Jeremiah 51

Babylon Judged for Sins against Israel

1 Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai The ¹spirit of a destroyer.

2 "I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may ²winnow her And may devastate her land; For on every side they will be opposed to her In the day of her calamity.

3 "Let not him who ³bends his bow bend it, Nor let him rise up in his ⁴scale-armor; So do not spare her young men; Devote all her army to destruction.

4 "They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, And ⁵pierced through in their streets."

5 For ⁶neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken By his God, the LORD of hosts, Although their land is ⁷full of guilt Before the Holy One of Israel.

6 ⁸Flee from the midst of Babylon, And each of you save his life! Do not be ⁹destroyed in her punishment, For this is the ¹⁰LORD'S time of vengeance; He is going to ¹¹render recompense to her.

7 Babylon has been a golden ¹²cup in the hand of the LORD, Intoxicating all the earth. The ¹³nations have drunk of her wine; Therefore * the nations are ¹⁴going mad.

8 Suddenly ¹⁵Babylon has fallen and been broken; ¹⁶Wail over her! ¹⁷Bring balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed.

9 We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; Forsake her and ¹⁸let us each go to his own country, For her judgment has ¹⁹reached to heaven And towers up to the very skies.

10 The LORD has ²⁰brought about our vindication; Come and let us ²¹recount in Zion The work of the LORD our God!

11 ²²Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it; For it is the ²³vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for His temple.

12 ²⁴Lift up a signal against the walls of Babylon; Post a strong guard, Station sentries, Place men in ambush! For the LORD has both ²⁵purposed and performed What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

13 O you who ²⁶dwell by many waters, Abundant in ²⁷treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your ²⁸end.

14 The ²⁹LORD of hosts has sworn by Himself: "Surely * I will fill you with a population like ³⁰locusts, And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you."

15 It is ³¹He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, And by His understanding He ³²stretched out the heavens.

16 When He utters His ³³voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the ³⁴clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain And brings forth the ³⁵wind from His storehouses.

17 ³⁶All mankind is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, For his molten images are ³⁷deceitful, And there is no breath in them.

18 They are ³⁸worthless, a work of mockery; In the time of their punishment they will perish.

19 The ³⁹portion of Jacob is not like these; For the Maker of all is He, And of the tribe of His inheritance; The ⁴⁰LORD of hosts is His name.

20 He says, "You are My ⁴¹war-club, My weapon of war; And with you I ⁴²shatter nations, And with you I destroy kingdoms.

21 "With you I ⁴³shatter the horse and his rider, And with you I shatter the ⁴⁴chariot and its rider,

22 And with you I shatter ⁴⁵man and woman, And with you I shatter old man and ⁴⁶youth, And with you I shatter young man and virgin,

23 And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock, And with you I shatter the farmer and his team, And with you I shatter governors and prefects.

24 "But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of ⁴⁷Chaldea for ⁴⁸all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes," declares the LORD.

25 "Behold, ⁴⁹I am against you, ⁵⁰O destroying mountain, Who destroys the whole earth," declares the LORD, "And I will stretch out My hand against you, And roll you down from the crags, And I will make you a ⁵¹burnt out mountain.

26 "They will not take from you even a stone for a corner Nor a stone for foundations, But you will be ⁵²desolate forever," declares the LORD.

27 ⁵³Lift up a signal in the land, Blow a trumpet among the nations! Consecrate the nations against her, Summon against her the ⁵⁴kingdoms of ⁵⁵Ararat, Minni and ⁵⁶Ashkenaz; Appoint a marshal against her, Bring up the ⁵⁷horses like bristly locusts.

28 Consecrate the nations against her, The kings of the Medes, Their governors and all their prefects, And every land of their dominion.

29 So the ⁵⁸land quakes and writhes, For the purposes of the LORD against Babylon stand, To make the land of Babylon A ⁵⁹desolation without inhabitants.

30 The ⁶⁰mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, They stay in the strongholds; ⁶¹Their strength is exhausted, They are becoming ⁶²like women; Their dwelling places are set on fire, The ⁶³bars of her gates are broken.

31 One ⁶⁴courier runs to meet another, And one ⁶⁵messenger to meet another, To tell the king of Babylon That his city has been captured from end to end;

32 The fords also have been seized, And they have burned the marshes with fire, And the men of war are terrified.

33 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "The daughter of Babylon is like a ⁶⁶threshing floor At the time it is stamped firm; Yet in a little while the time of ⁶⁷harvest will come for her."

34 "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has ⁶⁸devoured me and crushed me, He has set me down like an ⁶⁹empty vessel; He has ⁷⁰swallowed me like a monster, He has filled his stomach with my delicacies; He has washed me away.

35 "May the ⁷¹violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon," The inhabitant of Zion will say; And, "May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea," Jerusalem will say.

36 Therefore thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am going to ⁷²plead your case And ⁷³exact full vengeance for you; And ⁷⁴I will dry up her sea And make her fountain dry.

37 "⁷⁵Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, An ⁷⁶object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.

38 "They will roar together like ⁷⁷young lions, They will growl like lions' cubs.

39 "When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet And ⁷⁸make them drunk, that they may become jubilant And may ⁷⁹sleep a perpetual sleep And not wake up," declares the LORD.

40 "I will bring them down like lambs ⁸⁰to the slaughter, Like rams together with male goats.

41 "How ⁸¹Sheshak has been captured, And ⁸²the praise of the whole earth been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!

42 "The ⁸³sea has come up over Babylon; She has been engulfed with its tumultuous waves.

43 "Her cities have become an ⁸⁴object of horror, A parched land and a desert, A land in which ⁸⁵no * man lives And through which no son of man passes.

44 "⁸⁶I will punish Bel in Babylon, And I will make what he has swallowed ⁸⁷come out of his mouth; And the nations will no longer ⁸⁸stream to him. Even the ⁸⁹wall of Babylon has fallen down!

45 "⁹⁰Come forth from her midst, My people, And each of you ⁹¹save yourselves From the fierce anger of the LORD.

46 "Now ⁹²so that your heart does not grow faint, And you are not afraid at the ⁹³report that will be heard in the land - For the report will come one year, And after that another report in another year, And violence will be in the land With ⁹⁴ruler against ruler -

47 Therefore behold, days are coming When I will punish the ⁹⁵idols of Babylon; And her whole land will be ⁹⁶put to shame And all her slain will fall in her midst.

48 "Then ⁹⁷heaven and earth and all that is in them Will shout for joy over Babylon, For ⁹⁸the destroyers will come to her from the north," Declares the LORD.

49 ⁹⁹Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, As also for Babylon ¹⁰⁰the slain of all the earth have fallen.

50 You ¹⁰¹who have escaped the sword, Depart! Do not stay! ¹⁰²Remember the LORD from afar, And let Jerusalem come to your mind.

51 ¹⁰³We are ashamed because we have heard reproach; Disgrace has covered our faces, For ¹⁰⁴aliens have entered The holy places of the LORD'S house.

52 "Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I will punish her ¹⁰⁵idols, And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.

53 "Though Babylon should ¹⁰⁶ascend to the heavens, And though she should fortify her lofty stronghold, From ¹⁰⁷Me destroyers will come to her," declares the LORD.

54 The ¹⁰⁸sound of an outcry from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!

55 For the LORD is going to destroy Babylon, And He will make her loud noise vanish from her. And their ¹⁰⁹waves will roar like many waters; The tumult of their voices sounds forth.

56 For the ¹¹⁰destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, And her mighty men will be captured, Their ¹¹¹bows are shattered; For the LORD is a God of ¹¹²recompense, He will fully repay.

57 "I will ¹¹³make her princes and her wise men drunk, Her governors, her prefects and her mighty men, That they may sleep a ¹¹⁴perpetual sleep and not wake up," ¹¹⁵Declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

58 Thus says the LORD of hosts, "The broad ¹¹⁶wall of Babylon will be completely razed And her high ¹¹⁷gates will be set on fire; So the peoples will ¹¹⁸toil for nothing, And the nations become ¹¹⁹exhausted only for fire."

59 The message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of ¹²⁰Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with ¹²¹Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (Now Seraiah was quartermaster *.)

60 So Jeremiah ¹²²wrote in a single scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon.

61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud,

62 and say, 'You, O LORD, have promised concerning this place to ¹²³cut it off, so that there will be ¹²⁴nothing dwelling in it, whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.'

63 "And as soon as you finish reading this scroll, you will tie a stone to it and ¹²⁵throw it into the middle of the Euphrates,

64 and say, 'Just so shall Babylon sink down and ¹²⁶not rise again because * of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become ¹²⁷exhausted.' " ¹²⁸Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 51 Commentary

Chapter 51

Babylon's doom; God's controversy with her; encouragements from thence to the Israel of God. (1-58) The confirming of this. (59-64)

Verses 1-58 The particulars of this prophecy are dispersed and interwoven, and the same things left and returned to again. Babylon is abundant in treasures, yet neither her waters nor her wealth shall secure her. Destruction comes when they did not think of it. Wherever we are, in the greatest depths, at the greatest distances, we are to remember the Lord our God; and in the times of the greatest fears and hopes, it is most needful to remember the Lord. The feeling excited by Babylon's fall is the same with the New Testament Babylon, ( revelation 18:9 revelation 18:19 ) . The ruin of all who support idolatry, infidelity, and superstition, is needful for the revival of true godliness; and the threatening prophecies of Scripture yield comfort in this view. The great seat of antichristian tyranny, idolatry, and superstition, the persecutor of true Christians, is as certainly doomed to destruction as ancient Babylon. Then will vast multitudes mourn for sin, and seek the Lord. Then will the lost sheep of the house of Israel be brought back to the fold of the good Shepherd, and stray no more. And the exact fulfilment of these ancient prophecies encourages us to faith in all the promises and prophecies of the sacred Scriptures.

Verses 59-64 This prophecy is sent to Babylon, to the captives there, by Seraiah, who is to read it to his countrymen in captivity. Let them with faith see the end of these threatening powers, and comfort themselves herewith. When we see what this world is, how glittering its shows, and how flattering its proposals, let us read in the book of the Lord that it shall shortly be desolate. The book must be thrown into the river Euphrates. The fall of the New Testament Babylon is thus represented, ( Revelation 18:21 ) . Those that sink under the weight of God's wrath and curse, sink for ever. Babylon, and every antichrist, will soon sink and rise no more for ever. Let us hope in God's word, and quietly wait for his salvation; then we shall see, but shall not share, the destruction of the wicked.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 4:11, 12; Jeremiah 23:19; Hosea 13:15
• 2. Isaiah 41:16; Jeremiah 15:7; Matthew 3:12
• 3. Jeremiah 50:14, 29
• 4. Jeremiah 46:4
• 5. Isaiah 13:15; Isaiah 14:19; Jeremiah 49:26; Jeremiah 50:30, 37
• 6. Isaiah 54:7, 8; Jeremiah 33:24-26
• 7. Hosea 4:1, 2
• 8. Jeremiah 50:8, 28; Revelation 18:4
• 9. Numbers 16:26
• 10. Jeremiah 50:15
• 11. Jeremiah 25:14
• 12. Jeremiah 25:15; Habakkuk 2:16; Revelation 14:8; Revelation 17:4
• 13. Revelation 14:8; Revelation 18:3
• 14. Jeremiah 25:16
• 15. Isaiah 21:9; Jeremiah 50:2; Revelation 14:8; Revelation 18:2
• 16. Isaiah 13:6; Revelation 18:9
• 17. Jeremiah 46:11
• 18. Isaiah 13:14; Jeremiah 46:16; Jeremiah 50:16
• 19. Ezra 9:6; Revelation 18:5
• 20. Psalms 37:6; Micah 7:9
• 21. Isaiah 40:2; Jeremiah 50:28
• 22. Jeremiah 46:4, 9; Joel 3:9, 10
• 23. Jeremiah 50:28
• 24. Isaiah 13:2; Jeremiah 50:2; Jeremiah 51:27
• 25. Jeremiah 4:28; Jeremiah 23:20; Jeremiah 51:29
• 26. Revelation 17:1
• 27. Isaiah 45:3
• 28. Isaiah 57:17; Habakkuk 2:9-11
• 29. Jeremiah 49:13
• 30. Jeremiah 51:27; Nahum 3:15
• 31. Genesis 1:1; Jeremiah 10:12-16; Jeremiah 51:15-19
• 32. Job 9:8; Psalms 146:5, 6; Jeremiah 32:17; Acts 14:15; Romans 1:20
• 33. Job 37:2-6; Psalms 18:13
• 34. Psalms 135:7; Jeremiah 10:13
• 35. Jonah 1:4
• 36. Isaiah 44:18-20; Jeremiah 10:14
• 37. Habakkuk 2:18, 19
• 38. Jeremiah 18:15
• 39. Psalms 73:26; Jeremiah 10:16
• 40. Jeremiah 50:34
• 41. Isaiah 10:5; Isaiah 41:15, 16; Jeremiah 50:23
• 42. Isaiah 8:9; Isaiah 41:15, 16; Micah 4:12, 13
• 43. Exodus 15:1
• 44. Exodus 15:4; Isaiah 43:17
• 45. 2 Chronicles 36:17; Isaiah 13:15, 16
• 46. Isaiah 13:18
• 47. Jeremiah 50:10
• 48. Jeremiah 50:15, 29
• 49. Jeremiah 50:31
• 50. Isaiah 13:2; Zechariah 4:7
• 51. Revelation 8:8
• 52. Isaiah 13:19-22; Jeremiah 50:13; Jeremiah 51:29
• 53. Isaiah 13:2-5; Isaiah 18:3; Jeremiah 50:2; Jeremiah 51:12
• 54. Jeremiah 50:3, 9
• 55. Genesis 8:4; 2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:38
• 56. Genesis 10:3
• 57. Jeremiah 50:42
• 58. Jeremiah 8:16; Jeremiah 10:10; Jeremiah 50:46; Amos 8:8
• 59. Isaiah 13:19, 20; Isaiah 47:11; Jeremiah 50:13; Jeremiah 51:26, 43
• 60. Psalms 76:5; Jer 50:15, 36, 37
• 61. Isaiah 13:7, 8; Nahum 3:13
• 62. Isaiah 13:7, 8; Nahum 3:13
• 63. Isaiah 45:1, 2; Lamentations 2:9; Amos 1:5; Nahum 3:13
• 64. 2 Chronicles 30:6
• 65. 2 Samuel 18:19-31
• 66. Isaiah 21:10; Isaiah 41:15, 16; Micah 4:13
• 67. Isaiah 17:5; Hosea 6:11; Joel 3:13; Revelation 14:15
• 68. Jeremiah 50:17
• 69. Isaiah 24:1-3
• 70. Job 20:15; Jeremiah 51:44
• 71. Psalms 137:8
• 72. Psalms 140:12
• 73. Jeremiah 51:6, 11; Romans 12:19
• 74. Jeremiah 50:38
• 75. Revelation 18:2
• 76. Jeremiah 25:9
• 77. Jeremiah 2:15
• 78. Jeremiah 25:27; Jeremiah 48:26; Jeremiah 51:57
• 79. Psalms 76:5
• 80. Jeremiah 48:15; Jeremiah 50:27
• 81. Jeremiah 25:26
• 82. Jeremiah 49:25
• 83. Isaiah 8:7, 8; Jeremiah 51:55; Daniel 9:26
• 84. Jeremiah 50:12
• 85. Isaiah 13:20; Jeremiah 2:6
• 86. Isaiah 46:1; Jeremiah 50:2
• 87. Ezra 1:7, 8
• 88. Isaiah 2:2
• 89. Jeremiah 50:15; Jeremiah 51:58
• 90. Isaiah 48:20; Jeremiah 50:8, 28; Jeremiah 51:6; Revelation 18:4
• 91. Genesis 19:12-16; Acts 2:40
• 92. Isaiah 43:5; Jeremiah 46:27, 28
• 93. 2 Kings 19:7; Isaiah 13:3-5
• 94. Isaiah 19:2
• 95. Isaiah 21:9; Isaiah 46:1, 2; Jeremiah 50:2; Jeremiah 51:52
• 96. Jer 50:12, 35-37
• 97. Isaiah 44:23; Isaiah 48:20; Isaiah 49:13; Revelation 18:20
• 98. Jeremiah 50:3
• 99. Psalms 137:8; Jeremiah 50:29
• 100. Revelation 18:24
• 101. Jeremiah 44:28
• 102. Deuteronomy 4:29-31; Psalms 137:6
• 103. Psalms 44:15
• 104. Psalms 74:3-8; Lamentations 1:10
• 105. Jeremiah 50:38
• 106. Genesis 11:4; Job 20:6; Psalms 139:8-10; Isaiah 14:12-14; Jeremiah 49:16; Amos 9:2; Obadiah 4
• 107. Isaiah 13:3
• 108. Jeremiah 48:3-5; Jeremiah 50:22, 46
• 109. Psalms 18:4; Psalms 69:2; Psalms 124:2, 4, 5; Jeremiah 51:42
• 110. Jeremiah 51:48, 53; Habakkuk 2:8
• 111. Psalms 46:9; Psalms 76:3
• 112. Deuteronomy 32:35; Psalms 94:1, 2; Jeremiah 51:6, 24
• 113. Jeremiah 25:27
• 114. Psalms 76:5, 6
• 115. Jeremiah 46:18; Jeremiah 48:15
• 116. Jeremiah 50:15
• 117. Isaiah 45:1, 2
• 118. Habakkuk 2:13
• 119. Jeremiah 9:5; Jeremiah 51:64; Lamentations 5:5
• 120. Jeremiah 32:12; Jeremiah 36:4; Jeremiah 45:1
• 121. Jeremiah 28:1; Jeremiah 52:1
• 122. Isaiah 30:8; Jeremiah 30:2, 3; Jeremiah 36:2, 4, 32
• 123. Isaiah 13:19-22; Isaiah 14:22, 23; Jer 50:3, 13, 39, 40
• 124. Jeremiah 51:43; Ezekiel 35:9
• 125. Jeremiah 19:10, 11; Revelation 18:21
• 126. Nahum 1:8, 9
• 127. Jeremiah 51:58
• 128. Job 31:40; Psalms 72:20

Footnotes

• [a]. Cryptic name for Chaldea; or "the heart of those who rise up against Me"
• [b]. Or "a destroying wind"
• [c]. Some versions read "winnowers"
• [d]. M.T. reads "Against him who"
• [e]. I.e. the Chaldean defender
• [f]. Lit "tread(s)" (in order to string)
• [g]. Lit "tread(s)" (in order to string)
• [h]. M.T. reads "Against him who"
• [i]. Or "wounded"
• [j]. Lit "widowed"
• [k]. Lit "From"
• [l]. Or "silenced" or "made lifeless"
• [m]. Or "penalty for iniquity"
• [n]. Or "balsam resin"
• [o]. Lit "is lifted"
• [p]. Lit "forth"
• [q]. Or "standard"
• [r]. Or "watchmen"
• [s]. Lit "cubit"
• [t]. Lit "being cut off"
• [u]. Or "mankind"
• [v]. I.e. like the song of grape treaders
• [w]. Or "graven images"
• [x]. Lit "Fashioner"
• [y]. Or "Scepter;" cf Num 24:17
• [z]. Lit "shatterer"
• [aa]. Or "standard"
• [ab]. Lit "Her"
• [ac]. Lit "Her"
• [ad]. I.e. lieutenant governors
• [ae]. Lit "his"
• [af]. Or "An object of horror"
• [ag]. Lit "dried up"
• [ah]. Lit "runner"
• [ai]. Lit "runner"
• [aj]. Lit "announcer"
• [ak]. Lit "announcer"
• [al]. Lit "of treading it"
• [am]. Lit "inhabitress"
• [an]. Or "broad river"
• [ao]. Or "young rams"
• [ap]. Cryptic name for Babylon
• [aq]. Or "broad river"
• [ar]. Lit "in the"
• [as]. Lit "the"
• [at]. Lit "the"
• [au]. Lit "come upon your heart"
• [av]. Lit "the height of her strength"
• [aw]. Or "voice"
• [ax]. Lit "is given"
• [ay]. Lit "word"
• [az]. Or "book"
• [ba]. Lit "spoken"
• [bb]. Lit "from man even to beast"
• [bc]. Or "book"

Chapter Summary

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.