How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment 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!
- BSB How Sheshach has been captured! The praise of all the earth has been seized. What a horror Babylon has become 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 25:26And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
- Isa 13:19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Jer 49:25How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
- Jer 50:23How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
- Dan 4:22It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.
- Dan 2:38And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
- Dan 4:30The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
- Isa 14:4That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
- Dan 5:1–5Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
- Jer 50:46At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.
- Jer 51:37And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
- Deut 28:37And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
- Rev 18:10–19Standing 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.
- Ezek 27:35All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.
- 2 Chr 7:21And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?
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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.