Jeremiah 50

This is the message the LORD spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans. He gave it through Jeremiah the prophet.

1The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.

Note"Chaldeans" were the people of southern Babylonia; by Jeremiah's day their dynasty ruled the empire, so the word is simply another name for the Babylonians. Babylon was the power that captured Jerusalem and deported much of Judah, and this chapter is the last and longest of Jeremiah's messages about foreign nations. Where "LORD" is printed in capitals it stands in for God's personal name in Hebrew, which readers traditionally did not say aloud.

2Announce it among the nations and spread the news. Raise a flag as a signal. Tell it, and hold nothing back. Say, "Babylon has been captured. Bel is put to shame. Merodach is smashed. Her idols are shamed, and her images are broken to pieces."

2Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.

NoteBel means "lord" and is the title of Marduk, spelled Merodach here, the chief god of Babylon, so the two names refer to the same god. His statue was paraded through the city at the New Year festival. In the ancient world a nation's gods were reckoned defeated along with the nation, and captured images were carried off or smashed; that is what "shamed" and "broken to pieces" describe.

3A nation from the north is coming up against her. It will turn her land into an empty ruin, and no one will live there. Both people and animals will run away.

3For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.

NoteBabylon lay east of Judah, but armies moving between the two had to follow the arc of settled land and arrive from the north. Throughout Jeremiah "the north" is the direction disaster comes from; earlier it meant Babylon attacking Judah, and here the same phrase is turned back on Babylon.

4"In those days, at that time," says the LORD, "the people of Israel will come, and the people of Judah with them. They will come weeping as they go, and they will look for the LORD their God.

4In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.

NoteAfter Solomon the kingdom split in two. The northern kingdom, called Israel, fell to Assyria in 722 BC; the southern kingdom, Judah, fell to Babylon in 587 BC. Both sets of exiles are pictured coming home together.

5They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will say, "Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD in an agreement that lasts forever and will never be forgotten."

5They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

NoteZion was originally the ridge in Jerusalem where the temple stood, and the name came to stand for the whole city. The "agreement" is a covenant, a formal, sworn, binding arrangement of the kind made between a king and his people or between two states, with obligations on both sides, not a casual promise.

6My people have been like lost sheep. Their shepherds led them the wrong way and let them wander over the mountains. They went from mountain to hill and forgot the place where they could rest.

6My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.

Note"Shepherd" was the ordinary word for a king or ruler across the ancient Near East; the complaint is against Judah's leaders, not against herdsmen. Wandering "from mountain to hill" also carries an echo of the hilltop shrines where other gods were worshiped.

7Everyone who found them ate them up. Their enemies said, "We are not guilty. They sinned against the LORD, who was their true pasture, the LORD, the one their ancestors hoped in."

7All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.

NoteThe King James "habitation of justice" is literally "pasture of righteousness," keeping the sheep picture going: the LORD was the safe grazing ground the flock strayed from. The enemies' claim is a legal one, the sheep had wandered off, so seizing them was no crime.

8Get out of the middle of Babylon. Leave the land of the Chaldeans. Be like the male goats that walk out in front of the flock and lead it.

8Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.

9Look, I am stirring up a company of great nations from the land of the north and bringing them against Babylon. They will line up against her, and from there she will be taken. Their arrows fly like a skilled soldier's, and none comes back empty.

9For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.

10Chaldea will be looted. Everyone who loots her will take all they want," says the LORD.

10And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD.

11"You were glad. You cheered as you robbed the people who belong to me. You kicked up your heels like a young cow treading out grain, and you neighed like stallions.

11Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;

NoteCattle used for threshing walked over the cut grain unmuzzled and ate as they worked, so a heifer treading grain is a well-fed, frisky animal. "My heritage" is God's people and land spoken of as inherited family property, so plundering them counts as robbing him.

12So your mother will be deeply shamed. The one who gave birth to you will be disgraced. Look, she will be the last of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.

12Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

Note"Your mother" is Babylon herself, spoken of as the mother of her citizens; her shame is the city's fall. "The hindermost of the nations" means the last and lowest of them.

13Because the LORD is angry, no one will live there. The whole place will lie in ruins. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be shocked and will hiss at all her wounds.

13Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.

NoteHissing here is the whistling noise onlookers made at a ruined place, shock and scorn together. It is not the modern sense of hissing at a performance.

14Line up in battle formation all around Babylon, all of you who use the bow. Shoot at her. Do not save your arrows, because she has sinned against the LORD.

14Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.

15Raise the war shout against her from every side. She has given up. Her towers have fallen. Her walls are torn down. This is how the LORD pays back, so pay her back. Do to her what she did to others.

15Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.

Note"She hath given her hand" describes an ancient gesture of surrender and of pledging submission to a victor. The Hebrew word behind "towers" (King James "foundations") is uncertain; it names some part of the city's fortifications.

16Take away from Babylon the one who plants and the one who swings the sickle at harvest time. Because of the sword of the enemy, everyone will turn back to his own people and run to his own country.

16Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.

NoteMuch of the farm labor in Babylonia was done by deported foreigners. Removing the sower and the reaper means both famine for the city and those workers streaming back to their own countries once the invaders arrive.

17Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The king of Assyria was the first to eat him up, and last of all Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon crushed his bones.

17Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.

NoteAssyria wiped out the northern kingdom and deported its people in 722 BC; Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 587 BC. "Nebuchadrezzar" is Jeremiah's usual spelling and is closer to the Babylonian form of the name; other books spell it Nebuchadnezzar.

18So this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria.

18Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.

Note"The LORD of Hosts" is a title meaning roughly "the LORD who commands the armies", armies of heaven rather than of Israel. It is a standing phrase, not a description of a particular moment.

19I will bring Israel back to his own pasture. He will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and he will eat his fill in the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.

19And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.

NoteCarmel, Bashan, Ephraim and Gilead were the best grazing country in the region: the coastal ridge, the high plateau east of the Sea of Galilee, the central hill country, and the uplands east of the Jordan. Listing them is a way of saying the flock will feed on the richest land there is.

20In those days, at that time," says the LORD, "someone will look for Israel's guilt, and there will be none. Someone will look for Judah's sins, and they will not be found, because I will forgive the ones I keep alive.

20In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.

Note"The ones I keep alive" is the remnant, the survivors left after a catastrophe. The idea runs through Jeremiah: the nation is not wiped out, but what returns is a fraction of what went into exile.

21"Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the people who live in Pekod. Kill them and destroy them completely. Do everything I have ordered you to do," says the LORD.

21Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

NoteMerathaim and Pekod are real districts of Babylonia, the marshlands near the head of the Persian Gulf and the Puqudu tribal area east of the Tigris, chosen because in Hebrew the names sound like "double rebellion" and "punishment." "Destroy them completely" translates a technical term for putting captured people and goods under a ban: devoted to destruction rather than kept as plunder.

22"The noise of battle is in the land, the noise of terrible destruction.

22A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.

23See how the hammer that pounded the whole earth is now cut apart and broken. See how Babylon has become a horrifying ruin among the nations.

23How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

24I set a trap for you, Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it. You were found and taken, because you fought against the LORD.

24I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.

25The LORD has opened his weapon store and brought out the weapons of his anger. The Lord GOD of Hosts has work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.

25The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

Note"Lord GOD" with GOD in capitals marks a place where the Hebrew has the title "Lord" followed by God's personal name; printers used the odd capitalisation to show which underlying word is which.

26Come against her from the farthest border. Break open her grain storehouses. Pile her up like heaps of grain. Destroy her completely, and leave nothing of her behind.

26Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.

NoteThreshed grain was piled into mounds on the threshing floor before being stored. The picture is Babylon's contents (her goods, or her dead) heaped up the same way. Her "storehouses" are granaries.

27Kill all her young bulls. Send them down to the slaughter. It is a bad day for them, because their time has come, the time for their punishment.

27Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.

Note"Young bulls" stands for Babylon's fighting men and leading citizens, the strongest of the herd. "The time for their punishment" translates a word meaning a visit of inspection, the moment an overlord comes to check accounts and settle them.

28Listen to the people running away, escaping from the land of Babylon. They are telling in Zion how the LORD our God has paid Babylon back, paid her back for what she did to his temple.

28The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.

NoteBabylonian troops burned the Jerusalem temple in 587 BC and carried off its fittings. "Vengeance for his temple" is payback for that specific act.

29Call up the archers against Babylon, everyone who bends a bow. Set up camp all around her, and let no one get away. Pay her back for what she did. Do to her what she has done, because she set herself proudly against the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

29Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.

Note"The Holy One of Israel" is a fixed title for God, especially common in Isaiah. "Holy" in Hebrew means set apart, wholly other, rather than morally well behaved.

30So her young men will fall dead in the streets, and all her soldiers will be silenced on that day," says the LORD.

30Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD.

31"Look, I am against you, you proud one," says the Lord GOD of Hosts. "Your day has come, the time when I will punish you.

31Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.

NoteThe Hebrew here is a noun, "Arrogance" or "Insolence", used almost as a nickname, so the line reads something like "Look, I am against you, Arrogance." Readers have taken it as a name either for the city or for its king.

32The proud one will trip and fall, and no one will help him up. I will start a fire in his cities, and it will burn up everything around him."

32And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.

33This is what the LORD of Hosts says: "The people of Israel are crushed, and the people of Judah with them. Everyone who took them prisoner holds them tight and refuses to let them go.

33Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.

34But the one who buys them back is strong. His name is the LORD of Hosts. He will argue their case with all his strength, so that he brings rest to the land and trouble to the people living in Babylon.

34Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

Note"Redeemer" translates go'el, a term from Israelite family law: the nearest male relative, who was obliged to buy a kinsman out of debt-slavery, buy back land the family had been forced to sell, and take up a relative's lawsuit or blood claim. Calling the LORD Israel's redeemer places him in that family role against Babylon. "Argue their case" is courtroom language for acting as someone's advocate.

35A sword is coming against the Chaldeans," says the LORD, "and against the people living in Babylon, and against her officials and her wise men.

35A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.

36A sword is coming against her liars, and they will be shown up as fools. A sword is coming against her strong soldiers, and they will be terrified.

36A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.

NoteThe word rendered "liars" is rare; elsewhere it is used of diviners and their empty talk, so it most likely means Babylon's fortune tellers and oracle-readers. In 1611 English "dote" meant to behave like a fool, not to be fond of someone.

37A sword is coming against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners living among her, and they will become as weak as women. A sword is coming against her treasures, and they will be carried off.

37A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.

Note"The foreigners living among her" (King James "the mingled people") are the mixed foreign population of Babylon, including hired troops from other nations. "They shall become as women" was a standard ancient taunt for fighting men who lose their nerve.

38A drought is coming on her waters, and they will dry up. For this is a land full of carved idols, and the people are out of their minds over them.

38A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.

NoteBabylon's wealth rested on the Euphrates and its canal network, so drying up her waters strikes at the city's life. In Hebrew the word for "drought" is almost identical to the word for "sword" repeated in the previous verses, so the line lands as a deliberate twist on them.

39So desert animals and hyenas will live there, and ostriches will make it their home. It will never be lived in again, not for generation after generation.

39Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.

NoteThe animal names in this verse are uncertain and translations differ, desert creatures, howling animals such as hyenas or jackals, and ostriches or owls. They are the creatures imagined haunting abandoned places; the point is a site fit only for wildlife.

40"Just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns near them," says the LORD, "so no one will settle there, and no human being will live in it.

40As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

NoteSodom and Gomorrah were the cities destroyed by fire in Genesis 19. By Jeremiah's time they were a byword for a place so completely wiped out that it was never rebuilt or resettled.

41Look, an army is coming from the north. A great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the far ends of the earth.

41Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

42They carry bow and spear. They are cruel and show no mercy. Their voices roar like the sea. They ride on horses, lined up like soldiers ready to fight, coming against you, daughter of Babylon.

42They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

Note"Daughter of Babylon" is a standard way of speaking of a city and its inhabitants as a single woman. It does not refer to an individual person.

43The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, and his hands hang limp. He is gripped by fear and by pain like a woman giving birth.

43The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.

44Look, one will come up like a lion out of the thick growth along the Jordan, up to the green pasture. In a moment I will chase them away from her. Then who is the chosen one I will put in charge of her? Who is like me? Who can challenge me? What shepherd can stand up to me?"

44Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

NoteThe "thick growth along the Jordan" is the dense scrub on the river's banks, flooded each spring when the water rose. Lions lived there and were driven out by the floods, so a lion coming up out of the thickets was a stock picture of sudden, unavoidable danger. "Who can challenge me" is legal language: who can summon me to court to answer. Verses 44–46 repeat, almost word for word, lines used against Edom in chapter 49.

45So listen to the plan the LORD has made against Babylon, and what he has decided to do to the land of the Chaldeans. The little ones of the flock will surely be dragged away, and their pasture will surely be left in ruins because of them.

45Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.

NoteThis line is genuinely ambiguous in Hebrew. It can mean that even the smallest of the flock will be dragged off, or that the least of the flock will be the ones who drag the enemy away. Translations split between the two.

46At the sound of Babylon being captured, the earth shakes, and a cry is heard among the nations.

46At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.