Jeremiah 51:41-51

41 How is Sheshach taken, and the noble city of all (the) earth is taken? How is Babylon made into wonder among heathen men? (How Sheshach, that is, Babylon, is taken! the noble city of all the earth is taken! how Babylon is made into a horror among the heathen!)
42 And the sea ascended on Babylon, it was covered with the multitude of his waves. (And the sea ascended upon Babylon, yea, it was covered with a multitude of its waves.)
43 The cities thereof be made into wondering, the land is made unhabitable and forsaken (the land is made uninhabited and deserted); the land wherein no man dwelleth, and the son of (a) man shall not pass by it.
44 And I shall visit on Bel into Babylon, and I shall cast out of his mouth that, that he had swallowed, and folks shall no more flow to it; for also the wall of Babylon shall fall down. (And I shall punish Bel in Babylon, and I shall cast out of his mouth what he had swallowed, and the nations shall no more flow to him; for also the wall of Babylon shall fall down.)
45 My people, go ye out from the midst thereof, that each man save his soul from the wrath of the strong vengeance of the Lord; (My people, go ye out from its midst, so that each person can save his own soul from the anger of the strong vengeance of the Lord;)
46 and lest peradventure your heart wax nesh, and lest ye dread the hearing, that shall be heard in the land; and (an) hearing shall come in a year, and after this year shall come (another) hearing, and wickedness in the land, and a lord on a lord. (lest perhaps your heart grow soft, and lest ye fear the rumour, that shall be heard in the land; yea, a rumour shall come this year, and after this year another rumour shall come, and wickedness in the land, and a lord against a lord.)
47 Therefore lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall visit on the graven images of Babylon; and all the land thereof shall be shamed, and all slain men thereof shall fall down in the midst thereof. (And so lo! days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall punish Babylon for its carved idols; and all its land shall be shamed, and all its slain men shall fall down in its midst.)
48 And heaven's, and earth's, and all things that be in those, shall praise on Babylon; for raveners shall come from the north to it, saith the Lord. (And heaven, and the earth, and everything that is in them, shall praise the victory over Babylon; for robbers, or thieves, shall come from the north to destroy it, saith the Lord, and they will.)
49 And as Babylon did, that slain men fell down in Israel, so of Babylon slain men shall fall down and in all the land. (And as Babylon caused the slain to fall down in Israel, so now the slain of all the earth shall fall down in Babylon.)
50 Come ye, that fled the sword, do not ye stand; have ye mind afar on the Lord, and Jerusalem ascend on your heart. (Come ye, who fled the sword, do not ye stand still; remember ye the Lord from afar/ye who be far away, remember the Lord, and let Jerusalem ascend upon your hearts.)
51 We be shamed, for we heard shame; shame covered our faces, for aliens came on the hallowing of the house of the Lord. (We be shamed, and disgraced; yea, shame covered our faces, for strangers, or foreigners, came into the hallowed places of the House of the Lord.)

Jeremiah 51:41-51 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.