How Sheshach has been captured! The praise of all the earth has been seized. What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
Parallel translations
- WEB “How Sheshach is taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
- KJV How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
- NKJV “Oh, how Sheshach is taken! Oh, how the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become desolate among the nations!
- NASB ¶“How Sheshak has been captured, And the praise of the whole earth has been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!
- NLT “How Babylon is fallen— great Babylon, praised throughout the earth! Now she has become an object of horror among the nations.
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
The prophet marvels that 'Sheshach,' the praise of the whole earth, is captured and has become a horror among the nations. The city all admired has fallen into ruin.
Overview
'Sheshach' is another atbash cipher for Babylon, the city renowned worldwide for splendor. The astonished exclamation underscores how unthinkable yet certain her fall is. That the most praised of cities becomes an object of horror teaches that worldly acclaim is fleeting, and lasting glory belongs only to God and His Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Jer 25:26all the kings of the north, both near and far, one after another—all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshach will drink it too.
- Isa 13:19And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Jer 49:25How is the city of praise not forsaken, the town that brings Me joy?
- Jer 50:23How the hammer of the whole earth lies broken and shattered! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
- Dan 4:22you, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.
- Dan 2:38Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
- Dan 4:30the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
- Isa 14:4you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!
- Dan 5:1–5Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.
- Jer 50:46At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will quake; a cry will be heard among the nations.
- Jer 51:37Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant.
- Deut 28:37You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
- Rev 18:10–19In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
- Ezek 27:35All the people of the coastlands are appalled over you. Their kings shudder with fear; their faces are contorted.
- 2 Chr 7:21And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 51:41 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.