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Selected Verse: Jeremiah 50:2 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Jer 50:2	Strong Concordance	Declare [05046] ye among the nations [01471], and publish [08085], and set up [05375] a standard [05251]; publish [08085], and conceal [03582] not: say [0559], Babylon [0894] is taken [03920], Bel [01078] is confounded [03001], Merodach [04781] is broken in pieces [02865]; her idols [06091] are confounded [03001], her images [01544] are broken in pieces [02865].
	King James	Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Declare . . . among . . . nations--who would rejoice at the fall of Babylon their oppressor. standard--to indicate the place of meeting to the nations where they were to hear the good news of Babylon's fall [ROSENMULLER]; or, the signal to summon the nations together against Babylon (Jer 51:12, Jer 51:27), [MAURER]. Bel--the tutelary god of Babylon; the same idol as the PhÅ“nician Baal, that is, lord, the sun (Isa 46:1). confounded--because unable to defend the city under their protection. Merodach--another Babylonian idol; meaning in Syria "little lord"; from which Merodach-baladan took his name.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Declare . . . among . . . nations--who would rejoice at the fall of Babylon their oppressor.

standard--to indicate the place of meeting to the nations where they were to hear the good news of Babylon's fall [ROSENMULLER]; or, the signal to summon the nations together against Babylon (Jer 51:12, Jer 51:27), [MAURER].

Bel--the tutelary god of Babylon; the same idol as the PhÅ“nician Baal, that is, lord, the sun (Isa 46:1).

confounded--because unable to defend the city under their protection.

Merodach--another Babylonian idol; meaning in Syria "little lord"; from which Merodach-baladan took his name.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Confounded ... confounded - ashamed ... ashamed. Merodach - This deity, in the inscriptions Marduk, was the tutelary god of Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar, who called his son Evil-Merodach, appears to have been especially devoted to his service. He was really identical with Bel, and his equivalent among the planets was Jupiter: and as such he was styled "King of heaven and earth."

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The fall of Babylon, and deliverance of Israel. - Jer 50:2. "Tell it among the nations, and cause it to be heard, and lift up a standard; cause it to be heard, conceal it not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is ashamed, Merodach is confounded; her images are ashamed, her idols are confounded. Jer 50:3. For there hath come up against her a nation out of the north; it will make her land a desolation, and there shall be not an inhabitant in it: from man to beast, [all] have fled, are gone. Jer 50:4. In those days, and at that time, saith Jahveh, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go, weeping as they go, and shall seek Jahveh their God. Jer 50:5. They shall ask for Zion, with their faces [turned to] the road hitherwards, [saying], Come, and let us join ourselves to Jahveh by an eternal covenant [which] shall not be forgotten. Jer 50:6. My people have been a flock of lost ones; their shepherds have misled them [on] mountains which lead astray: from mountain to hill they went; they forgot their resting-place. Jer 50:7. All who found them have devoured them; and their enemies said, We are not guilty, for they have sinned against Jahveh, the dwelling-place of justice, and the hope of their fathers, Jahveh. Jer 50:8. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and from the land of the Chaldeans; let them go forth, and let them be like he-goats before a flock. Jer 50:9. For, behold, I will stir up, and bring up against Babylon, an assembly of great nations out of the land of the north: and they shall array themselves against her; on that side shall she be taken: his arrows [are] like [those of] a skilful hero [who] does not return empty. Jer 50:10. And [the land of the] Chaldeans shall become a spoil; all those who spoil her shall be satisfied, saith Jahveh." In the spirit Jeremiah sees the fall of Babylon, together with its idols, as if it had actually taken place, and gives the command to proclaim among the nations this event, which brings deliverance for Israel and Judah. The joy over this is expressed in the accumulation of the words for the summons to tell the nations what has happened. On the expression, cf. Jer 4:5-6; Jer 46:14. The lifting up of a standard, i.e., of a signal-rod, served for the more rapid spreading of news; cf. Jer 4:6; Jer 6:1, Isa 13:2, etc. "Cause it to be heard" is intensified by the addition of "do not conceal it." The thing is to be proclaimed without reserve; cf. Jer 38:14. "Babylon is taken," i.e., conquered, and her idols have become ashamed, inasmuch as, from their inability to save their city, their powerlessness and nullity have come to light. Bel and Merodach are not different divinities, but merely different names for the chief deity of the Babylonians. Bel = Baal, the Jupiter of the Babylonians, was, as Bel-merodach, the tutelary god of Babylon. "The whole of the Babylonian dynasty," says Oppert, Expd. en Msopot. ii. p. 272, "places him [Merodach] at the head of the gods; and the inscription of Borsippa calls him the king of heaven and earth." עצבּים, "images of idols," and גּלּוּלים, properly "logs," an expression of contempt for idols (see on Lev 26:30), are synonymous ideas for designating the nature and character of the Babylonian gods. Jer 50:3 Babylon is fallen by a people from the north, that has gone out against her, and makes her land a desolation. This nation is described in Jer 50:9 as a collection, union of great nations, that are enumerated especially in Jer 51:27-28. On "it [the nation] shall make her land," etc., cf. Jer 2:15; Jer 48:9; on the expression "from man to beast," cf. Jer 33:12; Jer 9:9. נדוּ is from נוּד, Jer 50:8 and Jer 49:30 = נדדוּ, from נדד, Jer 9:9. Jer 50:4-6 Then, when Babylon shall have fallen, the children of Israel and Judah return out of their captivity, seeking Jahveh their God with tears of repentance, and marching to Zion, for the purpose of joining themselves to Him in an eternal covenant. The fall of Babylon has the deliverance of Israel as its direct result. The prophet views this in such a way, that all the steps in the fulfilment (the return from Babylon, the reunion of the tribes previously separated, their sincere return to the Lord, and the making of a new covenant that shall endure for ever), which will actually follow successively in long periods, are taken together into one view. By the statement made regarding the time, "In those days, and at that time," the fall of Babylon and the deliverance of Israel (which Jeremiah sees in the spirit as already begun) are marked out as belonging to the future. Israel and Judah come together, divided no more; cf. Jer 3:18. "Going and weeping they go," i.e., they always go further on, weeping: cf. Jer 41:6; Sa2 3:16; Ewald, 280, b. Cf. also Jer 3:21; Jer 31:9. Seeking the Lord their God, they ask for Zion, i.e., they ask after the way thither; for in Zion Jahveh has His throne. "The way hither" (i.e., to Jerusalem) "is their face," sc. directed. "Hither" points to the place of the speaker, Jerusalem. באוּ are imperatives, and words with which those who are returning encourage one another to a close following of the Lord their God. נלווּ is imperative for ילּווּ, like נקבּצוּ in Isa 43:9, Joe 3:11; cf. Ewald, 226, c. It cannot be the imperfect, because the third person gives no sense; hence Graf would change the vowels, and read נלוה. But suspicion is raised against this by the very fact that, excepting Ecc 8:15, לוה, in the sense of joining oneself to, depending on, occurs only in the Niphal. בּרית עולם is a modal accusative: "in an eternal covenant which shall not be forgotten," i.e., which we will not forget, will not break again. In fact, this is the new covenant which the Lord, according to Jer 31:31., will make in time to come with His people. But here this side of the matter is withdrawn from consideration; for the point treated of is merely what Israel, in his repentant frame and returning to God, vows he shall do. Israel comes to this determination in consequence of the misery into which he has fallen because of his sins, Jer 50:5-7. Israel was like a flock of lost sheep which their shepherds had led astray. צאן , a flock of sheep that are going to ruin. The participle in the plural is joined with the collective noun ad sensum, to show what is imminent or is beginning to happen. The verb היה points to the subject צאן; hence the Qeri היוּ is unnecessary. The plural suffixes of the following clause refer to עמּי as a collective. The shepherds led the people of God astray on הרים שׁובבים (a local accusative; on the Kethib שׁובבים, cf. Jer 31:32; Jer 49:4; it is not to be read שׁובבים), mountains that render people faithless. These mountains were so designated because they were the seats of that idolatry which had great power of attraction for a sinful people, so that the seduction or alienation of the people from their God is ascribed to them. שׁובב is used in the sense which the verb has in Isa 47:10. The Qeri שׁובבוּם gives the less appropriate idea, "the shepherds made the sheep stray." Hitzig's translation, "they drove them along the mountain," does to suit the verb שׁובב. Moreover, the mountains in themselves do not form unsuitable pasture-ground for sheep, and הרים does not mean "a bare, desolate mountain-range." The objection to our view of הרים, that there is no very evident proof that worship on high places is referred to (Graf), is pure fancy, and the reverse only is true. For the words which follow, "they (the sheep) went from mountain to hill, and forgot their resting-place," have no meaning whatever, unless they are understood of the idolatrous dealings of Israel. The resting-place of the sheep (רבחם, the place where the flocks lie down to rest), according to Jer 50:7, is Jahveh, the hope of their fathers. Their having forgotten this resting-place is the result of their going from mountain to hill: these words undeniably point to the idolatry of the people on every high hill (Jer 2:20; Jer 3:2; Jer 17:2, etc.). Jer 50:7 The consequence of this going astray on the part of Israel was, that every one who found them devoured them, and while doing so, cherished the thought that they were not incurring guilt, because Israel had been given up to their enemies on account of their apostasy from God; while the fact was, that every offence against Israel, as the holy people of the Lord, brought on guilt; cf. Jer 2:3. This befell Israel because they have sinned against Jahveh. נוה צדק, "the habitation (or pasture-ground) of righteousness." So, in Jer 31:23, Zion is called the mountain on which Jahveh sits enthroned in His sanctuary. As in other places Jahveh Himself is called a fortress, Psa 18:3; a sun, shield, Psa 84:12; a shade, Psa 121:5; so here He is called the One in whom is contained that righteousness which is the source of Israel's salvation. As such, He was the hope of the fathers, the God upon whom the fathers put their trust; cf. Jer 14:8; Jer 17:13; Psa 22:5. The repetition of יהוה at the end is intended to give an emphatic conclusion to the sentence. Jer 50:8-10 To escape from this misery, Israel is to flee from Babylon; for the judgment of conquest and plunder by enemies is breaking over Babylon. The summons to flee out of Babylon is a reminiscence of Isa 38:20. The Kethib יצאוּ may be vindicated, because the direct address pretty often makes a sudden transition into the language of the third person. They are to depart from the land of the Chaldeans. No more will then be necessary than to change והיוּ into והיוּ. The simile, "like he-goats before the flock," does not mean that Israel is to press forward that he may save himself before any one else (Graf), but that Israel is to go before all, as an example and leader in the flight (Ngelsbach). Jer 50:9-10 For the Lord arouses and leads against Babylon a crowd of nations, i.e., an army consisting of a multitude of nations. As meeעיר reminds us of Isa 13:17, so קהל גּוים גּ remind us of ממלכות גּוים נאספים in Isa 13:4. ערך ל, to make preparations against. משּׁם is not used of time (Rosenmller, Ngelsbach, etc.), for this application of the word has not been established from the actual occurrence of instances, but it has a local meaning, and refers to the "crowd of nations:" from that place where the nations that come out of the north have assembled before Babylon. In the last clause, the multitude of great nations is taken together, as if they formed one enemy: "his arrows are like the arrows of a wisely dealing (i.e., skilful) warrior." (Note: Instead of משׂכּיל, J. H. Michaelis, in his Biblia Halens., has accepted the reading משּׁכּיל on the authority of three Erfurt codices and three old editions (a Veneta of 1618; Buxtorf's Rabbinic Bible, printed at Basle, 1720; and the London Polyglott). J. D. Michaelis, Rosenmller, Maurer, and Umbreit have decided for this reading, and point to the rendering of the Vulgate, interfectoris, and of the Targum, מתכּיל, orbans. On the other hand, the lxx and Syriac have read and rendered משׂכּיל; and this reading is not merely presented by nonnulli libri, as Maurer states, but by twelve codices of de Rossi, and all the more ancient editions of the Bible, of which de Rossi in his variae lectiones mentions forty-one. The critical witnesses are thus overwhelming for משׂכּיל; and against משּׁכּיל there lies the further consideration, that שׁכל has the meaning orbare, to render childless, only in the Piel, but in the Hiphil means abortare, to cause or have miscarriages, as is shown by רחם משּׁכּיל, Hos 9:14.) The words לא ישׁוּב do not permit of being referred, on the strength of Sa2 1:22, to one particular arrow which does not come back empty; for the verb שׁוּב, though perhaps suitable enough for the sword, which is drawn back when it has executed the blow, is inappropriate for the arrow, which does not return. The subject to ישׁוּב is גּבּור si , the hero, who does not turn or return without having accomplished his object; cf. Isa 55:11. In Jer 50:10, כּשׂדּים is the name of the country, "Chaldeans;" hence it is construed as a feminine. The plunderers of Chaldea will be able to satisfy themselves with the rich booty of that country.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The fall of Babylon, and deliverance of Israel. - Jer 50:2. "Tell it among the nations, and cause it to be heard, and lift up a standard; cause it to be heard, conceal it not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is ashamed, Merodach is confounded; her images are ashamed, her idols are confounded. Jer 50:3. For there hath come up against her a nation out of the north; it will make her land a desolation, and there shall be not an inhabitant in it: from man to beast, [all] have fled, are gone. Jer 50:4. In those days, and at that time, saith Jahveh, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go, weeping as they go, and shall seek Jahveh their God. Jer 50:5. They shall ask for Zion, with their faces [turned to] the road hitherwards, [saying], Come, and let us join ourselves to Jahveh by an eternal covenant [which] shall not be forgotten. Jer 50:6. My people have been a flock of lost ones; their shepherds have misled them [on] mountains which lead astray: from mountain to hill they went; they forgot their resting-place. Jer 50:7. All who found them have devoured them; and their enemies said, We are not guilty, for they have sinned against Jahveh, the dwelling-place of justice, and the hope of their fathers, Jahveh. Jer 50:8. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and from the land of the Chaldeans; let them go forth, and let them be like he-goats before a flock. Jer 50:9. For, behold, I will stir up, and bring up against Babylon, an assembly of great nations out of the land of the north: and they shall array themselves against her; on that side shall she be taken: his arrows [are] like [those of] a skilful hero [who] does not return empty. Jer 50:10. And [the land of the] Chaldeans shall become a spoil; all those who spoil her shall be satisfied, saith Jahveh."

In the spirit Jeremiah sees the fall of Babylon, together with its idols, as if it had actually taken place, and gives the command to proclaim among the nations this event, which brings deliverance for Israel and Judah. The joy over this is expressed in the accumulation of the words for the summons to tell the nations what has happened. On the expression, cf. Jer 4:5-6; Jer 46:14. The lifting up of a standard, i.e., of a signal-rod, served for the more rapid spreading of news; cf. Jer 4:6; Jer 6:1, Isa 13:2, etc. "Cause it to be heard" is intensified by the addition of "do not conceal it." The thing is to be proclaimed without reserve; cf. Jer 38:14. "Babylon is taken," i.e., conquered, and her idols have become ashamed, inasmuch as, from their inability to save their city, their powerlessness and nullity have come to light. Bel and Merodach are not different divinities, but merely different names for the chief deity of the Babylonians. Bel = Baal, the Jupiter of the Babylonians, was, as Bel-merodach, the tutelary god of Babylon. "The whole of the Babylonian dynasty," says Oppert, Expd. en Msopot. ii. p. 272, "places him [Merodach] at the head of the gods; and the inscription of Borsippa calls him the king of heaven and earth." עצבּים, "images of idols," and גּלּוּלים, properly "logs," an expression of contempt for idols (see on Lev 26:30), are synonymous ideas for designating the nature and character of the Babylonian gods.

Jer 50:3

Babylon is fallen by a people from the north, that has gone out against her, and makes her land a desolation. This nation is described in Jer 50:9 as a collection, union of great nations, that are enumerated especially in Jer 51:27-28. On "it [the nation] shall make her land," etc., cf. Jer 2:15; Jer 48:9; on the expression "from man to beast," cf. Jer 33:12; Jer 9:9. נדוּ is from נוּד, Jer 50:8 and Jer 49:30 = נדדוּ, from נדד, Jer 9:9.

Jer 50:4-6

Then, when Babylon shall have fallen, the children of Israel and Judah return out of their captivity, seeking Jahveh their God with tears of repentance, and marching to Zion, for the purpose of joining themselves to Him in an eternal covenant. The fall of Babylon has the deliverance of Israel as its direct result. The prophet views this in such a way, that all the steps in the fulfilment (the return from Babylon, the reunion of the tribes previously separated, their sincere return to the Lord, and the making of a new covenant that shall endure for ever), which will actually follow successively in long periods, are taken together into one view. By the statement made regarding the time, "In those days, and at that time," the fall of Babylon and the deliverance of Israel (which Jeremiah sees in the spirit as already begun) are marked out as belonging to the future. Israel and Judah come together, divided no more; cf. Jer 3:18. "Going and weeping they go," i.e., they always go further on, weeping: cf. Jer 41:6; Sa2 3:16; Ewald, 280, b. Cf. also Jer 3:21; Jer 31:9. Seeking the Lord their God, they ask for Zion, i.e., they ask after the way thither; for in Zion Jahveh has His throne. "The way hither" (i.e., to Jerusalem) "is their face," sc. directed. "Hither" points to the place of the speaker, Jerusalem. באוּ are imperatives, and words with which those who are returning encourage one another to a close following of the Lord their God. נלווּ is imperative for ילּווּ, like נקבּצוּ in Isa 43:9, Joe 3:11; cf. Ewald, 226, c. It cannot be the imperfect, because the third person gives no sense; hence Graf would change the vowels, and read נלוה. But suspicion is raised against this by the very fact that, excepting Ecc 8:15, לוה, in the sense of joining oneself to, depending on, occurs only in the Niphal. בּרית עולם is a modal accusative: "in an eternal covenant which shall not be forgotten," i.e., which we will not forget, will not break again. In fact, this is the new covenant which the Lord, according to Jer 31:31., will make in time to come with His people. But here this side of the matter is withdrawn from consideration; for the point treated of is merely what Israel, in his repentant frame and returning to God, vows he shall do.

Israel comes to this determination in consequence of the misery into which he has fallen because of his sins, Jer 50:5-7. Israel was like a flock of lost sheep which their shepherds had led astray. צאן , a flock of sheep that are going to ruin. The participle in the plural is joined with the collective noun ad sensum, to show what is imminent or is beginning to happen. The verb היה points to the subject צאן; hence the Qeri היוּ is unnecessary. The plural suffixes of the following clause refer to עמּי as a collective. The shepherds led the people of God astray on הרים שׁובבים (a local accusative; on the Kethib שׁובבים, cf. Jer 31:32; Jer 49:4; it is not to be read שׁובבים), mountains that render people faithless. These mountains were so designated because they were the seats of that idolatry which had great power of attraction for a sinful people, so that the seduction or alienation of the people from their God is ascribed to them. שׁובב is used in the sense which the verb has in Isa 47:10. The Qeri שׁובבוּם gives the less appropriate idea, "the shepherds made the sheep stray." Hitzig's translation, "they drove them along the mountain," does to suit the verb שׁובב. Moreover, the mountains in themselves do not form unsuitable pasture-ground for sheep, and הרים does not mean "a bare, desolate mountain-range." The objection to our view of הרים, that there is no very evident proof that worship on high places is referred to (Graf), is pure fancy, and the reverse only is true. For the words which follow, "they (the sheep) went from mountain to hill, and forgot their resting-place," have no meaning whatever, unless they are understood of the idolatrous dealings of Israel. The resting-place of the sheep (רבחם, the place where the flocks lie down to rest), according to Jer 50:7, is Jahveh, the hope of their fathers. Their having forgotten this resting-place is the result of their going from mountain to hill: these words undeniably point to the idolatry of the people on every high hill (Jer 2:20; Jer 3:2; Jer 17:2, etc.).

Jer 50:7

The consequence of this going astray on the part of Israel was, that every one who found them devoured them, and while doing so, cherished the thought that they were not incurring guilt, because Israel had been given up to their enemies on account of their apostasy from God; while the fact was, that every offence against Israel, as the holy people of the Lord, brought on guilt; cf. Jer 2:3. This befell Israel because they have sinned against Jahveh. נוה צדק, "the habitation (or pasture-ground) of righteousness." So, in Jer 31:23, Zion is called the mountain on which Jahveh sits enthroned in His sanctuary. As in other places Jahveh Himself is called a fortress, Psa 18:3; a sun, shield, Psa 84:12; a shade, Psa 121:5; so here He is called the One in whom is contained that righteousness which is the source of Israel's salvation. As such, He was the hope of the fathers, the God upon whom the fathers put their trust; cf. Jer 14:8; Jer 17:13; Psa 22:5. The repetition of יהוה at the end is intended to give an emphatic conclusion to the sentence.

Jer 50:8-10

To escape from this misery, Israel is to flee from Babylon; for the judgment of conquest and plunder by enemies is breaking over Babylon. The summons to flee out of Babylon is a reminiscence of Isa 38:20. The Kethib יצאוּ may be vindicated, because the direct address pretty often makes a sudden transition into the language of the third person. They are to depart from the land of the Chaldeans. No more will then be necessary than to change והיוּ into והיוּ. The simile, "like he-goats before the flock," does not mean that Israel is to press forward that he may save himself before any one else (Graf), but that Israel is to go before all, as an example and leader in the flight (Ngelsbach).

Jer 50:9-10

For the Lord arouses and leads against Babylon a crowd of nations, i.e., an army consisting of a multitude of nations. As meeעיר reminds us of Isa 13:17, so קהל גּוים גּ remind us of ממלכות גּוים נאספים in Isa 13:4. ערך ל, to make preparations against. משּׁם is not used of time (Rosenmller, Ngelsbach, etc.), for this application of the word has not been established from the actual occurrence of instances, but it has a local meaning, and refers to the "crowd of nations:" from that place where the nations that come out of the north have assembled before Babylon. In the last clause, the multitude of great nations is taken together, as if they formed one enemy: "his arrows are like the arrows of a wisely dealing (i.e., skilful) warrior."

(Note: Instead of משׂכּיל, J. H. Michaelis, in his Biblia Halens., has accepted the reading משּׁכּיל on the authority of three Erfurt codices and three old editions (a Veneta of 1618; Buxtorf's Rabbinic Bible, printed at Basle, 1720; and the London Polyglott). J. D. Michaelis, Rosenmller, Maurer, and Umbreit have decided for this reading, and point to the rendering of the Vulgate, interfectoris, and of the Targum, מתכּיל, orbans. On the other hand, the lxx and Syriac have read and rendered משׂכּיל; and this reading is not merely presented by nonnulli libri, as Maurer states, but by twelve codices of de Rossi, and all the more ancient editions of the Bible, of which de Rossi in his variae lectiones mentions forty-one. The critical witnesses are thus overwhelming for משׂכּיל; and against משּׁכּיל there lies the further consideration, that שׁכל has the meaning orbare, to render childless, only in the Piel, but in the Hiphil means abortare, to cause or have miscarriages, as is shown by רחם משּׁכּיל, Hos 9:14.)

The words לא ישׁוּב do not permit of being referred, on the strength of Sa2 1:22, to one particular arrow which does not come back empty; for the verb שׁוּב, though perhaps suitable enough for the sword, which is drawn back when it has executed the blow, is inappropriate for the arrow, which does not return. The subject to ישׁוּב is גּבּור si , the hero, who does not turn or return without having accomplished his object; cf. Isa 55:11. In Jer 50:10, כּשׂדּים is the name of the country, "Chaldeans;" hence it is construed as a feminine. The plunderers of Chaldea will be able to satisfy themselves with the rich booty of that country.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Bel - Bel and Merodach were the two principal idols of the Babylonians.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Declare ye among the nations - God's determination relative to this empire. Set up a standard - Show the people where they are to assemble. Say, Babylon is taken - It is a thing so firmly determined, that it is as good as already done. Bel - The tutelar deity of Babylon is confounded, because it cannot save its own city. Merodach - Another of their idols, is broken to pieces; it was not able to save itself, much less the whole empire. Her idols are confounded - It is a reproach to have acknowledged them. Her images - Great and small, golden and wooden, are broken to pieces; even the form of them no longer appears.

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¹ Bel [01078] boweth down [03766], Nebo [05015] stoopeth [07164], their idols [06091] were upon the beasts [02416], and upon the cattle [0929]: your carriages [05385] were heavy loaden [06006]; they are a burden [04853] to the weary [05889] beast.

¹² Set up [05375] the standard [05251] upon the walls [02346] of Babylon [0894], make the watch [04929] strong [02388], set up [06965] the watchmen [08104], prepare [03559] the ambushes [0693]: for the LORD [03068] hath both devised [02161] and done [06213] that which he spake [01696] against the inhabitants [03427] of Babylon [0894].

¹⁰ And Chaldea [03778] shall be a spoil [07998]: all that spoil [07997] her shall be satisfied [07646], saith [05002] the LORD [03068].

¹¹ So shall my word [01697] be that goeth forth [03318] out of my mouth [06310]: it shall not return [07725] unto me void [07387], but it shall accomplish [06213] that which I please [02654], and it shall prosper [06743] in the thing whereto I sent [07971] it.

²² From the blood [01818] of the slain [02491], from the fat [02459] of the mighty [01368], the bow [07198] of Jonathan [03083] turned [07734] not back [0268], and the sword [02719] of Saul [07586] returned [07725] not empty [07387].

¹⁴ Give [05414] them, O LORD [03068]: what wilt thou give [05414]? give [05414] them a miscarrying [07921] womb [07358] and dry [06784] breasts [07699].

⁴ The noise [06963] of a multitude [01995] in the mountains [02022], like as [01823] of a great [07227] people [05971]; a tumultuous [07588] noise [06963] of the kingdoms [04467] of nations [01471] gathered together [0622]: the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635] mustereth [06485] the host [06635] of the battle [04421].

¹⁷ Behold, I will stir up [05782] the Medes [04074] against them, which shall not regard [02803] silver [03701]; and as for gold [02091], they shall not delight [02654] in it.

⁹ For, lo, I will raise [05782] and cause to come up [05927] against Babylon [0894] an assembly [06951] of great [01419] nations [01471] from the north [06828] country [0776]: and they shall set themselves in array [06186] against her; from thence she shall be taken [03920]: their arrows [02671] shall be as of a mighty [01368] expert man [07919] [07921]; none shall return [07725] in vain [07387].
¹⁰ And Chaldea [03778] shall be a spoil [07998]: all that spoil [07997] her shall be satisfied [07646], saith [05002] the LORD [03068].

²⁰ The LORD [03068] was ready to save [03467] me: therefore we will sing my songs [05058] to the stringed instruments [05059] all the days [03117] of our life [02416] in the house [01004] of the LORD [03068].

⁸ Remove [05110] out of the midst [08432] of Babylon [0894], and go forth [03318] [03318] out of the land [0776] of the Chaldeans [03778], and be as the he goats [06260] before [06440] the flocks [06629].
⁹ For, lo, I will raise [05782] and cause to come up [05927] against Babylon [0894] an assembly [06951] of great [01419] nations [01471] from the north [06828] country [0776]: and they shall set themselves in array [06186] against her; from thence she shall be taken [03920]: their arrows [02671] shall be as of a mighty [01368] expert man [07919] [07921]; none shall return [07725] in vain [07387].
¹⁰ And Chaldea [03778] shall be a spoil [07998]: all that spoil [07997] her shall be satisfied [07646], saith [05002] the LORD [03068].

⁵ They cried [02199] unto thee, and were delivered [04422]: they trusted [0982] in thee, and were not confounded [0954].

¹³ O LORD [03068], the hope [04723] of Israel [03478], all that forsake [05800] thee shall be ashamed [0954], and they that depart [03249] from me [05493] shall be written [03789] in the earth [0776], because they have forsaken [05800] the LORD [03068], the fountain [04726] of living [02416] waters [04325].

⁸ O the hope [04723] of Israel [03478], the saviour [03467] thereof in time [06256] of trouble [06869], why shouldest thou be as a stranger [01616] in the land [0776], and as a wayfaring man [0732] that turneth aside [05186] to tarry for a night [03885]?

⁵ The LORD [03068] is thy keeper [08104]: the LORD [03068] is thy shade [06738] upon thy right [03225] hand [03027].

¹² O LORD [03068] of hosts [06635], blessed [0835] is the man [0120] that trusteth [0982] in thee.

³ I will call [07121] upon the LORD [03068], who is worthy to be praised [01984]: so shall I be saved [03467] from mine enemies [0341].

²³ Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635], the God [0430] of Israel [03478]; As yet they shall use [0559] this speech [01697] in the land [0776] of Judah [03063] and in the cities [05892] thereof, when I shall bring again [07725] their captivity [07622]; The LORD [03068] bless [01288] thee, O habitation [05116] of justice [06664], and mountain [02022] of holiness [06944].

³ Israel [03478] was holiness [06944] unto the LORD [03068], and the firstfruits [07225] of his increase [08393]: all that devour [0398] him shall offend [0816]; evil [07451] shall come [0935] upon them, saith [05002] the LORD [03068].

⁷ All that found [04672] them have devoured [0398] them: and their adversaries [06862] said [0559], We offend [0816] not, because they have sinned [02398] against the LORD [03068], the habitation [05116] of justice [06664], even the LORD [03068], the hope [04723] of their fathers [01].

² Whilst their children [01121] remember [02142] their altars [04196] and their groves [0842] by the green [07488] trees [06086] upon the high [01364] hills [01389].

² Lift up [05375] thine eyes [05869] unto the high places [08205], and see [07200] where [0375] thou hast not been lien [07693] [07901] with. In the ways [01870] hast thou sat [03427] for them, as the Arabian [06163] in the wilderness [04057]; and thou hast polluted [02610] the land [0776] with thy whoredoms [02184] and with thy wickedness [07451].

²⁰ For of old time [05769] I have broken [07665] thy yoke [05923], and burst [05423] thy bands [04147]; and thou saidst [0559], I will not transgress [05674] [05647]; when upon every high [01364] hill [01389] and under every green [07488] tree [06086] thou wanderest [06808], playing the harlot [02181].

¹⁰ For thou hast trusted [0982] in thy wickedness [07451]: thou hast said [0559], None seeth [07200] me. Thy wisdom [02451] and thy knowledge [01847], it hath perverted [07725] thee; and thou hast said [0559] in thine heart [03820], I am, and none else [0657] beside me.

⁴ Wherefore gloriest [01984] thou in the valleys [06010], thy flowing [02100] valley [06010], O backsliding [07728] daughter [01323]? that trusted [0982] in her treasures [0214], saying, Who shall come [0935] unto me?

³² Not according to the covenant [01285] that I made [03772] with their fathers [01] in the day [03117] that I took [02388] them by the hand [03027] to bring them out [03318] of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714]; which my covenant [01285] they brake [06565], although I was an husband [01166] unto them, saith [05002] the LORD [03068]:

⁵ They shall ask [07592] the way [01870] to Zion [06726] with their faces [06440] thitherward [02008], saying, Come [0935], and let us join [03867] ourselves to the LORD [03068] in a perpetual [05769] covenant [01285] that shall not be forgotten [07911].
⁶ My people [05971] hath been lost [06] sheep [06629]: their shepherds [07462] have caused them to go astray [08582], they have turned them away [07725] [07726] on the mountains [02022]: they have gone [01980] from mountain [02022] to hill [01389], they have forgotten [07911] their restingplace [07258].
⁷ All that found [04672] them have devoured [0398] them: and their adversaries [06862] said [0559], We offend [0816] not, because they have sinned [02398] against the LORD [03068], the habitation [05116] of justice [06664], even the LORD [03068], the hope [04723] of their fathers [01].

³¹ Behold, the days [03117] come [0935], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], that I will make [03772] a new [02319] covenant [01285] with the house [01004] of Israel [03478], and with the house [01004] of Judah [03063]:

¹⁵ Then I commended [07623] mirth [08057], because a man [0120] hath no better thing [02896] under the sun [08121], than to eat [0398], and to drink [08354], and to be merry [08055]: for that shall abide [03867] with him of his labour [05999] the days [03117] of his life [02416], which God [0430] giveth [05414] him under the sun [08121].

¹¹ Assemble [05789] yourselves, and come [0935], all ye heathen [01471], and gather yourselves together [06908] round about [05439]: thither cause thy mighty ones [01368] to come down [05181], O LORD [03068].

⁹ Let all the nations [01471] be gathered [06908] together [03162], and let the people [03816] be assembled [0622]: who among them can declare [05046] this, and shew [08085] us former things [07223]? let them bring forth [05414] their witnesses [05707], that they may be justified [06663]: or let them hear [08085], and say [0559], It is truth [0571].

⁹ They shall come [0935] with weeping [01065], and with supplications [08469] will I lead [02986] them: I will cause them to walk [03212] by the rivers [05158] of waters [04325] in a straight [03477] way [01870], wherein they shall not stumble [03782]: for I am a father [01] to Israel [03478], and Ephraim [0669] is my firstborn [01060].

²¹ A voice [06963] was heard [08085] upon the high places [08205], weeping [01065] and supplications [08469] of the children [01121] of Israel [03478]: for they have perverted [05753] their way [01870], and they have forgotten [07911] the LORD [03068] their God [0430].

¹⁶ And her husband [0376] went [03212] with her along weeping [01980] [01058] behind [0310] her to Bahurim [0980]. Then said [0559] Abner [074] unto him, Go [03212], return [07725]. And he returned [07725].

⁶ And Ishmael [03458] the son [01121] of Nethaniah [05418] went forth [03318] from Mizpah [04709] to meet [07125] them, weeping [01058] all along [01980] as he went [01980]: and it came to pass, as he met [06298] them, he said [0559] unto them, Come [0935] to Gedaliah [01436] the son [01121] of Ahikam [0296].

¹⁸ In those days [03117] the house [01004] of Judah [03063] shall walk [03212] with the house [01004] of Israel [03478], and they shall come [0935] together [03162] out of the land [0776] of the north [06828] to the land [0776] that I have given for an inheritance [05157] unto your fathers [01].

⁴ In those days [03117], and in that time [06256], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], the children [01121] of Israel [03478] shall come [0935], they and the children [01121] of Judah [03063] together [03162], going [01980] and weeping [01058]: they shall go [03212], and seek [01245] the LORD [03068] their God [0430].
⁵ They shall ask [07592] the way [01870] to Zion [06726] with their faces [06440] thitherward [02008], saying, Come [0935], and let us join [03867] ourselves to the LORD [03068] in a perpetual [05769] covenant [01285] that shall not be forgotten [07911].
⁶ My people [05971] hath been lost [06] sheep [06629]: their shepherds [07462] have caused them to go astray [08582], they have turned them away [07725] [07726] on the mountains [02022]: they have gone [01980] from mountain [02022] to hill [01389], they have forgotten [07911] their restingplace [07258].

⁹ Shall I not visit [06485] them for these things? saith [05002] the LORD [03068]: shall not my soul [05315] be avenged [05358] on such a nation [01471] as this?

³⁰ Flee [05127], get [05110] you far off [03966], dwell [03427] deep [06009], O ye inhabitants [03427] of Hazor [02674], saith [05002] the LORD [03068]; for Nebuchadrezzar [05019] king [04428] of Babylon [0894] hath taken counsel [06098] [03289] against you, and hath conceived [02803] a purpose [04284] against you.

⁹ Shall I not visit [06485] them for these things? saith [05002] the LORD [03068]: shall not my soul [05315] be avenged [05358] on such a nation [01471] as this?

¹² Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635]; Again in this place [04725], which is desolate [02720] without man [0120] and without beast [0929], and in all the cities [05892] thereof, shall be an habitation [05116] of shepherds [07462] causing their flocks [06629] to lie down [07257].

⁹ Give [05414] wings [06731] unto Moab [04124], that it may flee [05323] and get away [03318]: for the cities [05892] thereof shall be desolate [08047], without any to dwell [03427] therein [02004].

¹⁵ The young lions [03715] roared [07580] upon him, and yelled [05414] [06963], and they made [07896] his land [0776] waste [08047]: his cities [05892] are burned [03341] without inhabitant [03427].

²⁷ Set ye up [05375] a standard [05251] in the land [0776], blow [08628] the trumpet [07782] among the nations [01471], prepare [06942] the nations [01471] against her, call together [08085] against her the kingdoms [04467] of Ararat [0780], Minni [04508], and Ashchenaz [0813]; appoint [06485] a captain [02951] against her; cause the horses [05483] to come up [05927] as the rough [05569] caterpillers [03218].
²⁸ Prepare [06942] against her the nations [01471] with the kings [04428] of the Medes [04074], the captains [06346] thereof, and all the rulers [05461] thereof, and all the land [0776] of his dominion [04475].

³ For out of the north [06828] there cometh up [05927] a nation [01471] against her, which shall make [07896] her land [0776] desolate [08047], and none shall dwell [03427] therein: they shall remove [05110], they shall depart [01980], both man [0120] and beast [0929].

³⁰ And I will destroy [08045] your high places [01116], and cut down [03772] your images [02553], and cast [05414] your carcases [06297] upon the carcases [06297] of your idols [01544], and my soul [05315] shall abhor [01602] you.

¹⁴ Then Zedekiah [06667] the king [04428] sent [07971], and took [03947] Jeremiah [03414] the prophet [05030] unto him into the third [07992] entry [03996] that is in the house [01004] of the LORD [03068]: and the king [04428] said [0559] unto Jeremiah [03414], I will ask [07592] thee a thing [01697]; hide [03582] nothing from me.

² Lift ye up [05375] a banner [05251] upon the high [08192] mountain [02022], exalt [07311] the voice [06963] unto them, shake [05130] the hand [03027], that they may go [0935] into the gates [06607] of the nobles [05081].

¹ O ye children [01121] of Benjamin [01144], gather yourselves to flee [05756] out of the midst [07130] of Jerusalem [03389], and blow [08628] the trumpet [07782] in Tekoa [08620], and set up [05375] a sign [04864] of fire in Bethhaccerem [01021]: for evil [07451] appeareth [08259] out of the north [06828], and great [01419] destruction [07667].

⁶ Set up [05375] the standard [05251] toward Zion [06726]: retire [05756], stay [05975] not: for I will bring [0935] evil [07451] from the north [06828], and a great [01419] destruction [07667].

¹⁴ Declare [05046] ye in Egypt [04714], and publish [08085] in Migdol [04024], and publish [08085] in Noph [05297] and in Tahpanhes [08471]: say [0559] ye, Stand fast [03320], and prepare [03559] thee; for the sword [02719] shall devour [0398] round about [05439] thee.

⁵ Declare [05046] ye in Judah [03063], and publish [08085] in Jerusalem [03389]; and say [0559], Blow [08628] ye the trumpet [07782] in the land [0776]: cry [07121], gather together [04390], and say [0559], Assemble [0622] yourselves, and let us go [0935] into the defenced [04013] cities [05892].
⁶ Set up [05375] the standard [05251] toward Zion [06726]: retire [05756], stay [05975] not: for I will bring [0935] evil [07451] from the north [06828], and a great [01419] destruction [07667].

¹⁰ And Chaldea [03778] shall be a spoil [07998]: all that spoil [07997] her shall be satisfied [07646], saith [05002] the LORD [03068].

⁶ My people [05971] hath been lost [06] sheep [06629]: their shepherds [07462] have caused them to go astray [08582], they have turned them away [07725] [07726] on the mountains [02022]: they have gone [01980] from mountain [02022] to hill [01389], they have forgotten [07911] their restingplace [07258].

² Declare [05046] ye among the nations [01471], and publish [08085], and set up [05375] a standard [05251]; publish [08085], and conceal [03582] not: say [0559], Babylon [0894] is taken [03920], Bel [01078] is confounded [03001], Merodach [04781] is broken in pieces [02865]; her idols [06091] are confounded [03001], her images [01544] are broken in pieces [02865].