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Texts -- Jeremiah 51:22-64 (NET)

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51:22 I used you to smash men and women . I used you to smash old men and young men . I used you to smash young men and young women . 51:23 I used you to smash shepherds and their flocks . I used you to smash farmers and their teams of oxen . I used you to smash governors and leaders .” 51:24 “But I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wicked things they did in Zion right before the eyes of you Judeans,” says the Lord . 51:25 The Lord says , “Beware ! I am opposed to you, Babylon! You are like a destructive mountain that destroys all the earth . I will unleash my power against you; I will roll you off the cliffs and make you like a burned-out mountain . 51:26 No one will use any of your stones as a cornerstone . No one will use any of them in the foundation of his house. For you will lie desolate forever ,” says the Lord . 51:27 “Raise up battle flags throughout the lands . Sound the trumpets calling the nations to do battle. Prepare the nations to do battle against Babylonia. Call for these kingdoms to attack her: Ararat , Minni , and Ashkenaz . Appoint a commander to lead the attack. Send horses against her like a swarm of locusts . 51:28 Prepare the nations to do battle against her. Prepare the kings of the Medes . Prepare their governors and all their leaders . Prepare all the countries they rule to do battle against her. 51:29 The earth will tremble and writhe in agony. For the Lord will carry out his plan. He plans to make the land of Babylonia a wasteland where no one lives . 51:30 The soldiers of Babylonia will stop fighting . They will remain in their fortified cities . They will lose their strength to do battle. They will be as frightened as women . The houses in her cities will be set on fire . The gates of her cities will be broken down . 51:31 One runner after another will come to the king of Babylon. One messenger after another will come bringing news. They will bring news to the king of Babylon that his whole city has been captured . 51:32 They will report that the fords have been captured , the reed marshes have been burned , the soldiers are terrified . 51:33 For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says , ‘Fair Babylon will be like a threshing floor which has been trampled flat for harvest . The time for her to be cut down and harvested will come very soon.’ 51:34 “King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon devoured me and drove my people out . Like a monster from the deep he swallowed me. He filled his belly with my riches . He made me an empty dish . He completely cleaned me out .” 51:35 The person who lives in Zion says , “May Babylon pay for the violence done to me and to my relatives .” Jerusalem says , “May those living in Babylonia pay for the bloodshed of my people.” 51:36 Therefore the Lord says , “I will stand up for your cause . I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done to you. I will dry up their sea . I will make their springs run dry . 51:37 Babylon will become a heap of ruins. Jackals will make their home there. It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn, a place where no one lives . 51:38 The Babylonians are all like lions roaring for prey. They are like lion cubs growling for something to eat. 51:39 When their appetites are all stirred up, I will set out a banquet for them. I will make them drunk so that they will pass out , they will fall asleep forever , they will never wake up ,” says the Lord . 51:40 “I will lead them off to be slaughtered like lambs , rams , and male goats .” 51:41 “See how Babylon has been captured ! See how the pride of the whole earth has been taken! See what an object of horror Babylon has become among the nations ! 51:42 The sea has swept over Babylon . She has been covered by a multitude of its waves . 51:43 The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins . She has become a dry and barren desert . No one lives in those towns any more. No one even passes through them . 51:44 I will punish the god Bel in Babylon . I will make him spit out what he has swallowed . The nations will not come streaming to him any longer . Indeed , the walls of Babylon will fall .” 51:45 “Get out of Babylon, my people ! Flee to save your lives from the fierce anger of the Lord ! 51:46 Do not lose your courage or become afraid because of the reports that are heard in the land . For a report will come in one year . Another report will follow it in the next . There will be violence in the land with ruler fighting against ruler .” 51:47 “So the time will certainly come when I will punish the idols of Babylon . Her whole land will be put to shame . All her mortally wounded will collapse in her midst . 51:48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will sing for joy over Babylon . For destroyers from the north will attack it,” says the Lord . 51:49 “Babylon must fall because of the Israelites she has killed , just as the earth’s mortally wounded fell because of Babylon . 51:50 You who have escaped the sword , go , do not delay . Remember the Lord in a faraway land. Think about Jerusalem . 51:51 ‘We are ashamed because we have been insulted . Our faces show our disgrace . For foreigners have invaded the holy rooms in the Lord’s temple .’ 51:52 Yes , but the time will certainly come ,” says the Lord , “when I will punish her idols . Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan . 51:53 Even if Babylon climbs high into the sky and fortifies her elevated stronghold , I will send destroyers against her,” says the Lord . 51:54 Cries of anguish will come from Babylon , the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians . 51:55 For the Lord is ready to destroy Babylon , and put an end to her loud noise . Their waves will roar like turbulent waters . They will make a deafening noise . 51:56 For a destroyer is attacking Babylon . Her warriors will be captured ; their bows will be broken . For the Lord is a God who punishes ; he pays back in full . 51:57 “I will make her officials and wise men drunk , along with her governors , leaders , and warriors . They will fall asleep forever and never wake up ,” says the King whose name is the Lord who rules over all . 51:58 This is what the Lord who rules over all says , “Babylon’s thick wall will be completely demolished . Her high gates will be set on fire . fire . The peoples strive for what does not satisfy . satisfy . The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed .” 51:59 This is the order Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah son of Neriah , son of Mahseiah , when he went to King Zedekiah of Judah in Babylon during the fourth year of his reign . (Seraiah was a quartermaster .) 51:60 Jeremiah recorded on one scroll all the judgments that would come upon Babylon – all these prophecies written about Babylon . 51:61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah , “When you arrive in Babylon , make sure you read aloud all these prophecies . 51:62 Then say , ‘O Lord , you have announced that you will destroy this place so that no people or animals live in it any longer . Certainly it will lie desolate forever !’ 51:63 When you finish reading this scroll aloud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River. 51:64 Then say , ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the judgments I am ready to bring upon her; they will grow faint .’” The prophecies of Jeremiah end here .

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • War

    [nave] WAR Divine approval of, 2 Sam. 22:35. Civil, Judg. 12:1-6; 20; 2 Sam. 2:12-31; 3:1; 20; 1 Kin. 14:30; 16:21; Isa. 19:2; forbidden, 2 Chr. 11:4; averted, Josh. 22:11-34. Enemy harangued by general of opposing side, 2 Kin. 1...

  • WAR; WARFARE

    [isbe] WAR; WARFARE - wor, wor'-far (milchamah, 'anshe m., "men of war," "soldiers"; polemos, polemein, strateuesthai, stratia): 1. Religious Significance 2. Preliminaries 3. Operations of War 4. Strategy 5. Important Requisites 6....

  • Sin

    [nave] SIN. Index of Sub-Topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to, Defining, and Illustrating; Confession of; Consequences of, Entailed Upon Children; Conviction of; Forgiveness of; Fruits of; Kn...

  • RULER

    [isbe] RULER - rool'-er: 1. In the Old Testament: (1) moshel, "ruler," "prince," "master" (tyrant), applied to Joseph in Egypt (Gen 45:8; compare Ps 105:21); to the Philistines (Jdg 15:11); to David's descendants, the future kings ...

  • Persia

    [nave] PERSIA An empire which extended from India to Ethiopia, comprising one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, Esth. 1:1; Dan. 6:1. Government of, restricted by constitutional limitations, Esth. 8:8; Dan. 6:8-12. Municipal gov...

  • PERPETUAL; PERPETUALLY; PERPETUITY

    [isbe] PERPETUAL; PERPETUALLY; PERPETUITY - per-pet'-u-al, per-pet'-u-al-i, pur-pe-tu'-i-ti (`olam, netsach, [~tamidh): Perpetual is usually the translation of `olam, properly, "a wrapping up" or "hiding," used often of time indefi...

  • North country

    [ebd] a general name for the countries that lay north of Palestine. Most of the invading armies entered Palestine from the north (Isa. 41:25; Jer. 1:14,15; 50:3,9,41; 51:48; Ezek. 26:7).

  • Media

    [ebd] Heb. Madai, which is rendered in the Authorized Version (1) "Madai," Gen. 10:2; (2) "Medes," 2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; (3) "Media," Esther 1:3; 10:2; Isa. 21:2; Dan. 8:20; (4) "Mede," only in Dan. 11:1. We first hear of this peop...

  • MEDES

    [isbe] MEDES - medz (madhi; Assyrian Amada, Mada; Achaem. Persian Mada; Medoi (Gen 10:2; 2 Ki 17:6; 18:11; 1 Ch 1:5; Ezr 6:2; Est 1:3,14,18,19; 10:2; Isa 13:17; 21:2; Jer 25:25; 51:11,28; Dan 5:28; 6:1,9,13,16; 8:20; 9:1; 11:1)): M...

  • MAGISTRATE

    [isbe] MAGISTRATE - maj'-is-trat (shephaT, corresponding to shaphaT, "to judge," "to pronounce sentence" (Jdg 18:7)): Among the ancients, the terms corresponding to our "magistrate" had a much wider signification. "Magistrates and ...

  • Lintel

    [ebd] (1.) Heb. mashkoph, a projecting cover (Ex. 12:22, 23; ver. 7, "upper door post," but R.V. "lintel"); the head-piece of a door, which the Israelites were commanded to mark with the blood of the paschal lamb. (2.) Heb. kaphta...

  • GOVERNOR

    [ebd] (1.) Heb. nagid, a prominent, conspicuous person, whatever his capacity: as, chief of the royal palace (2 Chr. 28:7; comp. 1 Kings 4:6), chief of the temple (1 Chr. 9:11; Jer. 20:1), the leader of the Aaronites (1 Chr. 12:27...
    [isbe] GOVERNOR - guv'-er-ner: The word "governor" is employed in English Versions of the Bible in rendering a great variety of Hebrew and Greek words. In certain cases strict consistency is neither observed nor possible. 1. In the...
    [smith] In the Authorized Version this one English word is the representative of no less than ten Hebrew and four Greek words. The chief of a tribe or family. A ruler in his capacity of lawgiver and dispenser of justice. A ruler con...

  • FAINT

    [isbe] FAINT - fant (`ayeph, `uph, ya`aph, `alaph, aTaph, dawway, yaghea`, macac, rakhakh, paghar, kahah; ekluo, ekkakeo, kamno): The Hebrew vocabulary for the depressing physical conditions and mental emotions which are rendered i...

  • Euphrates

    [smith] is probably a word of Aryan origin, signifying "the good and abounding river. " It is most frequently denoted in the Bible by the term "the river." The Euphrates is the largest, the longest and by far the most important of th...
    [nave] EUPHRATES A river in the garden of Eden, Gen. 2:14. The eastern limit of the kingdom of Israel, Gen. 15:18; Ex. 23:31; Deut. 1:7; 11:24; Josh. 1:4; 2 Sam. 8:3; 1 Kin. 4:21; 1 Chr. 5:9; 18:3. Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, ma...

  • Drunk

    [ebd] The first case of intoxication on record is that of Noah (Gen. 9:21). The sin of drunkenness is frequently and strongly condemned (Rom. 13:13; 1 Cor. 6:9, 10; Eph. 5:18; 1 Thess. 5:7, 8). The sin of drinking to excess seems ...

  • Divination

    [ebd] of false prophets (Deut. 18:10, 14; Micah 3:6, 7, 11), of necromancers (1 Sam. 28:8), of the Philistine priests and diviners (1 Sam. 6:2), of Balaam (Josh. 13:22). Three kinds of divination are mentioned in Ezek. 21:21, by a...

  • Chaldea

    [ebd] The southern portion of Babylonia, Lower Mesopotamia, lying chiefly on the right bank of the Euphrates, but commonly used of the whole of the Mesopotamian plain. The Hebrew name is Kasdim, which is usually rendered "Chaldean...

  • CAPTAIN

    [isbe] CAPTAIN - kap'-tin: In the King James Version there are no fewer than 13 Hebrew words, and 4 different Greek words, which are rendered by this one English word. In the Revised Version (British and American) some of these are...

  • Babylon

    [nave] BABYLON City of Built by Nimrod, Gen. 10:10. In the land of Shinar, Gen. 10:10; 11:2. Tower of, Gen. 11:1-9. Capital of the kingdom of Babylon, Dan. 4:30; 2 Kin. 25:13; 2 Chr. 36:6, 7, 10, 18, 20. Gates of, Isa. 45:1, 2...

  • BABEL

    [smith] (confusion), Bab?ylon (Greek form of Babel), is properly the capital city of the country which is called in Genesis Shinar, and in the later books Chaldea, or the land of the Chaldeans. The first rise of the Chaldean power wa...

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • 30:6 David had evidently become self-confident and had forgotten his complete dependence on the Lord (cf. John 15:5). Prosperity often tempts us with a false sense of our security (cf. Prov. 1:32; Jer. 22:21), and David slipp...
  • 72:1-4 This prayer for the ability to rule justly and righteously is similar to Solomon's request for wisdom that he voiced at the beginning of his reign (1 Kings 3:9). His references to the mountains and hills are probably m...
  • Baxter, J. Sidlow. Explore the Book. 6 vols. London: Marshall, Morgan, and Scott, 1965.Bromiley, Geoffrey W. God and Marriage. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1980.Bullock, C. Hassell. An Introduction to the Poe...
  • The recurrence of the Hebrew word massa', translated "oracle"or "burden,"prescribes the boundaries of this section of text.140These chapters present the nations over which Immanuel is ruler, and they expand the idea of God's ...
  • This is a message of the destruction of the anti-God religious and commercial system that Babylon has symbolized throughout history (cf. Rev. 17-18).21:1 This oracle concerns the wilderness of the sea. This enigmatic title pr...
  • This section of Isaiah on "The Lord's redemption of His servant [Israel]"(44:23-47:15) has included an announcement of redemption (44:23-28), the identification of the instrument of redemption, Cyrus (45:1-13), and a reminder...
  • The biblical records of the times in which Jeremiah ministered are 2 Kings 21-25 and 2 Chronicles 33-36. His contemporary prophets were Zephaniah and Habakkuk before the Exile, and Ezekiel and Daniel after it began.King Manas...
  • Jeremiah's purpose was to call his hearers to repentance in view of God's judgment on Judah, which would come soon from an army from the north (chs. 2-45). Judgment was coming because God's people had forsaken Yahweh and had ...
  • The Book of Jeremiah is not theologically organized in the sense that it develops a certain theological emphasis as it unfolds, as Isaiah does. Rather it presents certain theological truths in greater or lesser degree through...
  • I. Introduction ch. 1A. The introduction of Jeremiah 1:1-3B. The call of Jeremiah 1:4-191. The promise of divine enablement 1:4-102. Two confirming visions 1:11-19II. Prophecies about Judah chs. 2-45A. Warnings of judgment on...
  • 1:4 The prophet now began speaking to his readers and telling them what the Lord had said to him. Throughout this book, an indication that the Lord had told Jeremiah something is often the sign of a new pericope, as here (cf....
  • The first series of prophetic announcements, reflections, and incidents that comprise this part of the book deals with Jeremiah's ministry to his own people.64The second main division of the book contains oracles against fore...
  • 9:10 The Lord took up a lamentation on behalf of the land that suffered because of His people's sin. The coming invasion would leave the land deserted even by beasts and birds. The rest of this message indicates that the inva...
  • This prophecy about Israel's neighbors anticipates chapters 46-51, which contain oracles against Gentile nations.12:14 The Lord promised to judge Judah's neighbor nations that had robbed His people of what the Lord had given ...
  • This is the first of several symbolic acts that Jeremiah performed to communicate divine messages (cf. 16:1-4; 18:1-12; 19:1-2, 10-11; 27:1-28:17; 32:1-15; 43:8-13; 51:59-64). Other prophets did the same thing (cf. Isa. 20:2-...
  • 25:15 The Lord instructed Jeremiah to take from His hand, figuratively, a cup of His wrath and to cause all the nations to whom the Lord would send him to drink from it. The cup is a common figure for the wrath of God in Scri...
  • This was another of Jeremiah's symbolic acts (cf. 16:1-4; 18:1-12; 19:1-2, 10-11; 27:1-28:17; 43:8-13; 51:59-64).32:1 A message came to the prophet from the Lord about 587 B.C., the year before Jerusalem fell.32:2 Jerusalem w...
  • This chapter belongs after chapter 36 chronologically, either after 36:8 or 36:32. It serves as an appendix to the historical incidents recorded there. Perhaps the writer or final editor placed it here to show that Yahweh exe...
  • This chapter on Egypt contains three separate prophecies that Jeremiah delivered about the fate of that nation. Their purpose seems to have been to discourage King Jehoiakim (609-598 B.C.) and the pro-Egyptian party in Judah ...
  • This oracle is similar to the one in Isaiah 15 and 16.555Other oracles against Moab appear in Ezekiel 25:8-11, Amos 2:1-3, and Zephaniah 2:9, but this is the longest one. It is very difficult to say when Jeremiah gave this or...
  • Jeremiah wrote almost as much about Babylon's future as he did about the futures of all the other nations in his other oracles combined. The length of this oracle reflects the great importance of Babylon in his ministry as we...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers; and New York: Macmillan Publishers Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. Revis...
  • It is appropriate that this section appears at this point in Ezekiel, between the messages announcing judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for sin (chs. 4-24) and the messages announcing future blessings for Israel (chs. 33-48). I...
  • This message forms a fitting conclusion to the whole section of prophecies about Israel's restoration to the Promised Land (chs. 33-39) as well as to those about future invasion (chs. 38-39).39:25-26 The Lord promised to rest...
  • 5:29 Belshazzar kept his promise (v. 16) though Daniel's honors only lasted a few hours at most, typical of the honors of this world. The king's response is surprising. We might have expected him to execute Daniel for confron...
  • Whereas the previous verses have focused on the Antichrist, those in this pericope concern Israel. Here we learn that this "end time"will definitely be a time of intense persecution of Jews. This section constitutes the clima...
  • An oracle is a message of judgment. Amos proceeded to deliver eight of these, seven against Israel's neighbors including Judah (1:3-2:5) and one against Israel (2:6-6:14).12The order is significant. The nations mentioned firs...
  • The second description of Nineveh's fall is more philosophical than the first one and ends with a statement by Yahweh that gives the reason for its fall (v. 13).2:8 Nineveh had been as placid as the waters around the city for...
  • This section, evidently another message that Nahum delivered concerning Nineveh's fall, begins by comparing it to the fall of another great city. Nahum proceeded to use many figures of speech to describe how various segments ...
  • 2:12 The Babylonians could expect distress because they had built their cities at the expense of the lives of their enemies. We speak of "blood money"as money obtained by making others suffer, even shedding their blood. Babyl...
  • 2:13 Zephaniah also prophesied the destruction of Assyria to Judah's north (really northeast) and her capital Nineveh (cf. Isa. 13:1-14:27; 21:1-10; Jer. 50-51). Since Nineveh fell to the combined forces of Babylonia, Media, ...
  • Matthew separated the explanation of this parable from its telling in the text (vv. 24-30). He evidently did this to separate more clearly for the reader the parables Jesus spoke to the multitudes from the parables He told Hi...
  • The Triumphal Entry happened on Monday. The cursing of the fig tree took place on Tuesday, and the disciples' mention of its withering followed on Wednesday (cf. Mark 11:1-14).78021:18-19 Jesus passed the lone fig tree somewh...
  • 24:1 The connective "and"(NASB, Gr. kai) ties what follows to Jesus' preceding denunciation of the generation of Jews that rejected Him and the divine judgment that would follow (23:36-39). However the "apocalyptic"or "eschat...
  • This is the final scene that furnishes background information before the revelation of the seven bowl judgments. Again what John saw was mainly on the earth."The total scene in 14:14-20 closes the section on coming judgment (...
  • The final three bowl judgments all have political consequences.16:12 The problem that this judgment poses for earth-dwellers is not a result of the judgment itself but its consequences, namely, war. It does not inflict a plag...
  • 16:17 This final judgment has the greatest impact of all since the air into which the angel pours his bowl is what humans breathe.535The loud voice is probably once again God's since it comes from the throne in the heavenly t...
  • 17:7 The angel promised to interpret these revelations that were so baffling to John, particularly the mystery concerning the woman and the beast. More information about the beast follows in verses 7-14 and more about the wom...
  • 18:1 John next saw another scene on earth (Gr. Meta tauta eidon, "After these things I saw,"cf. 4:1). Another angel of the same kind as in 17:1 (i.e., one who descends from heaven to fulfill a special mission; cf. 10:1; 20:1)...
  • 18:4 Another voice from heaven instructed God's people to separate themselves from the system that the city symbolizes so they would avoid getting caught in her judgment. The being speaking is evidently an angel who speaks fo...
  • In contrast to the earth-dwellers, God's people will rejoice when Babylon falls (cf. 11:10). The songs in 19:1-5 may be their response to this invitation. Heaven rejoiced over the fall of ancient Babylon too (Jer. 51:48-49).6...
  • 18:21 The angelic act of throwing the millstone into the sea is symbolic of Babylon's fate (cf. Jer. 51:63-64). As it is impossible for that huge stone to rise to the surface, so the economic system that has driven this world...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2. And he did that which was evil in the eyes of th...
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