Yeremia 50:40-42

50:40 I will destroy Babylonia just like I did

Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns.

No one will live there. ¹ 

No human being will settle in it,”

says the Lord. ² 

50:41 “Look! An army is about to come from the north.

A mighty nation and many kings ³  are stirring into action

in faraway parts of the earth.

50:42 Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears.

They are cruel and show no mercy.

They sound like the roaring sea

as they ride forth on their horses.

Lined up in formation like men going into battle,

they are coming against you, fair Babylon! ⁴ 

[50:40]  ¹ tn Heb “‘Like [when] God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns,’ oracle of the Lord, ‘no man will live there.’” The Lord is speaking so the first person has been substituted for “God.” The sentence has again been broken up to better conform with contemporary English style.

[50:40]  sn Compare Jer 49:18 where the same prophecy is applied to Edom.

[50:40]  ² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[50:41]  ³ sn A mighty nation and many kings is an allusion to the Medo-Persian empire and the vassal kings who provided forces for the Medo-Persian armies.

[50:42]  ⁴ tn Heb “daughter Babylon.” The word “daughter” is a personification of the city of Babylon and its inhabitants.