Yeremia 50:41

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

A mighty nation and many kings ¹  are stirring into action

in faraway parts of the earth.

Yeremia 51:13

51:13 “You who live along the rivers of Babylon, ² 

the time of your end has come.

You who are rich in plundered treasure,

it is time for your lives to be cut off. ³ 

Yeremia 52:13

52:13 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.

[50:41]  ¹ 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.

[51:13]  ² sn Babylon was situated on the Euphrates River and was surrounded by canals (also called “rivers”).

[51:13]  ³ tn Heb “You who live upon [or beside] many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, the cubit of your cutting off.” The sentence has been restructured and paraphrased to provide clarity for the average reader. The meaning of the last phrase is debated. For a discussion of the two options see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:423. Most modern commentaries and English versions see an allusion to the figure in Isa 38:12 where the reference is to the end of life compared to a tapestry which is suddenly cut off from the loom. Hence, NRSV renders the last line as “the thread of your life is cut” and TEV renders “its thread of life is cut.” That idea is accepted also in HALOT 141 s.v. בצע Qal.1.