Jeremiah 51:11-64

11‘Make your arrows sharp! Prepare your weapons! The Lord has caused Media's kings to prepare for war. He will use them to destroy Babylon. The Lord will punish the people of Babylonia because they destroyed his temple.

12Wave a flag and prepare to attack Babylon's city walls! Bring plenty of guards to watch all around the city. Put soldiers to catch anyone who tries to escape. Yes, the Lord will now do everything that he has decided. He will punish Babylon's people, as he said he would do.

13You people of Babylon, who live beside many rivers, it is now time for you to die. You have become rich with many valuable things, but now your lives will finish.’

14The Lord Almighty has made this strong promise with the authority of his own name: ‘I will cause the enemy's soldiers to fill your cities. They will come like a big crowd of locusts. They will shout loudly when they take your city for themselves.’

151The Lord used his power to make the earth. He used his wisdom to make it strong. He knew how to put the sky to cover the earth.

16When he shouts like thunder, the water in the sky roars. He brings the clouds from the far places of the earth. He causes bright lightning to show in the storms. He opens his rooms so that the wind comes out and it blows everywhere.

17People who worship idols are stupid. They do not understand what they are doing. The men who make idols will be ashamed. They make images of gods that are false. None of their idols have the breath of life in them.

18They are useless things that people should laugh at. When the time for their punishment arrives, God will destroy them.

19The God that Jacob's descendants worship is not like those idols. He created everything. He chose Israel's people to belong to him. His name is the Lord Almighty.

20‘You are the weapon that I use to fight my battles. I have used you to punish nations. I have used you to destroy kingdoms.

21I have used you to destroy whole armies, with their horses, chariots and riders.

22I have used you to destroy men and women, old men, young men, boys and girls.

23I have used you to destroy shepherds and their sheep, as well as farmers and their oxen. I have used you to destroy rulers and their officers.

24But now I will punish Babylon and all the people who live in Babylonia. I will pay them back for all the evil things that they did in Jerusalem. And you will see me do that.’ That is what the Lord says.

25The Lord says, ‘Listen to me, Babylon! I am your enemy! You are like a strong mountain that destroys the whole earth. I will punish you with all my strength. I will push you down from your high place. I will make you a heap of ashes.

26Nobody will be able to use any of your stones as a foundation for a new building. You will remain as empty as a desert for ever.’ That is what the Lord says.

27‘Call the nations to come and fight a battle against Babylonia. Wave a flag and make a noise with trumpets, so that these kingdoms prepare their armies to attack: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Choose a captain to lead them into battle. Send an army of soldiers on horses to attack, like a large crowd of locusts.

28Tell the nations to prepare their armies for war against Babylonia. Tell the kings of Media to get ready, as well as their leaders and officers. The armies of the countries that they rule must also be ready to fight.

29The whole earth will shake with pain as the Lord punishes Babylonia. He will certainly do what he has decided to do. He will make the land of Babylonia as empty as a desert. Nobody will live there.

30The brave soldiers of Babylonia are no longer fighting! They remain inside their strong buildings. Their strength has gone! They are as weak as women. In their cities, enemy soldiers are burning their houses. They have broken down the city gates.

31Now people run to send the news to the king of Babylon. They pass this message along the line: “The enemy has taken power over the whole city!

32They have guards to stop people escaping across the rivers. They have burned the reeds in the wet fields. All our soldiers are afraid.”

33The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this: Babylon is like a threshing floor that is ready for people to stamp on wheat. The harvest time will soon come! Then the enemy will cut down Babylon, and they will stamp all over it!’

34‘King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has destroyed us with his army. He has made us weak and confused. He has eaten us like a hungry monster. He has filled himself with all our good things. Then he spat us out of his mouth.’

35Zion's people then say to the Lord, ‘Please punish the people of Babylonia, because they did cruel things to us.’ Jerusalem's people say, ‘Pay back the people of Babylonia, because they killed our relatives.’

36So the Lord says, ‘I will help you to win. I will punish the people of Babylonia for what they have done to you. I will cause all their rivers and their springs to become dry.

37Babylon will become a heap of stones. Wild animals will live there. People will see that it is a disgusting place, and they will laugh at it. Nobody will live there.

38Its people shout loudly, like lions that roar. They make a noise like baby lions that are hungry.

39While they are feeling so hungry, I will prepare a feast for them. I will cause them to become drunk, and they will become helpless. They will sleep for ever and they will never wake up again.’ That is what the Lord says.

40‘I will take them down to the place of death. People will kill them as if they are lambs, sheep and goats.’

41‘Now an enemy will take power over Babylon! Everyone in the world praised it as a great nation. But now all the nations will see that it is a disgusting place.

42The sea will pour over it. Many waves of water will cover it.

43Babylonia's towns will become heaps of stones. The land will be dry and empty, like a desert. Nobody will live there any more. Nobody will even travel through the land.

44I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon. I will cause him to give back everything that he has taken. Nations will never go to worship him again. Yes, the walls of Babylon will fall down!’

45‘Escape from Babylon, my people! Run away to save your lives! The Lord is very angry with that place, so run away from there!

46You must be brave! When you hear news in Babylon of what is happening, do not be afraid. People will report one thing this year, and next year they will report a different thing. They will speak about violence in the land, and about rulers who are fighting against each other.

47So the time will soon come when I will punish Babylon's idols. The whole country will become ashamed. Its people will die and their dead bodies will lie everywhere.

48Then everyone in heaven and everyone on the earth will shout with joy because of what happens to Babylon. They will be happy because an army will come from the north to destroy it.’ That is what the Lord says.

49‘Babylon's people have caused the death of people everywhere. They have killed many Israelites. So now Babylon must lose its power.

50You Israelites who are still alive, leave Babylon now! Do not wait! You are far away from your homes. But remember that the Lord is with you. Think about Jerusalem.

51You say, “We are ashamed. People have insulted us. We hide our faces in shame because foreigners have gone into the holy places of the Lord's temple.” ’

52But the Lord says this: ‘The time will soon come when I will punish Babylon's idols. People everywhere in that land will cry with pain, because their wounds are causing them to die.

53Babylon's people may build their city very high. They may make its walls very strong. But I will send an army to destroy it.’ That is what the Lord says.

54‘Listen to the noise that comes from Babylon! People are crying in pain. Listen to the noise of the enemy army as it destroys Babylonia.

55The Lord is preparing to destroy Babylon. No noise will come from there any more. The enemy soldiers will attack like great waves of water. There will be a loud noise of battle.

56An army is coming to destroy Babylon. They will take hold of its brave soldiers. They will break their weapons. The Lord is a God who punishes people as they deserve. He always pays them back for their sins.

57I will make Babylon's officers and its wise men drunk, as well as its rulers, its leaders and its soldiers. They will sleep for ever and they will never wake up again.’ That is what the King says. His name is the Lord Almighty.

58The Lord Almighty says this: ‘The enemy will completely knock down the strong walls of Babylon. They will burn its high gates with fire. The nations work very hard, but their work is useless. They make themselves tired, but fire destroys all their work.’

59This is the command that the prophet Jeremiah gave to the king's officer Seraiah. Seraiah was the son of Neriah and the grandson of Mahseiah. He took the message when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah. That happened in the fourth year that Zedekiah had ruled Judah as king.

60Jeremiah had written on a scroll a list of all the terrible troubles that would happen to Babylon. Those were all the messages that he had written about Babylon.

61Jeremiah said to Seraiah, ‘When you arrive in Babylon, you must read aloud all these messages.

62Then say, “Lord, you have said that you will destroy this place. Then no people or animals will live in it any longer. It will be empty for ever.”

63When you have finished reading aloud all the words on the scroll, tie a big stone to it. Throw it all into the middle of the Euphrates river.

64Then say, “That is how Babylon will sink! It will go down and it will never rise up again. The Lord is ready to cause all these terrible troubles to happen to Babylon. Its people will be too weak to stop it.” ’ That is the end of Jeremiah's messages.