1Thus saith Jehovah : Behold , I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in Leb-kamai, a destroying wind . 2And I will send unto Babylon strangers , that shall winnow her ; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about . 3Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow , and against him that lifteth himself up in his coat of mail: and spare ye not her young men ; destroy ye utterly all her host . 4And they shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans , and thrust through in her streets . 5For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah , of his God , of Jehovah of hosts ; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel . 6Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life ; be not cut off in her iniquity : for it is the time of Jehovah ’s vengeance ; he will render unto her a recompense . 7Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah ’s hand , that made all the earth drunken : the nations have drunk of her wine ; therefore the nations are mad . 8Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed : wail for her ; take balm for her pain , if so be she may be healed . 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 . 10Jehovah hath brought forth our righteousness : come , and let us declare in Zion the work of Jehovah our God .
The Fall of Babylon
11Make sharp the arrows ; hold firm the shields : Jehovah hath stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes ; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it : for it is the vengeance of Jehovah , the vengeance of his temple . 12Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong , set the watchmen , prepare the ambushes; for Jehovah hath both purposed and done that which he spake concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. 13O thou that dwellest upon many waters , abundant in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy covetousness . 14Jehovah of hosts hath sworn by himself , saying , Surely I will fill thee with men , as with the canker-worm; and they shall lift up a shout against thee . 15He hath made the earth by his power , he hath established the world by his wisdom , and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens . 16When he uttereth his voice , there is a tumult of waters in the heavens , and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth ; he maketh lightnings for the rain , and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries. 17Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge ; every goldsmith is put to shame by his image ; for his molten image is falsehood , and there is no breath in them . 18They are vanity , a work of delusion : in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 19The portion of Jacob is not like these ; for he is the former of all things ; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance : Jehovah of hosts is his name .
A Call to God's People
20Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war : and with thee will I break in pieces the nations ; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms ; 21and with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider ; 22and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and him that rideth therein; and with thee will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces the old man and the youth ; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin ; 23and with thee will I break in pieces 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 governors and deputies . 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 Jehovah . 25Behold , I am against thee , O destroying mountain , saith Jehovah , which destroyest all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand upon thee , and roll thee down from the rocks , and will make thee a burnt 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 Jehovah .
The Desolation of Babylon
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 Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her ; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker-worm. 28Prepare against her the nations , the kings of the Medes , the governors thereof, and all the deputies thereof, and all the land of their dominion . 29And the land trembleth and is in pain ; for the purposes of Jehovah against Babylon do stand , to make the land of Babylon a desolation , without inhabitant . 30The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight , they remain in their strongholds ; their might hath failed ; they are become as women: her dwelling-places are set on fire ; her bars are broken . 31One post shall run to meet another , and one messenger to meet another , to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter : 32and the passages are seized , and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. 33For thus saith Jehovah of hosts , the God of Israel : The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor at the time when it is trodden ; yet a little while , and the time of harvest shall come for her . 34Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me , he hath crushed me , he hath made me an empty vessel , he hath , like a monster , swallowed me up , he hath filled his maw with my delicacies ; he hath cast me out . 35The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and , My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea , shall Jerusalem say. 36Therefore thus saith Jehovah : Behold , I will plead thy cause , and take vengeance for thee ; and I will dry up her sea , and make her fountain dry . 37And Babylon shall become heaps , a dwelling-place for jackals , an astonishment , and a hissing , without inhabitant . 38They shall roar together like young lions ; they shall growl as lions ’ whelps . 39When they are heated, I will make their feast , and I will make them drunken , that they may rejoice , and sleep a perpetual sleep , and not wake , saith Jehovah . 40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter , like rams with he-goats. 41How is Sheshach taken ! and the praise of the whole earth seized ! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations ! 42The sea is come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof . 43Her cities are become a desolation , a dry land , and a desert , a land wherein no man dwelleth , neither doth any son of man pass thereby . 44And I will execute judgment upon Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up ; and the nations shall not flow any more unto him : yea , the wall of Babylon shall fall . 45My people , go ye out of the midst of her , and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of Jehovah . 46And let not your heart faint , neither fear ye for the tidings that shall be heard in the land; for tidings shall come one year , and after that in another year shall come tidings , and violence in the land, ruler against ruler . 47Therefore , behold , the days come , that I will execute 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 . 48Then the heavens and the earth , and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come unto her from the north , saith Jehovah . 49As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall , so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land. 50Ye that have escaped the sword , go ye , stand not still ; remember Jehovah from afar , and let Jerusalem come into your mind . 51We are confounded, because we have heard reproach ; confusion hath covered our faces : for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Jehovah ’s house . 52Wherefore , behold , the days come, saith Jehovah , that I will execute judgment upon her graven images ; and through all her land the wounded shall groan. 53Though Babylon should mount up to heaven , and though she should fortify the height of her strength , yet from me shall destroyers come unto her , saith Jehovah . 54The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans ! 55For Jehovah layeth Babylon waste , and destroyeth out of her the great voice ; and their waves roar like many waters ; the noise of their voice is uttered : 56for the destroyer is come upon her , even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken , their bows are broken in pieces ; for Jehovah is a God of recompenses , he will surely requite . 57And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men , her governors and her deputies , and her mighty men ; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep , and not wake , saith the King , whose name is Jehovah of hosts . 58Thus saith Jehovah of hosts : The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire ; and the peoples shall labor for vanity , and the nations for the fire ; and they shall be weary . 59The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah , the son of Mahseiah , when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign . Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain. 60And Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah , When thou comest to Babylon, then see that thou read all these words , 62and say , O Jehovah , thou hast spoken concerning this place , to cut it off , that none shall dwell therein , neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever . 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 the Euphrates : 64and thou shalt say , Thus shall Babylon sink , and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her ; and they shall be weary . Thus far are the words of Jeremiah .