Jeremiah 51:8-15

8 Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.

9 “ ‘We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens.’

10 “ ‘The LORD has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has done.’

11 “Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The LORD will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple.

12 Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon! Reinforce the guard, station the watchmen, prepare an ambush! The LORD will carry out his purpose, his decree against the people of Babylon.

13 You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be destroyed.

14 The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself: I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.

15 “He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

Jeremiah 51:8-15 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. S Isaiah 14:15; S Isaiah 21:9; S Revelation 14:8
• 2. Jeremiah 8:22; Jeremiah 46:11
• 3. S Isaiah 13:14; S Isaiah 31:9; Jeremiah 50:16
• 4. Revelation 18:4-5
• 5. Micah 7:9
• 6. Psalms 64:9; S Jeremiah 50:28
• 7. Jeremiah 50:9
• 8. S Isaiah 21:5; Jeremiah 46:4
• 9. S Isaiah 41:2
• 10. ver 28; S Isaiah 13:3; S Isaiah 41:25
• 11. S Jeremiah 50:45
• 12. S Leviticus 26:25
• 13. S Jeremiah 50:28
• 14. ver 27; S Psalms 20:5
• 15. 2 Samuel 18:24; Ezekiel 33:2
• 16. Jeremiah 50:24
• 17. S Psalms 33:11
• 18. S Jeremiah 50:38; Revelation 17:1,15
• 19. S Isaiah 45:3; Ezekiel 22:27; Habakkuk 2:9
• 20. Jeremiah 50:3
• 21. S Genesis 22:16; Amos 6:8
• 22. ver 27; Amos 7:1; Nahum 3:15
• 23. Jeremiah 50:15
• 24. Psalms 104:24
• 25. S Genesis 1:1; Job 9:8; S Psalms 104:2
• 26. S Psalms 136:5