| Holman Christian Standard Bible | New International Version |
| 1The word the LORD spoke about Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet: | 1This is the word the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians: |
| 2Announce to the nations; proclaim and raise up a signal flag; proclaim, and hide nothing. Say: Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is devastated; her idols are put to shame; her false gods, devastated. | 2"Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back, but say, 'Babylon will be captured; Bel will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror. Her images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror.' |
| 3For a nation from the north will come against her; it will make her land desolate. No one will be living in it-- both man and beast will escape. | 3A nation from the north will attack her and lay waste her land. No one will live in it; both people and animals will flee away. |
| 4In those days and at that time-- this is the LORD's declaration-- the Israelites and Judeans will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the LORD their God. | 4"In those days, at that time," declares the LORD, "the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the LORD their God. |
| 5They will ask about Zion, turning their faces to this road. They will come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten. | 5They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten. |
| 6My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, guiding them the wrong way in the mountains. They have wandered from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place. | 6"My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place. |
| 7All who found them devoured them. Their adversaries said, "We're not guilty; instead, they have sinned against the LORD, their righteous grazing land, the hope of their ancestors, the LORD." | 7Whoever found them devoured them; their enemies said, 'We are not guilty, for they sinned against the LORD, their verdant pasture, the LORD, the hope of their ancestors.' |
| 8Escape from Babylon; depart from the Chaldeans' land. Be like the rams that lead the flock. | 8"Flee out of Babylon; leave the land of the Babylonians, and be like the goats that lead the flock. |
| 9For I will soon stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country. They will line up in battle formation against her; from there she will be captured. Their arrows will be like those of a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. | 9For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north. They will take up their positions against her, and from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed. |
| 10The Chaldeans will become plunder; all Babylon's plunderers will be fully satisfied. This is the LORD's declaration. | 10So Babylonia will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill," declares the LORD. |
| 11Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph-- you who plundered My inheritance-- because you frolic like a young cow treading grain and neigh like stallions, | 11"Because you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my inheritance, because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain and neigh like stallions, |
| 12your mother will be utterly humiliated; she who bore you will be put to shame. Look! She will lag behind all the nations-- a dry land, a wilderness, an Arabah. | 12your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who gave you birth will be disgraced. She will be the least of the nations-- a wilderness, a dry land, a desert. |
| 13Because of the LORD's wrath, she will not be inhabited; she will become a desolation, every bit of her. Everyone who passes through Babylon will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds. | 13Because of the LORD's anger she will not be inhabited but will be completely desolate. All who pass Babylon will be appalled; they will scoff because of all her wounds. |
| 14Line up in battle formation around Babylon, all you archers! Shoot at her! Do not spare an arrow, for she has sinned against the LORD. | 14"Take up your positions around Babylon, all you who draw the bow. Shoot at her! Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD. |
| 15Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her defense towers have fallen; her walls are demolished. Since this is the LORD's vengeance, take out your vengeance on her; as she has done, do the same to her. | 15Shout against her on every side! She surrenders, her towers fall, her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done to others. |
| 16Cut off the sower from Babylon as well as him who wields the sickle at harvest time. Because of the oppressor's sword, each will turn to his own people, each will flee to his own land. | 16Cut off from Babylon the sower, and the reaper with his sickle at harvest. Because of the sword of the oppressor let everyone return to their own people, let everyone flee to their own land. |
| 17Israel is a stray lamb, chased by lions. The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria; the last one who crushed his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. | 17"Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria; the last to crush their bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon." |
| 18Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria. | 18Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria. |
| 19I will return Israel to his grazing land, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan; he will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and of Gilead. | 19But I will bring Israel back to their own pasture, and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan; their appetite will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead. |
| 20In those days and at that time-- this is the LORD's declaration-- one will search for Israel's guilt, but there will be none, and for Judah's sins, but they will not be found, for I will forgive those I leave as a remnant. | 20In those days, at that time," declares the LORD, "search will be made for Israel's guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare. |
| 21"Go against the land of Merathaim, and against those living in Pekod. Put them to the sword; completely destroy them-- this is the LORD's declaration-- do everything I have commanded you. | 21"Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy them," declares the LORD. "Do everything I have commanded you. |
| 22The sound of war is in the land-- a great destruction. | 22The noise of battle is in the land, the noise of great destruction! |
| 23How the hammer of the whole earth is cut down and smashed! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations! | 23How broken and shattered is the hammer of the whole earth! How desolate is Babylon among the nations! |
| 24Babylon, I laid a trap for you, and you were caught, but you did not even know it. You were found and captured because you fought against the LORD. | 24I set a trap for you, Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it; you were found and captured because you opposed the LORD. |
| 25The LORD opened His armory and brought out His weapons of wrath, because it is a task of the Lord GOD of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. | 25The LORD has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Sovereign LORD Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians. |
| 26Come against her from the most distant places. Open her granaries; pile her up like mounds of grain and completely destroy her. Leave her no survivors. | 26Come against her from afar. Break open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain. Completely destroy her and leave her no remnant. |
| 27Put all her young bulls to the sword; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, because their day has come, the time of their punishment. | 27Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter! Woe to them! For their day has come, the time for them to be punished. |
| 28"There is a voice of fugitives and those who escape from the land of Babylon announcing in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance for His temple. | 28Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the LORD our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for his temple. |
| 29Summon the archers to Babylon, all who string the bow; camp all around her; let none escape. Repay her according to her deeds; just as she has done, do the same to her, for she has acted arrogantly against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. | 29"Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. |
| 30Therefore, her young men will fall in her public squares; all the warriors will perish in that day. This is the LORD's declaration. | 30Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day," declares the LORD. |
| 31Look, I am against you, you arrogant one-- this is the declaration of the Lord GOD of Hosts-- because your day has come, the time when I will punish you. | 31"See, I am against you, you arrogant one," declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty, "for your day has come, the time for you to be punished. |
| 32The arrogant will stumble and fall with no one to pick him up. I will set fire to his cities, and it will consume everything around him." | 32The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her." |
| 33This is what the LORD of Hosts says: Israelites and Judeans alike have been oppressed. All their captors hold them fast; they refuse to release them. | 33This is what the LORD Almighty says: "The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. |
| 34Their Redeemer is strong; Yahweh of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He might bring rest to the earth but turmoil to those who live in Babylon. | 34Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon. |
| 35A sword is over the Chaldeans-- this is the LORD's declaration-- against those who live in Babylon, against her officials, and against her sages. | 35"A sword against the Babylonians!" declares the LORD-- "against those who live in Babylon and against her officials and wise men! |
| 36A sword is against the diviners, and they will act foolishly. A sword is against her heroic warriors, and they will be terrified. | 36A sword against her false prophets! They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror. |
| 37A sword is against his horses and chariots and against all the foreigners among them, and they will be like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered. | 37A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks! They will become weaklings. A sword against her treasures! They will be plundered. |
| 38A drought will come on her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of carved images, and they go mad because of terrifying things. | 38A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror. |
| 39Therefore, desert creatures will live with hyenas, and ostriches will also live in her. It will never again be inhabited or lived in through all generations. | 39"So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation. |
| 40Just as God demolished Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns-- this is the LORD's declaration-- so no one will live there; no human being will even stay in it as a temporary resident. | 40As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns," declares the LORD, "so no one will live there; no people will dwell in it. |
| 41Look! A people comes from the north. A great nation and many kings will be stirred up from the remote regions of the earth. | 41"Look! An army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth. |
| 42They grasp bow and javelin. They are cruel and show no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, lined up like men in battle formation against you, Daughter Babylon. | 42They are armed with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, Daughter Babylon. |
| 43The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his hands fall helpless. Distress has seized him-- pain, like a woman in labor. | 43The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor. |
| 44"Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. Indeed, I will chase Babylon away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like Me? Who will summon Me? Who is the shepherd who can stand against Me?" | 44Like a lion coming up from Jordan's thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?" |
| 45Therefore, hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies He has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: Certainly the flock's little lambs will be dragged away; certainly the grazing land will be made desolate because of them. | 45Therefore, hear what the LORD has planned against Babylon, what he has purposed against the land of the Babylonians: The young of the flock will be dragged away; their pasture will be appalled at their fate. |
| 46At the sound of Babylon's conquest the earth will quake; a cry will be heard among the nations. | 46At the sound of Babylon's capture the earth will tremble; its cry will resound among the nations. |
| Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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