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.
Read it in contextBabylon’s Punishment
Start reading at Jeremiah 51:20 (Jeremiah 51:20 to Jeremiah 51:58).
An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
The collected oracles extend the judgment announcements beyond Judah and culminate in the words against Babylon.
51:20Thou 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;
51:21And 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;
51:22With 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;
51:23I 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.
51:24And 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.
51:25Behold, 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.
51:26And 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.
51:27Set 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.
51:28Prepare 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.
51:29And 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.
51:30The 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.
51:31One 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,
51:32And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
51:33For 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.
51:34Nebuchadrezzar 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.
51:35The 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.
51:36Therefore 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.
51:37And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
51:38They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.
51:39In 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.
51:40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
51:41How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
51:42The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
51:43Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
51:44And 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.
51:45My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
51:46And 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.
51:47Therefore, 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.
51:48Then 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.
51:49As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
51:50Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51:51We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.
51:52Wherefore, 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.
51:53Though 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.
51:54A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
51:55Because 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:
51:56Because 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.
51:57And 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.
51:58Thus 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.
Study content, not yet reviewed.
Who
Who wrote the book? Jeremiah son of Hilkiah is the prophet behind the book, with Baruch serving as his scribe. The complete collection includes narrative and a historical appendix as well as Jeremiah's dictated words. Biblical references: Jeremiah 1:1; Jeremiah 36:4; Jeremiah 36:32. stated in the text
Who was present or being addressed in this passage? In the surrounding chapter context (Jeremiah 46:1–51:64): The oracles concern the named nations and cities, including Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, Elam, and Babylon. These are prophetic addresses about those peoples, not a single gathering of their inhabitants. stated in the text
Who was the book written to? Judah and Jerusalem before and during the Babylonian crisis, exiles in Babylon, and later readers of the preserved prophetic collection. Individual oracles name additional recipients. Biblical references: Jeremiah 2:2; Jeremiah 29:1; Jeremiah 46:1. stated in the text
What
What is the topic of this reading unit? Babylon’s Punishment. Read Jeremiah 51:20 through Jeremiah 51:58 as a connected unit. interpretation
How does it contribute to the book? The collected oracles extend the judgment announcements beyond Judah and culminate in the words against Babylon. interpretation
When
When are the events or message set? The opening dates Jeremiah's ministry from Josiah's reign toward the captivity of Jerusalem. Individual messages also name particular reigns and events, and the book is not arranged as a simple diary. book background
Where
What is the book’s geographic setting? Judah and Jerusalem dominate, with messages to exiles in Babylon, accounts involving Egypt, and oracles concerning other nations. book background
Where does the context start?
This passage sits in Babylon’s Punishment (Jeremiah 51:20 to Jeremiah 51:58).
Start reading at Jeremiah 51:20. An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
How
How does this book connect with Jesus Christ? Hebrews explicitly quotes Jeremiah's new-covenant promise in its explanation of Christ's priestly work. The quotation retains the named houses of Israel and Judah; later application should account for that wording. See Jeremiah 31:31, Hebrews 8:8, Hebrews 8:10. interpretation
How should this book guide our response? Listen to unwelcome truth and distinguish it from reassuring claims unsupported by God's word. Do not detach promises of restoration from the judgment, exile, and response described around them. interpretation
Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).
Macro-Structure
See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.
Macro-Structure of Jeremiah 51
Prefilled outline, not yet reviewed.
Jeremiah records words associated with his prophetic ministry and accounts surrounding Judah's fall. The book is not arranged as one continuous dated diary. Read each oracle's audience, occasion, and conditions rather than assigning every promise to every reader. Local headings and stanza divisions are editorial reading aids adapted from public-domain BSB headings; verse boundaries and Scripture links use the KJV. Connections describe the surrounding book movement.
Connection to the wholeThis opening unit introduces the chapter’s movement. The collected oracles extend the judgment announcements beyond Judah and culminate in the words against Babylon.
Connection to the wholeThis unit closes the chapter’s selected reading divisions. The collected oracles extend the judgment announcements beyond Judah and culminate in the words against Babylon.
interpretation
Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.
Macro-Structure of Jeremiah
Prefilled outline, not yet reviewed.
Jeremiah records words associated with his prophetic ministry and accounts surrounding Judah's fall. The book is not arranged as one continuous dated diary. Read each oracle's audience, occasion, and conditions rather than assigning every promise to every reader.
Connection to the wholeNarratives and letters contrast competing claims about the LORD's word and address life under Babylonian power, including the exiles' situation.
Connection to the wholeWords of restoration appear amid announced judgment, including the new covenant promise; their wording and named audience must remain visible.
Connection to the wholeThe accounts follow conflicts around the prophetic word, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the choices of survivors, with a word to Baruch.
Connection to the wholeThe historical appendix recounts the disaster and closes with Jehoiachin's release, placing the preceding messages beside their historical aftermath.
interpretation
Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.