Jeremiah 51:57

Judgment

⁵⁵ For the LORD will destroy Babylon; He will silence her mighty voice. The waves will roar like great waters; the tumult of their voices will resound.

⁵⁶ For a destroyer is coming against her— against Babylon. Her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken, for the LORD is a God of retribution; He will repay in full.

I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.

⁵⁸ This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates consumed by fire. So the labor of the people will be for nothing; the nations will exhaust themselves to fuel the flames.”

⁵⁹ This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to the quartermaster Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign.

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: I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
KJV: 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.
WEB: I will make her princes, her wise men, her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men drunk. They will sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up,” says the King, whose name is the LORD of Armies.
ASV: And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts.
DARBY: And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her governors, and her rulers, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts.
BLB: I will make drunk her officers and her wise men, her governors, and her deputies, and her mighty men; they will sleep a sleep everlasting, and they will not wake up!” A declaration of the King—YHWH of Hosts [is] His name.

ÅB: Og jeg vil gjøre dets høvdinger og dets vismenn, dets stattholdere og dets landshøvdinger og dets kjemper drukne, og de skal falle i en evig søvn og ikke våkne, sier kongen, han hvis navn er Herren, hærskarenes Gud.
OTB: Og hele jorden vil skjelve ved lyden av hennes fall, Ved lyden av et rop, ved lyden av et brøl; «For hennes stemme har lydt som havet; For hun har talt som dragen, Ropende mot Sion, Kastende trusler, heftig hevende sin stemme.
B1930: Og jeg vil gjøre dets høvdinger og dets vismenn, dets stattholdere og dets landshøvdinger og dets kjemper drukne, og de skal falle i en evig søvn og ikke våkne, sier kongen, han hvis navn er Herren, hærskarenes Gud.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Jeremiah 46:18
As surely as I live, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts, there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.
Read in context
Jeremiah 48:15
Moab has been destroyed and its towns have been invaded; the best of its young men have gone down in the slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
Read in context
Jeremiah 25:27
“Then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, because of the sword I will send among you.’
Read in context
Psalms 76:5–6
The valiant lie plundered; they sleep their last sleep. No men of might could lift a hand.
Read in context
Jeremiah 51:39
While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD.
Read in context
Isaiah 37:36
Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
Read in context
Isaiah 21:4–5
My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror.
Read in context
Daniel 5:1–4
Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.
Read in context