HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1085
JER EM IAH 51
page 715
And why? Because the whole land is filled
with idols,
and the people are madly in love with
them.
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“Soon Babylon will be inhabited by desert
animals and hyenas.
It will be a home for owls.
Never again will people live there;
it will lie desolate forever.
I will destroy it as I* destroyed Sodom
and Gomorrah
and their neighboring towns,” says
the Lord.
“No one will live there;
no one will inhabit it.
“Look! A great army is coming from
the north.
A great nation and many kings
are rising against you from far-off lands.
They are armed with bows and spears.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
As they ride forward on horses,
they sound like a roaring sea.
They are coming in battle formation,
planning to destroy you, Babylon.
The king of Babylon has heard reports
about the enemy,
and he is weak with fright.
Pangs of anguish have gripped him,
like those of a woman in labor.
“I will come like a lion from the thickets
of the Jordan,
leaping on the sheep in the pasture.
I will chase Babylon from its land,
and I will appoint the leader of my
choice.
For who is like me, and who can
challenge me?
What ruler can oppose my will?”
Listen to the Lord’s plans against Babylon
and the land of the Babylonians.
Even the little children will be dragged
off like sheep,
and their homes will be destroyed.
The earth will shake with the shout,
“Babylon has been taken!”
and its cry of despair will be heard
around the world.
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This is what the Lord says:
“I will stir up a destroyer against
Babylon
and the people of Babylonia.*
Foreigners will come and winnow her,
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50:40 Hebrew as God. 51:1 Hebrew of Leb-kamai, a code
name for Babylonia. 51:3 The Hebrew term used here refers
to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord,
either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
51:4 Or Chaldeans; also in 51:54. 51:10 Hebrew Zion; also
in 51:24. 51:11 Greek version reads Fill up the quivers.
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blowing her away as chaff.
They will come from every side
to rise against her in her day of trouble.
Don’t let the archers put on their armor
or draw their bows.
Don’t spare even her best soldiers!
Let her army be completely destroyed.*
They will fall dead in the land of the
Babylonians,*
slashed to death in her streets.
For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
has not abandoned Israel and Judah.
He is still their God,
even though their land was filled with sin
against the Holy One of Israel.”
Flee from Babylon! Save yourselves!
Don’t get trapped in her punishment!
It is the Lord’s time for vengeance;
he will repay her in full.
Babylon has been a gold cup in the Lord’s
hands,
a cup that made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank Babylon’s wine,
and it drove them all mad.
But suddenly Babylon, too, has fallen.
Weep for her.
Give her medicine.
Perhaps she can yet be healed.
We would have helped her if we could,
but nothing can save her now.
Let her go; abandon her.
Return now to your own land.
For her punishment reaches to the heavens;
it is so great it cannot be measured.
The Lord has vindicated us.
Come, let us announce in Jerusalem*
everything the Lord our God has done.
Sharpen the arrows!
Lift up the shields!*
For the Lord has inspired the kings
of the Medes
to march against Babylon and
destroy her.
This is his vengeance against those
who desecrated his Temple.
Raise the battle flag against Babylon!
Reinforce the guard and station the
watchmen.
Prepare an ambush,
for the Lord will fulfill all his plans
against Babylon.
You are a city by a great river,
a great center of commerce,
but your end has come.
The thread of your life is cut.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has taken
this vow
and has sworn to it by his own name:
“Your cities will be filled with enemies,