By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept,
When we remembered Zion.
Upon the willows in the midst thereof
We hanged up our harps.
For there they that led us captive required of us {Hebrew: words of song.}songs,
And {Or, our tormentors}they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying,
Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
How shall we sing Jehovah's song
In a foreign land?
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her skill.
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,
If I remember thee not;
If I prefer not Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
Remember, O Jehovah, against the children of Edom
The day of Jerusalem;
Who said, Rase it, rase it,
Even to the foundation thereof.
O daughter of Babylon, {Or, that art laid waste}that art to be destroyed,
Happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee
As thou hast served us.
Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones
Against the rock.
Querverweise zu Psalm 137,8 Ps 137,8
Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove thy veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.
Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man.
Our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called The mistress of kingdoms.
The {Or, oracle concerning}burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
Set ye up an ensign upon the bare mountain, lift up the voice unto them, wave the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
I have commanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for mine anger, even {Or, them that exult in my majesty}my proudly exulting ones.
The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people! the noise of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Jehovah of hosts is mustering the host for the battle.
They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
Wail ye; for the day of Jehovah is at hand; as destruction from {Hebrew: Shaddai. See Genesis 17:1.}the Almighty shall it come.
Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt:
and they shall be dismayed; {Or, they shall take hold of pangs and sorrows}pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail: they shall look in amazement one at another; their faces shall be faces of flame.
Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine.
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man than the pure gold of Ophir.
Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place, in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
And it shall come to pass, that as the chased {Or, gazelle}roe, and as sheep that no man gathereth, they shall turn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own land.
Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is {Or, joined thereunto}taken shall fall by the sword.
Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be rifled, and their wives ravished.
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
And their bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there.
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and wild goats shall dance there.
And {Hebrew: howling creatures.}wolves shall {Or, answer}cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
Let the high praises of God be in their {Hebrew: throat}mouth,And a two-edged sword in their hand;
To execute vengeance upon the nations,And punishments upon the peoples;
To bind their kings with chains,And their nobles with fetters of iron;
To execute upon them the judgment written: {Or, He is the honor of all his saints}This honor have all his saints. {Hebrew: Hallelujah.}Praise ye Jehovah.
Shout against her round about: she hath {Hebrew: given her hand.}submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Jehovah: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
Israel is a {Hebrew: scattered.}hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
And I will bring Israel again to his {Or, fold}pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.
In those days, and in that time, saith Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.
Go up against the land of {That is, Double rebellion.}Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of {That is, Visitation.}Pekod: slay and {Hebrew: devote.}utterly destroy after them, saith Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against Jehovah.
Jehovah hath opened his armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.
Come against her {Or, from every quarter}from the utmost border; open her {Or, granaries}store-houses; cast her up as heaps, and {Hebrew: devote.}destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left.
Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance of his temple.
Call together {Or, many}the archers against Babylon, all them that bend the bow; encamp against her round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her; for she hath been proud against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel.
They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the {Or, exactress}golden city ceased!
Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers;
{Or, he that smote…is persecuted, and none hindereth}that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained.
The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.
Yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid low, no hewer is come up against us.
Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up {Or, the shades Hebrew: Rephaim.}the dead for thee, even all the {Hebrew: he-goats.}chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
All they shall answer and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
Thy pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and worms cover thee.
How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations!
And thou saidst in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit upon the mount of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit.
They that see thee shall gaze at thee, they shall consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
that made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof; that let not loose his prisoners to their home?
All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, every one in his own house.
But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre like an abominable branch, {Or, as the raiment of those that are slain.}clothed with the slain, that are thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a dead body trodden under foot.
Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers shall not be named for ever.
Prepare ye {Or, a place of slaughter}slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers, that they rise not up, and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities.
And I will rise up against them, saith Jehovah of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son's son, saith Jehovah.
I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Jehovah of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
I have commanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for mine anger, even {Or, them that exult in my majesty}my proudly exulting ones.
The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people! the noise of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Jehovah of hosts is mustering the host for the battle.
They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
Render unto her even as she rendered, and double unto her the double according to her works: in the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double.
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her.
The {Or, oracle concerning}burden of the wilderness of the sea.As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it cometh from the wilderness, from a terrible land.
That saith of {Hebrew: Coresh.}Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; {Or, and the foundation of the temple shall be laid}and of the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
Ho Zion, escape, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.
Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
and upon her forehead a name written, {Or, a mystery, Babylon the Great}MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith Jehovah, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it {Hebrew: everlasting desolations.}desolate for ever.
And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.
For many nations and great kings {Or, have made}shall make bondmen of them, even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.
And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the {Or, witnesses See chapter 2:13}martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.
The word that Jehovah spake concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.
Declare ye among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is {Or, broken down}dismayed; her images are put to shame, her idols are {Or, broken down}dismayed.
For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and beast.
In those days, and in that time, saith Jehovah, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek Jehovah their God.
They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces {Hebrew: hitherward.}thitherward, saying, Come ye, and {Or, they shall join themselves}join yourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.
My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting-place.
All that found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Jehovah, the habitation of righteousness, even Jehovah, the hope of their fathers.
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks.
For, lo, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of {Or, according to another reading, a mighty man that maketh childless.}an expert mighty man; {Or, that returneth not}none shall return in vain.
And Chaldea shall be a prey: all that prey upon her shall be satisfied, saith Jehovah.
Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye that plunder my heritage, because ye are wanton as a heifer {Or, at grass}that treadeth out the grain, and neigh as strong horses;
your mother shall be utterly put to shame; she that bare you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
Because of the wrath of Jehovah she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all ye that bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against Jehovah.
Shout against her round about: she hath {Hebrew: given her hand.}submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Jehovah: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
Israel is a {Hebrew: scattered.}hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
And I will bring Israel again to his {Or, fold}pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.
In those days, and in that time, saith Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.
Go up against the land of {That is, Double rebellion.}Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of {That is, Visitation.}Pekod: slay and {Hebrew: devote.}utterly destroy after them, saith Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against Jehovah.
Jehovah hath opened his armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.
Come against her {Or, from every quarter}from the utmost border; open her {Or, granaries}store-houses; cast her up as heaps, and {Hebrew: devote.}destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left.
Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance of his temple.
Call together {Or, many}the archers against Babylon, all them that bend the bow; encamp against her round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her; for she hath been proud against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, saith Jehovah.
Behold, I am against thee, {Hebrew: O Pride.}O thou proud one, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts; for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.
And {Hebrew: Pride.}the proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all that are round about him.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all that took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go.
Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith Jehovah, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
A sword is upon the {Hebrew: boatings.}boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.
A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed.
A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad over {Hebrew: terrors.}idols.
Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the {Hebrew: howling creatures.}wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith Jehovah, so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.
Behold, a people cometh from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
The king of Babylon hath heard the tidings of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
Behold, the enemy shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoso is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd that can stand before me?
Therefore hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.
At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembleth, and the cry is heard among the nations.
These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they also shall overcome that are with him, called and chosen and faithful.
And another, a second angel, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, that hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, If any man {See marginal note on chapter 3:9}worshippeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand,
he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is {Greek: mingled.}prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
and the smoke of their torment goeth up {Greek: unto ages of ages.}for ever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, they that {See marginal note on chapter 3:9}worship the beast and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name.
Render unto her even as she rendered, and double unto her the double according to her works: in the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double.
And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters;
with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication.
And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, {Or, names full of blasphemy}full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and {Greek: gilded.}decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, {Or, and of the unclean things}even the unclean things of her fornication,
and upon her forehead a name written, {Or, a mystery, Babylon the Great}MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the {Or, witnesses See chapter 2:13}martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.
And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns.
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, {Some ancient authorities read and he goeth.}and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose name hath not been written {Greek: on.}in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and {Greek: shall be present.}shall come.
Here is the {Or, meaning}mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth:
and {Or, there are}they are seven kings; the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while.
And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goeth into perdition.
And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.
These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast.
These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they also shall overcome that are with him, called and chosen and faithful.
And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire.
For God did put in their hearts to do his mind, and to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished.
And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which {Greek: hath a kingdom.}reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.
Render unto her even as she rendered, and double unto her the double according to her works: in the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double.