and say, ‘O LORD, You have promised to cut off this place so that no one will remain—neither man nor beast. Indeed, it will be desolate forever.’
Parallel translations
- WEB and say, ‘Yahweh, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that no one will dwell in it, neither man nor animal, but that it will be desolate forever.’
- KJV Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
- NKJV then you shall say, ‘O Lord, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.’
- NASB and say, ‘You, Lord, have promised concerning this place to cut it off, so that there will be nothing living in it, whether man or animal; but it will be a permanent desolation.’
- NLT Then say, ‘Lord, you have said that you will destroy Babylon so that neither people nor animals will remain here. She will lie empty and abandoned forever.’
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
Seraiah is to declare that the Lord has spoken to cut off Babylon so that none, man or beast, will dwell there, but it will be desolate forever. The spoken word seals Babylon's everlasting desolation.
Overview
The prayer-declaration affirms God's purpose to make Babylon permanently uninhabited, a fitting end for the city that destroyed others. By voicing God's own words back to Him, Seraiah aligns with the Lord's revealed will. This confidence that what God has spoken He will perform anchors faith, for His every promise, including salvation in Christ, stands sure.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jer 50:13Because of the wrath of the LORD, she will not be inhabited; she will become completely desolate. All who pass through Babylon will be horrified and will hiss at all her wounds.
- Jer 50:3For a nation from the north will come against her; it will make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee.”
- Jer 50:39–40So the desert creatures and hyenas will live there and ostriches will dwell there. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.
- Rev 18:20–23Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.
- Isa 14:22–23“I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will cut off from Babylon her name and her remnant, her offspring and her posterity,” declares the LORD.
- 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.
- Ezek 35:9I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
- 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 25:9behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
- Jer 51:25–26“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who devastate the whole earth, declares the LORD. I will stretch out My hand against you; I will roll you over the cliffs and turn you into a charred mountain.
- Jer 51:37Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant.
- Jer 25:12But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 51:62 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.