Jeremiah 50:1-10

1 This is the message that the Lord gave me about the city of Babylon and its people: ¹

2 "Tell the news to the nations! Proclaim it! Give the signal and announce the news! Do not keep it a secret! Babylon has fallen! Her god Marduk has been shattered! Babylon's idols are put to shame; her disgusting images are crushed!

3 "A nation from the north has come to attack Babylonia and will make it a desert. People and animals will run away, and no one will live there."

4 The Lord says, "When that time comes, the people of both Israel and Judah will come weeping, looking for me, their God.

5 They will ask the way to Zion and then go in that direction. They will make an eternal covenant with me and never break it.

6 "My people are like sheep whose shepherds have let them get lost in the mountains. They have wandered like sheep from one mountain to another, and they have forgotten where their home is.

7 They are attacked by all who find them. Their enemies say, "They sinned against the Lord, and so what we have done is not wrong. Their ancestors trusted in the Lord, and they themselves should have remained faithful to him.'

8 "People of Israel, run away from Babylonia! Leave the country! Be the first to leave! ²

9 I am going to stir up a group of strong nations in the north and make them attack Babylonia. They will line up in battle against the country and conquer it. They are skillful hunters, shooting arrows that never miss the mark.

10 Babylonia will be looted, and those who loot it will take everything they want. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Jeremiah 50:1-10 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.

Cross References

• 1. 50.1--51.64Isaiah 13.1--14.23; 47.1-15.
• 2. 50.8Revelation 18.4.