Jeremiah 51:40-50

40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and male goats.
41 "How 1Babylon[a] is taken, 2the praise of the whole earth 3seized! How Babylon has become a horror among the nations!
42 4The sea has come up on Babylon; she is covered with its tumultuous waves.
43 Her cities have become a horror, 5a land of drought and a desert, 6a land in which no one dwells, and through which no son of man passes.
44 And I will punish 7Bel in Babylon, and 8take out of his mouth 9what he has swallowed. 10The nations shall no longer flow to him; 11the wall of Babylon has fallen.
45 "Go out of the midst of her, 12my people! Let every one save his life from 13the fierce anger of the LORD!
46 Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful 14at the report heard in the land, 15when a report comes in one year and afterward a report in another year, and violence is in the land, 16and ruler is against ruler.
47 "Therefore, behold, the days are coming when 17I will punish the images of Babylon; 18her whole land shall be put to shame, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 19Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, shall sing for joy over Babylon, 20for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north, declares the LORD.
49 Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel, 21just as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.
50 22"You who have escaped from the sword, go, do not stand still! Remember the LORD from far away, and let Jerusalem come into your mind:

Jeremiah 51:40-50 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 51

The former part of this chapter is a continuation of the prophecy of the preceding chapter, concerning the destruction of Babylon, Jer 51:1-58; the latter part of it contains a prophecy of Jeremiah sent to the captives in Babylon by the hand of Seraiah, with the copy of the above prophecy against Babylon, and an order to fasten a stone to it, and cast it into the river Euphrates, as a sign, confirming the utter and irreparable ruin of Babylon, Jer 51:59-64.

Cross References 22

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.