Jeremiah 51:6-16

6 ¹“Flee from the midst of Babylon; let every one save his life! ²Be not cut off in her punishment, ³for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance, the repayment he is rendering her.

7 Babylon was ⁴a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, ⁵making all the earth drunken; ⁶the nations drank of her wine; therefore the nations went mad.

8 ⁷Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; ⁸wail for her! ⁹Take balm for her pain; perhaps she may be healed.

9 We would have healed Babylon, but she was not healed. ¹⁰Forsake her, and ¹¹let us go each to his own country, for ¹²her judgment has reached up to heaven and has been lifted up even to the skies.

10 ¹³The Lord has brought about our vindication; ¹⁴come, let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.

11 ¹⁵“Sharpen the arrows! Take up the shields! ¹⁶The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of ¹⁷the Medes, because ¹⁸his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, ¹⁹for that is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for ²⁰his temple.

12 ²¹“Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon; ²²make the watch strong; set up watchmen; prepare the ambushes; ²³for the Lord has both planned and done what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

13 ²⁴O you who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come; the thread of your life is cut.

14 ²⁵The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself: Surely I will fill you with men, ²⁶as many as locusts, ²⁷and they shall raise the shout of victory over you.

15 ²⁸“It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

16 When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

Jeremiah 51:6-16 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.

Cross References

• 1. 51:6 ver. 45; ch. 50:8
• 2. 51:6 [Gen. 19:15]
• 3. 51:6 ch. 50:15
• 4. 51:7 [Ps. 75:8; Rev. 17:4]
• 5. 51:7 Rev. 14:8
• 6. 51:7 See ch. 25:15, 16
• 7. 51:8 See Isa. 21:9
• 8. 51:8 Isa. 13:6; Rev. 18:9, 11, 19; [ch. 48:20]
• 9. 51:8 [ch. 46:11]
• 10. 51:9 ver. 6, 45; ch. 50:8
• 11. 51:9 [ch. 50:16]; See Isa. 13:14
• 12. 51:9 Rev. 18:5
• 13. 51:10 Ps. 37:6; [ch. 23:6]
• 14. 51:10 ch. 50:28
• 15. 51:11 ch. 46:4
• 16. 51:11 See Isa. 13:17
• 17. 51:11 2 Kgs. 17:6; Dan. 5:31
• 18. 51:11 [ch. 50:45]
• 19. 51:11 ch. 50:28
• 20. 51:11 ch. 50:28
• 21. 51:12 ver. 27; ch. 50:2; [Isa. 13:2]
• 22. 51:12 [Isa. 21:5; Nah. 2:1]
• 23. 51:12 [See ver. 11 above]
• 24. 51:13 Rev. 17:1, 15; [ver. 36]
• 25. 51:14 See ch. 22:5
• 26. 51:14 [Ps. 105:34; Joel 1:4; 2:25]
• 27. 51:14 Isa. 16:9
• 28. 51:15 For ver. 15-19, see ch. 10:12-16