Jeremiah 51
51The LORD says, "I am bringing a destructive wind against Babylonia and its people.H559H3068H5782H894H3427H3820H6965H7843H73072I will send foreigners to destroy Babylonia like a wind that blows straw away. When that day of destruction comes, they will attack from every side and leave the land bare.H7971H894H2114H2219H1238H776H3117H7451H54393Don't give its soldiers time to shoot their arrows or to put on their armor. Do not spare the young men! Destroy the whole army!H1869H1869H1869H7198H5927H5630H2550H970H2763H66354They will be wounded and die in the streets of their cities.H2491H5307H776H3778H1856H23515I, the LORD God Almighty, have not abandoned Israel and Judah, even though they have sinned against me, the Holy One of Israel.H3478H488H3063H430H3068H6635H776H4390H817H6918H34786Run away from Babylonia! Run for your lives! Do not be killed because of Babylonia's sin. I am now taking my revenge and punishing it as it deserves.H5127H8432H894H4422H376H5315H1826H5771H6256H3068H5360H7999H15767Babylonia was like a gold cup in my hand, making the whole world drunk. The nations drank its wine and went out of their minds.H894H2091H3563H3068H3027H776H7937H1471H8354H3196H1471H19848Babylonia has suddenly fallen and is destroyed! Mourn over it! Get medicine for its wounds, and maybe it can be healed.H894H6597H5307H7665H3213H3947H6875H4341H74959Foreigners living there said, 'We tried to help Babylonia, but it was too late. Let's leave now and go back home. God has punished Babylonia with all his might and has destroyed it completely.' "H7495H894H7495H5800H3212H376H776H4941H5060H8064H5375H783410The LORD says, "My people shout, 'The LORD has shown that we are in the right. Let's go and tell the people in Jerusalem what the LORD our God has done.' "H3068H3318H6666H935H5608H6726H4639H3068H43011The LORD has stirred up the kings of Media, because he intends to destroy Babylonia. That is how he will take revenge for the destruction of his Temple. The attacking officers command, "Sharpen your arrows! Get your shields ready!H1305H2671H4390H7982H3068H5782H7307H4428H4074H4209H894H7843H5360H3068H5360H196412Give the signal to attack Babylon's walls. Strengthen the guard! Post the sentries! Place troops in ambush!" The LORD has done what he said he would do to the people of Babylonia.H5375H5251H2346H894H4929H2388H6965H8104H3559H693H3068H2161H6213H1696H3427H89413That country has many rivers and rich treasures, but its time is up, and its thread of life is cut.H7931H7931H7227H4325H7227H214H7093H935H520H121514The LORD Almighty has sworn by his own life that he will bring many men to attack Babylonia like a swarm of locusts, and they will shout with victory.H3068H6635H7650H5315H4390H120H3218H6030H195915The LORD made the earth by his power; by his wisdom he created the world and stretched out the heavens.H6213H776H3581H3559H8398H2451H5186H8064H839416At his command the waters above the sky roar; he brings clouds from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning flash in the rain and sends the wind from his storeroom.H5414H6963H1995H4325H8064H5387H5927H7097H776H6213H1300H4306H3318H7307H21417At the sight of this, people feel stupid and senseless; those who make idols are disillusioned because the gods they make are false and lifeless.H120H1197H1847H6884H3001H6459H5262H8267H730718They are worthless and should be despised; they will be destroyed when the LORD comes to deal with them.H1892H4639H8595H6256H6486H619The God of Jacob is not like them; he is the one who made everything, and he has chosen Israel to be his very own people. The LORD Almighty is his name.H2506H3290H3335H7626H5159H3068H6635H803420The LORD says, "Babylonia, you are my hammer, my weapon of war. I used you to crush nations and kingdoms,H4661H3627H4421H5310H1471H7843H446721to shatter horses and riders, to shatter chariots and their drivers,H5310H5483H7392H5310H7393H739222to kill men and women, to slay old and young, to kill boys and girls,H5310H376H802H5310H2205H5288H5310H970H133023to slaughter shepherds and their flocks, to slaughter farmers and their plow horses, to crush rulers and high officials."H5310H7462H5739H5310H406H6776H5310H6346H546124The LORD says, "You will see me repay Babylonia and its people for all the evil they did to Jerusalem.H7999H894H3427H3778H7451H6213H6726H5869H5002H306825Babylonia, you are like a mountain that destroys the whole world, but I, the LORD, am your enemy. I will take hold of you, level you to the ground, and leave you in ashes.H4889H2022H5002H3068H7843H776H5186H3027H1556H5553H5414H8316H202226None of the stones from your ruins will ever be used again for building. You will be like a desert forever. I, the LORD, have spoken.H3947H68H6438H68H4146H8077H5769H5002H306827"Give the signal to attack! Blow the trumpet so that the nations can hear! Prepare the nations for war against Babylonia! Tell the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz to attack. Appoint an officer to lead the attack. Bring up the horses like a swarm of locusts.H5375H5251H776H8628H7782H1471H6942H1471H8085H4467H780H4508H813H6485H2951H5483H5927H5569H321828Prepare the nations for war against Babylonia. Send for the kings of Media, their leaders and officials, and the armies of all the countries they control.H6942H1471H4428H4074H6346H5461H776H447529The earth trembles and shakes because the LORD is carrying out his plan to make Babylonia a desert, where no one lives.H776H7493H2342H4284H3068H6965H894H7760H776H894H8047H342730The Babylonian soldiers have stopped fighting and remain in their forts. They have lost their courage and have become helpless. The city gates are broken down, and the houses are on fire.H1368H894H2308H3898H3427H4679H1369H5405H802H3341H4908H1280H766531Messenger after messenger runs to tell the king of Babylonia that his city has been broken into from every side.H7323H7323H7125H7323H5046H7125H5046H5046H4428H894H5892H3920H709732The enemy have captured the river crossing and have set the fortresses on fire. The Babylonian soldiers have panicked.H4569H8610H98H8313H784H582H4421H92633Soon the enemy will cut them down and trample them like grain on a threshing place. I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, have spoken."H559H3068H6635H430H3478H1323H894H1637H6256H1869H4592H6256H7105H93534The king of Babylonia cut Jerusalem up and ate it. He emptied the city like a jar; like a monster he swallowed it. He took what he wanted and threw the rest away.H5019H4428H894H398H2000H3322H7385H3627H1104H8577H4390H3770H5730H174035Let the people of Zion say, "May Babylonia be held responsible for the violence done to us!" Let the people of Jerusalem say, "May Babylonia be held responsible for what we have suffered!"H2555H7607H894H3427H6726H559H1818H3427H3778H3389H55936And so the LORD said to the people of Jerusalem, "I will take up your cause and will make your enemies pay for what they did to you. I will dry up the source of Babylonia's water and make its rivers go dry.H559H3068H7378H7379H5358H5360H2717H3220H4726H300137That country will become a pile of ruins where wild animals live. It will be a horrible sight; no one will live there, and all who see it will be terrified.H894H1530H4583H8577H8047H8322H342738The Babylonians all roar like lions and growl like lion cubs.H7580H3162H3715H5286H738H148439Are they greedy? I will prepare them a feast and make them drunk and happy. They will go to sleep and never wake up.H2527H7896H4960H7937H5937H3462H5769H8142H6974H5002H306840I will take them to be slaughtered, like lambs, goats, and rams. I, the LORD, have spoken."H3381H3733H2873H352H626041The LORD says about Babylon: "The city that the whole world praised has been captured! What a horrifying sight Babylon has become to the nations!H8347H3920H8416H776H8610H894H8047H147142The sea has rolled over Babylon and covered it with roaring waves.H3220H5927H894H3680H1995H153043The towns have become a horrifying sight and are like a waterless desert, where no one lives or even travels.H5892H8047H6723H776H6160H776H376H3427H1121H120H5674H200444I will punish Bel, the god of Babylonia, and make him give up his stolen goods; the nations will not worship him any more. "Babylon's walls have fallen.H6485H1078H894H3318H6310H1105H1471H5102H2346H894H530745People of Israel, run away from there! Run for your life from my fierce anger.H5971H3318H8432H4422H376H5315H2740H639H306846Do not lose courage or be afraid because of the rumors you hear. Every year a different rumor spreads - rumors of violence in the land and of one king fighting another.H3824H7401H3372H8052H8085H776H8052H935H8141H310H8141H8052H2555H776H4910H491047And so the time is coming when I will deal with Babylonia's idols. The whole country will be put to shame, and all its people will be killed.H3117H935H6485H6456H894H776H954H2491H5307H843248Everything on earth and in the sky will shout for joy when Babylonia falls to the people who come from the north to destroy it.H8064H776H7442H894H7703H935H6828H5002H306849Babylonia caused the death of people all over the world, and now Babylonia will fall because it caused the death of so many Israelites. I, the LORD, have spoken."H1571H894H2491H3478H5307H894H5307H2491H77650The LORD says to his people in Babylonia: "You have escaped death! Now go! Don't wait! Though you are far from home, think about me, your LORD, and remember Jerusalem.H6405H2719H1980H5975H2142H3068H7350H3389H5927H382451You say, 'We've been disgraced and made ashamed; we feel completely helpless because foreigners have taken over the holy places in the Temple.'H954H8085H2781H3639H3680H6440H2114H935H4720H3068H100452So then, I say that the time is coming when I will deal with Babylon's idols, and the wounded will groan throughout the country.H3117H935H5002H3068H6485H6456H776H2491H60253Even if Babylon could climb to the sky and build a strong fortress there, I would still send people to destroy it. I, the LORD, have spoken."H894H5927H8064H1219H4791H5797H227H7703H935H5002H306854The LORD says, "Listen to the sound of crying in Babylon, of mourning for the destruction in the land.H6963H2201H894H1419H7667H776H377855I am destroying Babylon and putting it to silence. The armies rush in like roaring waves and attack with noisy shouts.H3068H7703H894H6H1419H6963H1530H1993H7227H4325H7588H6963H541456They have come to destroy Babylon; its soldiers are captured, and their bows are broken. I am a God who punishes evil, and I will treat Babylon as it deserves.H7703H935H894H1368H3920H7198H2865H3068H410H1578H7999H799957I will make its rulers drunk - men of wisdom, leaders, and soldiers. They will go to sleep and never wake up. I, the king, have spoken; I am the LORD Almighty.H7937H8269H2450H6346H5461H1368H3462H5769H8142H6974H5002H4428H8034H3068H663558The walls of mighty Babylon will be thrown to the ground, and its towering gates burned down. The work of the nations is all for nothing; their efforts go up in flames. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken."H559H3068H6635H7342H2346H894H6209H6209H1364H8179H3341H784H5971H3021H7385H3816H1767H784H328659King Zedekiah's personal attendant was Seraiah, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. In the fourth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, Seraiah was going to Babylonia with him, and I gave him some instructions.H1697H3414H5030H6680H8304H1121H5374H1121H4271H3212H6667H4428H3063H894H7243H8141H4427H8304H4496H826960I wrote in a book an account of all the destruction that would come on Babylonia, as well as all these other things about Babylonia.H3414H3789H259H5612H7451H935H894H1697H3789H89461I told Seraiah, "When you get to Babylon, be sure to read aloud to the people everything that is written here.H3414H559H8304H935H894H7200H7121H169762Then pray, ' LORD, you have said that you would destroy this place, so that there would be no living creatures in it, neither people nor animals, and it would be like a desert forever.'H559H3068H1696H4725H3772H3427H120H929H8077H576963Seraiah, when you finish reading this book to the people, then tie it to a rock and throw it into the Euphrates RiverH3615H7121H5612H7194H68H7993H8432H657864and say, 'This is what will happen to Babylonia - it will sink and never rise again because of the destruction that the LORD is going to bring on it.' " The words of Jeremiah end here.H559H894H8257H6965H6440H7451H935H3286H1697H3414
Columbus, OH
