Jeremiah 51:1-7

1 This is what the LORD says: I will stir up a destructive wind against Babylon and against the people who live in Leb Kamai.

2 I will send people to winnow Babylon, to winnow it and strip its land bare. They will attack it from every direction on the day of trouble.

3 Have the archers bend their bows. Have them put on their armor. Don't spare Babylon's young men. Completely destroy its whole army.

4 Babylon's soldiers will fall down badly wounded in their streets. They will lie dead in their own land.

5 Israel and Judah haven't been abandoned by their God, the LORD of Armies, although their land is guilty of abandoning the Holy One of Israel.

6 Run away from Babylon! Run for your lives! You shouldn't die because of Babylon's crimes. This is the time for the vengeance of the LORD. He will pay the people of Babylon back for what they have done.

7 Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD's hand. It made the whole world drunk. The nations drank its wine. That is why the nations have gone insane.

Jeremiah 51:1-7 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.