Jeremiah 51:42-63

42 The sea has rolled over Babylon and covered it with roaring waves.

43 The towns have become a horrifying sight and are like a waterless desert, where no one lives or even travels.

44 I will punish Bel, the god of Babylonia, and make him give up his stolen goods; the nations will not worship him any more. "Babylon's walls have fallen.

45 People of Israel, run away from there! Run for your life from my fierce anger.

46 Do not lose courage or be afraid because of the rumors you hear. Every year a different rumor spreads - rumors of violence in the land and of one king fighting another.

47 And so the time is coming when I will deal with Babylonia's idols. The whole country will be put to shame, and all its people will be killed.

48 Everything on earth and in the sky will shout for joy when Babylonia falls to the people who come from the north to destroy it. ¹

49 Babylonia caused the death of people all over the world, and now Babylonia will fall because it caused the death of so many Israelites. I, the Lord, have spoken." ²

50 The Lord says to his people in Babylonia: "You have escaped death! Now go! Don't wait! Though you are far from home, think about me, your Lord, and remember Jerusalem.

51 You say, "We've been disgraced and made ashamed; we feel completely helpless because foreigners have taken over the holy places in the Temple.'

52 So then, I say that the time is coming when I will deal with Babylon's idols, and the wounded will groan throughout the country.

53 Even if Babylon could climb to the sky and build a strong fortress there, I would still send people to destroy it. I, the Lord, have spoken."

54 The Lord says, "Listen to the sound of crying in Babylon, of mourning for the destruction in the land.

55 I am destroying Babylon and putting it to silence. The armies rush in like roaring waves and attack with noisy shouts.

56 They have come to destroy Babylon; its soldiers are captured, and their bows are broken. I am a God who punishes evil, and I will treat Babylon as it deserves.

57 I will make its rulers drunk - men of wisdom, leaders, and soldiers. They will go to sleep and never wake up. I, the king, have spoken; I am the Lord Almighty.

58 The walls of mighty Babylon will be thrown to the ground, and its towering gates burned down. The work of the nations is all for nothing; their efforts go up in flames. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken."

59 King Zedekiah's personal attendant was Seraiah, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. In the fourth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, Seraiah was going to Babylonia with him, and I gave him some instructions.

60 I wrote in a book an account of all the destruction that would come on Babylonia, as well as all these other things about Babylonia.

61 I told Seraiah, "When you get to Babylon, be sure to read aloud to the people everything that is written here.

62 Then pray, "Lord, you have said that you would destroy this place, so that there would be no living creatures in it, neither people nor animals, and it would be like a desert forever.'

63 Seraiah, when you finish reading this book to the people, then tie it to a rock and throw it into the Euphrates River ³

Jeremiah 51:42-63 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. 51.48Revelation 18.20.
• 2. 51.49Revelation 18.24.
• 3. 51.63, 64Revelation 18.21.