HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1086
J EREMIA H 5 1
like fields swarming with locusts,
and they will shout in triumph over you.”
A Hymn of Praise to the LORD
15 The Lord made the earth by his power,
and he preserves it by his wisdom.
With his own understanding
he stretched out the heavens.
16 When he speaks in the thunder,
the heavens roar with rain.
He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain
and releases the wind from his
storehouses.
17
18
19
The whole human race is foolish and has
no knowledge!
The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols
they make,
for their carefully shaped works are a fraud.
These idols have no breath or power.
Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies!
On the day of reckoning they will all be
destroyed.
But the God of Israel* is no idol!
He is the Creator of everything that exists,
including his people, his own special
possession.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name!
Babylon’s Great Punishment
20 “You* are my battle-ax and sword,”
says the Lord.
“With you I will shatter nations
and destroy many kingdoms.
21 With you I will shatter armies—
destroying the horse and rider,
the chariot and charioteer.
22 With you I will shatter men and women,
old people and children,
young men and young women.
23 With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks,
farmers and oxen,
captains and officers.
24
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26
“I will repay Babylon
and the people of Babylonia*
for all the wrong they have done
to my people in Jerusalem,” says the Lord.
“Look, O mighty mountain, destroyer of
the earth!
I am your enemy,” says the Lord.
“I will raise my fist against you,
to knock you down from the heights.
When I am finished,
you will be nothing but a heap of burnt
rubble.
You will be desolate forever.
Even your stones will never again be
used for building.
You will be completely wiped out,”
says the Lord.
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Raise a signal flag to the nations.
Sound the battle cry!
Mobilize them all against Babylon.
Prepare them to fight against her!
Bring out the armies of Ararat, Minni,
and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a commander,
and bring a multitude of horses like
swarming locusts!
Bring against her the armies of the
nations—
led by the kings of the Medes
and all their captains and officers.
The earth trembles and writhes in pain,
for everything the Lord has planned
against Babylon stands unchanged.
Babylon will be left desolate without a
single inhabitant.
Her mightiest warriors no longer fight.
They stay in their barracks, their courage
gone.
They have become like women.
The invaders have burned the houses
and broken down the city gates.
The news is passed from one runner to
the next
as the messengers hurry to tell the king
that his city has been captured.
All the escape routes are blocked.
The marshes have been set aflame,
and the army is in a panic.
33
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
the God of Israel, says:
“Babylon is like wheat on a threshing floor,
about to be trampled.
In just a little while
her harvest will begin.”
34
“King Nebuchadnezzar* of Babylon has
eaten and crushed us
and drained us of strength.
He has swallowed us like a great monster
and filled his belly with our riches.
He has thrown us out of our own country.
Make Babylon suffer as she made us suffer,”
say the people of Zion.
“Make the people of Babylonia pay for
spilling our blood,”
says Jerusalem.
35
The LORD’s Vengeance on Babylon
36 This is what the Lord says to Jerusalem:
“I will be your lawyer to plead your case,
and I will avenge you.
I will dry up her river,
as well as her springs,
51:19 Hebrew the Portion of Jacob. See note on 5:20.
51:20 Possibly Cyrus, whom God used to conquer Babylon.
Compare Isa 44:28; 45:1. 51:24 Or Chaldea; also in 51:35.
51:34 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of
Nebuchadnezzar.