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The prophet, in this chapter, goes on with the prediction of Babylon's fall, to which other prophets also bore witness. He is very copious and lively in describing the foresight God had given him of it, for the encouragement of the pious captives, whose deliverance depended upon it and was to be the result of it. Here is, I. The record of Babylon's doom, with the particulars of it, intermixed with the grounds of God's controversy with her, many aggravations of her fall, and great encouragements given thence to the Israel of God, that suffered such hard things by her, Jer 51:1-58. II. The representation and ratification of this by the throwing of a copy of this prophecy into the river Euphrates, Jer 51:59-64.
1-58
The Judgment of Babylon (595 BC)
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巴比倫的審判（主前 595 年）
¹ 耶和華如此說：看哪，我必興起毀滅的暴風攻擊巴比倫，以及攻擊住在迦勒底人之地、起來攻擊我的人。
² 我必打發簸揚者到巴比倫，簸揚她，使她的地空虛；因為在遭難的日子，他們必四面攻擊她。
³ 拉弓的弓箭手要向拉弓的和穿護甲的射箭；不要顧惜她的少年人，要全然滅盡她的全軍。
⁴ 被殺的必倒在迦勒底人之地，被刺透的必倒在她的街市上。
⁵ 以色列沒有被撇棄，猶大也沒有被他的神——萬軍之耶和華——撇棄；雖然他們的地充滿了得罪以色列聖者的罪。
⁶ 要從巴比倫中間逃走，各人救自己的性命；不要在她的罪孽中被剪除；因為這是耶和華報仇的時候；他必向她施行報應。
⁷ 巴比倫素來是耶和華手中的金杯，使全地的人都沉醉；列國喝了她的酒，因此列國都發了狂。
⁸ 巴比倫忽然傾覆毀滅；要為她哀號；為她的傷痛取乳香，或者可以醫治。
⁹ 我們想醫治巴比倫，她卻未痊癒；離棄她吧，我們各人歸回本國；因為她的審判達到天上，被舉到雲霄。
¹⁰ 耶和華已經彰顯我們的公義；來吧，我們要在錫安傳揚耶和華我們神的工作。
¹¹ 要磨亮箭頭，招聚盾牌：耶和華已經激發了米底亞諸王的心；因為他的謀劃是攻擊巴比倫，要毀滅它；因為這是耶和華的報復，就是為祂殿的報復。
這篇豐富預言的各細節分散交織，同一件事反覆提及又再回頭，以至很難分成幾部分，我們必須設法按其主題歸納。讓我們在此觀察：
一. 承認巴比倫從前所有的偉大輝煌和權勢，以及神在護理中對它的使用（Jer 51:7）：巴比倫素來是金杯——一個豐盛榮耀的帝國，是金子的城（賽 14:4），是金的頭（但 2:38），滿了一切美物，如同杯中滿了酒。不但如此，她更是耶和華手中的金杯；祂以特別的方式使她豐盛、賜福與她；祂用這杯使全地沉醉——有人因她的奢華而被迷惑、被她敗壞，有人因她的威嚇而被迷惑、被她毀滅。在這兩種意義上，新約的巴比倫被說成使地上的君王沉醉（啟 17:2，18:3）。巴比倫也曾是神的戰斧；在耶利米說預言時它如此，此後更是如此（Jer 51:20）。巴比倫的軍隊是神的武器——祂手中的工具，藉著它打碎擊倒列國列王——馬和戰車（這是列國力量之所在，Jer 51:21）——男女老幼（列國由此而得充滿，Jer 51:22）——牧人和他的羊群、農夫和他的牛（列國由此而得維持供應，Jer 51:23）。迦勒底人在神使用他們作祂怒氣的器皿懲罰列國時，曾如此大肆殺戮；然而如今巴比倫自己也要傾覆。注意，那些長久以來所向無敵的人，終久也要遇見對手，他們傾覆的日子也必來到；那杖終久也要被扔入火中。任何人都不可因曾被神使用去執行祂對別人的審判，就以為自己可免於神的審判。
二. 這裏有神的以色列對巴比倫所提出的公義控訴和罪狀。1. 控訴她不可救藥的邪惡（Jer 51:9）：我們想醫治巴比倫，她卻未痊癒。被擄在巴比倫人中的神的百姓曾照所受的指示（Jer 10:11），努力說服他們認識拜偶像的愚妄，卻作不到；他們仍照樣迷戀自己的雕像，因此以色列人決定離棄他們、歸回本國。也有人把這話理解為他們所僱來幫助的軍隊所說的——聲明他們已盡力拯救她免於毀滅，卻都無濟於事，因此不如各自回本國去；因為她的審判達到天上，抵擋它是徒然的，想使它轉離也是枉然。2. 控訴她對以色列根深蒂固的惡意。別國也曾受迦勒底人的苛待，唯獨以色列向神控訴，並滿有信心地向他申訴（Jer 51:34,35）：「巴比倫王吞滅我，壓碎我，覺得自己對我的毀壞總不夠；他使我成為空虛，失去了所有珍貴之物；他如大魚將我吞下——如同大魚成群地吞吃小魚；他以我的美物填滿肚腹——以我一切的美好填滿他的庫房；又將我趕出——把我如同無用之物一般丟棄。」錫安和耶路撒冷要說：「願加在我身上的強暴——加在我的兒女，就是我的骨肉、我自己身上的——以及我百姓被如水傾流的血，*都歸到他們身上；*願罪責歸於他們，並從他們手中追討。」注意，落在虧待神百姓之罪中的人，離毀滅不遠了。
三. 天地的公義審判官在此申訴上作出了判決——為以色列對巴比倫。祂坐在寶座上按公義審判，樂意接受控訴，並回答（Jer 51:36）：「我必為你伸冤。把這事交給我；我必在所定的時候有效地為你施行報復，耶路撒冷的每一滴血都要連本帶利地被追討。」以色列和猶大似乎被忽略遺忘了，但神仍看顧他們（Jer 51:5）。誠然他們的地充滿了得罪以色列聖者的罪。他們是惹人發怒的百姓，他們的罪大大觸怒神——是聖潔的神，也是他們的神，他們的聖者；因此祂公義地把他們交在仇敵手中，也本可公義地離棄他們、任憑他們在仇敵手中滅亡；但神待他們比他們所應得的好，儘管他們有罪孽、祂有嚴厲的對待，以色列卻沒有被撇棄，沒有被棄絕——雖然被趕出，卻仍被他的神承認和眷顧，被萬軍之耶和華眷顧。神仍舊是他的神，並要作為萬軍之耶和華——大能的神——為他行事。注意，神的百姓雖然違背了祂的律法、落在祂的責罰之下，卻不能因此推論他們被排出約之外；神對他們的眷顧和慈愛必再發旺（詩 89:30-33）。迦勒底人以為他們向神的以色列所行的永不會被追討；但報復的時候已經定了（Jer 51:6）。我們不能期望它比所定的時候更早來到，但那時它必來到；祂必向巴比倫施行報應，因為為以色列伸冤就是耶和華的報復——祂接納了他們的事；這是祂殿的報復（Jer 51:11），如前所述（Jer 50:28）。施報應的神耶和華——屬報應的神——必施行報應（Jer 51:56），必向他們追討到底；祂必將他們在錫安所行的這一切惡報應在巴比倫身上（Jer 51:24），且要在祂百姓眼前報應。他們必得著看見自己的案子被嫉邪地伸張的滿足。他們不僅要看見那些審判臨到巴比倫，更要清楚地看見那些是對他們向錫安所行不義的懲罰；人人都能看見，都能說：地上果然有施行判斷的神；因為正如巴比倫使以色列被殺的人仆倒——不僅殺了那些拿兵器的人，而是毫無分別地殺了一切人，甚至全地的人（幾乎所有人都被刀劍所滅）——照樣在巴比倫也要仆倒的不僅是那城的人，而是全國的人（Jer 51:49）。居魯士要量給迦勒底人他們量給猶太人的同樣份量，以致每一個觀察者都能辨明神是因他們向祂百姓所行的而報應他們；但錫安的兒女要格外因此歡欣（Jer 51:10）：耶和華已經彰顯我們的公義——祂在我們的事上出頭對付那些不義對待我們的人，為我們伸了冤；祂也使我們顯明祂已與我們和好，我們在祂眼中仍是公義的國。因此，當將此事傳揚讚美祂：我們要在錫安傳揚耶和華我們神的工作，好叫別人也受邀與我們同來讚美祂。
四. 宣告那位接納錫安之事、要與這驕傲強大的仇敵算帳的神的偉大和主權（Jer 51:14）。是萬軍之耶和華說的，是祂起誓說的——指著自己起誓（因為祂不能指著比自己更大的起誓）——祂必以敵軍龐大而不可置信的數目充滿巴比倫，必如毛蟲般用人充滿它，要以人多勢眾壓倒它，只需向他大聲呼喊，因為那喊聲要極其可怕，使一切居民喪膽，輕易成為這眾多大軍的獵物。但誰能擊潰巴比倫這樣強大的國呢？他在何處呢？先知從他從前對神的描述——祂的主權和勝過一切爭競者的能力（Jer 10:12-16）——中為我們作了介紹；那裏的描述本是為使巴比倫的拜偶像者知罪、堅固神以色列人的信心和對以色列神的敬拜而作的；此處重複，為要表明神要藉祂的審判使那些不肯被祂的話語說服的人信服祂是萬有的神。不要懷疑那位已定意毀滅巴比倫的能否兌現祂的話，因為：1. 祂是創造世界的神（Jer 51:15），因此在祂沒有難成的事；我們的幫助是在乎祂的名，我們的盼望建立於祂。2. 祂掌管祂所造的一切（Jer 51:16）；祂的護理是不斷的創造。風和雨都在祂支配之下。祂若發言，天上的水就匯聚（而水如何懸於天上本身就是奇事），由地上的蒸氣滋養（蒸氣如何從地升上也同樣奇妙）。閃電和雨似乎水火不容，卻同時產生；風的動向似乎隨意，我們不知從哪裏來，卻可以確知它是從祂的府庫中帶出來的。3. 那些反對祂話語成就的偶像不過是虛假，拜它們的是愚昧人（Jer 51:17,18）。偶像是虛假的、空虛的，是錯謬之作；當它們被察看追問時，就滅亡——就是它們的名譽盡失，顯明為無有；而造它們的也和它們一樣。但以色列的神與這些外邦的神全然不可比擬（Jer 51:19）：雅各的分不像這些；說這話並要成就這事的神，是造就萬有的主，是萬軍之耶和華，因此能隨己意行事；祂與祂百姓之間有親密的關係，因為祂是他們的分，他們是祂的；他們以祂為自己的分而信靠祂，祂也樂意以他們為樂，並特別眷顧他們，視他們為祂產業的支派；因此祂必為他們作最好的安排。此處重複從前說過的話，既表明其確實性，也表明其重要性，並促使我們格外留意：神說了一次、兩次，我們都聽見過——能力屬於神——毀滅教會最可怕仇敵的能力；神既說了一次、兩次，我們若仍不領悟、不留心，就無可推諉了。
五. 描述要在這事奉中使用的器皿。神已經激發了米底亞諸王的心（Jer 51:11）——大流士和居魯士，他們出於神的感動來攻擊巴比倫；因為神謀劃攻擊巴比倫，要毀滅它。是他們在作，但謀劃的是神——是神設計的；他們不過是在成就祂的旨意、照祂的指示行事。注意，神的籌算必立定，萬人的心都必照之而動。神所興起攻擊巴比倫的人被比作（Jer 51:1）毀滅的暴風——或是因寒冷毀壞地上的果實，或是因猛烈吹倒一切。這風是從神的府庫中帶出來的（Jer 51:16），此處說是興起攻擊迦勒底人中間居住的人——就是那些與他們雜處、與他們合併的外邦人。迦勒底人藉俯伏拜偶像而背叛神，神就必興起毀滅者攻擊他們，因為與神相爭的，祂必勝過。這些仇敵被比作揚穀者（Jer 51:2），要把他們如糠秕被風吹散。迦勒底人從前是揚穀者，篩盡神的百姓（Jer 15:7）、使他們空虛，如今他們自己也要照樣被掠奪驅散。
六. 賜給他們毀滅和夷平一切的充足使命。讓他們對迦勒底的弓箭手彎弓（Jer 51:3），不可顧惜她的少年人，而要盡行毀滅，因為耶和華已經謀劃並成就了祂論巴比倫所說的話（Jer 51:12）。這可以激勵祂所使用的器皿，保證他們成功。他們所採取的方法是神所謀劃的，因此必定亨通；祂所說的必成就，因為是祂自己要成就；所以要作好一切必要的預備。他們被如此呼召（Jer 51:27,28）。要豎立大旗，在旗下招聚這次遠征的兵丁；要吹角，召集百姓、鼓舞他們；居魯士軍隊所要徵集的各國要預備兵員；亞拉臘、米尼、亞實基拿——亞美尼亞（無論上下）和弗呂家、庇推尼附近的亞斯卡尼亞——的列國要派出服役的兵員；要任命將領，騎兵要前進；馬匹要如毛蟲般浩浩蕩蕩而來，如毛蟲般跳躍蹴踏；要使那地荒涼，如毛蟲所作的（珥 1:4），尤其是粗糙的毛蟲；諸王和將領要預備列國攻擊巴比倫，因為這事工浩大，需要許多人投入。
七. 迦勒底人的軟弱，以及他們無力抵擋這毀滅性攻勢。當神用他們攻擊別國時，他們有勇氣和力量主動出擊，以令人讚嘆的決心節節勝利；但如今輪到他們被清算，他們的一切勇力都消失了，勇氣盡失，那些素來驍勇善戰的人竟連防禦都無力。此處他們被諷刺地、責備地呼召預備作戰（Jer 51:11）：磨亮箭頭——因久不用而生鏽；招聚盾牌——因長久太平安逸而散亂棄置（Jer 51:12）；在巴比倫城牆上豎立大旗——在城牆的塔樓上——招聚一切臣屬於這母城的人前來救援；要盡力加強守衛，派哨兵各就各位，預備伏兵迎接敵人。這暗示他們將被發現十分鬆懈疏忽，需要如此激勵（而他們果然鬆懈到城破時仍在宴樂之中），但他們的一切預備都將徒勞。誰都可以如此呼召他們，他們卻無心響應（Jer 51:29）。全地要顫抖悲哀（普遍的驚惶）抓住他們；因為他們要看見神那不可抵抗的膀臂和不可逆轉的旨意和判令。他們要看見神正在使巴比倫成為荒場，在其中成就祂所定意的；於是巴比倫的勇士停止爭戰（Jer 51:30）。神既奪去他們的力量和勇氣，使他們留在營寨中不敢露面，他們心和手的力量都盡失；他們變得如婦女般膽怯，以致仇敵毫無抵抗地燒了她的住處、打斷她的門閂。這與 Jer 51:56-58 的意思相同。當毀滅者臨到巴比倫，她那些本當抵抗的勇士立刻被擒，他們的兵器失效，他們的弓折斷——毫無用處。他們的計謀也失效；他們召開軍事會議，但那些坐著商議共同安全之策的君王和將領卻被灌醉——他們如因遲鈍或絕望而沉醉的人，對事物不能形成正確的判斷；他們的謀略和決心搖擺不定、彼此衝突，並如醉酒之人彼此失和。最終他們睡了長覺，永不從酒中醒來——那是神烈怒之杯，對他們而言是一劑使他們陷入致命昏迷的麻藥。他們城的牆也失效（Jer 51:58）。當仇敵找到了渡幼發拉底河的辦法——而這河素來被視為不可涉渡——他們想，城的城牆總是攻不破的，那是巴比倫的寬闊城牆（或如旁註所讀，寬闊巴比倫的城牆）。城在城牆以內的周長為三百八十五弗隆，有人說四百八十——即約六十英里；城牆高二百肘、寬五十肘，兩輛戰車可以在其上並行。有人說內城有三重城牆，外城亦然，且城的石頭以瀝青代替灰泥黏合（創 11:3），幾乎不可分離；然而這些城牆要被全然拆毀，高大的城門要被火焚燒，那些從事城防的百姓要在火中徒然勞力——他們要徹底精疲力竭，卻毫無益處。
八. 這些入侵者對巴比倫所造成的毀滅。1. 這是確定的毀滅；判決已下，不可逆轉；神的能力與之為敵，不可抵抗（Jer 51:8）：巴比倫忽然傾覆毀滅——她必定傾覆，必定傾覆歸於毀滅，如同已經傾覆毀滅了一樣確實——儘管耶利米說這話時，以及此後許多年間，巴比倫仍處於權勢和輝煌的鼎盛時期。神宣告、神出現與巴比倫為敵（Jer 51:25）：看哪，我與你為敵；而神所反對的，不能長久站立。祂要伸手攻擊它——那手是任何受造之物都不能承受其重量或抵擋其力量的。祂的旨意必成就——巴比倫必成為荒場（Jer 51:29）。2. 這是公義的毀滅。巴比倫已自取其咎，因此不能不遭受這毀滅。因為（Jer 51:25）巴比倮素來是毀滅的山——如山那樣高大厚重，而毀滅全地——如同從高山滾落的石頭毀壞周圍的地土；但如今它自己要從巖石上被滾下來——那巖石如同它所站立的地基。它要被夷平，它的輝煌和權勢要被粉碎。它如今如埃特納和其他火山一般，是座燃燒的山——噴出火焰，使周圍一切驚恐。但它要成為燒盡的山；它終將耗盡自身，只剩一堆灰燼。這世界到末了也必如此。又如（Jer 51:33）「巴比倫好像踐穀的禾場」——神的百姓在其中如禾場上的禾捆被踹踏多時；但如今時候到了，她自己和她的禾捆也要被踹踏；她的君王和大人，並她一切的居民，都要在自己的地上被打，如同在禾場中。禾場已經預備好了。巴比倫因罪使自己適合作戰場，她的百姓如收割時的莊稼，成熟以待毀滅（啟 14:15，彌 4:12）。3. 這是無可避免的毀滅。巴比倫看來防備森嚴、堅固難攻：她居住在許多水之上（Jer 51:13）；她國家的地勢似乎不可到達——因河流環繞，敵人進軍其中極其困難。新約的巴比倫也因此被說成坐在許多水之上——就是管轄許多國（正如另一個巴比倫所作的，啟 17:15）。巴比倮有豐盛的寶藏；然而「你的結局到了，你的水和財富都不能保全你。」這結局要成為你貪婪的尺度——是你所得的界限，要限制你本可無限的貪婪和野心。神藉著毀滅巴比倫，對它驕傲的波浪說：你只可到這裏，不可越過。注意，人若不肯以智慧和恩典為自己的貪婪設限，神必以審判為它設限。巴比倫自以為安全而偉大，十分驕傲；但她必被欺騙（Jer 51:53）：巴比倫雖然把城牆和宮殿升到天上，雖然（因為高的東西容易搖晃）她費心堅固她力量的高處，這一切都無濟於事；神要差派毀滅者攻擊她，突破她的力量、推倒她的高度。4. 這是漸進的毀滅；他們若願意，本可預見並得到警告；因為（Jer 51:46）「一年必有一個風聲」說居魯士正大舉備戰，「一年之後又有一個風聲」說他的目標正是巴比倫，他的軍隊正向那裏進發；因此當他尚遠時，他們本可差人求和；但他們太驕傲、太安逸，不肯如此行，他們的心剛硬直至毀滅。5. 然而當它來到時，卻是出人意料的毀滅：巴比倫忽然傾覆（Jer 51:8）；毀滅在他們想不到的時候臨到，並在極短的時間內完成，正如新約巴比倫的毀滅——一時之間（啟 18:17）。巴比倫王本當觀察仇敵的逼近，自己卻遠離受攻擊的地點，以致過了許久才知道城已失陷；因此駐紮在附近的人一個接一個地差遣信使，向巴比倫王報告：他的城已從一端被攻取（Jer 51:31），再沒有甚麼能阻擋征服者的推進，他們很快就會到達另一端。他們要告訴他仇敵已佔據了渡口（Jer 51:32）——河上的堡壘或封鎖線——既渡了河，又在河邊放火燒蘆葦，以驚嚇擾亂全城，以致一切兵丁都驚惶失措，丟棄兵器投降。信使如約伯的使者一般，一個跟著一個帶來這些消息，並隨即被證實：仇敵已進入王宮，殺了王本人（但 5:30）。他們在城破之時正在舉行的那次褻瀆的筵席——既是他們奇異安逸的明證，也是仇敵的大好時機——此處似乎被提及（Jer 51:38,39）：他們如同獅子一同吼叫——正如人在宴樂中，酒上了頭時所作的。他們稱之為歌唱；但在聖經的語言和清醒之人的語言中，那叫做獅子崽子的吼叫。他們大概正在舉杯咒詛居魯士和他的軍隊，大聲歡呼。然而，神說，當他們火熱之時——當他們（賽 5:11）被烈酒灌得頭腦發熱時——我必為他們擺設筵席，我必給他們的分。他們把自己的杯傳了一圈；如今耶和華右手的杯要傳給他們（哈 2:15,16）——烈怒之杯，要使他們沉醉，好叫他們快樂（或更確切地說，好叫他們狂歡），並使他們睡了長覺；讓他們盡情以那苦杯取樂吧，但那杯要使他們沉睡，永不再醒（如 Jer 51:57）；因為當夜，在歡樂之中，伯沙撒被殺。6. 這是全面的毀滅。神要徹底作成這事；因為正如祂要成就祂所定意的，祂也要完成祂所開始的。被殺的人要在迦勒底全地大大仆倒；必有許多人在她街市上被刺透（Jer 51:4）。他們如羊羔被牽到宰殺之地（Jer 51:40）——人數如此之多、如此輕易，仇敵殺他們如同屠夫宰殺羊羔一般不費力。仇敵的力量和他們的入侵被比作洪水的氾濫（Jer 51:42）：海水漲上來淹沒巴比倫——海水一旦衝破堤防就無可阻擋——她被海浪的多寡淹沒，被大軍壓倒；於是她的城邑就成了荒場——無人居住、無人耕種的沙漠（Jer 51:43）。7. 這毀滅要波及巴比倫的神明——偶像和造像——並以特別的重量落在他們身上。為表明全地必蒙羞、她一切被殺的人必仆倒，且全國受傷的必呻吟，我必在她雕刻的偶像身上施行審判（Jer 51:47，又見 Jer 51:52）。如果連他們指望得保護的神都滅亡了，一切都必滅亡。入侵者雖然自己也拜偶像，卻要毀壞巴比倫眾神的偶像和廟宇——作為一切假神終將被廢除的憑據。彼勒是巴比倫人所敬拜的主要偶像，因此此處特別點名標出要被毀滅（Jer 51:44）：我必刑罰彼勒——那大吞吃者——那領受如此豐盛祭物、如此豐厚戰利品的偶像，它的殿有如此多的人前來。它要將它貪婪享受的都吐出來。神要從它的殿中帶出一切所積存的財富（伯 20:15）。它的祭壇要被離棄，再無人理會，於是那被視為巴比倫城牆的偶像要倒塌、使他們失望。8. 這是終極的毀滅。你可以為她的傷痛取乳香，卻是徒然；她既不肯因神的話得醫治，就不能因神的護理得醫治（Jer 51:8,9）。巴比倫必成為亂堆（Jer 51:37），為使其徹底蒙羞，連巴比倫的廢墟也無人使用——它們如此可憎，又帶著如此不祥之兆（Jer 51:26）：*人必不從你那裏取石頭作為房角的基石，也不取石頭作根基。*人必不願與巴比倫或任何屬巴比倫之物有任何瓜葛。或者這表示巴比倫中不再剩下任何可以作為重建國家之盼望或企圖之基礎的東西；因為此處接著說：*它必永遠荒涼。*耶柔米說，在他那個時代，雖然巴比倫城牆的廢墟仍可看見，但城牆以內的地方已成了野獸出沒的森林。
九. 此處呼召神的百姓從巴比倫出來。當毀滅臨近時，他們的智慧是離棄這城，退避鄉間（Jer 51:6）：「要從巴比倫中間逃走，躲到偏遠的角落去，好保全性命，不至在她的罪中被剪除。」當神的審判遍地之時，盡可能遠離那些審判所針對的人是好的——正如以色列遠離可拉的帳棚。這與基督論到耶路撒冷毀滅時給門徒的忠告相符：在猶太的應當逃到山上（太 24:16）。他們的智慧是從巴比倫中間出來，免得被捲入——若非她的廢墟，至少也是她的恐懼之中（Jer 51:45,46）：免得你心軟弱，因這地所要聽見的風聲而懼怕。雖然神曾告訴他們，居魯士必作他們的拯救者，巴比倫的毀滅必成為他們的拯救，他們也曾被告知在她得平安時要為她求平安，因此巴比倫所受的驚嚇也會使他們驚慌；他們或許沒有足夠的信心和考慮來壓制那些恐懼，因此此處勸他們躲到聽不見那些警報之處。注意，那些沒有足夠恩典在試探中保持鎮定的人，當有足夠的智慧避開試探的道路。但這還不是全部；他們的智慧不僅是在毀滅臨近時離棄這城，更是在毀滅成就之後、他們因監獄被拆毀而獲釋時，也有本分離棄這國。這是他們被告知的（Jer 51:50,51）：「你們」以色列人，「這脫離了迦勒底壓迫者之刀、又脫離了波斯毀滅者之刀的人，如今釋放之年來到，要離去，不要停留；無論你們在巴比倫多麼安頓，都要趕快歸回本國，因為這不是你們的安息之所，迦南才是。」1. 他提醒他們歸回的動力：「要從遠方記念耶和華」——記念祂如今與你們同在，縱然你們遠離故土；記念從前祂在聖殿中與你們列祖同在，縱然你們如今遠離它的廢墟。注意，無論我們身處何處——在最深的深處、在最遠的距離——我們都可以也必須記念耶和華我們的神；在最大的恐懼和盼望中，記念主正是時候。「耶路撒冷要常在你心內。縱然如今它已成廢墟，仍要憐憫它的塵土*（詩 102:14）；縱然你們中間很少有人親眼看見過它，仍要相信從那些想到錫安就哭泣的人那裏所聽見的；要思念耶路撒冷，直到你們下定決心盡力趕往那裏。」注意，當我們守節之城不在眼前時，也不可不在心中；在我們經過這世界的旅途中，常讓屬天的耶路撒冷浮現心頭，對我們大有裨益。2. 他注意到歸回的俘虜所面臨的挫折（Jer 51:51）：被提醒耶路撒冷時，他們呼喊：「我們滿面羞愧；一想到它我們就不能忍受；羞愧遮蓋我們的臉面，因為我們聽見了聖所被褻瀆的辱罵——被外邦人褻瀆毀壞；我們怎能帶著任何喜樂想到它呢？」對此他回答（Jer 51:52）：以色列的神如今要勝過巴比倫的神，那辱罵就永遠被輥去了。注意，憑信心盼望耶路撒冷的復原，能使我們不以耶路撒冷的廢墟為恥。
十. 此處有巴比倫傾覆所激發的不同反應，這與我們對新約巴比倫的反應相同（啟 18:9,19）。1. 有人為巴比倫的毀滅哀悼。有呼喊的聲音——從巴比倫發出的大聲哀號（Jer 51:54）——哀悼這場大毀滅，哀哭的聲音，因為耶和華已經從其中滅絕了群眾的聲音——巴比倫素來所聽見的歡樂的大聲（Jer 51:55）。我們被告知他們在哀悼中所說的話（Jer 51:41）：*「示沙克何竟被攻取！*我們對她是何等誤判！那素為全地所讚美、所榮耀、所羨慕的城，何竟被攻取，*在列國中成了令人驚駭的！」*請看那曾普受稱頌的，竟如何落入普遍的蔑視。2. 然而有人為巴比倫的傾覆歡喜——不是因它如同族受造之物的災禍，而是因它彰顯了神公義的審判，也為神俘虜的釋放開了道路；因這緣故，天和地，以及其中所有的，必因巴比倫歡喜（Jer 51:48）；天上的教會和地上的教會都要將神的公義歸榮耀給祂，並存感恩的心留意稱頌祂。巴比倫的傾覆就是錫安的讚美。
英語原文
The Judgment of Babylon (595 BC)
¹ Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
² And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
³ Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
⁴ Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
⁵ For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
⁶ Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
⁷ Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
⁸ Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
⁹ We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
¹⁰ The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
¹¹ Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
¹² Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
¹³ O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
¹⁴ The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
¹⁵ He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
¹⁶ When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
¹⁷ Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
¹⁸ They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
¹⁹ The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.
²⁰ Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
²¹ And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
²² With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
²³ I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
²⁴ And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.
²⁵ Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
²⁶ And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.
²⁷ Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
²⁸ Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
²⁹ And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
³⁰ The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwelling-places; her bars are broken.
³¹ One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
³² And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
³³ For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
³⁴ Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.
³⁵ The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
³⁶ Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
³⁷ And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, an astonishment, and a hissing, without an inhabitant.
³⁸ They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.
³⁹ In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.
⁴⁰ I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
⁴¹ How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
⁴² The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
⁴³ Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
⁴⁴ And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
⁴⁵ My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
⁴⁶ And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
⁴⁷ Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
⁴⁸ Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.
⁴⁹ As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
⁵⁰ Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
⁵¹ We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.
⁵² Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
⁵³ Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.
⁵⁴ A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
⁵⁵ Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
⁵⁶ Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.
⁵⁷ And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
⁵⁸ Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
The particulars of this copious prophecy are dispersed and interwoven, and the same things left and returned to so often that it could not well be divided into parts, but we must endeavor to collect them under their proper heads. Let us then observe here,
I. An acknowledgment of the great pomp and power that Babylon had been in and the use that God in his providence had made of it (Jer 51:7): Babylon hath been a golden cup, a rich and glorious empire, a golden city (Isa 14:4), a head of gold (Da 2:38), filled with all good things, as a cup with wine. Nay, she had been a golden cup in the Lord's hand; he had in a particular manner filled and favoured her with blessings; he had made the earth drunk with this cup; some were intoxicated with her pleasures and debauched by her, others intoxicated with her terrors and destroyed by her. In both senses the New-Testament Babylon is said to have made the kings of the earth drunk, Re 17:2,18:3. Babylon had also been God's battle-axe; it was so at this time, when Jeremiah prophesied, and was likely to be yet more so, Jer 51:20. The forces of Babylon were God's weapons of war, tools in his hand, with which he broke in pieces, and knocked down, nations and kingdoms,—horses and chariots, which are so much the strength of kingdoms (Jer 51:21),—man and woman, young and old, with which kingdoms are replenished (Jer 51:22),—the shepherd and his flock, the husbandman and his oxen, with which kingdoms are maintained and supplied, Jer 51:23. Such havoc as this the Chaldeans had made when God employed them as instruments of his wrath for the chastising of the nations; and yet now Babylon itself must fall. Note, Those that have carried all before them a great while will yet at length meet with their match, and their day also will come to fall; the rod will itself be thrown into the fire at last. Nor can any think it will exempt them from God's judgments that they have been instrumental in executing his judgments on others.
II. A just complaint made of Babylon, and a charge drawn up against her by the Israel of God. 1. She is complained of for her incorrigible wickedness (Jer 51:9): We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. The people of God that were captives among the Babylonians endeavoured, according to the instructions given them (Jer 10:11), to convince them of the folly of their idolatry, but they could not do it; still they doted as much as ever upon their graven images, and therefore the Israelites resolved to quit them and go to their own country. Yet some understand this as spoken by the forces they had hired for their assistance, declaring that they had done their best to save her from ruin, but that it was all to no purpose, and therefore they might as well go home to their respective countries; "for her judgment reaches unto heaven, and it is in vain to withstand it or think to avert it." 2. She is complained of for her inveterate malice against Israel. Other nations had been hardly used by the Chaldeans, but Israel only complains to God of it, and with confidence appeals to him (Jer 51:34,35): "The king of Babylon has devoured me, and crushed me, and never thought he could do enough ruin to me; he has emptied me of all that was valuable, has swallowed me up as a dragon, or whale, swallows up the little fish by shoals; he has filled his belly, filled his treasures, with my delicates, with all my pleasant things, and has cast me out, cast me away as a vessel in which there is no pleasure; and now let them be accountable for all this." Zion and Jerusalem shall say, "Let the violence done to me and my children, that are my own flesh, and pieces of myself, and all the blood of my people, which they have shed like water, be upon them; let the guilt of it lie upon them, and let it be required at their hands." Note, Ruin is not far off from those that lie under the guilt of wrong done to God's people.
III. Judgment given upon this appeal by the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, on behalf of Israel against Babylon. He sits in the throne judging right, is ready to receive complaints, and answers (Jer 51:36): "I will plead thy cause. Leave it with me; I will in due time plead it effectually and take vengeance for thee, and every drop of Jerusalem's blood shall be accounted for with interest." Israel and Judah seemed to have been neglected and forgotten, but God had an eye to them, Jer 51:5. It is true their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. They were a provoking people and their sins were a great offence to God, as a holy God, and as their God, their Holy One; and therefore he justly delivered them up into the hands of their enemies, and might justly have abandoned them and left them to perish in their hands; but God deals better with them than they deserve, and, notwithstanding their iniquities and his severities, Israel is not forsaken, is not cast off, though he be cast out, but is owned and looked after by his God, by the Lord of hosts. God is his God still, and will act for him as the Lord of hosts, a God of power. Note, Though God's people may have broken his laws and fallen under his rebukes, yet it does not therefore follow that they are thrown out of covenant; but God's care of them and love to them will flourish again, Ps 89:30-33. The Chaldeans thought they should never be called to an account for what they had done against God's Israel; but there is a time fixed for vengeance, Jer 51:6. We cannot expect it should come sooner than the time fixed, but then it will come; he will render unto Babylon a recompence, for the avenging of Israel is the vengeance of the Lord, who espouses their cause; it is the vengeance of his temple, Jer 51:11, as before, Jer 50:28. The Lord God of recompences, the God to whom vengeance belongs, will surely requite (Jer 51:56), will pay them home; he will render unto Babylon all the evil they have done in Zion (Jer 51:24); he will return it in the sight of his people. They shall have the satisfaction to see their cause pleaded with jealousy. They shall not only live to see those judgments brought upon Babylon, but they shall plainly see them to be the punishment of the wrong they have done to Zion; any man may see it, and say, Verily there is a God that judges in the earth; for just as Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, has not only slain those that were found in arms, but all without distinction, even all the land (almost all were put to the sword), so at Babylon shall fall the slain not only of the city, but of all the country, Jer 51:49. Cyrus shall measure to the Chaldeans the same that they measured to the Jews, so that every observer may discern that God is recompensing them for what they did against his people; but Zion's children shall in a particular manner triumph in it (Jer 51:10): The Lord has brought forth our righteousness; he has appeared in our behalf against those that dealt unjustly with us, and has given us redress; he has also made it to appear that he is reconciled to us and that we are yet in his eyes a righteous nation. Let it therefore be spoken of to his praise: Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God, that others may be invited to join with us in praising him.
IV. A declaration of the greatness and sovereignty of that God who espouses Zion's cause and undertakes to reckon with this proud and potent enemy, Jer 51:14. It is the Lord of hosts that has said it, that has sworn it, has sworn it by himself (for he could swear by no greater), that he will fill Babylon with vast and incredible numbers of the enemy's forces, will fill it with men as with caterpillars, that shall overpower it will multitudes, and need only to lift up a shout against it, for that shall be so terrible as to dispirit all the inhabitants and make them an easy prey to this numerous army. But who, and where, is he that can break so powerful a kingdom as Babylon? The prophet gives an account of him from the description he had formerly given of him, and of his sovereignty and victory over all pretenders (Jer 10:12-16), which was there intended for the conviction of the Babylonian idolaters and the confirmation of God's Israel in the faith and worship of the God of Israel; and it is here repeated to show that God will convince those by his judgments who would not be convinced by his word that he is God over all. Let not any doubt but that he who has determined to destroy Babylon is able to make his words good, for, 1. He is the God that made the world (Jer 51:15), and therefore nothing is too hard for him to do; it is in his name that our help stands, and on him our hope is built. 2. He has the command of all the creatures that he has made (Jer 51:16); his providence is a continued creation. He has wind and rain at his disposal. If he speak the word, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens (and it is a wonder how they hang there), fed by vapours out of the earth, and it is a wonder how they ascend thence. Lightnings and rain seem contraries, as fire and water, and yet they are produced together; and the wind, which seems arbitrary in its motions, and we know not whence it comes, is yet, we are sure, brought out of his treasuries. 3. The idols that oppose the accomplishment of his word are a mere sham and their worshippers brutish people, Jer 51:17,18. The idols are falsehood, they are vanity, they are the work of errors; when they come to be visited (to be examined and enquired into) they perish, that is, their reputation sinks and they appear to be nothing; and those that make them are like unto them. But between the God of Israel and these gods of the heathen there is no comparison (Jer 51:19): The portion of Jacob is not like them; the God who speaks this and will do it is the former of all things and the Lord of all hosts, and therefore can do what he will; and there is a near relation between him and his people, for he is their portion and they are his; they put a confidence in him as their portion and he is pleased to take a complacency in them and a particular care of them as the lot of his inheritance; and therefore he will do what is best for them. The repetition of these things here, which were said before, intimates both the certainty and the importance of them, and obliges us to take special notice of them; God hath spoken once; yea, twice have we heard this, that power belongs to God, power to destroy the most formidable enemies of his church; and if God thus speak once, yea, twice, we are inexcusable if we do not perceive it and attend to it.
V. A description of the instruments that are to be employed in this service. God has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes (Jer 51:11), Darius and Cyrus, who come against Babylon by a divine instinct; for God's device is against Babylon to destroy it. They do it, but God devised it, he designed it; they are but accomplishing his purpose, and acting as he directed. Note, God's counsel shall stand, and according to it all hearts shall move. Those whom God employs against Babylon are compared (Jer 51:1) to a destroying wind, which either by its coldness blasts the fruits of the earth or by its fierceness blows down all before it. This wind is brought out of God's treasuries (Jer 51:16), and it is here said to be raised up against those that dwell in the midst of the Chaldeans, those of other nations that inhabit among them and are incorporated with them. The Chaldeans rise up against God by falling down before idols, and against them God will raise up destroyers, for he will be too hard for those that contend with him. These enemies are compared to fanners (Jer 51:2), who shall drive them away as chaff is driven away by the fan. The Chaldeans had been fanners to winnow God's people (Jer 15:7) and to empty them, and now they shall themselves be in like manner despoiled and dispersed.
VI. An ample commission given them to destroy and lay all waste. Let them bend their bow against the archers of the Chaldeans (Jer 51:3) and not spare her young men, but utterly destroy them, for the Lord has both devised and done what he spoke against Babylon, Jer 51:12. This may animate the instruments he employs, but assuring them of success. The methods they take are such as God has devised and therefore they shall surely prosper; what he has spoken shall be done, for he himself will do it; and therefore let all necessary preparations be made. This they are called to, Jer 51:27,28. Let a standard be set up, under which to enlist soldiers for this expedition; let a trumpet be blown to call men together to it and animate them in it; let the nations, out of which Cyrus's army is to be raised, prepare their recruits; let the kingdoms of Ararat, and Minni, and Ashkenaz, of Armenia, both the higher and the lower, and of Ascania, about Phrygia and Bithynia, send in their quota of men for his service; let general officers be appointed and the cavalry advance; let the horses come up in great numbers, as the caterpillars, and come, like them, leaping and pawing in the valley; let them lay the country waste, as caterpillars do (Joe 1:4), especially rough caterpillars; let the kings and captains prepare nations against Babylon, for the service is great and there is occasion for many hands to be employed it.
VII. The weakness of the Chaldeans, and their inability to make head against this threatening destroying force. When God employed them against other nations they had spirit and strength to act offensively, and went on with admirable resolution, conquering and to conquer; but now that it comes to their turn to be reckoned with all their might and courage are gone, their hearts fail them, and none of all their men of might and mettle have found their hands to act so much as defensively. They are called upon here to prepare for action, but it is ironically and in an upbraiding way (Jer 51:11): Make bright the arrows, which have grown rusty through disuse; gather the shields, which in a long time of peace and security have been scattered and thrown out of the way (Jer 51:12); set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, upon the towers on those walls, to summon all that owed suit and service to that mother-city, now to come in to her assistance; let them make the watch as strong as they can, and appoint the sentinels to their respective posts, and prepare ambushes for the reception of the enemy. This intimates that they would be found very secure and remiss, and would need to be thus quickened (and they were so to such a degree that they were in the midst of their revels when the city was taken), but that all their preparations should come to no purpose. Whoever will may call them to it, but they shall have no heart to come at the call, Jer 51:29. The whole land shall tremble, and sorrow (a universal consternation) shall seize upon them; for they shall see both the irresistible arm and the irreversible counsel and decree of God against them. They shall see that God is making Babylon a desolation, and therein is performing what he has purposed; and then the mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, Jer 51:30. God having taken away their strength and spirit, so that they have remained in their holds, not daring so much as to peep forth, the might both of their hearts and of their hands fails; they become as timorous as women, so that the enemy has, without any resistance, burnt her dwelling-places and broken her bars. It is to the same purport with Jer 51:56-58. When the spoiler comes upon Babylon her mighty men, who should make head against him, are immediately taken, their weapons of war fail them, every one of their bows is broken and stands them in no stead. Their politics fail them; they call councils of war, but their princes and captains, who sit in council to concert measures for the common safety, are made drunk; they are as men intoxicated through stupidity or despair; they can form no right notions of things; they stagger and are unsteady in their counsels and resolves, and dash one against another, and, like drunken men, fall out among themselves. At length they sleep a perpetual sleep, and never awake from their wine, the wine of God's wrath, for it is to them an opiate that lays them into a fatal lethargy. The walls of their city fail them, Jer 51:58. When the enemy had found ways to ford Euphrates, which was thought impassable, yet surely, think they, the walls are impregnable, they are the broad walls of Babylon or (as the margin reads it), the walls of broad Babylon. The compass of the city, within the walls, was 385 furlongs, some say 480, that is, about sixty miles; the walls were 200 cubits high, and fifty cubits broad, so that two chariots might easily pass by one another upon them. Some say that there was a threefold wall about the inner city and the like about the outer, and that the stones of the wall, being laid in pitch instead of mortar (Ge 11:3), were scarcely separable; and yet these shall be utterly broken, and the high gates and towers shall be burnt, and the people that are employed in the defence of the city shall labour in vain in the fire; they shall quite tire themselves, but shall do no good.
VIII. The destruction that shall be made of Babylon by these invaders. 1. It is a certain destruction; the doom has passed and it cannot be reversed; a divine power is engaged against it, which cannot be resisted (Jer 51:8): Babylon is fallen and destroyed, is as sure to fall, to fall into destruction, as if it were fallen and destroyed already; though when Jeremiah prophesied this, and many a year after, it was in the height of its power and greatness. God declares, God appears against Babylon (Jer 51:25): Behold, I am against thee; and those cannot stand long whom God is against. He will stretch out his hand upon it, a hand which no creature can bear the weight of nor withstand the force of. It is his purpose, which shall be performed, that Babylon must be a desolation, Jer 51:29. 2. It is a righteous destruction. Babylon has made herself meet for it, and therefore cannot fail to meet with it. For (Jer 51:25) Babylon has been a destroying mountain, very lofty and bulky as a mountain, and destroying all the earth, as the stones that are tumbled from high mountains spoil the grounds about them; but now it shall itself be rolled down from its rocks, which were as the foundations on which it stood. It shall be levelled, its pomp and power broken. It is now a burning mountain, like Ætna and the other volcanoes, that throw out fire, to the terror of all about them. But it shall be a burnt mountain; it shall at length have consumed itself, and shall remain a heap of ashes. So will this world be at the end of time. Again (Jer 51:33), "Babylon is like a threshing-floor, in which the people of God have been long threshed, as sheaves in the floor; but now the time has come that she shall herself be threshed and her sheaves in her; her princes and great men, and all her inhabitants, shall be beaten in their own land, as in the threshing-floor. The threshing-floor is prepared. Babylon is by sin made meet to be a seat of war, and her people, like corn in harvest, are ripe for destruction," Re 14:15, Mic 4:12. 3. It is an unavoidable destruction. Babylon seems to be well-fenced and fortified against it: She dwells upon many waters (Jer 51:13); the situation of her country is such that it seems inaccessible, it is so surrounded, and the march of an enemy into it so embarrassed, by rivers. In allusion to this, the New-Testament Babylon is said to sit upon many waters, that is, to rule over many nations, as the other Babylon did, Re 17:15. Babylon is abundant in treasures; and yet "thy end has come, and neither they waters nor thy wealth shall secure thee." This end that comes shall be the measure of thy covetousness; it shall be the stint of thy gettings, it shall set bounds to thy ambition and avarice, which otherwise would have ben boundless. God, by the destruction of Babylon, said to its proud waves, Hitherto shall you come, and no further. Note, if men will not set a measure to their covetousness by wisdom and grace, God will set a measure to it by his judgments. Babylon, thinking herself very safe and very great, was very proud; but she will be deceived (Jer 51:53): Though Babylon should mount her walls and palaces up to heaven, and though (because what is high is apt to totter) she should take care to fortify the height of her strength, yet all will not do; God will send spoilers against her, that shall break through her strength and bring down her height. 4. It is a gradual destruction, which, if they had pleased, they might have foreseen and had warning of; for (Jer 51:46) "A rumor will come one year that Cyrus is making vast preparations for war, and after that, in another year, shall come a rumour that his design is upon Babylon, and he is steering his course that way;" so that when he was a great way off they might have sent and desired conditions of peace; but they were too proud, too secure, to do that, and their hearts were hardened to their destruction. 5. Yet, when it comes, it is a surprising destruction: Babylon has suddenly fallen (Jer 51:8); the destruction came upon them when they did not think of it and was perfected in a little time, as that of the New-Testament Babylon—in one hour, Re 18:17. The king of Babylon, who should have been observing the approaches of the enemy, was himself at such a distance from the place where the attack was made that it was a great while ere he had notice that the city was taken; so that those who were posted near the place sent one messenger, one courier, after another, with advice of it, Jer 51:31. The foot-posts shall meet at the court from several quarters with this intelligence to the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, and there is nothing to obstruct the progress of the conquerors, but they will be at the other end quickly. They are to tell him that the enemy has seized the passes (Jer 51:32), the forts or blockades upon the river, and that, having got over the river, he has set fire to the reeds on the river side, to alarm and terrify the city, so that all the men of war are affrighted and have thrown down their arms and surrendered at discretion. The messengers come, like Job's, one upon the heels of another, with these tidings, which are immediately confirmed with a witness by the enemies' being in the palace and slaying the king himself, Da 5:30. That profane feast which they were celebrating at the very time when the city was taken, which was both an evidence of their strange security and a great advantage to the enemy, seems here to be referred to (Jer 51:38,39): They shall roar together like lions, as men in their revels do, when the wine has got into their heads. They call it singing; but in scripture-language, and in the language of sober men, it is called yelling like lions' whelps. It is probable that they were drinking confusion to Cyrus and his army with loud huzzas. Well, says God, in their heat, when they are inflamed (Isa 5:11) and their heads are hot with hard drinking, I will make their feasts, I will give them their portion. They have passed their cup round; now the cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto them (Hab 2:15,16), a cup of fury, which shall make them drunk that they may rejoice (or rather that they may revel it) and sleep a perpetual sleep; let them be as merry as they can with that bitter cup, but it shall lay them to sleep never to wake more (as Jer 51:57); for on that night, in the midst of the jollity, was Belshazzar slain. 6. It is to be a universal destruction. God will make thorough work of it; for, as he will perform what he has purposed, so he will perfect what he has begun. The slain shall fall in great abundance throughout the land of the Chaldeans; multitudes shall be thrust through in her streets, Jer 51:4. They are brought down like lambs to the slaughter (Jer 51:40), in such great numbers, so easily, and the enemies make no more of killing them than the butcher does of killing lambs. The strength of the enemy, and their invading them, are here compared to an irruption and inundation of waters (Jer 51:42): The sea has come up upon Babylon, which, when it has once broken through its bounds, there is no fence against, so that she is covered with the multitude of its waves, overpowered by a numerous army; her cities then become a desolation, an uninhabited uncultivated desert, Jer 51:43. 7. It is a destruction that shall reach the gods of Babylon, the idols and images, and fall with a particular weight upon them. "In token that the whole land shall be confounded and all her slain shall fall and that throughout all the country the wounded shall groan, I will do judgment upon her graven images," Jer 51:47 and again Jer 51:52. All must needs perish if their gods perish, from whom they expect protection. Though the invaders are themselves idolaters, yet they shall destroy the images and temples of the gods of Babylon, as an earnest of the abolishing of all counterfeit deities. Bel was the principal idol that the Babylonians worshipped, and therefore that is by name here marked for destruction (Jer 51:44): I will punish Bel, that great devourer, that image to which such abundance of sacrifices are offered and such rich spoils dedicated, and to whose temple there is such a vast resort. He shall disgorge what he has so greedily regaled himself with. God will bring forth out of his temple all the wealth laid up there, Job 20:15. His altars shall be forsaken, none shall regard him any more, and so that idol which was thought to be a wall to Babylon shall fall and fail them. 8. It shall be a final destruction. You may take balm for her pain, but in vain; she that would not be healed by the word of God shall not be healed by his providence, Jer 51:8,9. Babylon shall become heaps (Jer 51:37), and, to complete its infamy, no use shall be made even of the ruins of Babylon, so execrable shall they be, and attended with such ill omens (Jer 51:26): They shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations. People shall not care for having any thing to do with Babylon, or whatever belonged to it. Or it denotes that there shall be nothing left in Babylon on which to ground any hopes or attempts of raising it into a kingdom again; for, as it follows here, it shall be desolate for ever. St. Jerome says that in his time, though the ruins of Babylon's walls were to be seen, yet the ground enclosed by them was a forest of wild beasts.
IX. Here is a call to God's people to go out of Babylon. It is their wisdom, when the ruin is approaching, to quit the city and retire into the country (Jer 51:6): "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and get into some remote corner, that you may save your lives, and may not be cut off in her iniquity." When God's judgments are abroad it is good to get as far as we can from those against whom they are levelled, as Israel from the tents of Korah. This agrees with the advice Christ gave his disciples, with reference to the destruction of Jerusalem. Let those who shall be in Judea flee to the mountains, Mt 24:16. It is their wisdom to get out of the midst of Babylon, lest they be involved, if not in her ruins, yet in her fears (Jer 51:45,46): Lest your heart faint, and you fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land. Though God had told them that Cyrus should be their deliverer, and Babylon's destruction their deliverance, yet they had been told also that in the peace there of they should have peace, and therefore the alarms given to Babylon would put them into a fright, and perhaps they might not have faith and consideration enough to suppress those fears, for which reason they are here advised to get out of the hearing of the alarms. Note, Those who have not grace enough to keep their temper in temptation should have wisdom enough to keep out of the way of temptation. But this is not all; it is not only their wisdom to quit the city when the ruin is approaching, but it is their duty to quit the country too when the ruin is accomplished, and they are set at liberty by the pulling down of the prison over their heads. This they are told, Jer 51:50,51: "You Israelites, who have escaped the sword of the Chaldeans your oppressors, and of the Persians their destroyers, now that the year of release has come, go away, stand not still; hasten to your own country again, however you may be comfortably seated in Babylon, for this is not your rest, but Canaan is." 1. He puts them in mind of the inducements they had to return: "Remember the Lord afar off, his presence with you now, though you are here afar off from your native soil; his presence with your fathers formerly in the temple, though you are now afar off from the ruins of it." Note, Wherever we are, in the greatest depths, at the greatest distances, we may and must remember the Lord our God; and in the time of the greatest fears and hopes it is seasonable to remember the Lord. "And let Jerusalem come into your mind. Though it be now in ruins, yet favour its dust (Ps 102:14); though few of you ever saw it, yet believe the report you have had concerning it from those that wept when they remembered Zion; and think of Jerusalem until you come up to a resolution to make the best of your way thither." Note, When the city of our solemnities is out of sight, yet it must not be out of mind; and it will be of great use to us, in our journey through this world, to let the heavenly Jerusalem come often into our mind. 2. He takes notice of the discouragement which the returning captives labour under (Jer 51:51); being reminded of Jerusalem, they cry out, "We are confounded; we cannot bear the thought of it; shame covers our faces at the mention of it, for we have heard of the reproach of the sanctuary, that is profaned and ruined by strangers; how can we think of it with any pleasure?" To this he answers (Jer 51:52) that the God of Israel will now triumph over the gods of Babylon, and so that reproach will be for ever rolled away. Note, The believing prospect of Jerusalem's recovery will keep us from being ashamed of Jerusalem's ruins.
X. Here is the diversified feeling excited by Babylon's fall, and it is the same that we have with respect to the New-Testament Babylon, Re 18:9,19. 1. Some shall lament the destruction of Babylon. There is the sound of a cry, a great outcry coming from Babylon (Jer 51:54), lamenting this great destruction, the voice of mourning, because the Lord has destroyed the voice of the multitude, that great voice of mirth which used to be heard in Babylon, Jer 51:55. We are told what they shall say in their lamentations (Jer 51:41): "How is Sheshach taken, and how are we mistaken concerning her! How is that city surprised and become an astonishment among the nations that was the praise, and glory, and admiration of the whole earth!" See how that may fall into a general contempt which has been universally cried up. 2. Yet some shall rejoice in Babylon's fall, not as it is the misery of their fellow-creatures, but as it is the manifestation of the righteous judgment of God and as it opens the way for the release of God's captives; upon these accounts the heaven and the earth, and all that is in both, shall sing for Babylon (Jer 51:48); the church in heaven and the church on earth shall give to God the glory of his righteousness, and take notice of it with thankfulness to his praise. Babylon's ruin is Zion's praise.
59-64
The Prophecy Sent to the People (595 BC)
繁體中文
送往百姓的预言（主前595年）
⁵⁹ 猶大王西底家登基第四年，與王同上巴比倫去的瑪西雅的孫子、尼利亞的兒子西萊雅，先知耶利米有話吩咐他；這西萊雅是個安靜的君王近臣。
⁶⁰ 耶利米將一切要臨到巴比倫的災禍，就是論巴比倫的一切話，都寫在書上。
⁶¹ 耶利米對西萊雅說：你到了巴比倫，看見了，就要念這一切話；
⁶² 又要說：耶和華啊，祢曾論到這地方，說：要剪除它，使其中無人無牲畜，永遠荒涼。
⁶³ 你念完了這書，就要把一塊石頭拴在其上，扔在伯拉大河中，
⁶⁴ 說：巴比倫必如此沉下去，不再興起，因為我必降與它的災禍使它疲乏。耶利米的話到此為止。
我們在本章和前一章中長久聆聽了巴比倫受審的記述；如今我們看見這整件事的結論。1. 這預言被抄了一份，似乎是由耶利米親手所抄，因為這裡沒有提到他的文書巴錄（耶51:60）：「耶利米將這裡所寫論巴比倫的一切話都寫在書上」。他領受這啟示，好傳給一切有關的人。神的話若被寫下，且律法、先知和書信被抄錄，對於傳播和保存神的話都大有裨益。2. 這書卷被送到巴比倫，交給那裡的被擄者，由西萊雅帶去——他在西底家王「登基第四年」隨王前去，或作王的隨從，或作王的使節（耶51:59）。他「與西底家同去」，或（如旁註所譯）「代表西底家去巴比倫」。論到他有一個值得注意的品格：這西萊雅是個「安靜的君王近臣」，是個使人安息的近臣。他雖身居尊榮和權位，卻不像當時多數的首領那樣暴躁衝動、結黨營私、頭領派系、暴烈行事。他性情溫和，留心那些使人和平的事，竭力維護他主君與巴比倫王之間的良好了解，並阻止他的主君背叛。他不是逼迫神先知的人，而是溫和的人。西底家選這樣的人作他去巴比倫王的使節是有福的，耶利米也可以放心地把使命託付給這樣的人。請注意，大人物真正的尊榮在於安靜，君王的智慧在於把這樣的人放在信任的職位上。3. 西萊雅被請求將這書念給已經被擄的同胞聽：「你到了巴比倫，看見那地方何等宏偉，城何等廣大、堅固、富足、防禦嚴密，因而受試探心想：它必永遠堅立」（正如門徒看見聖殿的建築，便斷定除了世界末日沒有甚麼能「把它拆毀」，太24:3），「那時你要把這一切話念給自己和你的密友聽，為要在被擄中鼓勵他們：讓他們以信心的眼睛看見這些威嚇之權勢的結局，並以此安慰自己和彼此。」4. 他受指示要為他所念之內容的神聖權威和無可置疑的確定性作莊嚴的宣告（耶51:62）：「那時你要」仰望神，說：「主啊！是祢論到這地方說，要剪除它。」這如同天使對新約巴比倫傾覆的宣告。「這是神真實的話」（啟19:9）。「這些話是真實可信的」（啟21:5）。西萊雅雖看見巴比倫繁榮，既念了這預言，就當預見巴比倫傾覆，並因這預言咒詛它的住處，雖然它「正在扎根」（伯5:3）：「主啊！祢曾論到這地方說話，我也信祢所說的話——祢既知道萬事，也能作萬事。祢已對巴比倫宣判，這判決必被執行。祢論到這地方說，要剪除它，所以我們既不羨慕它的華美，也不懼怕它的權勢。」我們看見這世界是怎樣的——它的炫耀何等耀眼，它的提議何等動人——當我們在主的書上讀到它的「樣式都要過去」，不久必「被剪除」、「永遠荒涼」，就學會以聖潔的輕看對待它。請注意這裡：我們念了神的話之後，當向那發話的神謙卑而有信心地承認所念之話的真實、公義和良善。5. 然後他要把一塊石頭拴在書上，扔在伯拉大河中，作為書中內容的印證記號，說：「巴比倫必如此沉下去，不再興起；因為他們必疲乏」，他們必在「我所降與他們的災禍」的重擔下完全屈服，如同人被重擔壓疲乏，永不能擺脫、永不能從其下出來（耶51:53、64）。在記號中是石頭使書卷下沉，否則書卷會浮在水面。但在「所指的事」上，倒是書卷使石頭下沉；是這預言中對巴比倫所宣告的神聖判決，使那看來「堅如石頭」的城沉沒。新約巴比倫的傾覆是由類似但更宏偉的事所代表的（啟18:21）：「有一位大力的天使把一塊大磨石扔在海裡，說：巴比倫也必這樣傾倒。」那些沉在神的忿怒和咒詛之下的人，沉得不能復起。本章末了的話封住了這書卷的異象和預言：「耶利米的話到此為止」。這不是說這論巴比倫的預言是他最後的預言；因為它所記的日期是西底家「第四年」（耶51:59），遠在他結束見證之前；但這預言之所以被記在最後，是因為在他一切論外邦人的預言中，它是最後應驗的（耶46:1）。剩下的一章純粹是歷史性的，有人以為是別人加上的。
英語原文
The Prophecy Sent to the People (595 BC)
⁵⁹ The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
⁶⁰ So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
⁶¹ And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;
⁶² Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
⁶³ 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:
⁶⁴ And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
We have been long attending the judgment of Babylon in this and the foregoing chapter; now here we have the conclusion of that whole matter. 1. A copy is taken of this prophecy, it should seem by Jeremiah himself, for Baruch his scribe is not mentioned here (Jer 51:60): Jeremiah wrote in a book all these words that are here written against Babylon. He received this notice that he might give it to all whom it might concern. It is of great advantage both to the propagating and to the perpetuating of the word of God to have it written, and to have copies taken of the law, prophets, and epistles. 2. It is sent to Babylon, to the captives there, by the hand of Seraiah, who went there attendant on or ambassador for king Zedekiah, in the fourth year of his reign, Jer 51:59. He went with Zedekiah, or (as the margin reads it) on the behalf of Zedekiah, into Babylon. The character given of him is observable, that this Seraiah was a quiet prince, a prince of rest. He was in honour and power, but not, as most of the princes then were, hot and heady, making parties, and heading factions, and driving things furiously. He was of a calm temper, studied the things that made for peace, endeavoured to preserve a good understanding between the king his master and the king of Babylon, and to keep his master from rebelling. He was no persecutor of God's prophets, but a moderate man. Zedekiah was happy in the choice of such a man to be his envoy to the king of Babylon, and Jeremiah might safely entrust such a man with his errand too. Note, it is the real honour of great men to be quiet men, and it is the wisdom of princes to put such into places of trust. 3. Seraiah is desired to read it to his countrymen that had already gone into captivity: "When thou shalt come to Babylon, and shalt see what a magnificent place it is, how large a city, how strong, how rich, and how well fortified, and shalt therefore be tempted to think, Surely, it will stand forever" (as the disciples, when they observed the buildings of the temple, concluded that nothing would throw them down but the end of the world, Mt 24:3), "then thou shalt read all these words to thyself and thy particular friends, for their encouragement in their captivity: let them with an eye of faith see to the end of these threatening powers, and comfort themselves and one another herewith." 4. He is directed to make a solemn protestation of the divine authority and unquestionable certainty of that which he had read (Jer 51:62): Then thou shalt look up to God, and say, O Lord! it is thou that hast spoken against this place, to cut it off. This is like the angel's protestation concerning the destruction of the New-Testament Babylon. These are the true sayings of God, Re 19:9. These words are true and faithful, Re 21:5. Though Seraiah sees Babylon flourishing, having read this prophecy he must foresee Babylon falling, and by virtue of it must curse its habitation, though it be taking root (Job 5:3): "O Lord! thou hast spoken against this place, and I believe what thou hast spoken, that, as thou knowest every thing, so thou canst do every thing. Thou hast passed sentence upon Babylon, and it shall be executed. Thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, and therefore we will neither envy its pomp nor fear its power." When we see what this world is, how glittering its shows are and how flattering its proposals, let us read in the book of the Lord that its fashion passes away, and it shall shortly be cut off and be desolate for ever, and we shall learn to look upon it with a holy contempt. Observe here, When we have been reading the word of God it becomes us to direct to him whose word it is a humble believing acknowledgment of the truth, equity, and goodness, of what we have read. 5. He must then tie a stone to the book and throw it into the midst of the river Euphrates, as a confirming sign of the things contained in it, saying, "Thus shall Babylon sink, and not rise; for they shall be weary, they shall perfectly succumb, as men tired with a burden, under the load of the evil that I will bring upon them, which they shall never shake off, nor get from under," Jer 51:53,64. In the sign it was the stone that sunk the book, which otherwise would have swum. But in the thing signified it was rather the book that sunk the stone; it was the divine sentence passed upon Babylon in this prophecy that sunk that city, which seemed as firm as a stone. The fall of the New-Testament Babylon was represented by something like this, but much more magnificent, Re 18:21. A mighty angel cast a great millstone into the sea, saying, Thus shall Babylon fall. Those that sink under the weight of God's wrath and curse sink irrecoverably. The last words of the chapter seal up the vision and prophecy of this book: Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. Not that this prophecy against Babylon was the last of his prophecies; for it was dated in the fourth year of Zedekiah (Jer 51:59), long before he finished his testimony; but this is recorded last of his prophecies because it was to be last accomplished of all his prophecies against the Gentiles, Jer 46:1. And the chapter which remains is purely historical, and, as some think, was added by some other hand.
在本章，先知繼續預言巴比倫的傾覆——這事別的先知也曾作見證。他描寫神所給他看見的異象，筆觸豐富而生動，為要鼓勵那些敬虔的被擄者，因為他們的拯救全繫於此，也是這事必然帶來的結果。本章記載：一、巴比倫厄運的記錄，其中詳述其細節，並夾雜着神與她爭訟的緣由、她傾覆的許多重罪，以及由此而賜給那因她受盡苦難的神之以色列的極大鼓勵，耶51:1-58。二、這事的象徵與印證——將這預言的一份抄本扔在幼發拉底河裏，耶51:59-64。