The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered in turbulent waves.
Parallel translations
- WEB The sea has come up on Babylon. She is covered with the multitude of its waves.
- KJV The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
- NKJV The sea has come up over Babylon; She is covered with the multitude of its waves.
- NASB “The sea has come up over Babylon; She has been engulfed by its roaring waves.
- NLT The sea has risen over Babylon; she is covered by its crashing waves.
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 sea has risen over Babylon, covering her with its roaring waves. An overwhelming flood of enemies engulfs the city.
Overview
The 'sea' and its 'waves' symbolize the surging armies of nations sweeping over Babylon, an image of chaotic, unstoppable force. The waters that once secured her now drown her. This reversal shows that what people trust for safety can become the means of their ruin, while only the Lord is a sure refuge in the flood, a refuge realized in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 8:7–8the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.
- Dan 9:26Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.
- Ps 65:7You stilled the roaring of the seas, the pounding of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.
- Ps 93:3The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
- Ps 18:16He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.
- Ps 42:7Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me.
- Jer 51:55For 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.
- Ps 18:4The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.
- Luke 21:25There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.
- Rev 17:15–16Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
- Ezek 27:26–34Your oarsmen have brought you onto the high seas, but the east wind will shatter you in the heart of the sea.
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 51:42 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.