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56 
For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon;
And her mighty warriors will be captured,
Their bows are shattered;
For the Lord is a God of [just] restitution;
He will fully repay.
57 
“I will make her princes and her wise men drunk,
Her governors and her commanders and her mighty warriors;
They will sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,”
Says the King—the Lord of hosts is His name.

58 Thus says the Lord of hosts,

“The [a]broad wall of Babylon will be completely overthrown and the foundations razed
And her high gates will be set on fire;
The peoples will labor in vain,
And the nations become exhausted [only] for fire [that will destroy their work].”(A)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:58 Babylon was surrounded by a moat and two separate walls approximately fifty feet high. Both walls consisted of two layers. The outer layer of the outer wall was twenty-five feet thick, and the inner layer twenty-three feet thick. The outer layer of the inner defensive wall was twenty-one feet thick, and the inner layer twelve feet thick. These walls were so massive that archeologists estimate that 180 million bricks were required for their construction. Babylon’s immense ruins may still be seen—an amazing, enduring testimony to the power of God.

56 A destroyer(A) will come against Babylon;
    her warriors will be captured,
    and their bows will be broken.(B)
For the Lord is a God of retribution;
    he will repay(C) in full.
57 I will make her officials(D) and wise(E) men drunk,(F)
    her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep(G) forever and not awake,”
    declares the King,(H) whose name is the Lord Almighty.

58 This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Babylon’s thick wall(I) will be leveled
    and her high gates(J) set on fire;
the peoples(K) exhaust(L) themselves for nothing,
    the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”(M)

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