Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
Parallel translations
- WEB For Yahweh lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice! Their waves roar like many waters. The noise of their voice is uttered.
- BSB For 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.
- NKJV Because the Lord is plundering Babylon And silencing her loud voice, Though her waves roar like great waters, And the noise of their voice is uttered,
- NASB For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon, And He will make her loud noise vanish from her. And their waves will roar like many waters; The clamor of their voices sounds forth.
- NLT For the Lord is destroying Babylon. He will silence her loud voice. Waves of enemies pound against her; the noise of battle rings through the city.
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 Lord lays Babylon waste and silences her great voice, while the roar of the invaders sounds like many waters. God hushes Babylon's proud clamor with the thunder of her conquerors.
Overview
Babylon's 'great voice,' her boasting and bustling power, is silenced by the Lord, replaced by the roaring tide of attacking armies. The contrast pictures the proud city stilled and overwhelmed. That God can silence the loudest earthly power reminds readers that every voice exalting itself against Him will be quieted before the kingdom of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Jer 25:10Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
- Ezek 26:3Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
- Isa 17:13The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
- Jer 51:38–39They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps.
- Jer 51:42The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
- Ps 93:3–4The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
- Isa 24:8–11The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
- Rev 18:22–23And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
- Ps 65:7Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.
- Luke 21:25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
- Ps 18:4The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
- Jer 50:10–15And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD.
- Isa 15:1The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence;
- Rev 17:15And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
- Isa 47:5Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
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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 51:55 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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