Jeremiah 50 — King James Version

The word that the LORD spake against Babylon {and} against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. {by...: Heb. by the hand of Jeremiah}● Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, {and} conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. {set up: Heb. lift up}● For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.● In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.● They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, {saying}, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant {that} shall not be forgotten.● My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away {on} the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace. {restingplace: Heb. place to lie down in}● All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.● Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.● For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows {shall be} as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. {expert...: or, destroyer}● And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD.● Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls; {fat: Heb. big, or, corpulent} {bellow...: or, neigh as steeds}● Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations {shall be} a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.● Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.● Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.● Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it {is} the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.● Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land. {sickle; or, scythe}● Israel {is} a scattered sheep; the lions have driven {him} away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.● Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.● And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.● In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and {there shall be} none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.● Go up against the land of Merathaim, {even} against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. {of Merathaim: or, of the rebels} {Pekod: or, Visitation}● A sound of battle {is} in the land, and of great destruction.● How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!● I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.● The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this {is} the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.● Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left. {from...: Heb. from the end} {cast...: or, tread her}● Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.● The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.● Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.● Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD.● Behold, I {am} against thee, {O thou} most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time {that} I will visit thee. {most...: Heb. pride}● And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him. {the...: Heb. pride}● Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah {were} oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.● Their Redeemer {is} strong; the LORD of hosts {is} his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.● A sword {is} upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise {men}.● A sword {is} upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword {is} upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. {liars: or, chief stays: Heb. bars}● A sword {is} upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that {are} in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword {is} upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.● A drought {is} upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it {is} the land of graven images, and they are mad upon {their} idols.● Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell {there}, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.● As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour {cities} thereof, saith the LORD; {so} shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.● Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.● They shall hold the bow and the lance: they {are} cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, {every one} put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.● The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, {and} pangs as of a woman in travail.● Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who {is} a chosen {man, that} I may appoint over her? for who {is} like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who {is} that shepherd that will stand before me? {appoint me...: or, convent me to plead?}● Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make {their} habitation desolate with them.● At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.●