Jeremiah 51:20

¹⁸ They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.

¹⁹ The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and of the tribe of His inheritance— the LORD of Hosts is His name.

“You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.

²¹ With you I shatter the horse and rider; with you I shatter the chariot and driver.

²² With you I shatter man and woman; with you I shatter the old man and the youth; with you I shatter the young man and the maiden.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: “You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
KJV: 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;
WEB: “You are my battle ax and weapons of war. With you I will break the nations into pieces. With you I will destroy kingdoms.
ASV: Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war: and with thee will I break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
DARBY: Thou art my maul, [my] weapons of war: and with thee I will break in pieces the nations, and I will with thee destroy kingdoms;
BLB: “You [are] a war club for Me, weapons of war; I will smash apart with you the nations, and I will destroy with you kingdoms;

ÅB: Du[^2] er min hammer, mitt krigsvåpen, og med deg knuser jeg folkeslag, og med deg ødelegger jeg kongeriker;
OTB: «‘“Gå ut av hennes midte, mitt folk! Og enhver redde sitt liv fra Herrens voldsomme vrede.
B1930: Du er min hammer, mitt krigsvåben, og med dig knuser jeg folkeslag, og med dig ødelegger jeg kongeriker; / < Babel. JER 50, 23.>

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Isaiah 41:15–16
Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.
Read in context
Micah 4:13
Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron and hooves of bronze to break to pieces many peoples. Then you will devote their gain to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
Read in context
Isaiah 37:26
Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.
Read in context
Zechariah 9:13–14
For I will bend Judah as My bow and fit it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against the sons of Greece. I will make you like the sword of a mighty man.
Read in context
Jeremiah 27:5–7
By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.
Read in context
Isaiah 14:5–6
The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.
Read in context
Jeremiah 50:23
How the hammer of the whole earth lies broken and shattered! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
Read in context
Jeremiah 25:9
behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
Read in context