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Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am stirring up against Babylon, against the inhabitants of the land of the Chaldeans, a spirit of destruction.
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I will send to Babylon winnowers who shall winnow her and empty her land, for they shall surround her on every side in the day of disaster.
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Let the archer bend his bow against the one who bends his bow, and against the one who wears armor! Spare not her young men; utterly destroy all her army!
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The slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and the wounded in her streets —
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for Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, by the LORD of hosts, though the land of the Chaldeans is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
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Flee from the midst of Babylon; let every man save his life, lest you be cut off in her punishment! For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He is repaying her what she deserves.
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Babylon was a golden cup in the hand of the LORD, making all the earth drunk; the nations drank of her wine, and therefore the nations went mad.
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Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; wail over her! Take balm for her wound; perhaps she may be healed!
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We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed; leave her, and let each of us go to his own land! For her judgment has reached to heaven and has risen up to the clouds.
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The LORD has brought our righteousness to light; come, let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God!
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Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of Media, for His purpose against Babylon is to destroy it: this is the vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for His temple!
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Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon, strengthen the guard! Set watchmen, prepare the ambush! For the LORD has planned and also carried out what He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
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O you who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your life is complete!
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The LORD of hosts has sworn by Himself: Surely I will fill you with men as with locusts, and they shall raise a shout of battle against you.
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It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
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When He utters His voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens; He makes the clouds rise from the ends of the earth, He makes lightning with the rain, and brings out the wind from His storehouses.
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Every man has proved foolish, without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idol. For his cast image is a lie, and there is no breath in it,
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They are all vanity, a work of mockery; in the time of their punishment they will perish.
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Not like these is the Portion of Jacob, for He is the One who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; the name of Him is the LORD of hosts!
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You were My hammer, My weapon of war: with you I shattered nations; with you I destroyed kingdoms,
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with you I shattered horse and rider; with you I shattered chariot and driver,
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with you I shattered man and woman; with you I shattered old and young; with you I shattered young man and maiden,
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with you I shattered shepherd and his flock; with you I shattered farmer and his oxen; with you I shattered governors and rulers!
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But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of the land of the Chaldeans for all the evil they have done in Zion before your very eyes, declares the LORD.
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Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, declares the LORD, who destroys the whole earth! I will stretch out My hand against you, roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burned-out mountain.
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No one shall take from you a cornerstone or a foundation stone, but you shall be a desolate place forever, declares the LORD.
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Lift up a banner in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations; prepare the nations for war against Babylon; summon the kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz—appoint a commander against her; bring up horses like a swarm of locusts!
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Prepare the nations for war against her, the kings of Media, with their governors and rulers, and every land under their dominion!
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The earth trembles and quakes, for the purpose of the LORD against Babylon is being carried out, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.
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The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting; they remain in their strongholds, their courage has failed; they have become like women. Her dwellings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken!
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Messenger runs to meet messenger, and herald to meet herald, to announce to the king of Babylon that his city has been captured from every side,
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The fords have been seized, the strongholds have been set on fire, and the soldiers are in panic.
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For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor when it is trampled; in a little while the time of harvest will come for her.
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Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me and crushed me; he has set me down like an empty vessel. He has swallowed me like a dragon, he has filled his belly with my delicacies, he has cast me out.
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May the violence done to me and my destruction come upon Babylon, says the inhabitant of Zion; and may my blood come upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, says Jerusalem.
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Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will plead your cause and take vengeance for you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.
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Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and hissing, without inhabitant.
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Together they roar like young lions; they growl like lion cubs.
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When they are inflamed, I will prepare a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they may become dazed and fall asleep forever, never to wake again, says the LORD.
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I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and male goats.
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How Sheshach is taken, and the praise of the whole earth seized! How Babylon has become a horror among the nations!
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The sea has come up over Babylon; its roaring waves have covered her.
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Her cities have become a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness, a land where no one lives and through which no human passes.
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I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring out of his mouth what he has swallowed. The nations shall no longer stream to him, and the wall of Babylon has fallen.
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Come out from her midst, my people! Let each one save his life from the burning anger of the LORD!
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Let not your heart faint or fear because of the report heard in the land: when one report comes this year, and another report the next year, when violence is in the land and ruler rises against ruler.
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Therefore, behold, the days are coming when I will punish the images of Babylon; all her land shall be put to shame, and all her slain shall fall in her midst.
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Then heaven and earth, and all that is in them, shall shout for joy over Babylon, when the destroyers come against her from the north, declares the LORD.
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Babylon must fall because of the slain of Israel, just as the slain of all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.
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You who have escaped the sword, go away, do not linger! Remember the LORD from far away, and let Jerusalem come to mind.
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We are ashamed, for we have heard reproach; disgrace covers our faces, for foreigners have entered the holy places of the house of the LORD.
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Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish her carved images, and through all her land the wounded will groan.
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Though Babylon should rise up to the heavens, and though she should make her stronghold inaccessible on high, destroyers would come to her from Me, declares the LORD.
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Listen! A cry from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
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For the LORD is laying Babylon waste and silencing her loud voice. Though their waves roar like many waters, and the sound of their tumult grows louder,
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yet destroyers will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken, for the LORD is a God of recompense; He will surely repay.
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I will make her officials, her wise men, her governors, her commanders, and her warriors drunk, and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and never wake again, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
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Thus says the LORD of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be leveled, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; so the peoples labor for nothing, and the nations weary themselves only for fire.
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The message that the prophet Jeremiah gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when Seraiah went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was then in charge of the quartermaster’s duties.
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Jeremiah had written in a book all the disaster that would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words written here concerning Babylon.
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Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words,
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and say, O LORD, You have spoken concerning this city that You will cut it off, so that no one shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and that it shall be desolate forever!
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When you have finished reading this book, tie a stone to it, and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River
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and say, ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her.’ Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
🔥🏛️⚖️ Summary of Jeremiah 51 – The End of Babylon: The City of Pride Judged by God
Jeremiah 51 continues and completes the great prophecy about the fall of Babylon, the most powerful kingdom of that time. The Lord declares that Babylon will be utterly destroyed, because of its sins: pride, cruelty toward God’s people, and idolatry. Babylon is described as a golden cup that made the nations drunk, but now the contents of its cup become poison to itself. Behind Babylon’s destruction, the Lord reveals His justice and His love for Israel and Judah, who will be restored.
📌 1. The Lord Commands an Attack on Babylon (verses 1–14)
“I will raise up a destroying wind…”
➡️ The Lord sends the nations against Babylon like a storm wind.
➡️ This attack is repayment because Babylon destroyed the Temple and His people.
🎯 God repays the evil done in the name of power and politics.
📌 2. Babylon: The Golden Cup That Will Break (verses 15–29)
“Babylon is a golden cup in the hand of the Lord…”
➡️ Babylon was first used by the Lord to punish the nations, but they went beyond their limits.
➡️ Now Babylon will become a desolate and barren land.
🎯 Whoever becomes an instrument of the Lord must be humble and obedient, not abusing power.
📌 3. A Call for the People to Come Out of Babylon (verses 45–50)
“Come out from her midst, My people…”
➡️ The Lord calls His people to leave Babylon, so they will not share in the judgment.
➡️ While Babylon is destroyed, the Lord comforts His scattered people.
🎯 Salvation is found only if we separate ourselves from the evil systems of the world.
📌 4. The Fall of Babylon Is Inevitable (verses 53–64)
“Babylon will become a ruin and a den of wild animals…”
➡️ No matter how high Babylon’s towers or fortifications may be, the Lord will bring them down.
➡️ This message was written by Baruch and thrown into the Euphrates River as a symbol that Babylon would sink forever.
🎯 Human power is only temporary, but the word of the Lord stands forever.
📖 Main Teaching
- The Lord is the Ruler of history and Judge over all nations
- Babylon’s pride and cruelty made it deserving of judgment
- The Lord does not forget the suffering of His people
- The Lord calls His people to come out of a wicked and evil system
- Everything not built on truth will fall
✨ Spiritual Meaning (New Testament)
📖 Revelation 18:2–5
“Great Babylon has fallen… Come out of her, my people.”
➡️ Jeremiah 51 directly serves as the background for the prophecy of spiritual Babylon in the book of Revelation.
📖 1 John 2:17
“This world is passing away… but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”
➡️ Babylon symbolizes the world that will perish; only obedience to the Lord endures.
📖 Romans 12:2
“Do not be conformed to this world…”
➡️ The people of the Lord are called to live differently from the world’s system like Babylon.
📖 Hebrews 11:10
“For he was looking for a city with foundations…”
➡️ In contrast to Babylon, the people of the Lord long for the eternal city built by the Lord.
🕊️ “Babylon has been captured… and its idols have been shattered.” – Jeremiah 51:44
🕊️ “Come out from among her, my people…” – Jeremiah 51:45
🕊️ “Thus Babylon will sink and rise no more…” – Jeremiah 51:64
🕊️ “The Lord is God who pleads our cause…” – Jeremiah 51:36
