← All Chapters The Book of Jeremiah · Chapter 50

Jeremiah 50: Babylon's Coming Fall

The mighty hammer of the nations is itself to be shattered, while God's scattered people are gathered home and their strong Redeemer pleads their cause.

Coming soon

Jeremiah 50 (WEB)

1 The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.

2 Declare among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don’t conceal: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed; her images are disappointed, her idols are dismayed.

3 For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and animal.

4 In those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek Yahweh their God.

5 They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it, saying, Come, and join yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.

6 My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.

7 All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation of righteousness, even Yahweh, the hope of their fathers.

8 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flocks.

9 For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; no one shall return in vain.

10 Chaldea shall be a prey: all who prey on her shall be satisfied, says Yahweh.

11 Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses;

12 your mother shall be utterly disappointed; she who bore you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

13 Because of the wrath of Yahweh she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.

14 Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against Yahweh.

15 Shout against her all around: she has submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Yahweh: take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her.

16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn everyone to his people, and they shall flee everyone to his own land.

17 Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.

18 Therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.

19 I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.

20 In those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be no one; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.

21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: kill and utterly destroy after them, says Yahweh, and do according to all that I have commanded you.

22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.

23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut apart and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

24 I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Babylon, and you weren’t aware: you are found, and also caught, because you have striven against Yahweh.

25 Yahweh has opened his armory, and has brought out the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.

26 Come against her from the utmost border; open her storehouses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left.

27 Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! for their day has come, the time of their visitation.

28 The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God, the vengeance of his temple.

29 Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow; encamp against her all around; let none of it escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against Yahweh, against the Holy One of Israel.

30 Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all her men of war will be brought to silence in that day, says Yahweh.

31 Behold, I am against you, you proud one, says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies; for your day has come, the time that I will visit you.

32 The proud one shall stumble and fall, and no one shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are around him.

33 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all who took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go.

34 Their Redeemer is strong; Yahweh of Armies is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

35 A sword is on the Chaldeans, says Yahweh, and on the inhabitants of Babylon, and on her princes, and on her wise men.

36 A sword is on the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.

37 A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is on her treasures, and they shall be robbed.

38 A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they are mad over idols.

39 Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be lived in from generation to generation.

40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it, says Yahweh, so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein.

41 Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.

42 They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon.

43 The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, pains as of a woman in labor.

44 Behold, the enemy shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd who can stand before me?

45 Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.

46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations.

Summary

God's word now turns against Babylon herself, the very empire he had used to judge Judah. Babylon is to be taken, her gods Bel and Merodach put to shame, as a nation from the north makes her land desolate. In the same breath, God promises restoration for his people: in those days the children of Israel and Judah will come together, weeping and seeking the LORD, asking the way to Zion to join themselves to him in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten. God laments that his people had become lost sheep led astray by their shepherds, but he will bring Israel back to feed in safety, and in that day their iniquity will be sought and not found, for he will pardon the remnant he preserves. Babylon, the hammer of the whole earth, will be broken because she grew proud against the LORD and against the Holy One of Israel. The chapter's great comfort is that the people's Redeemer is strong; Yahweh of Armies is his name, and he will thoroughly plead their cause and give rest to the earth.

Key Figures

  • Babylon — The proud empire, hammer of the whole earth, now appointed for desolation because she exalted herself against the Holy One of Israel.
  • Israel and Judah — God's scattered, lost sheep, gathered home in repentance to seek the LORD and join him in an everlasting covenant.
  • The Redeemer — Yahweh of Armies, strong to plead his people's cause, pardon their iniquity, and give rest to the earth.
  • Bel and Merodach — Babylon's idols, put to shame and dismayed as their city falls before the living God.

Key Verse

Jeremiah 50:34 (WEB)

Their Redeemer is strong; Yahweh of Armies is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

Lessons Learned

  • God holds even the nations he uses as instruments accountable for their pride and cruelty.
  • God gathers his lost and scattered sheep, leading them home to seek him.
  • The pardon of God's people is so complete that their sin will be sought and not found.
  • Our Redeemer is strong; he himself pleads the cause of his people against every accuser.
  • God's instruments are still accountable. Babylon is judged “for she has been proud against Yahweh, against the Holy One of Israel” (Jeremiah 50:29, WEB). Being used by God does not excuse pride and sin.
  • God gathers his straying people. “My people have been lost sheep… they have forgotten their resting place” (Jeremiah 50:6, WEB), yet he brings them home weeping and seeking him.
  • God's pardon is complete. “the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be no one… for I will pardon them” (Jeremiah 50:20, WEB). Forgiven sin is removed beyond finding.
  • The Redeemer is strong. “Their Redeemer is strong; Yahweh of Armies is his name” (Jeremiah 50:34, WEB). God himself takes up his people's cause and prevails.
  1. Why does God judge Babylon, the very nation he had used to discipline Judah?
  2. How does the picture of God's people as “lost sheep” (50:6) capture both their failure and his compassion?
  3. What does the promise that Israel's iniquity will be “sought for, and there shall be no one” (50:20) reveal about God's forgiveness?
  4. How does the title “Redeemer” in verse 34 point us toward the gospel?
  5. When you feel accused or burdened by sin, how does it comfort you that your Redeemer is strong and pleads your cause?
  1. Babylon was God's rod against Judah, yet she acted in cruelty and pride, exalting herself against the Holy One of Israel (50:29). God's sovereignty over a nation's actions does not cancel that nation's responsibility; he judges Babylon's arrogance even while it served his purpose.
  2. “Lost sheep” whose shepherds led them astray (50:6) shows a people genuinely wayward yet also misled and pitiable. The image holds together their guilt and God's tender resolve to seek, gather, and feed them again—mercy that meets failure.
  3. It declares forgiveness so thorough that the sin can no longer be located; God pardons the remnant he preserves (50:20). This anticipates the gospel promise that God remembers our sins no more, removing them as far as east from west.
  4. “Redeemer” is one who buys back and defends his own, taking up their cause as next of kin. Pointing beyond Babylon's fall, it foreshadows Christ, the strong Redeemer who pleads our cause and secures everlasting redemption for his people.
  5. This is a personal-application question. Encourage members to rest in the truth that their defense does not depend on their own strength but on a mighty Redeemer. As leader, point to Christ as our advocate, who silences every accusation against the forgiven.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.