Jeremiah 50:1-8

1 The word that the Lord spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.

2 "Declare among the nations, Proclaim, and set up a standard; Proclaim--do not conceal it-- Say, 'Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed. Merodach is broken in pieces; Her idols are humiliated, Her images are broken in pieces.'

3 For out of the north a nation comes up against her, Which shall make her land desolate, And no one shall dwell therein. They shall move, they shall depart, Both man and beast.

4 "In those days and in that time," says the Lord, "The children of Israel shall come, They and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping they shall come, And seek the Lord their God.

5 They shall ask the way to Zion, With their faces toward it, saying, 'Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord In a perpetual covenant That will not be forgotten.'

6 "My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; They have forgotten their resting place.

7 All who found them have devoured them; And their adversaries said, 'We have not offended, Because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, The Lord, the hope of their fathers.'

8 "Move from the midst of Babylon, Go out of the land of the Chaldeans; And be like the rams before the flocks.

Jeremiah 50:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 50

This and the following chapter contain a long prophecy concerning the destruction of Babylon; and which is expressed in such language, that it may be, and is to be, accommodated to the destruction of mystical Babylon; and several passages in the book of the Revelation are borrowed from hence; and it is intermixed with promises and prophecies of the deliverance of God's people from thence, and of the conversion of the Jews, and the restoration of them to their own which will be at that time; see Jer 50:4,5,8,19,20,33,34. The destruction of Babylon in general is proclaimed and declared, and the manner and cause of it, Jer 50:1-13; then the enemies of Babylon are stirred up and animated to proceed against her, and execute the judgments of God upon her, Jer 50:14-30. Next follows the Lord's controversy with her, because of her pride and oppression of his people; and threatens her with the sword, drought, and utter destruction, Jer 50:31-40; and then a description is given of her enemies, that should be the instruments of her destruction, Jer 50:41-44; and the chapter is closed with observing, that this is all according to the counsel and purpose of God, Jer 50:45,46.

Footnotes

• [a]. A Babylonian god; sometimes spelled Marduk