Jeremiah 51

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Yahweh says this: Against Babylon and the inhabitants of Leb-Kamai I shal rouse a destructive wind.	1 Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will raise up, over Babylon and over its inhabitants, who have lifted up their heart against me, something like a pestilent wind.
2 I shal send winnowers to Babylon to winnow her and leave her country bare, for she wil bebeleaguered on all sides, on the day of disaster.	2 And I will send winnowers into Babylon, and they will winnow her, and they will demolish her land. For they will overwhelm her from every side in the day of her affliction.
3 Let no archer bend his bow! Let no man swagger in his breastplate!-No quarter for her young men!Curse her whole army with destruction!	3 Let him who draws the bow, not draw his bow. And let him who wears armor, not rise up. Do not spare her young men. Destroy her entire military.
4 In the country of the Chaldaeans the slaughtered wil fall, in the streets of Babylon, those run throughby the sword.	4 And the slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and the wounded in its regions.
5 For Israel and Judah have not been bereft of their God, Yahweh Sabaoth, although their country wasful of sin against the Holy One of Israel.	5 Yet Israel and Judah have not been widowed by their God, the Lord of hosts, though their land has been filled with transgression against the Holy One of Israel.
6 Escape from Babylon (save your lives, each one of you); do not perish for her guilt, for now is the timefor Yahweh's vengeance: he wil pay her her reward!	6 Flee from the midst of Babylon! And let each one save his own life. Do not be silent about her iniquity. For it is the time of revenge from the Lord. He himself will repay her, in her turn.
7 Babylon was a golden cup in Yahweh's hand, she made the whole world drunk, the nations drank herwine and then went mad.	7 Babylon is a gold cup in the hand of the Lord, inebriating the entire earth. The nations have drunk from her wine, and therefore they have staggered.
8 Babylon has suddenly fal en, is broken: wail for her! Fetch balm for her wounds, perhaps she can becured!	8 Suddenly, Babylon has fallen and been crushed. Wail over her! Take a balm to her pain, if perhaps she may be healed.”
9 -'We tried to cure Babylon; she has got no better. Leave her alone and let us each go to his owncountry.' -Yes, her sentence reaches to the sky, rises to the very clouds.	9 “We would have cured Babylon, but there is no cure. Let us abandon her, and let each one of us go to his own land. For her judgment has reached even to the heavens, and has been lifted up even to the clouds.
10 Yahweh has shown the uprightness of our cause. Come, let us tell in Zion what Yahweh our God hasdone.	10 The Lord has brought forth our justices. Come and let us describe in Zion the work of the Lord our God.”
11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! Yahweh has roused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, becausehe has a plan against Babylon to destroy it; this is Yahweh's revenge, revenge for his Temple.	11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers. The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. And his mind is against Babylon, so that he may destroy her. For this is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.
12 Against the wal s of Babylon raise the standard! Strengthen the guard! Post the sentries! Take upconcealed positions! For Yahweh has both planned and done what he promised he would to the inhabitants ofBabylon.	12 Upon the walls of Babylon, lift up a sign. Increase the watch! Rouse the watchmen! Prepare ambushes! For the Lord has planned and has accomplished all that he has spoken, against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 Enthroned beside abundant waters, rich in treasures, you now meet your end, the finish of yourpil aging.	13 You who live above many waters, rich in treasures: your end has arrived, your measure has been cut short.
14 By his own self Yahweh Sabaoth has sworn: I shal fil you with men as though with grasshoppers,and over you they wil raise the triumph-shout.	14 The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself, saying: “For I will fill you with men as with locusts, and they will sing a rhythmic chant against you.”
15 By his power he made the earth, by his wisdom set the world firm, by his discernment spread out theheavens.	15 The One who made the earth by his strength, who prepared the world by his wisdom, and who stretched out the heavens by his prudence:
16 When he thunders there is a roaring of waters in heaven; he raises clouds from the furthest limits ofthe earth, makes the lightning flash for the downpour, and brings the wind from his storehouse.	16 when he utters his voice, the waters will be multiplied in the heavens. The One who lifts up the clouds from the ends of the earth: he has turned lightning into rain, and he has brought forth wind from his storehouses.
17 At this everyone stands stupefied, uncomprehending, every goldsmith blushes for his idols; hiscastings are but delusion, with no breath in them.	17 Each man has become foolish before his own knowledge. Each sculptor has been confounded by his own sculpture. For what he has formed of them is a lie, and there is no spirit in them.
18 They are futile, a laughable production, when the time comes for them to be punished, they wilvanish.	18 They are empty works, deserving of ridicule. In the time of their visitation, they will perish.
19 The Heritage of Jacob is not like these, for he is the maker of everything, and Israel is the tribe that ishis heritage; His name is Yahweh Sabaoth.	19 The portion of Jacob is not like their portion. For the One who made all things is his portion, and Israel is the scepter of his inheritance. The Lord of hosts is his name:
20 You were my mace, a weapon of war. With you I crushed nations, struck kingdoms down,	20 “For me, you strike together the instruments of war; and with you, I will strike together nations; and with you, I will scatter the kingdoms.
21 with you crushed horse and rider, with you crushed chariot and charioteer,	21 And with you, I will strike together the horse and his rider; and with you, I will strike together the chariot and its rider.
22 with you crushed man and woman, with you crushed old man and young, with you crushed youngman and girl,	22 And with you, I will strike together man and woman; and with you, I will strike together the old man and the boy; and with you, I will strike together the young man and the virgin.
23 with you crushed shepherd and flock, with you crushed ploughman and team, with you crushedgovernors and magistrates,	23 And with you, I will strike together the pastor and his flock; and with you, I will strike together the farmer and his yoke of oxen; and with you, I will strike together military leaders and civil leaders.
24 and I shal repay Babylon and the inhabitants of Chaldaea, before your eyes, for al the wrongs theyhave done to Zion, Yahweh declares.	24 And I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion, before your eyes, says the Lord.
25 I am setting myself against you, mountain of destruction, Yahweh declares, destroyer of the wholeworld! I shall reach out my hand for you and send you tumbling from the crags and make you a burnt-outmountain.	25 Behold, I am against you, you pestilent mountain, says the Lord, for you are corrupting the entire earth. And I will extend my hand over you, and I will roll you down from the rocks, and I will make you into a burning mountain.
26 No corner-stone wil be taken from you again and no foundation-stone, for you will be a desert forever, Yahweh declares.	26 And they will not take from you a stone for the corner, nor a stone for the foundations. Instead, you will be destroyed unto eternity,” says the Lord.
27 Raise the standard throughout the world, sound the trumpet among the nations! Consecrate nationsto make war on her; summon kingdoms against her: Ararat, Minni, Ashkenaz; appoint a recruiting-officer for herenemies, bring up the cavalry, bristling like locusts.	27 Lift up a sign in the land! Sound the trumpet among the nations! Sanctify the nations against her. Announce against her the kings of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Number against her Taphsar. Lead in the horse, like the stinging locust.
28 Consecrate nations to make war on her: the kings of Media, her governors, all her magistrates andthe whole territory under their rule.	28 Sanctify the nations against her: the kings of Media, their military leaders, and all their civil leaders, and the entire land under their authority.
29 Then the earth trembled and writhed, for Yahweh's plan against Babylon was being executed: tochange the country of Babylon into an unpopulated desert.	29 And the earth will be shaken and will be disturbed. For the plan of the Lord against Babylon will awaken, so that he may make the land of Babylon desolate and uninhabitable.
30 The warriors of Babylon have done with fighting, they have stayed inside their fortresses; theircourage exhausted, they are now like women. Her houses are on fire, her gates are shattered.	30 The strong ones of Babylon have ceased to do battle. They have lived in fortresses. Their health has been devoured, and they have become like women. Her tabernacles have been set ablaze; her bars have been broken.
31 Courier fol ows close on courier, messenger on messenger, to tel the king of Babylon that his city hasbeen taken from al sides,	31 Runner will go forth to meet runner, and messenger will meet messenger, so as to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been captured, from one end to the other,
32 the fords occupied, the bastions burnt down and the fighting men seized with panic.	32 and that the fords were seized in advance, and that the marshes have been burned with fire, and that the men of war have been set in disarray.
33 For Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this: the daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floorwhen it is being trodden: a little while, and then the time for harvesting her wil come.	33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor. This is the time of her threshing. A little while longer, and the time of her harvest will arrive.”
34 He devoured me, consumed me, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, left me like an empty dish, like theDragon he has swal owed me whole, filled his belly with my titbits and threw me out.	34 “Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has consumed me, has devoured me. He has made me like an empty vessel. He has swallowed me like a dragon. He has filled his belly with my tender ones, and he has cast me out.
35 'On Babylon be the wounds I suffered!' the daughter of Zion wil say. 'On the inhabitants of Chaldaeabe my blood!' Jerusalem wil say.	35 This iniquity is against me, and so my flesh is upon Babylon,” says the habitation of Zion. “And my blood is upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,” says Jerusalem.
36 So, Yahweh says this: Look, I am taking up your cause to make sure you are avenged. I shal dry herriver up, make her springs run dry.	36 Because of this, thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will judge your case, and I will avenge your vengeance, and I will make her sea into a desert, and I will dry up her spring.
37 Babylon wil become a heap of stones, the lair of jackals, a thing of horror and of scorn, with no oneliving in it.	37 And Babylon will become a tumult, the habitation of dragons, an astonishment, and a hissing, because there is no inhabitant.
38 Like lions they roar together, they growl like lions' whelps.	38 They will roar together, like lions, they will shake their manes, like young lions.
39 Are they feverish? I wil prepare them a drink and make them drink until they are tipsy and fal into aneverlasting sleep, never to wake again, Yahweh declares.	39 In their heat, I will give them a drink, and I will inebriate them, so that they become drowsy, and sleep an everlasting sleep, and do not rise up, says the Lord.
40 I wil drag them away to the slaughterhouse like lambs, like rams and goats.	40 I will lead them away, like lambs to the slaughter, and like rams with young goats.
41 What! Has Sheshak been taken, been conquered, the pride of the whole world? What a thing of horrorBabylon has become throughout the nations!	41 How was Sesac captured, and how was the renowned one of all the earth seized? How has Babylon become an astonishment among the nations?
42 The sea has risen over Babylon, she sinks beneath its boisterous waves.	42 The sea has ascended over Babylon; she has been covered by the multitude of its waves.
43 Her towns have been turned into wasteland, a parched land, a desert, a country where no one livesand where nobody goes.	43 Her cities have become an astonishment, an uninhabited and desolate land, a land in which no one may live, nor may a son of man pass through it.
44 I shal punish Bel in Babylon and make him disgorge what he has swal owed. In future the nations wilstream to him no more. The very walls of Babylon wil fal .	44 And I will visit against Bel in Babylon, and I will cast from his mouth what he has swallowed. And the nations will no longer flow together before him. For even the wall of Babylon will also fall.
45 Get out of her, my people; save your lives, each one of you, from Yahweh's furious anger.	45 Go forth from her midst, my people, so that each one may save his life from the wrath of the fury of the Lord.
46 But do not be faint-hearted! Do not take fright at rumours hawked round the country: one rumourspreads one year, next year another fol ows; violence rules on earth and one tyrant succeeds another.	46 For otherwise, your heart may faint, and you may be afraid at the news that is heard in the land. And the news will arrive within a year, and after that year more news will arrive. And iniquity will be in the land, and one ruler will be over another ruler.
47 So look, the days are coming when I shal punish the idols of Babylon. Her entire country wil behumbled, with all her slaughtered lying on home-soil.	47 Because of this, behold, the days are approaching, when I will visit against the graven images of Babylon. And her entire land will be confounded, and all her slain will fall in her midst.
48 The heaven and earth and all within them wil shout for joy over Babylon, for the destroyers from thenorth are coming to her, Yahweh declares.	48 And the heavens and the earth, and all the things that are in them, will give praise over Babylon. For despoilers will approach her from the north, says the Lord.
49 Babylon in her turn must fal , you slaughtered ones of Israel, just as through Babylon there fel menslaughtered al over the world.	49 And in the manner that Babylon has caused the slain to fall in Israel, so the slain of Babylon will fall over the entire earth.
50 You who have escaped her sword, leave her, do not wait! Remember Yahweh from afar, letJerusalem come into your mind.	50 You who have fled from the sword, approach, do not stand still. Remember from afar the Lord, and let Jerusalem rise up in your heart.
51 -'We were ashamed when we heard of the outrage, we were covered in confusion because foreignershad entered the Temple of Yahweh's holy places.'	51 We have been confounded, for we heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, for strangers have overwhelmed the holiness of the house of the Lord.
52 -So look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall punish her idols, and the wounded willgroan throughout her country.	52 Because of this, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will visit against her graven images, and within all her land the wounded will groan.
53 Were Babylon to scale the heavens or reinforce her towering citadel, destroyers would stil come to her on my orders, Yahweh declares.	53 If Babylon were to ascend to heaven, and establish her strength on high, her despoilers would go forth from me, says the Lord.”
54 The din of shouting from Babylon, of immense destruction, from the country of the Chaldaeans!	54 A voice of outcry from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 Yes, Yahweh is laying Babylon waste and silencing her monstrous din, whose waves used to roar likethe ocean and their tumultuous voices rang out.	55 For the Lord has despoiled Babylon, and he has perished the great voice from her. And their wave will make a sound like many waters. Their voice has uttered a noise.
56 For the destroyer has fal en on Babylon, her warriors are captured, their bows are broken. Yes,Yahweh is a God of retribution, he never fails to repay.	56 For the despoiler has overwhelmed her, that is, Babylon, and her strong ones have been apprehended, and their bow has been weakened. For the Lord, the powerful revenger, will certainly repay.
57 I shal make her princes and her sages drink, her governors, her magistrates, her warriors; they wilfal into an everlasting sleep, never to wake again, declares the King, whose name is Yahweh Sabaoth.	57 “And I will inebriate her leaders, and her wise ones, and her military rulers, and her civil rulers, and her strong ones. And they will sleep an everlasting sleep, and they will not awaken,” says the King: the Lord of hosts is his name.
58 Yahweh Sabaoth says this: The wal s of Babylon the Great wil be rased to the ground, and her loftygates wil be burnt down. Thus peoples toil for nothing and nations wear themselves out, for the flames.	58 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “That very wide wall of Babylon will be utterly overturned, and her exalted gates will be burned with fire, and the labors of the people will be as nothing, and the labors of the nations will be sent into the fire and will perish.”
59 This is the order that the prophet Jeremiah gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah whenSeraiah left for Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was lordchamberlain.	59 The word that Jeremiah, the prophet, instructed to Seraiah, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he traveled with king Zedekiah into Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was the leader of the prophets.
60 Now, on one sheet, Jeremiah had written down the entire disaster that was to befal Babylon, that is,al these words recorded here against Babylon.	60 And Jeremiah wrote in one book all the evil that was to overwhelm Babylon; all these words were written against Babylon.
61 Jeremiah then said to Seraiah, 'When you reach Babylon, see to it that you read al these wordsaloud.	61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: “When you will enter into Babylon, and you will see and read all these words,
62 Then say, "You, Yahweh, have promised to destroy this place, so that no one will live here ever again,neither human nor animal, and it wil be desolate for ever."	62 you will say: ‘O Lord, you have spoken against this place so that you may destroy it, so that there would not be anyone, from man even to beast, who may live in it, and so that it may be desolate forever.’
63 Then, when you have finished reading this sheet, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of theEuphrates,	63 And when you will have completed reading this book, you will tie a stone to it, and you will cast it into the midst of the Euphrates.
64 with the words, "So shal Babylon sink, never to rise again from the disaster which I am going to bringon her." ' Thus far the words of Jeremiah.	64 And you will say: ‘So shall Babylon be submerged! And she will not rise up before the face of the affliction that I will lead over her. And she will be broken.’ ” The words of Jeremiah thus far.