Jeremiah 51:58-64

58 The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims: Babylon's massive walls will come down, down to the ground; and its high gates will be burned to the ground. People labor in vain; nations toil for nothing but ashes!

59 This is what the prophet Jeremiah instructed the staff officer Seraiah, Neriah's son and Mahseiah's grandson, when Seraiah went to Babylon with Judah's King Zedekiah in the fourth year of his rule. Jeremiah's words end here.

60 Jeremiah wrote down in a single scroll all the disasters that would happen to Babylon—all these things concerning Babylon.

61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah: When you get to Babylon, see to it that you read all these words.

62 Then say, "LORD, you declared that this place will be destroyed and nothing will remain in it—neither human nor animal; that it will forever be a wasteland!"

63 When you finish reading the scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates River.

64 Then say, "In the same way, Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the disaster I'm bringing against it."

Jeremiah 51:58-64 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or officer of rest, often translated as quartermaster