Jeremiah 51:15-64 NIRV

Jeremiah 51:15-64

“I used my power to make the earth.

I used my wisdom to set the world in place.

I used my understanding to spread out the heavens.

When I thunder, the waters in the heavens roar.

I make clouds rise from one end of the earth to the other.

I send lightning with the rain.

I bring out the wind from my storerooms.

“No one has any sense.

No one knows anything.

Everyone who works with gold is put to shame

by his wooden gods.

His metal gods are fakes.

They can’t even breathe.

They are worthless, and people make fun of them.

When I judge them, they will be destroyed.

But I, the God of Jacob, am not like them.

I give my people everything they need.

I can do this because I made everything, including Israel.

They are the people who belong to me.

My name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.

“Babylon, you are my war club.

You are my weapon for battle.

I use you to destroy nations.

I use you to wipe out kingdoms.

I use you to destroy horses and their riders.

I use you to destroy chariots and their drivers.

I use you to destroy men and women.

I use you to destroy old people and young people.

I use you to destroy young men and young women.

I use you to destroy shepherds and their flocks.

I use you to destroy farmers and their oxen.

I use you to destroy governors and officials.

“Judah, I will pay Babylon back. You will see it with your own eyes. I will pay back all those who live in Babylon. I will pay them back for all the wrong things they have done in Zion,” announces the Lord.

“Babylon, I am against you.

Your kingdom is like a destroying mountain.

You have destroyed the whole earth,”

announces the Lord.

“I will reach out my hand against you.

I will roll you off the cliffs.

I will make you like a mountain that has been burned up.

No rock will be taken from you to be used

as the most important stone for a building.

No stones will be taken from you

to be used for a foundation.

Your land will be empty forever,”

announces the Lord.

“Nations, lift up a banner in the land of Babylon!

Blow a trumpet among yourselves!

Prepare yourselves for battle against Babylon.

Send the kingdoms

of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz against it.

Appoint a commander against it.

Send many horses against it.

Let them be as many as a huge number of locusts.

Prepare yourselves for battle against Babylon.

Prepare the kings of the Medes.

Prepare their governors and all their officials.

Prepare all the countries they rule over.

The Babylonians tremble and shake with fear.

My plans against them stand firm.

I plan to destroy their land completely.

Then no one will live there.

Babylon’s soldiers have stopped fighting.

They remain in their forts.

Their strength is all gone.

They have become weak.

Their buildings are set on fire.

The metal bars that lock their gates are broken.

One messenger after another

comes to the king of Babylon.

All of them announce that

his entire city is captured.

The places where people go across the Euphrates River have been captured.

The swamps have been set on fire.

And the soldiers are terrified.”

The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,

“The city of Babylon is like a threshing floor

when cattle are walking on it.

The time to destroy it will soon come.”

The people of Jerusalem say,

“Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has destroyed us.

He has thrown us into a panic.

He has emptied us out like a jar.

Like a snake he has swallowed us up.

He has filled his stomach with our rich food.

Then he has spit us out of his mouth.”

The people continue, “May the people of Babylon

pay for the harmful things they have done to us.

May those who live in Babylon

pay for spilling the blood of our people.”

That’s what the people who live in Zion say.

So the Lord says,

“I will stand up for you.

I will pay the Babylonians back for what they did to you.

I will dry up their water supply.

I will make their springs run dry.

Babylon will have all its buildings knocked down.

It will be a home for wild dogs.

No one will live there.

People will be shocked at it.

They will make fun of it.

All its people roar like young lions.

They growl like lion cubs.

They are stirred up.

So I will set a feast in front of them.

I will make them drunk.

And they will shout and laugh.

But then they will lie down and die.

They will never wake up,”

announces the Lord.

“I will lead them down like lambs to be put to death.

They will be like rams and goats that have been killed.

“Babylon will be captured!

The whole earth was very proud of it.

But it will be taken over by others!

It will be a deserted place among the nations.

Babylon’s enemies will sweep over it like an ocean.

Like roaring waves they will cover it.

The towns of Babylon will be empty.

It will become a dry and desert land.

No one will live there.

No one will even travel through it.

I will punish the god named Bel in Babylon.

I will make Bel spit out what he has swallowed.

The nations will not come and worship him anymore.

And Babylon’s walls will fall down.

“Come out of there, my people!

Run for your lives!

Run away from my great anger.

You will hear about terrible things

that are happening in Babylon.

But do not lose hope. Do not be afraid.

You will hear one thing this year.

And you will hear something else next year.

You will hear about awful things in the land.

You will hear about one ruler fighting against another.

I will punish the gods of Babylon.

That time will certainly come.

Then the whole land will be full of shame.

Its people will lie down and die there.

So heaven and earth and everything in them will shout for joy.

They will be glad because of what will happen to Babylon.

Armies will attack it from the north.

And they will destroy it,”

announces the Lord.

“Babylon’s people have killed my people Israel.

They have also killed people all over the earth.

So now Babylon itself must fall.

You who have not been killed in the war against Babylon,

leave! Do not wait!

In a land far away remember me.

And think about Jerusalem.”

The people of Judah reply, “No one honors us anymore.

People make fun of us.

Our faces are covered with shame.

People from other lands have entered

the holy places of the Lord’s house.”

“But the days are coming,” announces the Lord.

“At that time I will punish the gods of Babylon.

And all through its land

wounded people will groan.

What if Babylon reached all the way to the heavens?

What if it made its high walls even stronger?

I would still send destroyers against it,”

announces the Lord.

“The noise of people screaming comes from Babylon.

A terrible sound comes from its land.

It is the sound of a mighty city being destroyed.

I will destroy Babylon.

I will put an end to all its noise.

Waves of enemies will sweep through it like great waters.

The roar of their voices will fill the air.

A destroying army will come against Babylon.

The soldiers in the city will be captured.

Their bows will be broken.

I am the Lord God who pays people back.

I will pay them back in full.

I will make Babylon’s officials and wise men drunk.

I will do the same thing to its governors, officers and soldiers.

They will lie down and die. They will never wake up,”

announces the King. His name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.

The Lord who rules over all says,

“Babylon’s thick walls will fall down flat.

Its high gates will be set on fire.

The nations wear themselves out for no reason at all.

Their hard work will only be burned up in the flames.”

Jeremiah the prophet gave a message to the staff officer Seraiah, the son of Neriah. Neriah was the son of Mahseiah. Jeremiah told Seraiah to take the message with him to Babylon. Seraiah went there with Zedekiah, the king of Judah. He left in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s rule. Jeremiah had written about all the trouble that would come on Babylon. He had written it down on a scroll. It included everything that had been recorded about Babylon. Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, here’s what I want you to do. Make sure that you read all these words out loud. Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place. You have said that no people or animals will live here. It will be empty forever.’ Finish reading the scroll. Tie a stone to it. Throw it into the Euphrates River. Then say, ‘In the same way, Babylon will sink down. It will never rise again. That is because I will bring such horrible trouble on it. And its people will fall along with it.’ ”

The words of Jeremiah end here.

Read More of Jeremiah 51