Background
Chapter 51 is the second half of one long oracle. Chapter 50 begins “The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet” (Jer. 50:1), and this chapter continues it. Babylon is the empire that, in the chapter's own words, “hath devoured me” (verse 34). After Assyria fell it had become Nebuchadnezzar's capital, a city with the Euphrates running through the middle of it.
The Church's chapter heading sums up what follows: “Judgment, destruction, and desolation will come upon Babylon for her sins—Israel is commanded, Flee from Babylon—Israel is the Lord's rod to destroy all kingdoms.” The chapter ends by saying how it reached Babylon: Jeremiah wrote it in a book, and Seraiah carried it there to read aloud and then sink in the river (verses 59–64). How that scroll relates to the chapters as they now stand is taken up in the note on verse 64.
Latter-day Saints read these chapters on two levels. The fall of Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon is real history, and it is also a pattern for the fall of “Babylon the Great.” Nephi reaches the same figure in his vision, and the commandment to flee Babylon is repeated in the Doctrine and Covenants.
The thread through the chapter
Jeremiah 51 answers a question an exile might well ask: if Babylon is the Lord's golden cup, does that mean the Lord is on Babylon's side? The chapter says no, in three steps. Babylon was only ever an instrument in the Lord's hand (verse 7), and what it did to Zion, it will be repaid for (verses 24, 35–36, 49). The God who made the earth is not one of the idols the city trusts (verses 15–19, 44, 47). And so His people are not to wait inside her walls: “Flee out of the midst of Babylon” (verses 6, 45), and “let Jerusalem come into your mind” (verse 50).
These verses can seem larger than ancient Babylon because such prophecies often have a “dual nature”: “the downfall anciently of Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon was a prototype of the future downfall of ‘Babylon the Great.’” That is why the Doctrine and Covenants can take up the chapter's own command: “Go ye out of Babylon.” The scroll sunk in the Euphrates ends the chapter on the same point: the word is spoken, and it will be carried out.
Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.
A destroyer is sent
The Lord says: “I will raise up a destroying wind against Babylon and against Chaldea. I will send foreigners to winnow her and empty her land. Let the archer bend his bow against her warriors; spare none of her young men, and destroy her whole army. The slain will fall in Chaldea and be run through in her streets.”
1 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
2 And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
3 Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
Israel is not forsaken; leave Babylon
Israel and Judah have not been abandoned by their God, though their land was full of sin against the Holy One of Israel. “Flee out of Babylon and save your lives; do not be cut off for her guilt. This is the Lord's time of vengeance, and He will pay her back.” Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand that made the whole earth drunk, and the nations went mad. Now she has suddenly fallen. “Wail for her; bring balm for her wound; perhaps she will be healed.” The answer: “We tried to heal Babylon, but she cannot be healed. Leave her; let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment reaches the sky.” “The Lord has brought forth our righteousness; come, let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.”
5 For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10 The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
The Medes are roused
“Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His purpose against Babylon is to destroy her; it is the Lord's vengeance, vengeance for His temple. Raise the banner against Babylon's walls, strengthen the watch, post the watchmen, set the ambushes, for the Lord has planned and done what He said.” To the city on many waters, rich in treasure: “Your end has come, and the measure of your greed.” The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself to fill her with men like a swarm of locusts, who will raise a shout over her.
11 Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
14 The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
The Maker and the idols
God made the earth by His power and set up the world by His wisdom. When He speaks there is a roar of waters in the heavens; He brings clouds from the ends of the earth, makes lightning for the rain, and brings out the wind from His storehouses. Everyone who trusts an idol is senseless, and every metalworker is shamed by his image, for the cast figure is a lie with no breath in it. Idols are worthless, a work of mockery; they perish when judgment comes. Jacob's portion is not like them, for He formed all things, and Israel is the tribe He claims as His own. The Lord of hosts is His name.
15 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
16 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
17 Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18 They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.
The battle axe and the mountain
“You are my battle axe and weapons of war: with you I break nations and destroy kingdoms, horse and rider, chariot and driver, man and woman, old and young, shepherd and flock, farmer and oxen, governors and officials.” Yet the Lord will repay Babylon and the Chaldeans for all the evil they did in Zion before Israel's eyes. “I am against you, destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth. I will stretch out my hand, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain. No one will take from you a cornerstone or a foundation stone; you will be desolate forever.”
20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
24 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.
25 Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.
The nations are called against her
Raise a banner in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, and summon Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz against Babylon, with a commander and horses like swarms of locusts. Prepare the nations, with the kings of the Medes, their governors and officials, and every land they rule. The land shakes in pain, because every purpose of the Lord against Babylon stands, to make her land a desolation with no one living in it. Babylon's warriors have stopped fighting and stay in their strongholds; their strength is gone; they have become like women. Her dwellings are burned and her gate bars broken. Runner meets runner and messenger meets messenger to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been taken at every end, the river crossings seized, the reed marshes burned, the soldiers terrified. Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; a little longer and the harvest comes.
27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
31 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
32 And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
33 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
Zion's cry and the Lord's answer
Zion speaks: “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me and crushed me; he has left me an empty jar, swallowed me like a monster, filled his belly with my delicacies, and thrown me out. Let the violence done to me and my body come on Babylon, says the daughter of Zion; let my blood be on the people of Chaldea, says Jerusalem.” The Lord answers: “I will plead your cause and take vengeance for you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a lair for jackals, an object of horror and hissing, with no one living there.” Her people roar like lions, but at their feast the Lord will make them drunk, to sleep forever and not wake. He will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter. Sheshach is taken, the praise of the whole earth seized; the sea has risen over Babylon and covered her with its waves. Her cities are a dry wasteland where no one lives or passes. The Lord will punish Bel in Babylon and make him give up what he swallowed; the nations will no longer stream to him, and the wall of Babylon will fall.
34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.
35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps.
39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
42 The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
Go out, remember Jerusalem, and be judged
“My people, come out of her and save yourselves from the Lord's fierce anger. Do not lose heart or be afraid at the rumors in the land: one rumor comes this year, another next year, with violence and ruler against ruler. The days are coming when I will judge Babylon's idols; her whole land will be shamed and her slain will fall in her midst. Heaven and earth will sing for joy over Babylon, when the destroyers come from the north. As Babylon made Israel's slain fall, so Babylon's slain will fall, and the slain of all the earth with them.” To the survivors: “Go; don't stand still. Remember the Lord from far away, and think of Jerusalem.” They answer: “We are ashamed, for we have heard insults; disgrace covers our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the Lord's house.” The Lord: “The days are coming when I will judge her idols, and the wounded will groan through all her land. Even if Babylon climbed to heaven and fortified her heights, destroyers would come from Me.” A cry rises from Babylon, and great destruction from Chaldea, because the Lord is destroying her and silencing her loud voice. Her warriors are captured and their bows broken. The Lord will make her officials and wise men, governors and warriors drunk, and they will sleep forever and not wake, says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts. Babylon's thick walls will be torn down and her high gates burned; the peoples labor for nothing, and the nations wear themselves out for fire.
45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.
49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’s house.
52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.
54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
55 Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.
57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
58 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
The scroll sunk in the Euphrates
This is the word Jeremiah gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, when he went with King Zedekiah of Judah to Babylon in the king's fourth year. Seraiah was a quiet prince (the Church edition's alternate rendering: a quartermaster). Jeremiah wrote in one scroll all the disaster that would come on Babylon, all these words about Babylon, and told Seraiah: “When you get to Babylon, make sure you read all these words aloud. Then say, ‘Lord, You have said You will destroy this place so that nothing lives in it, neither person nor animal, and it will be desolate forever.’ When you finish reading the scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, and say, ‘So will Babylon sink, never to rise again, because of the disaster I am bringing on her.’” The words of Jeremiah end here.
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;
62 Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:
64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Seeing Christ in Jeremiah 51
The chapter shows the Lord as the one who takes His people's side. When Zion cries out that Babylon has devoured her, the answer is the Lord's own: “I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee” (verse 36). That promise points to Christ, “the advocate with the Father” who “pleads our cause before Him,” and the Lord says in the Doctrine and Covenants, “I am in your midst, and am your advocate with the Father” (D&C 29:5). Verse 5 says Israel “hath not been forsaken,” and the passage of Isaiah the Church edition links to it describes a Redeemer who gathers “with great mercies” (Isa. 54:7).
Worth exploring next
- The first half. Read Jer. 50, and compare verses 15–19 with Jer. 10:12–16.
- The command to leave. Read D&C 133:5–14 and Rev. 18:1–24.
- Isaiah on Babylon. Read Isa. 13 and Isa. 47.
- Nephi's vision. Read 1 Ne. 14:1–17 beside Revelation 17.
- The doctrine of Babylon. The Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual chapter “The Fall of Babylon and the Establishment of Zion” gathers the passages.
Sources & further reading
- The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Chapter 25: Prophecies of a Latter-day Gathering (Jeremiah 23; 30–31; 33; 46–51; Obadiah), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
- Chapter 35: The Fall of Babylon and the Establishment of Zion, Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual (2000), 97–99.
- David R. Stone, “Zion in the Midst of Babylon”, general conference, Apr. 2006.
- Chapter 56: Revelation 17–22, New Testament Student Manual (Church Educational System, 2014).
- “Jeremiah”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Babylon or Babel”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Media”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Cyrus”, Bible Dictionary.
- Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.
- Westminster Leningrad Codex, with morphology, Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (OSHB), openscriptures/morphhb.