50:43. The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands are grown feeble: anguish hath taken hold of him, pangs as a woman in labour.
50:44. Behold he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of the Jordan to the strong and beautiful: for I will make him run suddenly upon her: and who shall be the chosen one whom I may appoint over her?
for who is like to me? and who shall bear up against me? and who is that shepherd that can withstand my countenance?
50:45. Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he hath taken against Babylon: and his thoughts which he hath thought against the land of the Chaldeans: surely the little ones of the flocks shall pull them down, of a truth their habitation shall be destroyed with them.
50:46. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard amongst the nations.
Jeremias Chapter 51
The miseries that shall fall upon Babylon from the Medes: the destruction of her idols.
51:1. Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will raise up as it were a pestilential wind against Babylon and against the inhabitants thereof, who have lifted up their heart against me.
51:2. And I will send to Babylon fanners, and they shall fan her, and shall destroy her land: for they are come upon her on every side in the day of her affliction.
51:3. Let not him that bendeth, bend his bow, and let not him go up that is armed with a coat of mail: spare not her young men, destroy all her army.
51:4. And the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and the wounded in the regions thereof.
51:5. For Israel and Juda have not been forsaken by their G.o.d the Lord of hosts: but their land hath been filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
51:6. Flee ye from the midst of Babylon, and let every one save his own life: be not silent upon her iniquity: for it is the time of revenge from the Lord, he will render unto her what she hath deserved.
51:7. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, that made all the earth drunk: the nations have drunk of her wine, and therefore they have staggered.
51:8. Babylon is suddenly fallen, and destroyed: howl for her, take balm for her pain, if so she may be healed.
51:9. We would have cured Babylon, but she is not healed: let us forsake her, and let us go every man to his own land: because her judgment hath reached even to the heavens, and is lifted up to the clouds.
51:10. The Lord hath brought forth our justices: Come, and let us declare in Sion the work of the Lord our G.o.d.
51:11. Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers, the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: and his mind is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.
51:12. Upon the walls of Babylon set up the standard, strengthen the watch: set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both purposed, and done all that he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
51:13. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, rich in treasures, thy end is come for thy entire destruction.
51:14. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying: I will fill thee with men as with locusts, and they shall lift up a joyful shout against thee.
51:15. He that made the earth by his power, that hath prepared the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
51:16. When he uttereth his voice the waters are multiplied in heaven: he lifteth up the clouds from the ends of the earth, he hath turned lightning into rain: and hath brought forth the wind out of his treasures.
51:17. Every man is become foolish by his knowledge: every founder is confounded by his idol, for what he hath cast is a lie, and there is no breath in them.
51:18. They are vain works, and worthy to be laughed at, in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
51:19. The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he that made all things he it is, and Israel is the sceptre of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.
51:20. Thou dashest together for me the weapons of war, and with thee I will dash nations together, and with thee I will destroy kingdoms:
51:21. And with thee I will break in pieces the horse, and his rider, and with thee I will break in pieces the chariot, and him that getteth up into it:
51:22. And with thee I will break in pieces man and woman, and with thee I will break in pieces the old man and the child, and with thee I will break in pieces the young man and the virgin:
51:23. And with thee I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock, and with thee I will break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen, and with thee I will break in pieces captains and rulers.
51:24. And I will render to Babylon, and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil, that they have done in Sion, before your eyes, saith the Lord.
51:25. Behold I come against thee, thou destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which corruptest the whole earth: and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and will roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
51:26. And they shall not take of thee a stone for the corner, nor a stone for foundations, but thou shalt be destroyed for ever, saith the Lord.
51:27. Set ye up a standard in the land: sound with the trumpet among the nations: prepare the nations against her: call together against her the kings of Ararat, Menni, and Ascenez: number Taphsar against her, bring the horse as the stinging locust.
51:28. Prepare the nations against her, the kings of Media, their captains, and all their rulers, and all the land of their dominion.
51:29. And the land shall be in a commotion, and shall be troubled: for the design of the Lord against Babylon shall awake, to make the land of Babylon desert and uninhabitable.
51:30. The valiant men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have dwelt in holds: their strength hath failed, and they are become as women: her dwelling places are burnt, her bars are broken.
51:31. One running post shall meet another, and messenger shall meet messenger: to tell the king of Babylon that his city is taken from one end to the other:
51:32. And that the fords are taken, and the marshes are burnt with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
51:33. For thus saith the Lord of hosts the G.o.d of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a thrashingfloor, this is the time of her thrashing: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
51:34. Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon hath eaten me up, he hath devoured me: he hath made me as an empty vessel: he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicate meats, and he hath cast me out.
51:35. The wrong done to me, and my flesh be upon Babylon, saith the habitation of Sion: and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, saith Jerusalem.
51:36. Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold I will judge thy cause, and will take vengeance for thee, and I will make her sea desolate, I and will dry up her spring.
51:37. And Babylon shall be reduced to heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment and a hissing, because there is no inhabitant.
51:38. They shall roar together like lions, they shall shake their manes like young lions.
51:39. In their heat I will set them drink: and I will make them drunk, that they may slumber, and sleep an everlasting sleep, and awake no more, saith the Lord.
51:40. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, and like rams with kids.
51:41. How is Sesach taken, and the renowned one of all the earth surprised? How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations?
51:42. The sea is come up over Babylon: she is covered with the mult.i.tude of the waves thereof.
51:43. Her cities are become an astonishment, a land uninhabited and desolate, a land wherein none can dwell, nor son of man pa.s.s through it.