Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
Parallel translations
- WEB Kill all her bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation.
- BSB Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time of their punishment.
- NKJV Slay all her bulls, Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment.
- NASB Put all her bulls to the sword; Let them go down to the slaughter! Woe be upon them, for their day has come, The time of their punishment.
- NLT Destroy even her young bulls— it will be terrible for them, too! Slaughter them all! For Babylon’s day of reckoning has come.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God orders Babylon's young warriors, pictured as bulls, slaughtered, for their day of reckoning has come. The time of their visitation is judgment.
Overview
The 'bulls' are Babylon's strong fighting men, led down to slaughter. 'The time of their visitation' is a frequent biblical phrase for the appointed moment of divine reckoning. The verse stresses that God has set a day for every nation's accountability, and when it arrives, no strength can prevent it (Luke 19:44).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Jer 46:21Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation.
- Isa 34:7And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
- Ps 22:12Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
- Jer 48:44He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
- Ps 37:13The LORD shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
- Rev 18:10Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
- Jer 27:7And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
- Jer 50:31Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.
- Ezek 39:17–20And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
- Jer 50:11Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;
- Lam 1:21They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.
- Rev 16:17–19And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
- Ezek 7:5–7Thus saith the Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come.
- Rev 19:17And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 50:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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