^{1 Ref} Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am stirring up against Babylon, And the inhabitants of Leb -- My withstanders, A destroying wind,

^{2 Ref} And I have sent to Babylon fanners, And they have fanned it, and they empty its land, For they have been against it, Round about -- in the day of evil.

^{3 Ref} Let not the treader tread his bow, Nor lift himself up in his coat of mail, Nor have ye pity on her young men, Devote ye to destruction all her host.

^{4 Ref} And fallen have the wounded in the land of the Chaldeans, And the pierced-through in her streets.

^{5 Ref} For, not forsaken is Israel and Judah, By its God -- by Jehovah of Hosts, For their land hath been full of guilt, Against the Holy One of Israel.

^{6 Ref} Flee ye from the midst of Babylon, And deliver ye each his soul, Be not cut off in its iniquity, For a time of vengeance it `is' to Jehovah, Recompence He is rendering to her.

^{7 Ref} A golden cup `is' Babylon in the hand of Jehovah, Making drunk all the earth, Of its wine drunk have nations, Therefore boast themselves do nations.

^{8 Ref} Suddenly hath Babylon fallen, Yea, it is broken, howl ye for it, Take balm for her pain, if so be it may be healed.

^{9 Ref} We healed Babylon, and she was not healed, Forsake her, and we go, each to his land, For come unto the heavens hath its judgment, And it hath been lifted up unto the clouds.

^{10 Ref} Jehovah hath brought forth our righteousnesses, Come, and we recount in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.

^{11 Ref} Cleanse ye the arrows, fill the shields, Stirred up hath Jehovah the spirit of the kings of Madia, For against Babylon His device `is' to destroy it, For the vengeance of Jehovah it `is', The vengeance of His temple.

^{12 Ref} Unto the walls of Babylon lift up an ensign, Strengthen the watch, Establish the watchers, prepare the ambush, For Jehovah hath both devised and done that which He spake, Concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

^{13 Ref} O dweller on many waters, abundant in treasures, Come in hath thine end, the measure of thy dishonest gain.

^{14 Ref} Sworn hath Jehovah of Hosts by Himself, That, Surely I have filled thee `with' men as the cankerworm, And they have cried against thee -- shouting.

^{15 Ref} The maker of earth by His power, The establisher of the world by His wisdom, Who by His understanding stretched out the heavens,

^{16 Ref} At the voice He giveth forth, A multitude of waters `are' in the heavens, And He causeth vapours to come up from the end of the earth, Lightnings for rain He hath made, And He bringeth out wind from His treasures.

^{17 Ref} Brutish hath been every man by knowledge, Put to shame hath been every refiner by a graven image, For false `is' his molten image, And there is no breath in them.

^{18 Ref} Vanity `are' they -- work of errors, In the time of their inspection they perish.

^{19 Ref} Not like these `is' the portion of Jacob, For He `is' former of all things, And `Israel is' the rod of His inheritance, Jehovah of Hosts `is' His name.

^{20 Ref} An axe `art' thou to me -- weapons of war, And I have broken in pieces by thee nations, And I have destroyed by thee kingdoms,

^{21 Ref} And I have broken in pieces by thee horse and its rider, And I have broken in pieces by thee chariot and its charioteer,

^{22 Ref} And I have broken in pieces by thee man and woman, And I have broken in pieces by thee old and young, And I have broken in pieces by thee young man and virgin,

^{23 Ref} And I have broken in pieces by thee shepherd and his drove, And I have broken in pieces by thee husbandman and his team, And I have broken in pieces by thee governors and prefects.

^{24 Ref} And I have recompensed to Babylon, And to all inhabitants of Chaldea, All the evil that they have done in Zion, Before your eyes -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

^{25 Ref} Lo, I `am' against thee, O destroying mount, An affirmation of Jehovah, That is destroying all the earth, And I have stretched out My hand against thee, And I have rolled thee from the rocks, And given thee for a burnt mountain.

^{26 Ref} And they take not out of thee a stone for a corner, And a stone for foundations, For desolations age-during art thou, An affirmation of Jehovah.

^{27 Ref} Lift ye up an ensign in the land, Blow a trumpet among nations, Sanctify against it nations, Summon against it the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz, Appoint against it an infant head, Cause the horse to ascend as the rough cankerworm.

^{28 Ref} Sanctify against it the nations with the kings of Media, Its governors and all its prefects, And all the land of its dominion.

^{29 Ref} And shake doth the land, and it is pained, For stood against Babylon have the purposes of Jehovah, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.

^{30 Ref} Ceased have the mighty of Babylon to fight, They have remained in strongholds, Failed hath their might, they have become woman, They have burnt her tabernacles, Broken have been her bars.

^{31 Ref} Runner to meet runner doth run, And announcer to meet announcer, To announce to the king of Babylon, For, captured hath been his city -- at the extremity.

^{32 Ref} And the passages have been captured, And the reeds they have burnt with fire, And the men of war have been troubled.

^{33 Ref} For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, The daughter of Babylon `is' as a threshing-floor, The time of her threshing -- yet a little, And come hath the time of her harvest.

^{34 Ref} Devoured us, crushed us, hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, He hath set us `as' an empty vessel, He hath swallowed us as a dragon, He hath filled his belly with my dainties, He hath driven us away.

^{35 Ref} My wrong, and `that of' my flesh `is' on Babylon, Say doth the inhabitant of Zion, And my blood `is' on the inhabitants of Chaldea, Say doth Jerusalem.

^{36 Ref} Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am pleading thy cause, And I have avenged thy vengeance, And dried up its sea, and made its fountains dry.

^{37 Ref} And Babylon hath been for heaps, A habitation of dragons, An astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.

^{38 Ref} Together as young lions they roar, They have shaken themselves as lions' whelps.

^{39 Ref} In their heat I make their banquets, And I have caused them to drink, so that they exult, And have slept a sleep age-during, And awake not -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

^{40 Ref} I cause them to go down as lambs to slaughter, As rams with he-goats.

^{41 Ref} How hath Sheshach been captured, Yea, caught is the praise of the whole earth, How hath Babylon been for an astonishment among nations.

^{42 Ref} Come up against Babylon hath the sea, With a multitude of its billows it hath been covered.

^{43 Ref} Its cities have been for a desolation, A dry land, and a wilderness, A land -- none doth dwell in them, Nor pass over into them doth a son of man.

^{44 Ref} And I have seen after Bel in Babylon, And I have brought forth that which he swallowed -- from his mouth, And flow no more unto him do nations, Also the wall of Babylon hath fallen.

^{45 Ref} Go forth from its midst, O My people, And deliver ye, each his soul, Because of the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah,

^{46 Ref} And lest your heart be tender, And ye be afraid of the report that is heard in the land, And come in a year hath the report, And after it in a year the report, And violence `is' in the land, ruler against ruler;

^{47 Ref} Therefore, lo, days are coming, And I have seen after the graven images of Babylon. And all its land is ashamed, And all its pierced ones do fall in its midst.

^{48 Ref} And cried aloud against Babylon Have heavens and earth, and all that `is' in them, For, from the north come to it do the spoilers, An affirmation of Jehovah.

^{49 Ref} Even Babylon `is' to fall, ye pierced of Israel, Even they of Babylon have fallen, Ye pierced of all the earth.

^{50 Ref} Ye escaped of the sword, go on, stand not, Remember ye from afar Jehovah, And let Jerusalem come up on your heart.

^{51 Ref} We have been ashamed, for we heard reproach, Covered hath shame our faces, For come in have strangers, against the sanctuaries of the house of Jehovah.

^{52 Ref} Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have seen after its graven images, And in all its land groan doth the wounded.

^{53 Ref} Because Babylon goeth up to the heavens, And because it fenceth the high place of its strength, From Me come into it do spoilers, An affirmation of Jehovah.

^{54 Ref} A voice of a cry `is' from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldean.

^{55 Ref} For Jehovah is spoiling Babylon, And hath destroyed out of it a great voice, And sounded have its billows as many waters, Given forth a noise hath their voice.

^{56 Ref} For come in against it -- against Babylon -- hath a spoiler, And captured have been its mighty ones, Broken have been their bows, For the God of recompences -- Jehovah -- doth certainly repay.

^{57 Ref} And I have caused its princes to drink, And its wise men, its governors, And its prefects, and its mighty ones, And they have slept a sleep age-during, And they awake not -- an affirmation of the king, Jehovah of Hosts `is' His name.

^{58 Ref} Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, the wall of Babylon -- The broad one -- is utterly made bare, And her high gates with fire are burnt, And peoples labour in vain, And nations in fire, and have been weary!

^{59 Ref} The word that Jeremiah the prophet hath commanded Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, in his going with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign -- and Seraiah `is' a quiet prince;

^{60 Ref} and Jeremiah writeth all the evil that cometh unto Babylon on one book -- all these words that are written concerning Babylon.

^{61 Ref} And Jeremiah saith unto Seraiah, `When thou dost enter Babylon, then thou hast seen, and hast read all these words,

^{62 Ref} and hast said: Jehovah, Thou, Thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that there is none dwelling in it, from man even unto cattle, for it is a desolation age-during.

^{63 Ref} And it hath come to pass, when thou dost finish reading this book, thou dost bind to it a stone, and hast cast it into the midst of Phrat,

^{64 Ref} and said, Thus sink doth Babylon, and it doth not arise, because of the evil that I am bringing in against it, and they have been weary.' Hitherto `are' words of Jeremiah.

^{1 Ref} The Lord has said: See, I will make a wind of destruction come up against Babylon and against those who are living in Chaldaea;

^{2 Ref} And I will send men to Babylon to make her clean and get her land cleared: for in the day of trouble they will put up their tents against her on every side.

^{3 Ref} Against her the bow of the archer is bent, and he puts on his coat of metal: have no mercy on her young men, give all her army up to the curse.

^{4 Ref} And the dead will be stretched out in the land of the Chaldaeans, and the wounded in her streets.

^{5 Ref} For Israel has not been given up, or Judah, by his God, by the Lord of armies; for their land is full of sin against the Holy One of Israel.

^{6 Ref} Go in flight out of Babylon, so that every man may keep his life; do not be cut off in her evil-doing: for it is the time of the Lord's punishment; he will give her her reward.

^{7 Ref} Babylon has been a gold cup in the hand of the Lord, which has made all the earth overcome with wine: the nations have taken of her wine, and for this cause the nations have gone off their heads.

^{8 Ref} Sudden is the downfall of Babylon and her destruction: make cries of grief for her; take sweet oil for her pain, if it is possible for her to be made well.

^{9 Ref} We would have made Babylon well, but she is not made well: give her up, and let us go everyone to his country: for her punishment is stretching up to heaven, and lifted up even to the skies.

^{10 Ref} The Lord has made clear our righteousness: come, and let us give an account in Zion of the work of the Lord our God.

^{11 Ref} Make bright the arrows; take up the body-covers: the Lord has been moving the spirit of the king of the Medes; because his design against Babylon is its destruction: for it is the punishment from the Lord, the payment for his Temple.

^{12 Ref} Let the flag be lifted up against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, put the watchmen in their places, make ready a surprise attack: for it is the Lord's purpose, and he has done what he said about the people of Babylon.

^{13 Ref} O you whose living-place is by the wide waters, whose stores are great, your end is come, your evil profit is ended.

^{14 Ref} The Lord of armies has taken an oath by himself, saying, Truly, I will make you full with men as with locusts, and their voices will be loud against you.

^{15 Ref} He has made the earth by his power, he has made the world strong in its place by his wisdom, and by his wise design the heavens have been stretched out:

^{16 Ref} At the sound of his voice there is a massing of the waters in the heavens, and he makes the mists go up from the ends of the earth; he makes the thunder-flames for the rain and sends out the wind from his store-houses.

^{17 Ref} Then every man becomes like a beast without knowledge; every gold-worker is put to shame by the image he has made: for his metal image is deceit, and there is no breath in them.

^{18 Ref} They are nothing, a work of error: in the time of their punishment, destruction will overtake them.

^{19 Ref} The heritage of Jacob is not like these; for the maker of all things is his heritage: the Lord of armies is his name.

^{20 Ref} You are my fighting axe and my instrument of war: with you the nations will be broken; with you kingdoms will be broken;

^{21 Ref} With you the horse and the horseman will be broken; with you the war-carriage and he who goes in it will be broken;

^{22 Ref} With you man and woman will be broken; with you the old man and the boy will be broken; with you the young man and the virgin will be broken;

^{23 Ref} With you the keeper of sheep with his flock will be broken, and with you the farmer and his oxen will be broken, and with you captains and rulers will be broken.

^{24 Ref} And I will give to Babylon, and to all the people of Chaldaea, their reward for all the evil they have done in Zion before your eyes, says the Lord.

^{25 Ref} See, I am against you, says the Lord, O mountain of destruction, causing the destruction of all the earth: and my hand will be stretched out on you, rolling you down from the rocks, and making you a burned mountain.

^{26 Ref} And they will not take from you a stone for the angle of a wall or the base of a building; but you will be a waste place for ever, says the Lord.

^{27 Ref} Let a flag be lifted up in the land, let the horn be sounded among the nations, make the nations ready against her; get the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz together against her, make ready a scribe against her; let the horses come up against her like massed locusts.

^{28 Ref} Make the nations ready for war against her, the king of the Medes and his rulers and all his captains, and all the land under his rule.

^{29 Ref} And the land is shaking and in pain: for the purposes of the Lord are fixed, to make the land of Babylon an unpeopled waste.

^{30 Ref} Babylon's men of war have kept back from the fight, waiting in their strong places; their strength has given way, they have become like women: her houses have been put on fire, her locks are broken.

^{31 Ref} One man, running, will give word to another, and one who goes with news will be handing it on to another, to give word to the king of Babylon that his town has been taken from every quarter:

^{32 Ref} And the ways across the river have been taken, and the water-holes ... burned with fire, and the men of war are in the grip of fear.

^{33 Ref} For these are the words of the Lord of armies, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a grain-floor when it is stamped down; before long, the time of her grain-cutting will come.

^{34 Ref} Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, has made a meal of me, violently crushing me, he has made me a vessel with nothing in it, he has taken me in his mouth like a dragon, he has made his stomach full with my delicate flesh, crushing me with his teeth.

^{35 Ref} May the violent things done to me, and my downfall, come on Babylon, the daughter of Zion will say; and, May my blood be on the people of Chaldaea, Jerusalem will say.

^{36 Ref} For this reason the Lord has said: See, I will give support to your cause, and take payment for what you have undergone; I will make her sea dry, and her fountain without water.

^{37 Ref} And Babylon will become a mass of broken walls, a hole for jackals, a cause of wonder and surprise, without a living man in it.

^{38 Ref} They will be crying out together like lions, their voices will be like the voices of young lions.

^{39 Ref} When they are heated, I will make a feast for them, and overcome them with wine, so that they may become unconscious, sleeping an eternal sleep without awaking, says the Lord.

^{40 Ref} I will make them go down to death like lambs, like he-goats together.

^{41 Ref} How is Babylon taken! and the praise of all the earth surprised! how has Babylon become a cause of wonder among the nations!

^{42 Ref} The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered with the mass of its waves.

^{43 Ref} Her towns have become a waste, a dry and unwatered land, where no man has his living-place and no son of man goes by.

^{44 Ref} And I will send punishment on Bel in Babylon, and take out of his mouth what went into it; no longer will the nations be flowing together to him: truly, the wall of Babylon will come down.

^{45 Ref} My people, go out from her, and let every man get away safe from the burning wrath of the Lord.

^{46 Ref} So that your hearts may not become feeble and full of fear because of the news which will go about in the land; for a story will go about one year, and after that in another year another story, and violent acts in the land, ruler against ruler.

^{47 Ref} For this cause, truly, the days are coming when I will send punishment on the images of Babylon, and all her land will be shamed, and her dead will be falling down in her.

^{48 Ref} And the heaven and the earth and everything in them, will make a song of joy over Babylon: for those who make her waste will come from the north, says the Lord.

^{49 Ref} As Babylon had the dead of Israel put to the sword, so in Babylon the dead of all the land will be stretched out.

^{50 Ref} You who have got away safe from the sword, go, waiting for nothing; have the Lord in memory when you are far away, and keep Jerusalem in mind.

^{51 Ref} We are shamed because bitter words have come to our ears; our faces are covered with shame: for men from strange lands have come into the holy places of the Lord's house.

^{52 Ref} For this reason, see, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will send punishment on her images; and through all her land the wounded will be crying out in pain.

^{53 Ref} Even if Babylon was lifted up to heaven, even if she had the high places of her strength shut in with walls, still I would send against her those who will make her waste, says the Lord.

^{54 Ref} There is the sound of a cry from Babylon, and of a great destruction from the land of the Chaldaeans:

^{55 Ref} For the Lord is making Babylon waste, and putting an end to the great voice coming out of her; and her waves are thundering like great waters, their voice is sounding loud:

^{56 Ref} For the waster has come on her, even on Babylon, and her men of war are taken, their bows are broken: for the Lord is a rewarding God, and he will certainly give payment.

^{57 Ref} And I will make her chiefs and her wise men, her rulers and her captains and her men of war, overcome with wine; their sleep will be an eternal sleep without awaking, says the King; the Lord of armies is his name.

^{58 Ref} The Lord of armies has said: The wide walls of Babylon will be completely uncovered and her high doorways will be burned with fire; so peoples keep on working for nothing, and the weariness of nations comes to an end in the smoke.

^{59 Ref} The order which Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah, the king of Judah, to Babylon in the fourth year of his rule. Now Seraiah was the chief controller of the house.

^{60 Ref} And Jeremiah put in a book all the evil which was to come on Babylon.

^{61 Ref} And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, see that you give them all these words;

^{62 Ref} And after reading them, say, O Lord, you have said about this place that it is to be cut off, so that no one will be living in it, not a man or a beast, but it will be unpeopled for ever.

^{63 Ref} And it will be that, when you have come to an end of reading this book, you are to have a stone fixed to it, and have it dropped into the Euphrates:

^{64 Ref} And you are to say, So Babylon will go down, never to be lifted up again, because of the evil which I will send on her: and weariness will overcome them. So far, these are the words of Jeremiah.