Don’t let the archer string his bow;
don’t let him put on[a] his armor.(A)
Don’t spare her young men;
completely destroy her entire army!
Those who were slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans,
those who were pierced through, in her streets.(B)
For Israel and Judah are not left widowed
by their God, the Lord of Armies,
though their land is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 51:3 Hb obscure

Let not the archer string his bow,(A)
    nor let him put on his armor.(B)
Do not spare her young men;
    completely destroy[a] her army.
They will fall(C) down slain in Babylon,[b]
    fatally wounded in her streets.(D)
For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken(E)
    by their God, the Lord Almighty,
though their land[c] is full of guilt(F)
    before the Holy One of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:3 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  2. Jeremiah 51:4 Or Chaldea
  3. Jeremiah 51:5 Or Almighty, / and the land of the Babylonians