A Message About Babylon
1Here is the message the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. It was about the city of Babylon and the land of Babylon. He said,
2“Announce this message among the nations.
Lift up a banner.
Let the nations hear the message.
Do not keep anything back.
Say, ‘Babylon will be captured.
The god named Bel will be put to shame.
The god named Marduk will be filled with terror.
Babylon’s gods will be put to shame.
The gods its people made will be filled with terror.’
3A nation from the north will attack it.
That nation will destroy Babylon.
No one will live there.
People and animals alike will run away.
4“The days are coming,”
announces the Lord.
“At that time the people of Israel and Judah will gather together.
They will come in tears to me.
I am the Lord their God.
5They will ask how to get to Zion.
Then they will turn their faces toward it.
They will come and join themselves to me.
They will enter into the covenant I make with them.
It will last forever.
It will never be forgotten.
6“My people have been like lost sheep.
Their shepherds have led them astray.
They have caused them to wander in the mountains.
They have wandered over mountains and hills.
They have forgotten that I am their true resting place.
7Everyone who found them destroyed them.
Their enemies said, ‘We aren’t guilty.
They sinned against the Lord.
He gave them everything they needed.
He has always been Israel’s hope.’
8“People of Judah, run away from Babylon.
Leave the land of Babylon.
Be like the goats that lead the flock.
9I will stir up great nations
that will join forces against Babylon.
I will bring them from the land of the north.
They will take up their battle positions against Babylon.
They will come from the north and capture it.
Their arrows will be like skilled soldiers.
They will not miss their mark.
10So the riches of Babylon will be taken away.
All those who steal from it will have more than enough,”
announces the Lord.
11“People of Babylon, you have stolen what belongs to me.
That has made you glad and full of joy.
You dance around like a young cow on a threshing floor.
You neigh like stallions.
12Because of that, you will bring great shame on your land.
Your whole nation will be dishonored.
It will become the least important of the nations.
It will become a dry and empty desert.
13Because I am angry with it, no one will live there.
It will be completely deserted.
All those who pass by Babylon will be shocked.
They will make fun of it because of all its wounds.
14“All you who shoot arrows,
take up your battle positions around Babylon.
Shoot at it! Do not spare any arrows!
Its people have sinned against me.
15Shout against them on every side!
They are giving up.
The towers of the city are falling.
Its walls are being pulled down.
The Lord is paying back its people.
So pay them back yourselves.
Do to them what they have done to others.
16Do not leave anyone in Babylon to plant the fields.
Do not leave anyone to harvest the grain.
Let each of them return to their own people.
Let them run away to their own land.
If they don’t, their enemy’s sword will bring them great harm.
17“Israel is like a scattered flock
that lions have chased away.
The first lion that ate them up
was the king of Assyria.
The last one that broke their bones
was Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.”
18The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,
“I punished the king of Assyria.
In the same way, I will punish
the king of Babylon and his land.
19But I will bring Israel back to their own grasslands.
I will feed them on Mount Carmel and in Bashan.
I will satisfy their hunger
on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20The days are coming,”
announces the Lord.
“At that time people will search for Israel’s guilt.
But they will not find any.
They will search for Judah’s sins.
But they will not find any.
That is because I will forgive the people I have spared.
21“Enemies of Babylon, attack their land of Merathaim.
Make war against those who live in Pekod.
Chase them and kill them. Destroy them completely,”
announces the Lord.
“Do everything I have commanded you to do.
22The noise of battle is heard in the land.
It is the noise of a great city being destroyed!
23It has been broken to pieces.
It was the hammer that broke the whole earth.
How empty Babylon is among the nations!
24Babylon, I set a trap for you.
And you were caught before you knew it.
You were found and captured.
That is because you opposed me.
25I have opened up my storeroom.
I have brought out the weapons I use when I am angry.
I am the Lord and King who rules over all.
I have work to do in the land of the Babylonians.
26So come against it from far away.
Open up its storerooms.
Stack everything up like piles of grain.
Completely destroy that country.
Do not leave anyone alive there.
27Kill all Babylon’s strongest warriors.
Let them die in battle.
How terrible it will be for them!
Their time to be judged has come.
Now they will be punished.
28Listen to those who have escaped.
Listen to those who have returned from Babylon.
They are announcing in Zion
how I have paid Babylon back.
I have paid it back for destroying my temple.
29“Send for men armed with bows and arrows.
Send them against Babylon.
Set up camp all around it.
Do not let anyone escape.
Pay it back for what its people have done.
Do to them what they have done to others.
They have dared to disobey me.
I am the Holy One of Israel.
30You can be sure its young men will fall dead in the streets.
All its soldiers will be put to death at that time,”
announces the Lord.
31“Proud Babylonians, I am against you,”
announces the Lord.
The Lord who rules over all says,
“Your day to be judged has come.
It is time for you to be punished.
32You proud people will trip and fall.
No one will help you up.
I will start a fire in your towns.
It will burn up everyone around you.”
33The Lord who rules over all says,
“The people of Israel are being treated badly.
So are the people of Judah.
Those who have captured them are holding them.
They refuse to let them go.
34But I am strong and will save them.
My name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
I will stand up for them.
I will bring peace and rest to their land.
But I will bring trouble to those who live in Babylon.
35“A sword is coming against the Babylonians!”
announces the Lord.
“It is coming against those who live in Babylon.
It is coming against their officials and wise men.
36A sword is coming against their prophets.
But they are not really prophets at all!
So they will look foolish.
A sword is coming against their soldiers!
They will be filled with terror.
37A sword is coming against their horses and chariots!
It is coming against all the hired soldiers in their armies.
They will become weak.
A sword is coming against their treasures!
They will be stolen.
38There will not be any rain for their rivers.
So they will dry up.
Those things will happen because their land is full of statues of gods.
Those gods will go crazy with terror.
39“Desert creatures and hyenas will live in Babylon.
And so will owls.
People will never live there again.
It will not be lived in for all time to come.
40I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
I also destroyed the towns that were near them,”
announces the Lord.
“Babylon will be just like them.
No one will live there.
No human beings will stay there.
41“Look! An army is coming from the north.
I am stirring up a great nation and many kings.
They are coming from a land that is very far away.
42Their soldiers are armed with bows and spears.
They are mean.
They do not show any mercy at all.
They come riding in on their horses.
They sound like the roaring ocean.
They are lined up for battle.
They are coming to attack you, city of Babylon.
43The king of Babylon has heard reports about them.
His hands can’t help him.
He is in great pain.
It is like the pain of a woman having a baby.
44I will be like a lion coming up from the bushes by the Jordan River.
I will hunt in rich grasslands.
I will chase the people of Babylon from their land in an instant.
What nation will I choose to do this?
Which one will I appoint?
Is anyone like me? Who would dare to argue with me?
What leader can stand against me?”
45So listen to what the Lord has planned against Babylon.
Hear what he has planned against the land of the Babylonians.
Their young people will be dragged away.
Their grasslands will be shocked at their fate.
46At the news of Babylon’s capture,
the earth will shake.
The people’s cries will be heard among the nations.
審判巴比倫的預言
1論到迦勒底人居住的巴比倫，耶和華對耶利米先知說：
2「你要向列國宣告，
你要豎起旗幟毫不隱瞞地宣告，
『巴比倫要淪陷了！
它的神明彼勒必蒙羞，
米羅達必驚慌；
巴比倫的神像都蒙羞，
偶像都必驚慌。
3因為有一個來自北方的國家要攻擊它，
使它荒涼、人畜絕跡。』」
4耶和華說：「那時，以色列人要與猶大人一同哭著來尋求他們的上帝耶和華。 5他們必打聽前往錫安的路，朝錫安走去。他們必憑不會被遺忘的永恆之約歸附耶和華。 6我的子民成了一群迷路的羊，他們的牧人使他們步入歧途，在高山丘陵間流浪，忘了自己的安歇之處。 7敵人遇見他們，就吞噬他們，還說，『我們沒有錯！這是因為他們冒犯了他們真正的安歇之處——耶和華，他們祖先的盼望——耶和華。』 8我的子民啊，你們要逃離巴比倫，離開迦勒底人的土地，要像帶領羊群的公山羊一樣離開。 9看啊，我要使來自北方的列強聯合起來攻打巴比倫，他們要列陣攻佔它，他們的勇士箭術高超，百發百中。 10他們要在迦勒底肆意擄掠，直到心滿意足。這是耶和華說的。
11「搶奪我產業的巴比倫人啊，
你們歡喜快樂，
像草場上歡跳的母牛犢，
又像嘶鳴的公馬。
12生養你們的母親巴比倫將羞愧難當，
蒙受恥辱，
排在列國之末，
淪為乾旱的荒漠。
13由於耶和華的憤怒，
巴比倫必無人居住，
荒涼不堪。
她滿目瘡痍，
令路人驚懼、嗤笑。
14弓箭手啊，你們要列陣圍攻巴比倫，
向她猛射，
不要吝嗇箭枝，
因為她得罪了耶和華。
15你們要從四面向她吶喊，
她必投降，
她的堡壘將傾倒，
城牆將坍塌，
因為耶和華要報應她。
你們要向她復仇，
她怎樣對待別人，
你們也要怎樣對待她。
16你們要剷除在巴比倫撒種的和收割的。
為躲避敵人的刀劍，
人們各自逃到故土親族那裡。
17「以色列人是一群被獅子驅散的羊，先被亞述王吞噬，後被巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒咬碎骨頭。」 18以色列的上帝——萬軍之耶和華說：「看啊，我要像懲罰亞述王一樣懲罰巴比倫王和他的國家。 19我要帶領以色列人返回他們的草場，讓他們在迦密和巴珊吃草，在以法蓮和基列的山上吃得飽足。 20那時，在以色列必找不到過犯，在猶大必找不到罪惡，因為我必赦免我保留下來的餘民。這是耶和華說的。
21「你們要去攻打米拉大翁和比割的居民，
照我的命令徹底消滅他們。
這是耶和華說的。
22巴比倫境內傳來戰爭和大毀滅的聲音。
23威震天下的錘子巴比倫怎麼被砍斷、打碎了！
它的下場令列國震驚。
24巴比倫啊，我給你設下了陷阱，
你在懵然不知中被捉住，
因為你與耶和華為敵。
25耶和華已打開祂的軍庫，
取出傾瀉祂憤怒的兵器。
因為主——萬軍之耶和華要懲罰迦勒底人。
26你們要從遠方前來攻打巴比倫，
打開她的糧倉，
使她淪為一堆廢墟，
徹底毀滅她，不留一物。
27你們要殺掉她所有的士兵，
把他們全部屠殺。
他們大禍臨頭了，
懲罰他們的日子到了。
28「從巴比倫逃出來的人在錫安述說我們的上帝耶和華如何報仇，為祂的聖殿報仇。
29「要召集所有的弓箭手來攻打巴比倫，在她四圍紮營，不讓一人漏網。要照她的所作所為報應她；她怎樣對待別人，也要怎樣對待她，因為她藐視耶和華——以色列的聖者。 30她的青年要倒斃街頭，那時她所有的戰士都要滅亡」。這是耶和華說的。
31「主——萬軍之耶和華說，
『狂傲的人啊，我要與你為敵，
我懲罰你的時候到了。
32狂傲的人要踉踉蹌蹌，
跌倒在地，無人扶起。
我要焚燒她的城邑，
使她周圍的一切化為灰燼。』」
33萬軍之耶和華說：「以色列人和猶大人要一同受壓迫，擄走他們的人必控制他們，不肯釋放他們。 34但他們的救贖主——萬軍之耶和華有偉大的能力，祂必為他們伸冤，使他們的家園安寧，使巴比倫的居民不得安寧。」
35耶和華說：
「敵人要攻擊巴比倫的居民及其首領和謀士；
36敵人要攻擊巴比倫的假先知，
使他們顯出愚昧；
敵人要攻擊巴比倫的勇士，
使他們充滿恐懼；
37敵人要攻擊巴比倫人的戰車戰馬和他們的盟軍，
使他們柔弱得像婦女；
敵人要攻打他們的庫房，
肆意搶奪他們的財寶。
38旱災必臨到巴比倫，
使那裡的河流乾涸，
因為那裡偶像遍地，
人們都沉迷於祭拜神像。
39「因此，巴比倫必杳無人煙，永遠荒涼，成為豺狼等野獸出沒之地、鴕鳥的棲身之所。 40上帝要毀滅巴比倫，像毀滅所多瑪、蛾摩拉及其周圍的城邑一樣，使那裡人煙絕跡。這是耶和華說的。
41「看啊，大軍要從北方而來，
一個強國及其盟軍要從地極而來。
42巴比倫人啊，他們殘忍無道，
手持弓箭和矛槍，
騎著戰馬，
列陣攻擊你們，
聲勢如翻騰的大海。
43巴比倫王聞風喪膽，
四肢發軟，
像分娩的婦人一樣痛苦不堪。
44「看啊，我必在瞬間把巴比倫人趕離家園，如約旦河邊叢林中跳出的獅子趕散草場的羊群。我要派我揀選的人統治這地方。誰能與我相比？誰能與我較量？哪位首領能抵抗我？」
45因此，你們要聽聽耶和華攻擊巴比倫的策略，聽聽祂攻擊迦勒底人的計劃。他們的孩子要被拖走，他們的家園要被毀滅。 46巴比倫被毀滅的消息震動天下，呼喊聲傳到列國。
