Jeremiah

Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;

1This is what the LORD says: I am going to stir up a destroying wind against Babylon and against the people of the land that stands against me.

2And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.

2I will send outsiders to Babylon to blow her away like chaff and empty her land. On her day of trouble they will come at her from every side.

3Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.

3Let the archer shoot at Babylon's archer. Let him strike the soldier in his armor. Do not spare her young men. Destroy her whole army.

4Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.

4The dead will fall in the land of the Chaldeans, stabbed through and lying in her streets.

5For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

5For Israel and Judah have not been left alone by their God, the LORD of Armies, the LORD who commands all armies. Yet their land is full of sin against the Holy One of Israel.

6Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.

6Run out of Babylon! Every one of you, save your life! Do not be destroyed when she is punished. This is the time when the LORD pays her back for what she did.

7Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

7Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD's hand that made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine, and so they went mad.

8Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

8All at once Babylon has fallen and broken apart. Cry loudly for her. Bring healing ointment for her pain. Maybe she can get better.

9We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

9We tried to heal Babylon, but she would not heal. Leave her. Let each of us go home to his own country. Her judgment reaches the sky and rises to the clouds.

10The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.

10The LORD has shown that we were in the right. Come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has done.

11Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.

11Sharpen the arrows! Get the shields ready! The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his plan is to destroy Babylon. This is how the LORD pays her back for his temple.

12Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.

12Raise a flag against the walls of Babylon. Set a strong guard. Post the watchmen. Hide soldiers to attack. The LORD planned this against Babylon's people, and now he is doing it.

13O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.

13You city beside many waters, rich with treasure, your end has come. Your greed has reached its limit.

14The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.

14The LORD of Armies has sworn by himself: I will fill you with enemy soldiers as thick as locusts, and they will shout in victory over you.

Note"Caterpillers" in the King James Version means locusts, insects that swarm in huge numbers and strip a land bare. Verse 27 uses the same word.

15He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.

15He made the earth by his power. He set the world in place by his wisdom. He spread out the heavens because he understands all things.

16When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

16When he speaks, the waters in the sky roar. He makes clouds rise from the far ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

17Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

17Everyone is senseless and knows nothing. Every metalworker is shamed by the idol he made. His metal statues are a lie, and there is no breath in them.

18They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

18They are worthless, made only to be laughed at. When the time comes to punish them, they will be gone.

19The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.

19The God who belongs to Jacob is not like them. He made everything, and Israel is the people he claims as his own. His name is the LORD of Armies.

20Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;

20You are my war club, my weapon for battle. With you I smash nations. With you I destroy kingdoms.

21And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;

21With you I smash the horse and its rider. With you I smash the chariot and its driver.

22With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;

22With you I smash man and woman. With you I smash old and young. With you I smash the young man and the young woman.

23I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.

23With you I smash the shepherd and his flock. With you I smash the farmer and his oxen. With you I smash governors and officials.

24And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.

24Right in front of your eyes I will pay back Babylon and everyone in Chaldea for all the evil they did in Zion, says the LORD.

25Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.

25The LORD says: I am against you, you destroying mountain, you who ruin the whole earth. I will reach out my hand against you. I will roll you off the cliffs and leave you a burned mountain.

26And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.

26No one will take a stone from you for a corner or for a foundation. You will be empty ruins forever, says the LORD.

27Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.

27Raise a flag in the land! Blow the horn among the nations! Get the nations ready to fight her. Call the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz. Choose a commander. Bring up horses as thick as swarming locusts.

28Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.

28Get the nations ready to fight her: the kings of the Medes, their governors and officials, and every land they rule.

29And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.

29The land shakes and twists in pain, because the LORD's plans against Babylon still stand. He will leave Babylon empty, with no one living there.

30The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.

30Babylon's strong soldiers have stopped fighting. They stay inside their forts. Their strength is gone. They have become like women. Her houses are burning, and the bars of her gates are broken.

31One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,

31One runner races to meet another, and one messenger meets the next, to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been captured from end to end.

32And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.

32They tell him the river crossings are taken, the marshes are burning, and the soldiers are terrified.

33For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.

33This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: The city of Babylon is like a threshing floor when the grain is being stamped down. Soon her harvest time will come.

34Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.

34Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon ate me up. He crushed me. He left me like an empty jar. He swallowed me like a monster. He filled his belly with my best food, then spit me out.

35The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.

35The people of Zion say, May the harm done to me and my body come back on Babylon. Jerusalem says, May my blood be on the people of Chaldea.

36Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.

36So the LORD says: I will take your side and pay them back for you. I will dry up her sea and dry up her springs.

37And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.

37Babylon will become piles of rubble, a home for jackals, a place that shocks people and makes them hiss. No one will live there.

Note"Dragons" here means jackals, wild dogs that live in ruined, empty places.

38They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps.

38The people of Babylon roar together like lions. They growl like lion cubs.

39In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.

39While they are hot with excitement, I will spread a feast for them. I will make them drunk, so they laugh, then fall asleep forever and never wake up, says the LORD.

40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.

40I will bring them down like lambs to be killed, like rams and male goats.

41How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!

41Look how Sheshach has been captured! The city the whole earth praised has been seized! Babylon has become a horror to the nations!

NoteSheshach is a code name for Babylon, made by swapping letters of the alphabet. It is the same city named in the rest of the verse.

42The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.

42The sea has risen over Babylon. She is covered by its crashing waves.

43Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.

43Her towns lie in ruins, a dry and empty land. No one lives there, and no one even passes through.

44And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

44I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon, and make him spit out what he swallowed. The nations will not stream to him anymore. Even the wall of Babylon will fall.

45My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.

45My people, come out of her! Every one of you, save your life from the LORD's burning anger.

46And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

46Do not lose heart or be afraid when reports spread through the land. One report will come one year, and another the next year, about violence in the land and ruler fighting ruler.

47Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

47So the days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her whole land will be shamed, and her dead will lie fallen inside her.

48Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.

48Then the heavens and the earth and everything in them will sing for joy over Babylon, because the destroyers will come at her from the north, says the LORD.

49As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

49Babylon must fall because of the people of Israel she killed, just as people all over the earth fell because of Babylon.

50Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.

50You who escaped the sword, go now, and do not stand still. Remember the LORD though you are far away, and think about Jerusalem.

51We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’s house.

51We are ashamed, because we have heard insults. Shame covers our faces, because foreigners have walked into the holy rooms of the LORD's house.

52Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.

52So the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will punish her idols, and all through her land the wounded will groan.

53Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

53Even if Babylon climbed up to the sky and made her high walls as strong as possible, I would still send destroyers against her, says the LORD.

54A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:

54The sound of crying comes from Babylon, the sound of terrible ruin from the land of the Chaldeans.

55Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:

55For the LORD is destroying Babylon and silencing her loud voice. The enemy waves roar like great waters, and the noise of their voices is heard.

56Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.

56A destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon. Her strong soldiers are captured, and their bows are broken. The LORD is a God who pays back, and he pays in full.

57And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

57I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and soldiers. They will fall asleep forever and never wake up, says the King, whose name is the LORD of Armies.

58Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.

58This is what the LORD of Armies says: Babylon's thick walls will be flattened, and her high gates burned with fire. The people's work will be for nothing. The nations wear themselves out only to feed the flames.

59The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.

59This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, when Seraiah went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign. Seraiah was the officer in charge of supplies.

NoteA "quiet prince" in the King James Version means a staff officer, the man in charge of supplies and travel arrangements for the king.

60So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.

60Jeremiah wrote on a scroll all the trouble that would come on Babylon, all these words written against her.

61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;

61Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you get to Babylon, be sure to read all these words out loud.

62Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.

62Then say, LORD, you have said you will wipe out this place, so that no one is left in it, no person and no animal. It will be empty ruins forever.

63And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:

63When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River.

64And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

64Then say, In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again, because of the trouble I will bring on her. And her people will wear out. Here the words of Jeremiah end.