Jeremiah 51:29

²⁷ “Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her— Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts.

²⁸ Prepare the nations for battle against her— the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the lands they rule.

The earth quakes and writhes because the LORD’s intentions against Babylon stand: to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.

³⁰ The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken.

³¹ One courier races to meet another, and messenger follows messenger, to announce to the king of Babylon that his city has been captured from end to end.

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: The earth quakes and writhes because the LORD’s intentions against Babylon stand: to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
KJV: 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.
WEB: The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of the LORD against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
ASV: And the land trembleth and is in pain; for the purposes of Jehovah against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
DARBY: And the land trembleth and is in pain; for the purposes of Jehovah against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
BLB: The land will tremble and it will writhe, for every plan of YHWH against Babylon will stand, to set the land of Babylon as a desolation without one dwelling.

ÅB: Da skjelver jorden og bever; for Herrens tanker mot Babel blir fullbyrdet: å gjøre Babels land til en ørken, så ingen bor der.
OTB: «‘Herren har reist opp en ånd av kongene av mederne; Fra et fjernt land har de kommet, og jeg vil få dem til å bevege seg mot henne; Ingen vil bry seg om sølv, heller ikke glede seg over gull.
B1930: Da skjelver jorden og bever; for Herrens tanker mot Babel blir fullbyrdet: å gjøre Babels land til en ørken, så ingen bor der.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Jeremiah 8:16
The snorting of enemy horses is heard from Dan. At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds, the whole land quakes. They come to devour the land and everything in it, the city and all who dwell in it.
Read in context
Jeremiah 51:11–12
Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the LORD— vengeance for His temple.
Read in context
Jeremiah 51:43
Her cities have become a desolation, a dry and arid land, a land where no one lives, where no son of man passes through.
Read in context
Isaiah 13:19–20
And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Read in context
Jeremiah 50:13
Because of the wrath of the LORD, she will not be inhabited; she will become completely desolate. All who pass through Babylon will be horrified and will hiss at all her wounds.
Read in context
Jeremiah 50:45
Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies He has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them.
Read in context
Jeremiah 10:10
But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
Read in context
Amos 8:8
Will not the land quake for this, and all its dwellers mourn? All of it will swell like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.
Read in context