Jeremiah 51:47-57

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.)
52 Therefore lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall visit on the graven images of Babylon, and in all the land thereof a wounded man shall bellow. (And so lo! days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall punish Babylon for its carved idols, and through all that land the wounded shall bellow, or shall moan and groan.)
53 If Babylon ascendeth into heaven, and maketh steadfast his strength on high, destroyers thereof shall come of me, saith the Lord. (Yea, even if Babylon goeth up into the heavens, and maketh steadfast its strength on high, its destroyers shall still come from me, saith the Lord.)
54 The voice of a crier of Babylon, and great sorrow of the land of Chaldees, (The sound of crying in Babylon, and the sound of great sorrow in the land of the Chaldeans,)
55 for the Lord destroyed Babylon, and lost of it a great voice; and the waves of them shall sound as many waters. The voice of them gave sound, (for the Lord destroyed Babylon, yea, destroyed its great voice; and the waves of the attacking armies shall sound like many waters. Their voices made a great noise,)
56 for a ravener came [up]on it (for a robber came upon it), that is, [up]on Babylon; and the strong men thereof be taken, and the bow of them withered, for the strong venger, the Lord, yielding [again] shall yield.
57 And I shall make drunken the princes thereof, and the wise men thereof, the dukes thereof, and the magistrates thereof, and the strong men thereof; and they shall sleep everlasting sleep, and they shall not be awaked, saith the king, the Lord of hosts is name of him. (And I shall make drunk its princes, and its wise men, and its leaders, and its magistrates, and its strong men; and they shall sleep an everlasting sleep, and they shall never awaken, saith the King, the Lord of hosts is his name.)

Jeremiah 51:47-57 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.