Jeremiah 51:30-58

30The 1warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting, They stay in the strongholds; 2Their strength is 3exhausted, They are becoming 4like women; Their homes are set on fire, The 5bars of her gates are broken.31One 67courier runs to meet 8another, And one 910messenger to meet 11another, To tell the king of Babylon That his city has been captured from end to end;32The river crossing places have been seized, And they have burned the marshes with fire, And the men of war are terrified.

33For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “The daughter of Babylon is like a 12threshing floor At the time that 13it is tread down; In just a little while the time of 14harvest will come for her.”

34“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has 15devoured me, he has crushed me, He has set me down like an 16empty vessel; He has 17swallowed me like a monster, He has filled his stomach with my delicacies; He has washed me away.35May the 18violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,” The 19inhabitant of Zion will say; And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,” Jerusalem will say. 36Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to 20plead your case And 21take vengeance for you; And 22I will dry up her 23sea And make her fountain dry.3724Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, An 25object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.38They will roar together like 26young lions, They will growl like lions’ cubs.39When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet And 27make them drunk, so that they may rejoice in triumph, And may 28sleep a perpetual sleep And not wake up,” declares the Lord.40“I will bring them down like 29lambs 30to the slaughter, Like rams together with male goats.

41“How 3132Sheshak has been captured, And 33the praise of the whole earth has been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!42The 3435sea has come up over Babylon; She has been engulfed by its roaring waves.43Her cities have become an 36object of horror, A dry land and a desert, A land in which 37no one lives And through which no 38one of mankind passes.4439I will punish Bel in Babylon, And I will make what he has swallowed 40come out of his mouth; And the nations will no longer 41stream toward him. Even the 42wall of Babylon has fallen down!

45“43Come out from her midst, My people, And each of you 44save yourselves From the fierce anger of the Lord.46Now, 45so that your heart does not grow faint, And you are not afraid at the 46report that will be heard in the land-- For the report will come in 47one year, And after that 48another report in 49another year, And violence will be in the land With 50ruler against ruler--47Therefore behold, days are coming When I will punish the 51idols of Babylon; And her whole land will be 52put to shame. And all her slain will fall in her midst.48Then 53heaven and earth and everything that is in them Will shout for joy over Babylon, Because 54the destroyers will come to her from the north,” Declares the Lord.

4955Indeed, Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, As 56the slain of all the earth have also fallen for Babylon.50You 57who have escaped the sword, Go! Do not stay! 58Remember the Lord from far away, And let Jerusalem 59come to your mind.5160We are ashamed because we have heard rebuke; Disgrace has covered our faces, Because 61strangers have entered The holy places of the Lord’s house.

52“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will punish her 62idols, And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.53Though Babylon 63ascends to the heavens, And though she fortifies 64her lofty stronghold, Destroyers will come from 65Me to her,” declares the Lord.

54The 66sound of an outcry from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!55For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon, And He will make her loud 67noise vanish from her. And their 68waves will roar like many waters; The clamor of their voices 69sounds forth.56For the 70destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, And her warriors will be captured, Their 71bows shattered; For the Lord is a God of 72retribution, He will fully repay.57“I will 73make her leaders and her wise men drunk, Her governors, her officials, and her warriors, So that they will sleep a 74perpetual sleep and not wake up,” 75Declares the King, whose name is the Lord of armies. 58This is what the Lord of armies says: “The broad 76wall of Babylon will be completely demolished, And her high 77gates will be set on fire; So the peoples will 78labor for nothing, And the nations become 79exhausted only for fire.”