¹The Lord says,

“I will cause a destructive wind to blow

against Babylon and the people who inhabit Babylonia.

²I will send people to winnow Babylonia like a wind blowing away chaff.[#tn Or “I will send foreign people against Babylonia.” The translation follows the reading of the Greek recensions of Aquila and Symmachus and the Latin version (the Vulgate). That reading is accepted by the majority of modern commentaries and several of the modern versions (e.g., NRSV, REB, NAB, and God’s Word). It fits better with the verb that follows it than the reading of the Hebrew text and the rest of the versions. The difference in the two readings is again only the difference in vocalization, the Hebrew text reading זָרִים (zarim) and the versions cited reading זֹרִים (zorim). If the Hebrew text is followed, there is a wordplay between the two words, “foreigners” and “winnow.” The words “like a wind blowing away chaff” have been supplied in the translation to clarify for the reader what “winnow” means.sn Winnowing involved throwing a mixture of grain and chaff (or straw) into the air and letting the wind blow away the lighter chaff, leaving the grain to fall on the ground. Since God considered all the Babylonians chaff, they would all be “blown away.”]

They will winnow her and strip her land bare.

This will happen when they come against her from every direction,

when it is time to destroy her.

³Do not give her archers time to string their bows

or to put on their coats of armor.

Do not spare any of her young men.

Completely destroy her whole army.

⁴Let them fall slain in the land of Babylonia,[#tn The majority of English versions and the commentaries understand the vav (ו) consecutive + perfect as a future here “They will fall.” However, it makes better sense in the light of the commands in the previous verse to understand this as an indirect third person command (= a jussive; see GKC 333 §112.q, r) as REB and NJPS do.; #tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.]

mortally wounded in the streets of her cities.

⁵“For Israel and Judah will not be forsaken[#tn Heb “widowed” (cf. BDB 48 s.v. אַלְמָן, an adjective occurring only here but related to the common word for “widow”). It is commonly translated as has been done here.sn The verses from v. 5 to v. 19 all speak of the Lord in the third person. The prophet who is the spokesman for the Lord (50:1) thus is speaking. However, the message is still from God because this was all what he spoke “through the prophet Jeremiah.”]

by their God, the Lord who rules over all.

For the land of Babylonia is full of guilt

against the Holy One of Israel.

⁶Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people.[#tn The words “you foreign people” are not in the text and many think the referent is the exiles of Judah. While this is clearly the case in v. 45 the referent seems broader here where the context speaks of every man going to his own country (v. 9).]

Flee to save your lives.

Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins.

For it is time for the Lord to wreak his revenge.

He will pay Babylonia back for what she has done.

⁷Babylonia had been a gold cup in the Lord ’s hand.

She had made the whole world drunk.

The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath.

So they have all gone mad.

⁸But suddenly Babylonia will fall and be destroyed.[#tn The verbs in this verse and the following are all in the Hebrew perfect tense, a tense that often refers to a past action or a past action with present results. However, as the translator’s notes have indicated, the prophets use this tense to view the actions as if they were as good as done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). The stance here is ideal, viewed as already accomplished.]

Cry out in mourning over it!

Get medicine for her wounds!

Perhaps she can be healed!

⁹Foreigners living there will say,[#tn The words “Foreigners living there will say” are not in the text but are implicit from the third line. These words are generally assumed by the commentaries and are explicitly added in TEV and NCV which are attempting to clarify the text for the average reader.]

‘We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed.

Let’s leave Babylonia and each go back to his own country.

For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions.

It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.’

¹⁰The exiles from Judah will say,[#tn The words “The exiles from Judah will say” are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation to clearly identify for the reader the referent of “us.”]

‘The Lord has brought about a great deliverance for us!

Come on, let’s go and proclaim in Zion

what the Lord our God has done!’

¹¹“Sharpen your arrows![#sn The imperatives here and in v. 12 are directed to the soldiers in the armies of the kings from the north (here identified as the kings of Media [see also 50:3, 9; 51:27-28]). They have often been addressed in this prophecy as though they were a present force (see 50:14-16; 50:21 [and the study note there]; 50:26, 29; 51:3) though the passage as a whole is prophetic of the future. This gives some idea of the ideal stance that the prophets adopted when they spoke of the future as though already past (the use of the Hebrew prophetic perfect which has been referred to often in the translator’s notes).]

Fill your quivers!

The Lord will arouse a spirit of hostility in the kings of Media.

For he intends to destroy Babylonia.

For that is how the Lord will get his revenge –

how he will get his revenge for the Babylonians’ destruction of his temple.

¹²Give the signal to attack Babylon’s wall![#tn Heb “Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon.”]

Bring more guards!

Post them all around the city!

Put men in ambush!

For the Lord will do what he has planned.

He will do what he said he would do to the people of Babylon.

¹³“You who live along the rivers of Babylon,[#sn Babylon was situated on the Euphrates River and was surrounded by canals (also called “rivers”).]

the time of your end has come.

You who are rich in plundered treasure,

it is time for your lives to be cut off.

¹⁴The Lord who rules over all has solemnly sworn,[#tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For an explanation of this rendering see the study note on 2:19.; #tn Heb “has sworn by himself.” See the study note on 22:5 for background.]

‘I will fill your land with enemy soldiers.

They will swarm over it like locusts.

They will raise up shouts of victory over it.’

¹⁵He is the one who by his power made the earth.[#tn The participle here is intended to be connected with “Lord who rules over all” in the preceding verse. The passage is functioning to underline the Lord’s power to carry out what he has sworn in contrast to the impotence of their idols who will be put to shame and be dismayed (50:2).]

He is the one who by his wisdom fixed the world in place,

by his understanding he spread out the heavens.

¹⁶When his voice thunders, the waters in the heavens roar.

He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons.

He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain.

He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it.

¹⁷All idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant.

Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.

For the image he forges is merely a sham.

There is no breath in any of those idols.

¹⁸They are worthless, objects to be ridiculed.

When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

¹⁹The Lord , who is the portion of the descendants of Jacob, is not like them.

For he is the one who created everything,

including the people of Israel whom he claims as his own.

He is known as the Lord who rules over all.

²⁰“Babylon, you are my war club,[#tn Or “Media.” The referent is not identified in the text; the text merely says “you are my war club.” Commentators in general identify the referent as Babylon because Babylon has been referred to as a hammer in 50:23 and Babylon is referred to in v. 25 as a “destroying mountain” (compare v. 20d). However, S. R. Driver, Jeremiah, 317, n. c maintains that v. 24 speaks against this. It does seem a little inconsistent to render the vav consecutive perfect at the beginning of v. 24 as future while rendering those in vv. 20b-23 as customary past. However, change in person from second masculine singular (vv. 20b-23) to the second masculine plural in “before your very eyes” and its position at the end of the verse after “which they did in Zion” argue that a change in address occurs there. Driver has to ignore the change in person and take “before your eyes” with the verb “repay” at the beginning to maintain the kind of consistency he seeks. The vav (ו) consecutive imperfect can be used for either the customary past (GKC 335-36 §112.dd with cross reference back to GKC 331-32 §112.e) or the future (GKC 334 §112.x). Hence the present translation has followed the majority of commentaries (and English versions like TEV, NCV, CEV, NIrV) in understanding the referent as Babylon and v. 24 being a transition to vv. 25-26 (cf., e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 356-57, and J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 756-57). If the referent is understood as Media then the verbs in vv. 20-23 should all be translated as futures. See also the translator’s note on v. 24.; #tn This Hebrew word (מַפֵּץ, mappets) only occurs here in the Hebrew Bible, but its meaning is assured from the use of the verbs that follow which are from the same root (נָפַץ, nafats) and there is a cognate noun מַפָּץ (mappats) that occurs in Ezek 9:2 in the sense of weapon of “smashing.”]

my weapon for battle.

I used you to smash nations.

I used you to destroy kingdoms.

²¹I used you to smash horses and their riders.[#tn Heb “horse and its rider.” However, the terms are meant as generic or collective singulars (cf. GKC 395 §123.b) and are thus translated by the plural. The same thing is true of all the terms in vv. 21-23b. The terms in vv. 20c-d, 23c are plural.]

I used you to smash chariots and their drivers.

²²I used you to smash men and women.

I used you to smash old men and young men.

I used you to smash young men and young women.

²³I used you to smash shepherds and their flocks.

I used you to smash farmers and their teams of oxen.

I used you to smash governors and leaders.”

²⁴“But I will repay Babylon

and all who live in Babylonia

for all the wicked things they did in Zion

right before the eyes of you Judeans,”

says the Lord .

²⁵The Lord says, “Beware! I am opposed to you, Babylon![#tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”; #tn The word “Babylon” is not in the text but is universally understood as the referent. It is supplied in the translation here to clarify the referent for the sake of the average reader.]

You are like a destructive mountain that destroys all the earth.

I will unleash my power against you;

I will roll you off the cliffs and make you like a burned-out mountain.

²⁶No one will use any of your stones as a cornerstone.

No one will use any of them in the foundation of his house.

For you will lie desolate forever,”

says the Lord .

²⁷“Raise up battle flags throughout the lands.

Sound the trumpets calling the nations to do battle.

Prepare the nations to do battle against Babylonia.

Call for these kingdoms to attack her:

Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.

Appoint a commander to lead the attack.

Send horses against her like a swarm of locusts.

²⁸Prepare the nations to do battle against her.[#tn See the first translator’s note on 51:27 and compare also 6:4 and the study note there.]

Prepare the kings of the Medes.

Prepare their governors and all their leaders.

Prepare all the countries they rule to do battle against her.

²⁹The earth will tremble and writhe in agony.[#sn The figure here is common in the poetic tradition of the Lord going forth to do battle against his foes and the earth’s reaction to it is compared to a person trembling with fear and writhing in agony, agony like that of a woman in labor (cf. Judg 5:4; Nah 1:2-5; Hab 3:1-15 [especially v. 6]).]

For the Lord will carry out his plan.

He plans to make the land of Babylonia

a wasteland where no one lives.

³⁰The soldiers of Babylonia will stop fighting.

They will remain in their fortified cities.

They will lose their strength to do battle.

They will be as frightened as women.

The houses in her cities will be set on fire.

The gates of her cities will be broken down.

³¹One runner after another will come to the king of Babylon.

One messenger after another will come bringing news.

They will bring news to the king of Babylon

that his whole city has been captured.

³²They will report that the fords have been captured,

the reed marshes have been burned,

the soldiers are terrified.

³³For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says,

‘Fair Babylon will be like a threshing floor

which has been trampled flat for harvest.

The time for her to be cut down and harvested

will come very soon.’

³⁴“King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon

devoured me and drove my people out.

Like a monster from the deep he swallowed me.

He filled his belly with my riches.

He made me an empty dish.

He completely cleaned me out.”

³⁵The person who lives in Zion says,

“May Babylon pay for the violence done to me and to my relatives.”

Jerusalem says,

“May those living in Babylonia pay for the bloodshed of my people.”

³⁶Therefore the Lord says,

“I will stand up for your cause.

I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done to you.

I will dry up their sea.

I will make their springs run dry.

³⁷Babylon will become a heap of ruins.

Jackals will make their home there.

It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn,

a place where no one lives.

³⁸The Babylonians are all like lions roaring for prey.

They are like lion cubs growling for something to eat.

³⁹When their appetites are all stirred up,[#tn Heb “When they are hot.”]

I will set out a banquet for them.

I will make them drunk

so that they will pass out,

they will fall asleep forever,

they will never wake up,”

says the Lord .

⁴⁰“I will lead them off to be slaughtered

like lambs, rams, and male goats.”

⁴¹“See how Babylon has been captured![#sn Heb “Sheshach.” For an explanation of the usage of this name for Babylon see the study note on Jer 25:26 and that on 51:1 for a similar phenomenon. Babylon is here called “the pride of the whole earth” because it was renowned for its size, its fortifications, and its beautiful buildings.]

See how the pride of the whole earth has been taken!

See what an object of horror

Babylon has become among the nations!

⁴²The sea has swept over Babylon.

She has been covered by a multitude of its waves.

⁴³The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins.

She has become a dry and barren desert.

No one lives in those towns any more.

No one even passes through them.

⁴⁴I will punish the god Bel in Babylon.

I will make him spit out what he has swallowed.

The nations will not come streaming to him any longer.

Indeed, the walls of Babylon will fall.”

⁴⁵“Get out of Babylon, my people!

Flee to save your lives

from the fierce anger of the Lord !

⁴⁶Do not lose your courage or become afraid

because of the reports that are heard in the land.

For a report will come in one year.

Another report will follow it in the next.

There will be violence in the land

with ruler fighting against ruler.”

⁴⁷“So the time will certainly come[#tn Heb “That being so, look, days are approaching.” לָכֵן (lakhen) often introduces the effect of an action. That may be the case here, the turmoil outlined in v. 46 serving as the catalyst for the culminating divine judgment described in v. 47. Another possibility is that לָכֵן here has an asseverative force (“certainly”), as in Isa 26:14 and perhaps Jer 5:2 (see the note there). In this case the word almost has the force of “for, since,” because it presents a cause for an accompanying effect. See Judg 8:7 and the discussion of Isa 26:14 in BDB 486-87 s.v. כֵּן 3.d.]

when I will punish the idols of Babylon.

Her whole land will be put to shame.

All her mortally wounded will collapse in her midst.

⁴⁸Then heaven and earth and all that is in them

will sing for joy over Babylon.

For destroyers from the north will attack it,”

says the Lord .

⁴⁹“Babylon must fall[#tn The infinitive construct is used here to indicate what is about to take place. See IBHS 610 §36.2.3g.]

because of the Israelites she has killed,

just as the earth’s mortally wounded fell

because of Babylon.

⁵⁰You who have escaped the sword,[#sn God’s exiled people are told to leave doomed Babylon (see v. 45).]

go, do not delay.

Remember the Lord in a faraway land.

Think about Jerusalem.

⁵¹‘We are ashamed because we have been insulted.[#sn The exiles lament the way they have been humiliated.; #tn Heb “we have heard an insult.”]

Our faces show our disgrace.

For foreigners have invaded

the holy rooms in the Lord ’s temple.’

⁵²Yes, but the time will certainly come,” says the Lord ,[#tn Heb “that being so, look, days are approaching.” Here לָכֵן (lakhen) introduces the Lord’s response to the people’s lament (v. 51). It has the force of “yes, but” or “that may be true.” See Judg 11:8 and BDB 486-87 s.v. כֵּן 3.d.; #tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”]

“when I will punish her idols.

Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan.

⁵³Even if Babylon climbs high into the sky[#tn Or “ascends [into] heaven.” Note the use of the phrase in Deut 30:12; 2 Kgs 2:11; and Amos 9:2.]

and fortifies her elevated stronghold,

I will send destroyers against her,”

says the Lord .

⁵⁴Cries of anguish will come from Babylon,

the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.

⁵⁵For the Lord is ready to destroy Babylon,

and put an end to her loud noise.

Their waves will roar like turbulent waters.

They will make a deafening noise.

⁵⁶For a destroyer is attacking Babylon.[#tn Heb “for a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon.”]

Her warriors will be captured;

their bows will be broken.

For the Lord is a God who punishes;

he pays back in full.

⁵⁷“I will make her officials and wise men drunk,

along with her governors, leaders, and warriors.

They will fall asleep forever and never wake up,”

says the King whose name is the Lord who rules over all.

⁵⁸This is what the Lord who rules over all says,[#sn See the note at Jer 2:19.]

“Babylon’s thick wall will be completely demolished.

Her high gates will be set on fire.

The peoples strive for what does not satisfy.

The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed.”

⁵⁹This is the order Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went to King Zedekiah of Judah in Babylon during the fourth year of his reign. (Seraiah was a quartermaster.)[#sn This would be 582 b.c.; #tn Heb “an officer of rest.”]

⁶⁰Jeremiah recorded on one scroll all the judgments that would come upon Babylon – all these prophecies written about Babylon.[#tn Or “wrote.”; #tn Or “disaster”; or “calamity.”; #tn Heb “words” (or “things”).]

⁶¹Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, make sure you read aloud all these prophecies.[#tn Heb “see [that].”; #tn Heb “words” (or “things”).]

⁶²Then say, ‘O Lord , you have announced that you will destroy this place so that no people or animals live in it any longer. Certainly it will lie desolate forever!’

⁶³When you finish reading this scroll aloud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River.[#tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied for clarity.]

⁶⁴Then say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the judgments I am ready to bring upon her; they will grow faint.’”[#tn Or “disaster”; or “calamity.”]

The prophecies of Jeremiah end here.