¹The LORD proclaims:

I’m stirring up a violent wind against Babylon

and those who live in Leb-qamai.

²I will send mercenaries to Babylon[#51.2 Or foreigners]

who will sift her and clear out her land.

They will surround her

on the day of disaster.

³Let the archers draw their bows;

let them prepare their armor.

Show no mercy to her young men;

wipe out her entire company!

⁴They will fall wounded in the land of Babylon,

struck down in her streets.

⁵God, the LORD of heavenly forces,

hasn’t abandoned Israel and Judah,

⁶Escape from Babylon;

each of you run for your lives!

Don’t perish because of her guilt,

because this is the time

for the LORD ’s retribution,

⁷Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD ’s hand;

it made the whole earth drunk.

The nations drank her wine

and went mad.

⁸But suddenly Babylon fell

and shattered into pieces.

Wail for her!

Bring medicine for her pain;

⁹We tried to cure Babylon,

but she was beyond help.

Let’s depart from her

and return to your own country, each of you.

Her punishment reaches to heaven

and extends to the clouds.

¹⁰The LORD has come to our defense,

so let’s declare in Zion

¹¹Sharpen your arrows;

prepare your shields.

The LORD is stirring up

the spirit of kings from Media.

He intends to destroy Babylon;

this is the LORD ’s retribution,

¹²Set up a flag on the walls of Babylon,

fortify the guards,

post watchmen,

prepare an ambush,

He will accomplish it,

just as he said he would.

¹³You live beside a great river,

and you are rich in treasures.

But your time has come;

your cruelty has caught up with you.

¹⁴The LORD of heavenly forces has sworn by his own name:

I’m going to fill your cities

they will celebrate their victory over you.

¹⁵God made the earth by his might,

shaped the world by his wisdom,

¹⁶At the sound of God’s voice,

the heavenly waters roar.

He makes lightning for the rain

and sends the wind from his treasuries.

¹⁷Everyone is too foolish to understand;

every smith is shamed by his idols,

¹⁸They are a delusion, a charade;

at the appointed time they will be ruined!

¹⁹But the portion of Jacob is utterly different,

for he has formed all things,

including his very own tribe;

²⁰You are my hammer,

my weapon of war.

With you I will crush the nations.

With you I will destroy kingdoms.

²¹With you I will crush horse and rider.

With you I will crush chariot and driver.

²²With you I will crush men and women.

With you I will crush old and young.

With you I will crush young men and young women.

²³With you I will crush shepherds and flocks.

With you I will crush farmers and oxen.

With you I will crush governors and officials.

²⁴I will repay Babylon and all its inhabitants

for the terrible things

they have done to Zion in your sight,

²⁵I’m against you, you mountain of destruction,

you destroyer of the whole earth!

I will reach out against you;

I will topple you from your heights;

I will turn you into a rubbish heap.

²⁶They will never remove a cornerstone

or a foundation stone from you.

You will be a wasteland forever,

declares the LORD .

²⁷Set up a flag in the land;

sound the alarm among the nations!

Prepare them for war against her;

summon kingdoms against her—

Appoint a commander against her;

call up the troops,

²⁸Prepare the nations for war against her,

the kings of Media,

its governors, all its officials,

and all the countries they rule.

²⁹The earth quakes and trembles

because the LORD ’s plans against Babylon are fulfilled:

³⁰Babylon’s warriors quit fighting;

they hide in their fortifications.

Their strength is worn out;

their courage is gone!

Babylon’s houses are burned down,

and its gates are smashed.

³¹Courier joins courier,

messenger joins messenger

³²The river crossings are blocked;

the marshes are on fire;

the soldiers are terrified.

³³The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims:

Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor

ready to be trampled down.

³⁴Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar has eaten us alive;

he’s drained us of strength;

He’s gobbled us up like a great sea monster;

he’s filled his belly with our treasures;

³⁵May Babylon be violated as our bodies were,

say the inhabitants of Zion.

May our blood be on the Babylonians,

say those from Jerusalem.

³⁶Therefore, the LORD proclaims:

³⁷Babylon will become a heap of ruins,

a den of wild dogs, a wasteland

³⁸Like lions they will roar together;

they will growl like lions’ cubs.

³⁹They are ready to devour,

so I’ll prepare the feast

But after their noisy drunkenness,

they will fall fast asleep.

They will sleep forever,

⁴⁰I’ll lead them off

like lambs for slaughter,

like rams and goats.

⁴¹How Sheshach has been defeated,[#51.41 is a name for Babylon.]

the pride of the whole earth taken captive!

How Babylon has become a wasteland

among the nations!

⁴²The sea has risen over Babylon;

its pounding waves overwhelm her.

⁴³Her towns are devastated;

her land is scorched and barren,

⁴⁴I will punish Bel in Babylon;

I will force him to vomit what he’s consumed.

Then nations will no longer stream to him,

and Babylon’s walls will collapse!

⁴⁵Get out of Babylon, my people!

Run for your lives

⁴⁶Don’t be distracted or frightened

by the rumors you hear in the land.

rumors of violence and uprisings.

⁴⁷The time is coming

when I will deal with Babylon’s idols;

the whole land will be disgraced,

⁴⁸Then all creation will rejoice over Babylon,

because out of the north

destroying armies will come to attack her,

⁴⁹Babylon must fall

for the dead in Israel,

⁵⁰You survivors of war,

leave now; don’t delay!

Remember the LORD ,

from a faraway land.

Keep Jerusalem alive in your hearts.

⁵¹We’re humiliated by their taunts;

we’re disgraced that strangers have violated the sacred places

⁵²The time is coming,

declares the LORD ,

⁵³Even if Babylon scales the heavens

and strengthens its towering defenses,

⁵⁴Listen to the cries for help from Babylon,

signs of massive devastation in the land,

⁵⁵The LORD is destroying Babylon

and silencing her outcry,

⁵⁶He certainly comes against her;

the destroyer comes against Babylon.

Her warriors are captured;

their bows are broken.

The LORD is an exacting God

who repays in full.

⁵⁷I’ll make her leaders and sages drunk,

her governors, officials, and warriors as well.

They will sleep forever, never to get up,

declares the king,

⁵⁸The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims:

Babylon’s massive walls will come down,

People labor in vain;

nations toil for nothing but ashes!

⁵⁹This is what the prophet Jeremiah instructed the staff officer Seraiah, Neriah’s son and Mahseiah’s grandson, when Seraiah went to Babylon with Judah’s King Zedekiah in the fourth year of his rule.[#51.59 Or officer of rest , often translated as quartermaster]

⁶⁰Jeremiah wrote down in a single scroll all the disasters that would happen to Babylon—all these things concerning Babylon.

⁶¹Jeremiah said to Seraiah: When you get to Babylon, see to it that you read all these words.

⁶²Then say, “LORD , you declared that this place will be destroyed and nothing will remain in it—neither human nor animal; that it will forever be a wasteland!”

⁶³When you finish reading the scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates River.

⁶⁴Then say, “In the same way, Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the disaster I’m bringing against it.”

Jeremiah’s words end here.