Jeremiah 51

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;

1The LORD says this: "Watch. I will send a destroying wind against Babylon. It will blow against the people living there who set themselves 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.

2"I will send strangers to Babylon to sweep her away. Farmers toss grain in the wind to blow the dry husks off. Like that, they will 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.

3Do not let the archer bend his bow. Do not let him put on 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.

4They will fall dead in the land of the Chaldeans, the people of Babylon. They will be stabbed 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.

5God has not left Israel and Judah alone. The LORD of Hosts, the LORD who commands armies, is still their God. But their land is full of wrong done 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! Each of you, save your life! Do not be swept away 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 like a gold cup in the LORD's hand. She made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine, and now they act crazy.

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 out loud for her. Bring medicine for her pain. Maybe she can get well.

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.

9"We tried to make Babylon well, but she did not get well. Leave her. Let each of us go home to his own land. Her punishment reaches as high as the sky."

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

10"The LORD has shown that we were right. Come, let us tell in Zion, the city of Jerusalem, 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! Fill the arrow bags! The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes. His plan is to destroy Babylon. This pays her back for what she did to 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 out guards. Put watchmen in place. Hide soldiers ready to jump out. The LORD planned this against the people of Babylon, 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 live beside many waters. You have piles of treasure. But your end has come. Your greedy life is cut off.

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 Hosts made a promise on his own name. "I will fill you with enemy soldiers, thick as locusts. They will shout over you like winners."

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 everything.

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 thunders, the waters high above roar. He makes clouds rise from far away. He sends lightning with the rain. He brings out 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.

17People are foolish and know nothing. Every metalworker is shamed by the idols he made. His metal statues are a lie. There is no breath in them.

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

18Idols are worth nothing. They are only something to laugh at. When God comes to punish, they will be destroyed.

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 that Jacob's family belongs to is not like them. He made everything there is. Israel is the family he chose for his own. His name is the LORD of Hosts.

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;

20"You are my war club, my weapon for battle. With you I smash nations to bits. With you I ruin 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;

21"With 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;

22"With you I smash man and woman. With you I smash old people 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.

23"With you I smash the shepherd and his sheep. With you I smash the farmer and his oxen. With you I smash leaders and rulers."

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.

24"Right in front of your eyes I will pay Babylon back. I will pay back everyone in Chaldea for 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.

25"Listen, I am against you, destroying mountain," says the LORD. "You wreck the whole earth. I will reach out my hand against you. I will roll you down off the cliffs. I will 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.

26"No one will take a stone from you to build with. Not a corner stone, not a base stone. You will lie empty 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. Pick a captain to lead the attack. Bring up horses thick as 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. Call the kings of the Medes, their leaders and officers, and all the lands 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. Everything the LORD planned against Babylon will happen. Her land will be left 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. Their houses are burning. The bars on their 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. One messenger follows another. They tell the king of Babylon that his city is taken from one end to the other.

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 marsh reeds are burning. The soldiers are shaking with fear.

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.

33The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says this: "Babylon is like a hard flat floor where grain is stomped. It is time to stomp her. Very 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.

34Jerusalem says, "Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon ate me up. He crushed me. He left me empty like a jar. He swallowed me like a huge beast. He filled his belly with my best food. Then he 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 will say, "Let Babylon suffer for the harm done to us." Jerusalem will say, "Let the people of Chaldea pay for the blood they spilled."

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, "Watch. I will take your side and pay them back for you. I will dry up her sea. I will dry up her springs."

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

37Babylon will become a pile of rubble. Jackals, wild dogs, will live there. People will stare and whistle at her. No one will live there.

NoteThe KJV word here is "dragons." The old word means jackals, wild dogs that live in empty places.

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

38Her people roar together like young 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.

39"While they are hot and excited, I will set out a feast for them. I will make them drunk, so they laugh and shout. Then they will 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.

40"I 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!

41See how Sheshach has been captured! The city the whole earth praised is taken. Babylon is now a shock to the nations.

NoteSheshach is another name for Babylon.

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

42The sea has risen up over Babylon. She is covered by its roaring 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 are empty. The land is dry and bare. No one lives there. 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.

44"I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him spit out what he swallowed. Nations will not come streaming to him anymore. Even the wall of Babylon will fall down."

NoteBel was the main god that the people of Babylon worshiped.

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

45"Come out of her, my people! Each 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. Do not be afraid of the news you hear in the land. One year a report will come, and another one the next year. There will be fighting in the land, ruler against 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.

47"So listen. The days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her whole land will be shamed. Her dead will lie fallen all through 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 shout for joy over Babylon. 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.

49"Babylon must fall because she killed the people of Israel. People from all over the earth fell dead 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.

50"You who got away from the sword, go! Do not stand still. Remember the LORD, even far from home. Keep Jerusalem in your mind."

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.

51"We feel ashamed, because we heard people mock us. Shame covers our faces. Strangers 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.

52"So listen," says the LORD. "The days are coming when I will punish her idols. All over 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.

53"Even if Babylon climbed up to the heavens and made her high walls strong, 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:

54Listen! A cry comes from Babylon. The sound of great ruin comes 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:

55The LORD is destroying Babylon. He will hush her loud voice. The enemy comes in waves that roar like deep water. Their noise is loud.

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 caught. Every one of their bows is broken. The LORD is a God who pays back, and he will pay 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.

57"I will make her princes and wise men drunk. I will make her leaders, officers, and soldiers drunk too. They will fall asleep forever and never wake up," says the King. His name is the LORD of Hosts.

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.

58The LORD of Hosts says this: "Babylon's wide walls will be knocked flat. Her tall gates will be burned with fire. The people worked hard for nothing. The nations wear themselves out, and it all feeds the fire."

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, a man who told people what God said, gave to Seraiah. Seraiah was the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah. He went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon. It was the fourth year Zedekiah was king. Seraiah was the officer in charge of supplies.

NoteThe KJV calls Seraiah "a quiet prince." The Hebrew means an officer who took care of the king's supplies and traveling gear.

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

60So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the trouble that would come on Babylon. All these words were written about 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, make sure you 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.

62"Then say, 'LORD, you have said you will wipe out this place. No one will be left, no person and no animal. It will lie empty 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:

63"When you finish reading the book, tie a stone to it. 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.

64"Then say, 'Babylon will sink like this and never rise again. That is because of the trouble I will bring on her. Her people will grow tired.'" Here the words of Jeremiah end.