| King James Bible | Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind; | 1This is what the LORD says: I am about to rouse the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and against the population of Leb-qamai. |
| 2And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. | 2I will send strangers to Babylon who will scatter her and strip her land bare, for they will come against her from every side in the day of disaster. |
| 3Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. | 3Don't let the archer string his bow; don't let him put on his armor. Don't spare her young men; completely destroy her entire army! |
| 4Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets. | 4Those who were slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans, those who were pierced through, in her streets. |
| 5For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. | 5For Israel and Judah are not left widowed by their God, the LORD of Armies, though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. |
| 6Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD'S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence. | 6Leave Babylon; save your lives, each of you! Don't perish because of her guilt. For this is the time of the LORD's vengeance--he will pay her what she deserves. |
| 7Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. | 7Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD's hand, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore, the nations go mad. |
| 8Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. | 8Suddenly Babylon fell and was shattered. Wail for her; get balm for her wound--perhaps she can be healed. |
| 9We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. | 9We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Abandon her! Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches as far as the clouds. |
| 10The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God. | 10The LORD has brought about our vindication; come, let's tell in Zion what the LORD our God has accomplished. |
| 11Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple. | 11Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has roused the spirit of the kings of the Medes because his plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the LORD's vengeance, vengeance for his temple. |
| 12Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. | 12Raise up a signal flag against the walls of Babylon; fortify the watch post; set the watchmen in place; prepare the ambush. For the LORD has both planned and accomplished what he has threatened against those who live in Babylon. |
| 13O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. | 13You who reside by abundant water, rich in treasures, your end has come, your life thread is cut. |
| 14The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee. | 14The LORD of Armies has sworn by himself: I will fill you up with men as with locusts, and they will sing the victory song over you. |
| 15He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding. | 15He made the earth by his power, established the world by his wisdom, and spread out the heavens by his understanding. |
| 16When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. | 16When he thunders, the waters in the heavens are tumultuous, and he causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings the wind from his storehouses. |
| 17Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. | 17Everyone is stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image, for his cast images are a lie; there is no breath in them. |
| 18They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. | 18They are worthless, a work to be mocked. At the time of their punishment they will be destroyed. |
| 19The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name. | 19Jacob's Portion is not like these because he is the one who formed all things. Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the LORD of Armies is his name. |
| 20Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; | 20You are my war club, my weapons of war. With you I will smash nations; with you I will bring kingdoms to ruin. |
| 21And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; | 21With you I will smash the horse and its rider; with you I will smash the chariot and its rider. |
| 22With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; | 22With you I will smash man and woman; with you I will smash the old man and the youth; with you I will smash the young man and the young woman. |
| 23I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. | 23With you I will smash the shepherd and his flock; with you I will smash the farmer and his ox-team. With you I will smash governors and officials. |
| 24And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD. | 24"Before your very eyes, I will repay Babylon and all the residents of Chaldea for all their evil they have done in Zion." This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 25Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. | 25Look, I am against you, devastating mountain. This is the LORD's declaration. You devastate the whole earth. I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you down from the cliffs, and turn you into a charred mountain. |
| 26And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD. | 26No one will be able to retrieve a cornerstone or a foundation stone from you, because you will become desolate forever. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 27Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers. | 27Raise a signal flag in the land; blow a ram's horn among the nations; set apart the nations against her. Summon kingdoms against her--Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a marshal against her; bring up horses like a swarm of locusts. |
| 28Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion. | 28Set apart the nations for battle against her--the kings of Media, her governors and all her officials, and all the lands they rule. |
| 29And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant. | 29The earth quakes and trembles because the LORD's intentions against Babylon stand: to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant. |
| 30The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken. | 30Babylon's warriors have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their might is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon's homes have been set ablaze, her gate bars are shattered. |
| 31One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, | 31Messenger races to meet messenger, and herald to meet herald, to announce to the king of Babylon that his city has been captured from end to end. |
| 32And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. | 32The fords have been seized, the marshes set on fire, and the fighting men are terrified. |
| 33For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come. | 33For this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her harvest time will come. |
| 34Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. | 34"King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty dish; he has swallowed me like a sea monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies; he has vomited me out. |
| 35The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. | 35Let the violence done to me and my family be done to Babylon," says the inhabitant of Zion. "Let my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea," says Jerusalem. |
| 36Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. | 36Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am about to champion your cause and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her fountain run dry. |
| 37And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. | 37Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a jackals' den, a desolation and an object of scorn, without inhabitant. |
| 38They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps. | 38They will roar together like young lions; they will growl like lion cubs. |
| 39In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD. | 39While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they celebrate. Then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats. | 40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams together with male goats. |
| 41How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! | 41How Sheshach has been captured, the praise of the whole earth seized. What a horror Babylon has become among the nations! |
| 42The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. | 42The sea has risen over Babylon; she is covered with its tumultuous waves. |
| 43Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. | 43Her cities have become a desolation, an arid desert, a land where no one lives, where no human being even passes through. |
| 44And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. | 44I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him vomit what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him; even Babylon's wall will fall. |
| 45My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. | 45Come out from among her, my people! Save your lives, each of you, from the LORD's burning anger. |
| 46And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. | 46May you not become cowardly and fearful when the report is proclaimed in the land, for the report will come one year, and then another the next year. There will be violence in the land with ruler against ruler. |
| 47Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. | 47Therefore, look, the days are coming when I will punish Babylon's carved images. Her entire land will suffer shame, and all her slain will lie fallen within her. |
| 48Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD. | 48Heaven and earth and everything in them will shout for joy over Babylon because the destroyers from the north will come against her. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 49As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. | 49Babylon must fall because of the slain of Israel, even as the slain of the whole earth fell because of Babylon. |
| 50Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. | 50You who have escaped the sword, go and do not stand still! Remember the LORD from far away, and let Jerusalem come to your mind. |
| 51We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD'S house. | 51We are ashamed because we have heard insults. Humiliation covers our faces because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD's temple. |
| 52Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan. | 52Therefore, look, the days are coming--this is the LORD's declaration--when I will punish her carved images, and the wounded will groan throughout her land. |
| 53Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD. | 53Even if Babylon should ascend to the heavens and fortify her tall fortresses, destroyers will come against her from me. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 54A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans: | 54The sound of a cry from Babylon! The sound of terrible destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! |
| 55Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered: | 55For the LORD is going to devastate Babylon; he will silence her mighty voice. Their waves roar like a huge torrent; the tumult of their voice resounds, |
| 56Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite. | 56for a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon. Her warriors will be captured, their bows shattered, for the LORD is a God of retribution; he will certainly repay. |
| 57And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. | 57I will make her princes and sages drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up. This is the King's declaration; the LORD of Armies is his name. |
| 58Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary. | 58This is what the LORD of Armies says: Babylon's thick walls will be totally demolished, and her high gates set ablaze. The peoples will have labored for nothing; the nations will weary themselves only to feed the fire. |
| 59The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. | 59This is what the prophet Jeremiah commanded Seraiah son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, the quartermaster, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign. |
| 60So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. | 60Jeremiah wrote on one scroll about all the disaster that would come to Babylon; all these words were written against Babylon. |
| 61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; | 61Jeremiah told Seraiah, "When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. |
| 62Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. | 62Say, 'LORD, you have threatened to cut off this place so that no one will live in it--people or animals. Indeed, it will remain desolate forever.' |
| 63And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: | 63When you have finished reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River. |
| 64And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. | 64Then say, 'In the same way, Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the disaster I am bringing on her. They will grow weary.'" The words of Jeremiah end here. |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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