecrate nations for war against her:
the kings of Media,
its governors and magistrates,
and all the lands under their rule.
29 The earth trembles and writhes
as the Lord’s plan against Babylon is carried out,
turning the land of Babylon into a desert waste.
30 The warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight;
they remain in their strongholds.
Their courage has failed;
they are now like women.
Their buildings have been set on fire,
and their gates are shattered.
31 One courier appears after another,
and one messenger follows another,
to inform the king of Babylon
that his entire city has been taken.
32 The river crossings have been seized,
the marshes have been set afire,
and the soldiers are overcome with terror.
33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is being trodden.
Yet it will only be a short while
before the time of her harvest will come.
34 “King Nebuchadnezzar has devoured us;
he has routed us
and set us aside like an empty dish.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us,
filled his stomach with our delicacies,
and then spewed us out.
35 May our torn flesh be avenged on Babylon,”
the inhabitants of Zion say.
“May my blood be avenged
on the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
Jerusalem says.
36 Therefore, thus says the Lord:
I will take up your cause
and ensure that you will be avenged.
I will dry up her sea[y]
and cause her springs to run dry.
37 Babylon will become a heap of ruins,
a haunt of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,
where no one lives.
38 Like lions they roar together
and growl like lion cubs.
39 But when they are afflicted with fever,
I will set a drink before them
and cause them to become drunk
so that they will sink into an unending sleep,
never to awaken again, says the Lord.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats.
41 Babylon has been seized and conquered,
she who was the pride of the entire world.
What an object of horror
has Babylon become among the nations.
42 The sea has surged over Babylon,
covering her with its roaring waves.
43 Her cities have become desert wastelands,
nothing more than parched and arid land,
an area in which no one lives
and through which no one passes.
44 I will punish Bel in Babylon
and compel him to spew out what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him;
the wall of Babylon has fallen.
45 Leave her, my people.
Save your lives, each one of you,
from the fierce anger of the Lord.
46 Do not become faint-hearted or fearful
at various rumors that are heard in the land.
One year a certain rumor will spread,
the next year another one,
with rumors of possible violence in the land
and of conflicts between rulers.
47 But behold, the days are coming
when I will punish the idols of Babylon;
her entire territory will be put to shame,
and all her slain warriors
will lie fallen within her borders.
48 The heavens and the earth
and all that are in them
will shout for joy in regard to Babylon,
for marauders will descend from the north
and attack her, says the Lord.
49 Babylon, too, must fall
because of the slain of Israel,
just as the slain of all the earth
have fallen at the hands of Babylon.
50 You who have escaped the sword,
leave and do not linger.
Remember the Lord from afar,
and let Jerusalem remain in your thoughts.
51 We have been put to shame
because of the insults we have endured.
Our faces were covered in confusion
because foreigners have dared to enter
the holy places of the Lord’s house.
52 However, the days are surely coming,
says the Lord,
when I will punish her idols,
and the wounded will groan
throughout all her land.
53 Even if Babylon were to scale the heavens
and reinforce her inaccessible citadel,
I would send forth destroyers,
and they would come to her.
54 Agonized cries can be heard from Babylon,
and sounds of great destruction
from the land of the Chaldeans.
55 For the Lord is laying waste to Babylon
and stilling her loud cries of anguish.
Massive waves of enemies will roar like mighty waters,
and their clamor will be heard from afar.
56 A destroying force is moving against Babylon;
her warriors are captured,
and their bows are broken.
For the Lord is a God of retribution,
and he never fails to repay in full.
57 I will make her princes and her wise men drunk,
as well as her governors,
her prefects and her warriors.
They will sink into an unending sleep,
never to awaken again,
says the King whose name is the Lord of hosts.
58 [z]Thus says the Lord of hosts:
The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground,
and her lofty gates will be destroyed by fire.
Thus the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing,
and the nations weary themselves only for the flames.
59 Destruction of Babylon Foretold. This is the message that the prophet Jeremiah gave to the quartermaster Seraiah,[aa] the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of his reign.
60 Jeremiah had enumerated on a scroll all of the disasters that would befall Babylon—everything that had been recorded in regard to Babylon. 61 He said to Seraiah, “When you reach Babylon, make sure that you read all these words aloud. 62 Then say, ‘O Lord, you yourself declared your firm resolve to destroy this place so that neither man nor beast will ever live here again; it will be a desolate waste forever.’
63 “When you have finished reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and cast it into the middle of the Euphrates. 64 Then say, ‘In the same way will Babylon sink, never again to rise because of the disaster I intend to inflict upon her.’ ”
Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 46:1 These threats to the nations are not in their proper place here at the end of the Book. It is thought that they were originally located between verses 1-13 and verses 14-19 of chapter 25, these two sections being respectively an appeal of the prophet to his fellow countrymen and a vision of the cup of the Lord’s wrath. And, in fact, it is at that point that the ancient Greek translation usually inserts the present chapters.
- Jeremiah 46:2 When the Assyrian empire broke up, two powers entered the lists to win control of the Mediterranean East: the kingdoms of Babylon and of Egypt. Shortly before being enthroned as king, Nebuchadnezzar II (605–561 B.C.) defeated the army of Pharaoh Neco (609–593 B.C.) at Carchemish (today Jerablus), an ancient Hittite metropolis on the upper Euphrates. The battle was a historical turning point.
- Jeremiah 46:18 Like Tabor: the reference is to Nebuchadnezzar. Tabor dominates the plain of Galilee.
- Jeremiah 46:20 Heifer: an allusion to the worship of Hathor, the cow-headed goddess.
- Jeremiah 46:23 The forest symbolizes the especially dense population of the Nile Delta.
- Jeremiah 46:25 Amon: the national god of Egypt.
- Jeremiah 47:1 The king of Babylon was God’s sword in punishing Judah and all the people. Here he was, at work against the Philistines, the terrible enemies of former times. The song is undoubtedly later than 605 B.C.
- Jeremiah 47:4 Caphtor: Crete, from which, it seems, the Philistines came. The cuts (v. 5) were signs of mourning.
- Jeremiah 48:1 This lengthy composition, marked by bitterness and irony, on the lot in store for Moab shows that Israel had long pondered its resentment against this neighbor, which had thrown itself on Israel like dogs unleashed against the game by the hunter (see 2 Ki 24:2).
- Jeremiah 48:13 Bethel: the sanctuary in the northern kingdom, erected in opposition to the temple in Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 48:29 Moab, a pleasant and prosperous region, has now been devastated and weeps over its ruins. In this passage may be seen some parallels with chapters 15–16 of the Book of Isaiah.
- Jeremiah 48:45 The oracle recalls Sihon, the Amorite king defeated by Egypt in Moses’ time (Num 21:23-29); Heshbon had been his capital (Num 21:26).
- Jeremiah 49:1 Ammon, a racial brother of Israel, was also a hostile brother (Gen 19:38; 2 Ki 24:2). But his chief crime was to have attacked the sacred domain of the Lord by occupying the territory of the tribe of Gad, his neighbor (see Jos 13:24-28). His god was Molech; Rabbah is the present-day Amman, capital of Jordan.
- Jeremiah 49:7 Entrenched as it was on rocky summits, the land of Edom, with its two districts, Teman and Dedan, may have thought itself sheltered. It was also a country of wise men (see Job 15:17-19). The people were descended from Esau, brother of Jacob (see Gen 26), and had engaged in continual quarrels and conflicts with the Hebrews; this hostile brother had struck Israel in the back and had shown itself especially hateful at the time when Jerusalem was in ruins (see Ezek 25:12-14; 35:15).
- Jeremiah 49:23 Damascus and the other Syrian cities had often seen invaders passing through their land. Damascus was the capital of an Aramean state that was a stubborn rival of Israel. This magnificent oasis was at the center of the great communication routes. Some of its princes bore the name Ben-hadad.
- Jeremiah 49:28 The king of Babylon is urged to deal ferociously with these people who were the distant descendants of Ishmael. We may think of the elusive Bedouin, whose caravans cross the desert, and of the sheik-led seminomadic or semisedentary tribes installed with their immense flocks in villages of tents and of straw mixed with clay on the edge of the steppes.
- Jeremiah 49:34 Elam, in the region northeast of the Persian Gulf, was famous for its archers (see v. 35; Isa 22:6). This people was not strictly an enemy of Israel.
- Jeremiah 50:1 In Jeremiah’s eyes, Babylon was only an instrument in God’s hands, and he knew that sooner or later its control of the East would be taken from it. The prophet had predicted that Israel would be reprieved. Made confident by these reflections of Jeremiah, his disciples here proclaim the judgment of the Lord against the Chaldeans, at a time when, toward the middle of the sixth century B.C., their power was beginning to decline and the deportees were hoping for deliverance. We are in the atmosphere that reigned before 538 B.C. and which we know from Second Isaiah.
- Jeremiah 50:2 Bel was an ancient Sumerian deity; his name was then taken over by the Babylonian national god, Marduk.
- Jeremiah 50:12 Mother: the Babylonian nation.
- Jeremiah 50:14 The archers here are the Elamites.
- Jeremiah 50:21 Merathaim and Pekod: regions of Babylonia, the Hebrew names of which (“twofold rebellion” and “visit, punish”) lend themselves to a play on words.
- Jeremiah 50:34 Redeemer: Hebrew, goel; see Lev 25:25.
- Jeremiah 51:27 Ararat and Minni are regions of Armenia. Ashkenaz refers to the Scythians.
- Jeremiah 51:36 The sea and the springs are the Euphrates and its branches.
- Jeremiah 51:58 Although the preceding collection of oracles cannot be attributed directly to Jeremiah, there is no serious reason for not attributing to him this symbolic action which is very much in his style. The editor decided to place this story after the lengthy prophecy that precedes.
- Jeremiah 51:59 Seraiah: brother of Baruch; see Bar 1:1.
