CLV(i)
1 Thus said Yahweh:Lo, I am stirring up against Babylon, And the inhabitants of Leb--My withstanders, A destroying wind,
2 And I have sent to Babylon fanners, And they have fanned it, and they empty its land, For they have been against it, Round about--in the day of evil."
3 Let not the treader tread his bow, Nor lift himself up in his coat of mail, Nor have you pity on her young men, Devote you to destruction all her host."
4 And fallen have the wounded in the land of the Chaldeans, And the pierced-through in her streets."
5 For, not forsaken is Israel and Judah, By its Elohim--by Yahweh of Hosts, For their land has been full of guilt, Against the Holy One of Israel."
6 Flee you from the midst of Babylon, And deliver you each his soul, Be not cut off in its iniquity, For a time of vengeance it [is] to Yahweh, Recompence He is rendering to her."
7 A golden cup [is] Babylon in the hand of Yahweh, Making drunk all the earth, Of its wine drunk have nations, Therefore boast themselves do nations."
8 Suddenly has Babylon fallen, Yea, it is broken, howl you for it, Take balm for her pain, if so be it may be healed."
9 We healed Babylon, and she was not healed, Forsake her, and we go, each to his land, For come unto the heavens has its judgment, And it has been lifted up unto the clouds."
10 Yahweh has brought forth our righteousnesses, Come, and we recount in Zion the work of Yahweh our Elohim."
11 Cleanse you the arrows, fill the shields, Stirred up has Yahweh the spirit of the kings of Madia, For against Babylon His device [is] to destroy it, For the vengeance of Yahweh it [is], The vengeance of His temple."
12 Unto the walls of Babylon lift up an ensign, Strengthen the watch, Establish the watchers, prepare the ambush, For Yahweh has both devised and done that which He spoke, Concerning the inhabitants of Babylon."
13 O dweller on many waters, abundant in treasures, Come in has your end, the measure of your dishonest gain."
14 Sworn has Yahweh of Hosts by Himself, That, Surely I have filled you [with] men as the cankerworm, And they have cried against you--shouting."
15 The maker of earth by His power, The establisher of the world by His wisdom, Who by His understanding stretched out the heavens,
16 At the voice He gives forth, A multitude of waters [are] in the heavens, And He causes vapours to come up from the end of the earth, Lightnings for rain He has made, And He brings out wind from His treasures."
17 Brutish has been every man by knowledge, Put to shame has been every refiner by a graven image, For false [is] his molten image, And there is no breath in them."
18 Vanity [are] they--work of errors, In the time of their inspection they perish."
19 Not like these [is] the portion of Jacob, For He [is] former of all things, And [Israel is] the rod of His inheritance, Yahweh of Hosts [is] His name."
20 An axe [are] you to me--weapons of war, And I have broken in pieces by you nations, And I have destroyed by you kingdoms,
21 And I have broken in pieces by you horse and its rider, And I have broken in pieces by you chariot and its charioteer,
22 And I have broken in pieces by you man and woman, And I have broken in pieces by you old and young, And I have broken in pieces by you young man and virgin,
23 And I have broken in pieces by you shepherd and his drove, And I have broken in pieces by you husbandman and his team, And I have broken in pieces by you governors and prefects."
24 And I have recompensed to Babylon, And to all inhabitants of Chaldea, All the evil that they have done in Zion, Before your eyes--an affirmation of Yahweh."
25 Lo, I [am] against you, O destroying mount, An affirmation of Yahweh, That is destroying all the earth, And I have stretched out My hand against you, And I have rolled you from the rocks, And given you for a burnt mountain."
26 And they take not out of you a stone for a corner, And a stone for foundations, For desolations eonian are you, An affirmation of Yahweh."
27 Lift you up an ensign in the land, Blow a trumpet among nations, Sanctify against it nations, Summon against it the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz, Appoint against it an infant head, Cause the horse to ascend as the rough cankerworm."
28 Sanctify against it the nations with the kings of Media, Its governors and all its prefects, And all the land of its dominion."
29 And shake does the land, and it is pained, For stood against Babylon have the purposes of Yahweh, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant."
30 Ceased have the mighty of Babylon to fight, They have remained in strongholds, Failed has their might, they have become woman, They have burnt her tabernacles, Broken have been her bars."
31 Runner to meet runner does run, And announcer to meet announcer, To announce to the king of Babylon, For, captured has been his city--at the extremity."
32 And the passages have been captured, And the reeds they have burnt with fire, And the men of war have been troubled."
33 For thus said Yahweh of Hosts, Elohim of Israel, The daughter of Babylon [is] as a threshing-floor, The time of her threshing--yet a little, And come has the time of her harvest."
34 Devoured us, crushed us, has Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, He has set us [as] an empty vessel, He has swallowed us as a dragon, He has filled his belly with my dainties, He has driven us away."
35 My wrong, and [that of] my flesh [is] on Babylon, Say does the inhabitant of Zion, And my blood [is] on the inhabitants of Chaldea, Say does Jerusalem."
36 Therefore, thus said Yahweh:Lo, I am pleading your cause, And I have avenged your vengeance, And dried up its sea, and made its fountains dry."
37 And Babylon has been for heaps, A habitation of dragons, An astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant."
38 Together as young lions they roar, They have shaken themselves as lions' whelps."
39 In their heat I make their banquets, And I have caused them to drink, so that they exult, And have slept a sleep eonian, And awake not--an affirmation of Yahweh."
40 I cause them to go down as lambs to slaughter, As rams with he-goats."
41 How has Sheshach been captured, Yea, caught is the praise of the whole earth, How has Babylon been for an astonishment among nations."
42 Come up against Babylon has the sea, With a multitude of its billows it has been covered."
43 Its cities have been for a desolation, A dry land, and a wilderness, A land--none does dwell in them, Nor pass over into them does a son of man."
44 And I have seen after Bel in Babylon, And I have brought forth that which he swallowed--from his mouth, And flow no more unto him do nations, Also the wall of Babylon has fallen."
45 Go forth from its midst, O My people, And deliver you, each his soul, Because of the fierceness of the anger of Yahweh,
46 And lest your heart be tender, And you be afraid of the report that is heard in the land, And come in a year has the report, And after it in a year the report, And violence [is] in the land, ruler against ruler;"
47 Therefore, lo, days are coming, And I have seen after the graven images of Babylon. And all its land is ashamed, And all its pierced ones do fall in its midst."
48 And cried aloud against Babylon Have heavens and earth, and all that [is] in them, For, from the north come to it do the spoilers, An affirmation of Yahweh."
49 Even Babylon [is] to fall, you pierced of Israel, Even they of Babylon have fallen, You pierced of all the earth."
50 You escaped of the sword, go on, stand not, Remember you from afar Yahweh, And let Jerusalem come up on your heart."
51 We have been ashamed, for we heard reproach, Covered has shame our faces, For come in have strangers, against the sanctuaries of the house of Yahweh."
52 Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Yahweh, And I have seen after its graven images, And in all its land groan does the wounded."
53 Because Babylon goes up to the heavens, And because it fences the high place of its strength, From Me come into it do spoilers, An affirmation of Yahweh."
54 A voice of a cry [is] from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldean."
55 For Yahweh is spoiling Babylon, And has destroyed out of it a great voice, And sounded have its billows as many waters, Given forth a noise has their voice."
56 For come in against it--against Babylon--has a spoiler, And captured have been its mighty ones, Broken have been their bows, For the El of recompences--Yahweh--does certainly repay."
57 And I have caused its princes to drink, And its wise men, its governors, And its prefects, and its mighty ones, And they have slept a sleep eonian, And they awake not--an affirmation of the king, Yahweh of Hosts [is] His name."
58 Thus said Yahweh of Hosts, the wall of Babylon--The broad one--is utterly made bare, And her high gates with fire are burnt, And peoples labor in vain, And nations in fire, and have been weary!"
59 The word that Jeremiah the prophet has commanded Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, in his going with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign--and Seraiah [is] a quiet prince;"
60 and Jeremiah writes all the evil that comes unto Babylon on one book--all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said unto Seraiah, `When you do enter Babylon, then you have seen, and have read all these words,
62 and have said:Yahweh, You, You have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that there is none dwelling in it, from man even unto cattle, for it is a desolation eonian."
63 And it has come to pass, when you do finish reading this book, you do bind to it a stone, and have cast it into the midst of Phrat,
64 and said, Thus sink does Babylon, and it does not arise, because of the evil that I am bringing in against it, and they have been weary.' Hitherto [are] words of Jeremiah."