No one shall retrieve from you a cornerstone or a foundation stone, because you will become desolate forever,” declares the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB They shall not take cornerstone from you, nor a stone for foundations; but you will be desolate for ever,” says Yahweh.
- KJV And 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.
- NKJV They shall not take from you a stone for a corner Nor a stone for a foundation, But you shall be desolate forever,” says the Lord.
- NASB “They will not take from you even a stone for a corner Nor a stone for foundations, But you will be desolate forever,” declares the Lord.
- NLT You will be desolate forever. Even your stones will never again be used for building. You will be completely wiped out,” says the Lord.
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
No stone of Babylon will be reused for cornerstone or foundation; she will be desolate forever. Her ruin will be so complete that nothing usable remains.
Overview
Building stones were precious, so to say none will be salvaged signals utterly permanent desolation. The 'forever' marks Babylon's downfall as final, never to be rebuilt to her former glory. This permanence contrasts with the everlasting kingdom and the chief Cornerstone, Christ, on whom God builds a temple that will never fall.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 13:19–22And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Jer 50:12–13your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who bore you will be disgraced. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
- Jer 51:43Her cities have become a desolation, a dry and arid land, a land where no one lives, where no son of man passes through.
- Rev 18:20–24Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.
- Isa 14:23“I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of Hosts.
- Isa 34:8–17For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
- Jer 51:37Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant.
- Jer 51:29The earth quakes and writhes because the LORD’s intentions against Babylon stand: to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
- Jer 50:40–41As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighbors,” declares the LORD, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 51:26 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.