Jeremiah 50

Prophecy against Babylon

1 This is what the LORD said concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians through the prophet Jeremiah:

2 Tell the nations; proclaim it far and wide! Set up a flag; proclaim it far and wide! Hold nothing back; just shout it: "Babylon is captured; Bel is shamed; Marduk is panic-stricken. Her images are shamed; her idols are panic-stricken."

3 A nation from the north has risen up against her. It will decimate her land, and no one will live in it. Every living thing will flee.

4 In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, the people of Israel and Judah will come out of Babylon together; with weeping they will leave as they seek the LORD their God.

5 They will search for Zion, turning their faces toward it. They will come and unite with the LORD, in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.

6 My people were lost sheep; their shepherds led them astray; they deserted them on the mountains, where they wandered off among the hills, forgetting their resting place.

7 All who found them devoured them; and their attackers said, "It's not our fault, because they have sinned against the LORD, the true pasture, the hope of their ancestors—the LORD."

8 Now wander far from Babylon. Get out of that country. Like rams of the flock, lead the way home.

9 I'm stirring up against Babylon a coalition of mighty nations. It will mobilize in the north, and from there she will be captured. Their arrows are like those of an expert archer who does not return empty-handed.

10 Babylon will be defeated; its attackers will carry off all that they want, declares the LORD.

11 Sure, you gloat and rejoice, you plunderers of my possession. Sure, you dance around like a calf and neigh like a stallion.

12 But Mother Babylon will be humiliated; the one who bore you will be disgraced. She will become the least of the nations: a wilderness, a desert, and parched land.

13 Because of the LORD's anger, no one will live there; she will be reduced to total ruin. All who pass by Babylon will be shocked; they will gasp at all her injuries.

14 Take up your positions around Babylon, all you archers; now shoot at her; save none of your arrows, because she's sinned against the LORD.

15 Raise a victory shout against her on every side! She's surrendered; her towers have collapsed; her walls are destroyed. This is the LORD's retribution; now pay her back: do to her what she's done to others!

16 Cut Babylon off from those who plant and those who harvest the crops, because of its ruthless sword. Now return, all of you, to your people; flee to your homeland!

17 Israelites are scattered sheep, driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured them, and now Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar has ravaged them.

18 Therefore, the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: I'm going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria.

19 But I will restore Israel to their pasture; they will graze on Carmel and Bashan; they will eat their fill in the highlands of Ephraim and Gilead.

20 In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, if one searches for the sin of Israel, they will find nothing; if one seeks out the wrongdoing of Judah, they will look in vain. I will forgive those I have spared.

21 Attack the land of Merathaim; crush those living in Pekod. Ruin and destroy them, declares the LORD; do all I have commanded you.

22 There's the sound of war in the land and enormous devastation.

23 How the hammer of the whole earth has been broken and shattered into pieces! How Babylon has become a wasteland among the nations!

24 You set a trap for others, Babylon, but you yourself were caught in it unaware; you have been found and captured because you have defied the LORD.

25 The LORD has opened his arsenal and brought out his brutal weapons. The LORD God of heavenly forces has a job to do in the land of the Babylonians.

26 Come against her from every side; throw open her granaries; pile her up like stalks of grain; totally destroy her; leave nothing intact.

27 Destroy all her bulls; prepare them for slaughter. How terrible for them! Their time has come, the day of reckoning.

28 A voice of fugitives and refugees, from the land of Babylon, declaring in Zion the retribution of the LORD our God because of what has been done to his temple.

29 Send the archers against Babylon, all who draw the bow! Surround her and let no one escape. Pay her back for her deeds; do to her what she's done to others. She has acted arrogantly toward the LORD, the holy one of Israel!

30 Therefore, her soldiers will fall in the streets; all her warriors will be silenced on that day, declares the LORD.

31 I'm against you, you arrogant one! declares the LORD God of heavenly forces. Your day has come, your time of reckoning.

32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall, and no one will help her up. I'll set your cities on fire, and it will consume all that's around her.

33 The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims: The people of Israel were oppressed, together with the people of Judah. Their captors held them and refused to let them go.

34 Yet their redeemer is strong; the LORD of heavenly forces is his name. He will surely defend their cause and give them rest in the land. But he will unsettle the people of Babylon.

35 A sword against Babylon and its people, declares the LORD, along with its officials and sages.

36 A sword against its diviners so that they become fools. A sword against its warriors so that they are terrified.

37 A sword against its horses and chariots, and the mercenaries in its midst so that they lose courage. A sword against its treasures so that they are looted.

38 A sword against the water supplies so that they dry up. It is truly the land of idols, idols about which they have gone utterly mad!

39 Therefore, Babylon will become a ghost town, a place for desert animals, hyenas, and ravenous birds. No one will live there again; no one will make it their home.

40 Just as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, declares the LORD, so no one will live in Babylon or settle there again.

41 Look! An army is on the move from the northern regions. A powerful nation and many kings are coming from the ends of the earth.

42 Equipped with bow and spear, they are cruel and show no mercy. Their horsemen sound like the roaring sea, arrayed in battle formation against you, Daughter Babylon.

43 The king of Babylon has heard reports of them and is panic-stricken; distress overwhelms him, pain like that of a woman in labor.

44 Like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan to a well-watered meadow, so I will suddenly chase down Babylon and single out its choicest of rams. Who is like me? Who can direct me? What shepherd can withstand me?

45 Therefore, listen to the counsel that the LORD has for Babylon and the plans he's devised against the land of Babylon: The little ones of the flock will be dragged off, as their pasture watches in utter disbelief.

46 The earth quakes at the sound of Babylon's capture; its screams echo throughout the world.

Jeremiah 50 Commentary

Chapter 50

The ruin of Babylon. (1-3,8-16,21-32,35-46;) The redemption of God's people. (4-7,17-20,33,34)

Verses 1-7 The king of Babylon was kind to Jeremiah, yet the prophet must foretell the ruin of that kingdom. If our friends are God's enemies, we dare not speak peace to them. The destruction of Babylon is spoken of as done thoroughly. Here is a word for the comfort of the Jews. They shall return to their God first, then to their own land; the promise of their conversion and reformation makes way for the other promises. Their tears flow not from the sorrow of the world, as when they went into captivity, but from godly sorrow. They shall seek after the Lord as their God, and have no more to do with idols. They shall think of returning to their own country. This represents the return of poor souls to God. In true converts there are sincere desires to attain the end, and constant cares to keep in the way. Their present case is lamented as very sad. The sins of professing Christians never will excuse those who rejoice in destroying them.

Verses 8-20 The desolation that shall be brought upon Babylon is set forth in a variety of expressions. The cause of this destruction is the wrath of the Lord. Babylon shall be wholly desolated; for she hath sinned against the Lord. Sin makes men a mark for the arrows of God's judgments. The mercy promised to the Israel of God, shall not only accompany, but arise from the destruction of Babylon. These sheep shall be gathered from the deserts, and put again into good pasture. All who return to God and their duty, shall find satisfaction of soul in so doing. Deliverances out of trouble are comforts indeed, when fruits of the forgiveness of sin.

Verses 21-32 The forces are mustered and empowered to destroy Babylon. Let them do what God demands, and they shall bring to pass what he threatens. The pride of men's hearts sets God against them, and ripens them apace for ruin. Babylon's pride must be her ruin; she has been proud against the Holy One of Israel; who can keep those up whom God will throw down?

Verses 33-46 It is Israel's comfort in distress, that, though they are weak, their Redeemer is strong. This may be applied to believers, who complain of the dominion of sin and corruption, and of their own weakness and manifold infirmities. Their Redeemer is able to keep what they commit to him; and sin shall not have dominion over them. He will give them that rest which remains for the people of God. Also here is Babylon's sin, and their punishment. The sins are, idolatry and persecution. He that will not save his people in their sins, never will countenance the wickedness of his open enemies. The judgments of God for these sins will lay them waste. In the judgments denounced against prosperous Babylon, and the mercies promised to afflicted Israel, we learn to choose to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb lacks of Babylon.
• [b]. Heb uncertain
• [c]. Or righteous dwelling place
• [d]. Or your mother
• [e]. Heb uncertain
• [f]. Or gnawed their bones
• [g]. Or Double rebellion
• [h]. Or I set a trap for you, Babylon, and you were
• [i]. Or foreigners
• [j]. Or become like women
• [k]. Or drought or A drought
• [l]. Heb uncertain
• [m]. Heb uncertain
• [n]. Heb uncertain

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 50

This and the following chapter contain a long prophecy concerning the destruction of Babylon; and which is expressed in such language, that it may be, and is to be, accommodated to the destruction of mystical Babylon; and several passages in the book of the Revelation are borrowed from hence; and it is intermixed with promises and prophecies of the deliverance of God's people from thence, and of the conversion of the Jews, and the restoration of them to their own which will be at that time; see Jer 50:4,5,8,19,20,33,34. The destruction of Babylon in general is proclaimed and declared, and the manner and cause of it, Jer 50:1-13; then the enemies of Babylon are stirred up and animated to proceed against her, and execute the judgments of God upon her, Jer 50:14-30. Next follows the Lord's controversy with her, because of her pride and oppression of his people; and threatens her with the sword, drought, and utter destruction, Jer 50:31-40; and then a description is given of her enemies, that should be the instruments of her destruction, Jer 50:41-44; and the chapter is closed with observing, that this is all according to the counsel and purpose of God, Jer 50:45,46.