Yirmeyahu 50 ירמיהו נ׳

The word that the Lord spoke against Bavel and against the land of the Kasdim by Yirmeyahu the prophet.

Declare among the nations, and publish, and set up a banner; proclaim, and conceal not: say, Bavel is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodakh is broken in pieces; her idols are put to shame, her images are shattered.

For out of the north comes up a nation against her, who shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell in it: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.

In those days, and in that time, says the Lord, the children of Yisra᾽el shall come, they and the children of Yehuda together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God.

They shall ask the way to Żiyyon with their faces towards it, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

My people has been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.

All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries have said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.

Flee out of the midst of Bavel, and depart from the land of the Kasdim, and be as the he goats before the flocks.

For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Bavel an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be like those of a death dealing warrior; none shall return in vain.

And the land of the Kasdim shall be a spoil: all that plunder her shall be satisfied, says the Lord.

Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O robbers of my heritage, because you are grown fat like the heifer at grass, and you neigh like stallions;

your mother shall be greatly ashamed; she that bore you shall be disgraced: behold, shall be the last of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: everyone that goes by Bavel shall be horrified, and shall hiss because of all her plagues.

Array yourselves against Bavel round about: all you that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against the Lord.

Shout against her round about: she has submitted herself: her butresses are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance upon her; as she has done, do to her!

Cut off the sower from Bavel, and him that handles the sickle in the time of harvest! For fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn everyone to his people, and they shall flee everyone to his own land.

Yisra᾽el is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Ashshur devoured him; and last this Nevukhadreżżar has broken his bones.

Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Yisra᾽el; Behold, I will punish the king of Bavel and his land, as I have punished the king of Ashshur.

And I will bring Yisra᾽el back again to his habitation, and he shall feed on the Karmel and the Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Efrayim and the Gil῾ad.

In those days, and in that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Yisra᾽el shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Yehuda, but they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I will leave as a remnant.

Go up against the land of Meratayim, against it, and against the inhabitants of Peqod: lay waste and utterly destroy after them, says the Lord, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.

How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Bavel become a desolation among the nations!

I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Bavel, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord.

The Lord has opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do in the land of Kasdim.

Come against her from the utmost border, open her stables: cast her up like heaps of grain, and destroy her utterly! let nothing of her be left!

Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! for their day is come, the time of their punishment.

The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Bavel, to declare in Żiyyon the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance for his temple.

Call together the archers against Bavel: all you that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her deeds; according to all that she has done, do to her: for she has been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Yisra᾽el.

Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, says the Lord.

Behold, I am against thee, O thou arrogant one, says the Lord God of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will punish thee.

And the arrogant one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities and it shall devour all round about him.

Thus says the Lord of hosts; The children of Yisra᾽el and the children of Yehuda were oppressed together: and all that took them captive held them fast; they refused to let them go.

Their redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name: he will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, but unrest to the inhabitants of Bavel.

A sword upon the Kasdim, says the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Bavel, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men!

A sword upon the liars; and they shall become fools: a sword upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed!

A sword upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become the women: a sword upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed!

A drought upon her waters; and they shall be dried up for it is a land of carved idols, and they are mad over things of horror.

Therefore the wild beasts of the desert shall dwell there, with jackals and desert owls: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.

As God overthrew Sedom and ῾Amora and its neighbour cities, says the Lord; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell in it.

Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the farthest parts of the earth.

They shall hold the bow and javelin: they are cruel, and will not show mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, everyone lined up, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Bavel.

The king of Bavel has heard the report of them, and his hands have grown feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.

Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the wild country of the Yarden against a strong sheepfold: for in a moment I will make them run over her: and whoever is chosen I will appoint him over her; for who is like me? and who will set me a time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he has taken against Bavel; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of Kasdim: Surely the least of the flock shall drag them away: surely the fold shall be appalled at them!

At the noise of the taking of Bavel the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.