Jérémie (NAB) 45
45 1 This is the message that the prophet Jeremiah gave to Baruch, son of Neriah, when he wrote in a book the prophecies that Jeremiah dictated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 Thus says the LORD, God of Israel, to you, Baruch,3 because you said, "Alas! the LORD adds grief to my pain; I am weary from groaning, and can find no rest":4 say this to him, says the LORD: What I have built, I am tearing down; what I have planted, I am uprooting: even the whole land.5 And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not! I am bringing evil on all mankind, says the LORD, but your life I will leave you as booty, wherever you may go.
46 1 This is the word of the LORD that came to the prophet Jeremiah against the nations.
2 Concerning Egypt. Against the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah: 3 Prepare shield and buckler! march to battle!4 Harness the horses, mount, charioteers! Fall in with your helmets; polish your spears, put on your breastplates.5 What do I see? With broken ranks They fall back; their heroes are routed, They flee headlong without making a stand. Terror on every side, says the LORD!6 The swift cannot flee, nor the hero escape: There in the north, on the Euphrates' bank, they stumble and fall.7 Who is this that surges forward like the Nile, like rivers of billowing waters?8 Egypt surges like the Nile, like rivers of billowing waters. "I will surge forward," he says, "and cover the earth, destroying the city and its people.9 Forward, horses! drive madly, chariots! Set out, warriors, Cush and Put, bearing your shields, Men of Lud, stretching your bows!"10 But this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, vengeance on his foes! The sword devours, is sated, drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts holds a slaughter feast in the northland, on the Euphrates.11 Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter Egypt! No use to multiply remedies; for you there is no cure.12 The nations hear of your shame, your cries fill the earth. Warrior trips over warrior, both fall together.
13 The message which the LORD gave to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the advance of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to attack the land of Egypt: 14 Announce it in Egypt, publish it in Migdol, proclaim it in Memphis and Tahpanhes! Say: Take your stand, prepare yourselves, the sword has already devoured your neighbors.15 Why has Apis fled, your mighty one failed to stand? The LORD thrust him down; 16 he stumbled repeatedly, and fell. They said one to another, "Up! let us return to our own people, To the land of our birth, away from the destroying sword."17 Call Pharaoh, king of Egypt, by the name "The noise that let its time go by." 18 As I live, says the King whose name is LORD of hosts, Like Tabor among the mountains he shall come, like Carmel above the sea. 19 Pack your baggage for exile, capital city of daughter Egypt; Memphis shall become a desert, an empty ruin.20 Egypt is a pretty heifer, from the north a horsefly lights upon her.21 The mercenaries in her ranks are like fatted calves; They too turn and flee together, stand not their ground, When the day of their ruin comes upon them, the time of their punishment.22 She sounds like a retreating reptile! Yes, they come in force; like woodchoppers, they attack her with axes.23 They cut down her forest, says the LORD, impenetrable though it be; More numerous than locusts, they cannot be counted.24 Disgraced is daughter Egypt, handed over to the people of the north.25 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, has said: See! I will punish Amon of Thebes, and Egypt, her gods and her kings, Pharaoh, and those who trust in him. 26 I will hand them over to those who seek their lives, to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his ministers. But later on Egypt shall be inhabited again, as in times past, says the LORD.
27 But you, my servant Jacob, fear not; be not dismayed, O Israel. Behold, I will deliver you from the far-off land, your descendants, from their land of exile. Jacob shall again find rest, shall be tranquil and undisturbed.28 You, my servant Jacob, never fear, says the LORD, for I am with you; I will make an end of all the nations to which I have driven you, But of you I will not make an end: I will chastise you as you deserve, I will not let you go unpunished.
47 1 This is the word that came from the LORD to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh attacked Gaza:2 Thus says the LORD: Behold: waters are rising from the north, a torrent in flood; It shall flood the land and all that is in it, the cities and their people. All the people of the land set up a wailing cry. 3 They hear the stamping hooves of his steeds, the rattling chariots, the rumbling wheels. Fathers turn not to save their children; their hands fall helpless4 Because of the day which has come to ruin all the Philistines, And cut off from Tyre and Sidon the last of their allies. Yes, the LORD is destroying the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor. 5 Gaza is shaved bald, Ashkelon is reduced to silence; Ashdod, the remnant of their strength, how long will you gash yourself? 6 Alas, sword of the LORD! how long till you find rest? Return into your scabbard; stop, be still! 7 How can it find rest when the LORD has commanded it? Against Ashkelon and the seashore he has appointed it.
48 1 Concerning Moab, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Woe to Nebo, it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is disgraced and captured, Disgraced and overthrown is the stronghold: 2 Moab's glory is no more. Evil they plan against Heshbon: "Come, let us put an end to her as a people." You, too, Madmen, shall be reduced to silence; behind you stalks the sword.3 Listen! a cry from Horonaim of ruin and great destruction!4 Moab is crushed, their outcry is heard in Zoar.5 The ascent of Luhith they climb weeping; On the descent to Horonaim the cry of destruction is heard.6 "Flee, save your lives, to survive like the wild ass in the desert!"7 Because you trusted in your works and your treasures, you also shall be captured. Chemosh shall go into exile, his priests and princes with him. 8 The destroyer comes upon every city, not a city escapes; Ruined is the valley, wasted the plain, as the LORD has said.9 Set up a memorial for Moab, for it is an utter wasteland; Its cities are turned into ruins where no one dwells.10 (Cursed be he who does the LORD'S work remissly, cursed he who holds back his sword from blood.)11 Moab has been tranquil from his youth, has rested upon his lees; He was not poured from one flask to another, he went not into exile. Thus he kept his taste, and his scent was not lost.12 Hence, the days shall come, says the LORD, when I will send him coopers to turn him over; they shall empty his flasks and break his jars.13 Chemosh shall disappoint Moab, as Israel was disappointed by Bethel in which they trusted.14 How can you say, "We are heroes, men valiant in war"?15 The ravager of Moab and his cities advances, the flower of his youth goes down to be slaughtered, says the King, the LORD of hosts by name.16 Near at hand is Moab's ruin, his disaster hastens apace.17 Mourn for him, all you his neighbors, all you who knew him well! Say: How the strong staff is broken, the glorious rod!18 Come down from glory, sit on the ground, you that dwell in Dibon; Moab's ravager has come up against you, he has ruined your strongholds.19 Stand by the wayside, watch closely, you that dwell in Aroer; Ask the man who flees, the woman who tries to escape: say to them, "What has happened?"20 Moab is disgraced, yes, destroyed, howl and cry out; Publish it at the Arnon, Moab is ruined!21 For judgment has come on the land of the plateau: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,22 on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,23 on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,24 on Kerioth and on Bozrah: on all the cities of Moab, far and near.25 Moab's strength is broken, his might is shattered, says the LORD.26 Because he boasted against the LORD, make Moab drunk so that he retches and vomits, and he too becomes a laughingstock.27 Is Israel a laughingstock to you? Was she caught among thieves, that you shake your head whenever you speak of her?28 Leave the cities, dwell in the crags, you that dwell in Moab. Be like a dove that nests out of reach on the edge of a chasm.29 We have heard of the pride of Moab, pride beyond bounds: His loftiness, his pride, his scorn, his insolence of heart.30 I know, says the LORD, his arrogance; liar in boast, liar in deed.31 And so I wail over Moab, over all Moab I cry, over the men of Kir-heres I moan.32 More than for Jazer I weep over you, vineyard of Sibmah. Your tendrils trailed down to the sea, as far as Jazer they stretched. Upon your harvest, upon your vintage, the ravager has fallen.33 Joy and jubilation are at an end in the fruit gardens of the land of Moab. I drain the wine from the wine vats, the treader treads no more, the vintage shout is stilled.34 The cry of Heshbon and Elealeh is heard as far as Jahaz; they call from Zoar to Horonaim, and to Eglath-shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim turn into a desert.35 I will leave no one in Moab, says the LORD, to offer a holocaust on the high place, or to burn incense to his gods.36 Hence the wail of flutes for Moab is in my heart; for the men of Kir-heres the wail of flutes is in my heart: the wealth they acquired has perished.37 Every head has been made bald, every beard shaved; every hand is gashed, and the loins of all are clothed in sackcloth.38 On every roof of Moab and in all his squares there is mourning; I have shattered Moab like a pot that no one wants, says the LORD.39 How terror seizes Moab, and wailing! How he turns his back in shame! Moab has become a laughingstock and a horror to all his neighbors!40 For thus says the LORD: Behold, like an eagle he soars, spreads his wings over Moab.41 Cities are taken, strongholds seized: On that day the hearts of Moab's heroes are like the heart of a woman in travail.42 Moab shall be destroyed, no more a people, because he boasted against the LORD.43 Terror, pit, and trap be upon you, people of Moab, says the LORD.44 He who flees from the terror falls into the pit; He who climbs from the pit is caught in the trap; For I will bring these things upon Moab in the year of their punishment, says the LORD.45 In Heshbon's shadow stop short the exhausted refugees; For fire breaks forth from Heshbon, and a blaze from the house of Sihon: It consumes the brow of Moab, the skull of the noisemakers.46 Woe to you, O Moab, you are ruined, O people of Chemosh! Your sons are taken into exile, your daughters into captivity.47 But I will change the lot of Moab in the days to come, says the LORD. Thus far the judgment on Moab.
49 1 Concerning the Ammonites, thus says the LORD: Has Israel no sons? has he no heir? Why then has Milcom disinherited Gad, why have his people settled in Gad's cities? 2 But the days are coming, says the LORD, when against Rabbah of the Ammonites I will sound the battle alarm; She shall become a mound of ruins, and her daughter cities shall be destroyed by fire. Israel shall inherit those who disinherited her, says the LORD. 3 Howl, Heshbon, for the ravager approaches, shriek, daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth and mourn, run to and fro, gashing yourselves; For Milcom goes into exile along with his priests and captains.4 Why do you glory in your strength, your ebbing strength, rebellious daughter? You who trust in your treasures, saying, "Who can come against me?"5 I am bringing terror upon you, says the Lord GOD of hosts, from all round about you; You shall be scattered, each man in headlong flight, with no one to rally the fugitives.6 But afterward I will change the lot of the Ammonites, says the LORD.
7 Concerning Edom, thus says the LORD of hosts: Is there no more wisdom in Teman, has counsel perished from the prudent, has their wisdom become corrupt? 8 Flee, retreat, hide in deep holes, you who live in Dedan: For I will bring destruction upon Esau when I come to punish him. 9 If vintagers came upon you, they would leave no gleanings; If thieves by night, they would destroy as they pleased.10 So I myself will strip Esau; I will uncover his retreats so that he cannot hide. He is ruined: sons, and brothers, and neighbors, so that he is no more.11 Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive; your widows, let them trust in me.12 For thus says the LORD: Even those not sentenced to drink the cup must drink it! Shall you then go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished; you shall surely drink it.13 By my own self I have sworn, says the LORD: Bozrah shall become an object of horror and a disgrace, a desolation and a curse; she and all her cities shall become ruins forever. 14 I have heard a report from the LORD, a herald has been sent among the nations: Gather together, move against her, rise up for battle.15 Small will I make you among the nations, despised among men!16 The terror you spread beguiled you, and your presumption of heart; You that live in rocky crags, that hold the heights of the hill: Though you build your nest high as the eagle, from there I will drag you down, says the LORD.17 Edom shall become an object of horror. Every passer-by shall be appalled and catch his breath at all her wounds.18 As when Sodom, Gomorrah, and their neighbors were overthrown, says the LORD, not a man shall dwell there: no one shall visit there.19 As when a lion comes up from the thicket of Jordan to the permanent feeding grounds, So I, in an instant, will drive men off; and whom I choose I will establish there! For who is like me? who can call me to account? What shepherd can stand against me?20 Therefore, hear the counsel of the LORD, which he has taken against Edom; Hear the plans he has made against those that live in Teman: They shall be dragged away, even the smallest sheep, their own pasture shall be aghast because of them.21 At the noise of their fall the earth quakes, to the Red Sea the outcry is heard!22 See! like an eagle he soars aloft, and spreads his wings over Bozrah; On that day the hearts of Edom's heroes shall be like the heart of a woman in travail.Concerning Damascus:
23 Hamath and Arpad are covered with shame, they have heard bad news; Worried, they toss like the sea which cannot rest. 24 Damascus is weakened, she turns to flee, panic has seized her. Distress and pangs take hold of her, like those of a woman in travail.25 How can the city of glory be forsaken, the town of delight!26 But now her young men shall fall in her streets, and all her warriors shall be stilled. On that day, says the LORD of hosts,27 I will set fire to the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
28 Of Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, defeated by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, thus says the LORD: Rise up, attack Kedar, ravage the Easterners.29 Their tents and herds shall be taken away, their tent curtains and all their goods; Their camels they shall carry off for themselves, and shout from upon them, "Terror on every side!"30 Flee! leave your homes, hide in deep holes, you that live in Hazor, says the LORD; For counsel has been taken against you, a plan has been formed against you (Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon).31 Rise up! set out against a nation that is at peace, that lives secure, says the LORD, That has no gates or bars, and dwells alone.32 Their camels shall be your booty, their many herds your spoil; I will scatter to the winds those who shave their temples, from all sides I will bring ruin upon them, says the LORD.33 Hazor shall become a haunt of jackals, a desert forever, Where no man lives, no human being stays.
34 The following word of the LORD against Elam came to the prophet Jeremiah at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah: 35 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might.36 I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four ends of the heavens: I will scatter them to all these winds, till there is no nation to which the outcasts of Elam shall not come.37 I will break Elam before their foes, before those who seek their life; I will bring evil upon them, my burning wrath, says the LORD. I will send the sword to pursue them until I have completely made an end of them;38 My throne I will set up in Elam and destroy from there king and princes, says the LORD.39 But in the days to come I will change the lot of Elam, says the LORD.
50 1 The word which the LORD spoke against Babylon, against the land of the Chaldeans, through the prophet Jeremiah:
2 Announce and publish it among the nations; publish it, hide it not, but say: Babylon is taken, Bel confounded, Merodach shattered; her images are put to shame, her idols shattered. 3 A people from the north advances against her to turn her land into a desert, So that no one shall live there, because man and beast have fled away.4 In those days, at that time, says the LORD, the men of Israel and of Judah shall come, Weeping as they come, to seek the LORD, their God;5 to their goal in Zion they shall ask the way. "Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD with covenant everlasting, never to be forgotten."6 Lost sheep were my people, their shepherds misled them, straggling on the mountains; From mountain to hill they wandered, losing the way to their fold.7 Whoever came upon them devoured them, and their enemies said, "We incur no guilt, Because they sinned against the LORD, the hope of their fathers, their abode of justice."8 Flee from Babylon, leave the land of the Chaldeans, be like the rams at the head of the flock.9 See, I am stirring up against Babylon a band of great nations from the north; from there they advance, and she shall be taken. Their arrows are arrows of the skilled warrior; none shall return without effect.10 Chaldea shall be their plunder, and all her plunderers shall be enriched, says the LORD.11 Yes, rejoice and exult, you that plunder my portion; Frisk like calves on the green, snort like stallions!12 Your mother shall be sorely put to shame, she that bore you shall be abashed; See, the last of the nations, a desert, dry and waste.13 Because of the LORD'S wrath she shall be empty, and become a total desert; Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled and catch his breath, at all her wounds.14 Take your posts encircling Babylon, you who bend the bow; Shoot at her, spare not your arrows,15 raise the war cry against her on all sides. She surrenders, her bastions fall, her walls are torn down: Vengeance of the LORD is this! Take revenge on her, as she has done, do to her; for she sinned against the LORD. 16 Cut off from Babylon the sower and him who wields the sickle in harvest time! Before the destroying sword, each of them turns to his own people, everyone flees to his own land.17 A stray sheep was Israel that lions pursued; Formerly the king of Assyria devoured her, now Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnaws her bones.18 Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as once I punished the king of Assyria;19 But I will bring back Israel to her fold, to feed on Carmel and Bashan, And on Mount Ephraim and Gilead, till she has her fill.20 In those days, at that time, says the LORD: They shall seek Israel's guilt, but it shall be no more, and Judah's sins, but these shall no longer be found; for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.
21 Attack the land of Merathaim, and those who live in Pekod; Slaughter and doom them, says the LORD, do all I have commanded you. 22 Battle alarm in the land, dire destruction!23 How has the hammer of the whole earth been broken and shattered! What an object of horror Babylon has become among the nations.24 You ensnared yourself, and were caught, O Babylon, before you knew it! You were discovered and seized, because you challenged the LORD.25 The LORD opens his armory and brings forth the weapons of his wrath; For the Lord GOD of hosts has work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.26 Come upon her from every side, open her granaries, Pile up her goods in heaps and doom it, leave not a remnant.27 Slay all her oxen, let them go down to the slaughter; Woe to them! their day has come, the time of their punishment.28 Listen! the fugitives, the escaped from the land of Babylon: They announce in Zion the vengeance of the LORD, our God.29 Call up against Babylon archers, all who bend the bow; Encamp around her, let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; as she has done, do to her, For she insulted the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.30 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, all her warriors shall perish on that day, says the LORD.31 I am against you, man of insolence, says the Lord GOD of hosts; For your day has come, the time for me to punish you.32 Insolence stumbles and falls; there is no one to raise him up. I will kindle in his cities a fire that shall devour everything around him.33 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Oppressed are the men of Israel, and with them the men of Judah; All their captors hold them fast and refuse to let them go.34 Strong is their avenger, whose name is LORD of hosts; He will defend their cause with success, and give rest to the earth, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.35 A sword upon the Chaldeans, says the LORD, upon Babylon's people, her princes and wise men!36 A sword upon the soothsayers, that they may become fools! A sword upon her warriors, that they may tremble;37 A sword upon her motley throng, that they may become women! A sword upon her treasures, that they may be plundered;38 A sword upon her waters, that they may dry up! For it is a land of idols, and they shall be made frantic by fearful things.39 Hence, wildcats and desert beasts shall dwell there, and ostriches shall occupy it; Never again shall it be peopled, or lived in, from age to age.40 As when God overturned Sodom and Gomorrah, with their neighbors, says the LORD, Not a man shall dwell there, no human being shall tarry there.41 See! a people comes from the north, a great nation, and mighty kings roused from the ends of the earth.42 Bow and javelin they wield, cruel and pitiless are they; They sound like the roaring sea, as they ride forth on steeds, Each in his place for battle against you, daughter Babylon.43 The king of Babylon hears news of them, and helpless fall his hands; Anguish seizes him, throes like a mother's in childbirth.44 As when a lion comes up from the Jordan's thicket to the permanent feeding grounds, So I, in one instant, will drive them off, and whom I choose I will establish there; For who is like me? who calls me to account? what shepherd can stand against me?45 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD which he has taken against Babylon; Hear the plans he has made against the land of the Chaldeans: They shall be dragged away, even the smallest sheep; their own pasture shall be aghast because of them.46 At the cry "Babylon is captured!" the earth quakes; the outcry is heard among the nations.
51 1 Thus says the LORD: See! I rouse against Babylon, and against those who live in Chaldea, a destroying wind.2 Against Babylon I will send winnowers to winnow her and lay waste her land; They shall besiege her from all sides on the day of affliction.3 Let the bowman draw his bow, and flaunt his coat of mail; Spare not her young men, doom her entire army.4 The slain shall fall in the land of Chaldea, the transfixed, in her streets;5 For Israel and Judah are not widowed of their God, the LORD of hosts, And the Chaldean land is full of guilt to be punished by the Holy One of Israel.6 Flee out of Babylon; let each one save his life, perish not for her guilt; This is a time of vengeance for the LORD, he pays her her due.7 Babylon was a golden cup in the hand of the LORD which made the whole earth drunk; The nations drank its wine, with this they have become mad.8 Babylon suddenly falls and is crushed: howl over her! Bring balm for her wounds, in case she can be healed.9 "We have tried to heal Babylon, but she cannot be healed. Leave her, let us go, each to his own land." Her judgment reaches heaven, it touches the clouds.10 The LORD has brought to light our just cause; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD, our God, has done.11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers; The LORD has stirred up the spirit of Media's kings; Babylon he is resolved to destroy. Yes, it is the vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for his temple. 12 Against the walls of Babylon raise a signal, make strong the watch; Post sentries, arrange ambushes! For the LORD has planned and he will carry out his threat against the inhabitants of Babylon.13 You who dwell by mighty waters, rich in treasure, Your end has come, the term at which you shall be cut off!14 The LORD of hosts has sworn by himself: I will fill you with men as numerous as locusts, who shall raise over you the vintage shout!15 He has sworn who made the earth by his power, and established the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his skill.16 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar, and he brings up clouds from the end of the earth; He makes the lightning flash in the rain, and releases stormwinds from their chambers.17 Every man is stupid, ignorant; every artisan is put to shame by his idol: He molded a fraud, without breath of life.18 Nothingness are they, a ridiculous work, that will perish in their time of punishment.19 Not like these is the portion of Jacob, he is the creator of all things; Israel is his very own tribe, LORD of hosts is his name.
20 You are my hammer, my weapon for war; With you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms.21 With you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver.22 With you I shatter man and wife, with you I shatter old and young, with you I shatter the youth and maiden.23 With you I shatter the shepherd and his flock, with you I shatter the farmer and his team, with you I shatter satraps and prefects.
24 Thus will I repay Babylon, and all who live in Chaldea All the evil they did to Zion, as you shall see with your own eyes, says the LORD.25 Beware! I am against you, destroying mountain, destroyer of the entire earth, says the LORD; I will stretch forth my hand against you, roll you down over the cliffs, and make you a burnt mountain:26 They will not take from you a cornerstone, or a foundation stone; Ruins forever shall you be, says the LORD.
27 Raise a signal on the earth, blow the trumpet among the nations; Dedicate peoples to war against her, summon against her the kingdoms, Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; Appoint recruiting officers against her, send up horses like bristling locusts. 28 Dedicate peoples to war against her: the king of Media, Its governors and all its prefects, every land in his domain.29 The earth quakes and writhes, the LORD'S plan against Babylon is carried out, Turning the land of Babylon into a desert where no one lives.30 Babylon's warriors have ceased to fight, they remain in their strongholds; Dried up is their strength, they have become women. Burned are their homes, and broken their bars.31 One runner meets another, herald meets herald, Telling the king of Babylon that all his city is taken.32 The fords have been seized, and the fortresses set on fire, while warriors are in panic.33 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trodden; Yet a little while, and the harvest time will come for her.
34 He has consumed me, routed me, (Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,) he has left me as an empty vessel; He has swallowed me like a dragon: filled his belly with my delights, and cast me out. 35 My torn flesh be upon Babylon, says the city on Zion; My blood upon the people of Chaldea, says Jerusalem.36 But now, thus says the LORD: Surely I will defend your cause, I will avenge you; I will dry up her sea, and drain her fountain.37 Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals; A place of horror and ridicule, where no one lives.38 They all roar like lions, growl like lion cubs.39 When they are parched, I will set a drink before them to make them drunk, that they may be overcome with perpetual sleep, never to awaken, says the LORD.40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats.
41 How has she been seized, made captive, the glory of the whole world! What a horror has Babylon become among nations:42 against Babylon the sea rises, she is overwhelmed by the roaring waves!43 Her cities have become a desert, parched and arid land Where no man lives, and no one passes through.
44 I will punish Bel in Babylon, and make him disgorge what he swallowed; peoples shall stream to him no more. The wall of Babylon falls!45 Leave her, my people, let each one save himself from the burning wrath of the LORD.46 Be not discouraged for fear of rumors spread in the land; this year the rumor comes, then violence in the land, tyrant against tyrant.47 But behold, the days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land shall be put to shame, and all her slain shall lie fallen within her.48 Then heaven, and earth, and everything in them shall shout over Babylon with joy, when the destroyers come against her from the north, says the LORD.49 Babylon, too, must fall, O slain of Israel, as at the hands of Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.50 You who have escaped the sword, go on, stand not still; Remember the LORD from afar, let Jerusalem come to your minds.
51 We are ashamed because we have heard taunts, confusion covers our faces; strangers have entered the holy places of the house of the LORD.52 But behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will punish her idols, and in her whole land the wounded will groan.53 Though Babylon scale the heavens, and make her strong heights inaccessible, destroyers from me shall reach her, says the LORD.54 Hear! loud cries from Babylon, dire destruction from the land of the Chaldeans;55 For the LORD lays Babylon waste, stills her loud cry, Though her waves were roaring like mighty waters, and their clamor was heard afar.56 For the destroyer comes upon her, (Babylon,) her heroes are captured, their bows broken; The LORD is a God who requites, he will surely repay.57 I will make her princes and her wise men drunk, her governors, her prefects, and her warriors, so that they sleep an eternal sleep, never to awaken, says the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.58 Thus says the LORD of hosts: The walls of spacious Babylon shall be leveled utterly; her lofty gates shall be destroyed by fire. The toil of the nations is for nothing; for the flames the peoples weary themselves.
59 This was the errand given by the prophet Jeremiah to Seraiah, son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon for the king in the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah; Seraiah was chief quartermaster. 60 Jeremiah had written all the misfortune that was to befall Babylon in a single book: all these words that were written against Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: When you reach Babylon, see that you read aloud all these words,62 and then say: O LORD, you yourself threatened to destroy this place, so that neither man nor beast should dwell in it, since it would remain an everlasting desert.63 When you have finished reading this book, tie a stone to it and throw it in the Euphrates,64 and say: Thus shall Babylon sink. Never shall she rise, because of the evil I am bringing upon her. (To "weary themselves" are the words of Jeremiah.)
Jérémie (NAB) 45