CHAPTER 50

1 The word which Jehovah spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet:

2 Tell ye among the nations, proclaim, Raise up also a banner, proclaim, conceal not; Say ye, “Taken is Babylon, Confounded is Bel, broken is Merodach, Confounded are her images, broken are her idols.”

3 For ascend against her shall a nation from the north, Which will turn her land to a waste, So that there will be no dweller in it, man or beast; They have fled, they have departed.

4 In those days and at that time, saith Jehovah, Come shall the children of Israel And the children of Judah together; Going and weeping they shall come, And Jehovah their God will they seek.

5 To Sion will they ask the way, hither their faces, — “Come ye and let us join ourselves to Jehovah, By a perpetual covenant, not to be forgotten.”

6 A lost sheep have been my people; Their pastors have made them to wander; On the mountains they strayed, From mountain to hill they went, They forgot the place of their lying down.

7 All who found them devoured them, And their adversaries said, “We sin not, Because they have sinned against Jehovah, The habitation of justice, And the hope of their fathers, even Jehovah.”

8 Flee ye from the midst of Babylon, And from Chaldea go forth, And be as he-goats before the flock.

9 For, behold, I will rouse and bring against Babylon, An assembly of great nations from the land of the north, And they shall set in order against her; Thence taken will she be; Their arrows, like those of a skillful valiant man, They shall not return in vain.

10 And Chaldea shall be a prey, And all who plunder her shall be satiated, saith Jehovah,

11 Surely ye rejoiced and exulted When ye plundered mine heritage; Ye became fat as a heifer well fed, And neighed like strong horses.

12 Ashamed greatly shall be your mother, Blush shall she who bare you; Behold, the last of nations shall she be, A desert, a waste, a solitude!

13 Because of the indignation of Jehovah She shall not be inhabited, And shall be an entire waste; All who pass by Babylon shall be astonished, And shall hiss for all her strokes.

14 Set in order against Babylon around; All ye who bend the bow, Shoot at her, spare not the arrows, For against Jehovah hath she sinned.

15 Cry ye aloud against her around; She hath given her hand, Fallen have her foundations, Demolished have been her walls, Because it is the vengeance of Jehovah; Vengeance take ye on her; as she has done, do to her.

16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, And him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest: From the face of the wasting sword Every one shall look to his own people, Every one to his own land shall flee.

17 A scattered flock hath Israel been, Lions have driven him out; The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria, And this last hath broken his bones, Even Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.

18 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel — Behold, I will visit the king of Babylon and his land, As I visited the king of Assyria:

19 And I will restore Israel to his folds, And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, And on mount Ephraim and Gilead; And satisfied shall be his soul.

20 In those days and at that time, saith Jehovah, Sought will be the iniquity of Israel, and there will be none; And the sin of Judah, and it shall not be found: For I will pardon those whom I shall reserve.

21 On the land of the exasperating ascend, And against the inhabitants of visitation, Slay and destroy after them, saith Jehovah; And do all that I have commanded thee.

22 A sound of battle in the land and a great ruin!

23 Now has the hammer of the whole earth Been cut off and broken in pieces! How has Babylon become a waste among the nations!

24 I set a snare for thee, therefore taken wert thou, Babylon, though thou knewest not: Thou wept found, and hence taken, Because against Jehovah thou didst contend.

25 Opened hath Jehovah his treasure, And brought forth the instruments of his wrath; For this is the work of the Lord, the Jehovah of hosts, In the land of the Chaldeans.

26 Come ye against her from the extremity, Open her repositories, tread her as heaps, Destroy her wholly, that there may be to her no remnant.

27 Slay all her bullocks, Let them descend to the slaughter Woe to them, for their day is come, The time of their visitation.

28 The voice of these who flee and escape From the land of Babylon! To announce in Sion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, The vengeance of his temple.

29 Summon against Babylon the mighty, All who bend the bow; Besiege her around, that there may be no escape; Render to her according to her work, According to all she has done, do ye to her; For against Jehovah has she acted proudly, Against the Holy One of Israel.

30 Therefore fall shall her young men in her streets, And all her men of war shall be destroyed In that day, saith Jehovah.

31 Behold, I am against thee, the proud one, Saith the Lord, the Jehovah of hosts; For come is thy day, the time of thy visitation.

32 And stumble shall the proud and fall, And there will be no one to raise him up; And I will kindle a fire in his cities, And it shall consume all round him.

33 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Oppressed have been the children of Israel And the children of Judah together; And all who led them captives have prevailed against them, They have refused to let them go.

34 Their Redeemer is strong, Jehovah of hosts is his name, Their cause pleading he will plead, So as to destroy the land, And to make to tremble the inhabitants of Babylon.

35 A sword on the Chaldeans, saith Jehovah! And on all the inhabitants of Babylon! And on all her princes and on her wise men!

36 A sword on her diviners! and they shall become foolish; A sword on her valiant men! and they shall be terrified;

37 A sword on her horses! and on her chariots! And on her multitude, in the midst of her! They shall be as women; A sword on her treasures! and they shall be plundered;

38 A drought on her waters! and they shall be dried up: For it is the land of carved images, And in idols they glory.

39 Therefore dwell there shall wild birds with wild beasts, And dwell there shall the daughters of ostriches; And it shall not be inhabited any more for ever; It shall not be an habitation to all generations.

40 As in God’s overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, And of their neighboring cities, saith Jehovah, Dwell there shall no man, For shall a son of man abide there.

41 Behold, a people cometh from the north, Even a great nation and many kings Shall be roused from the sides of the earth.

42 On the bow and the shield shall they lay hold, Cruel shall they be, and will shew no mercy; Their voice like the sea shall roar, And on horses shall they ride, Prepared as a man for battle Against thee, daughter of Babylon.

43 Heard has the king of Babylon a report of them, And feeble became his hands; Anxiety laid hold on him, And anguish, like a woman in travail.

44 Behold, as a lion from the swelling of Jordan Will he ascend to the strong habitation: After having made him to rest, I will make him flee from her; And who is the chosen one whom I shall set over her? For who is as I am? And who will protest against me? And who is the shepherd that before me will stand?

45 Therefore hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, Which he hath counseled against Babylon; And his thoughts which he has thought Against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely draw them forth shall the least of the flock, Surely destroyed over them shall be their dwellings.

46 At the sound of Babylon being taken, tremble shall the earth, And a cry among the nations shall be heard.