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.’
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.
- BSB 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.’
- 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 Yahweh’s wrath she won’t be inhabited, but she will be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon will be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
- Jer 50:3For a nation comes up out of the north against her, which shall make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell therein. They have fled. They are gone, both man and animal.
- Jer 50:39–40Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves will dwell there. The ostriches will dwell therein; and it will be inhabited no more forever; neither will it be lived in from generation to generation.
- Rev 18:20–23“Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her.”
- Isa 14:22–23“I will rise up against them,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son’s son,” says Yahweh.
- Isa 13:19–22Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Ezek 35:9I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
- Jer 51:29The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
- Jer 25:9behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,” says Yahweh, “and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations around. I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
- Jer 51:25–26“Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain,” says Yahweh, “which destroys all the earth. I will stretch out my hand on you, roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burned mountain.
- Jer 51:37Babylon will become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
- Jer 25:12“It shall happen, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation,” says Yahweh, “for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate forever.
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 51:62 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.