Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates.
Parallel translations
- WEB It shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the middle of the Euphrates.
- KJV And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:
- BSB When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates.
- NASB And as soon as you finish reading this scroll, you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates,
- NLT When you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone and throw it into the Euphrates River.
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
After reading the scroll, Seraiah is to tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. The sinking scroll dramatizes Babylon's coming fall.
Overview
This sign-act makes the prophecy vivid and irreversible: as the weighted scroll sinks beyond recovery, so Babylon will sink. Prophetic symbolic acts like this gave tangible form to God's word and reinforced its certainty. The enacted parable underscores that God's judgments are sure and final, even as His promises of redemption in Christ are equally certain.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Rev 18:21A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more at all.
- Jer 19:10–11“Then you shall break the bottle in the sight of the men who go with you,
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 51:63 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.