Jeremiah 50:21

Easy-to-Read Version

The Lord says, "Attack the country of Merathaim! Attack the people living in Pekod! Attack them! Kill them and destroy them completely! Do everything I commanded you!

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Attack the land of Merathaim,and those living in Pekod.Put them to the sword;completely destroy them—

Hebrew Names Version
Go up against the land of Meratayim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: kill and utterly destroy after them, says the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded you.

King James Version
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the Lord , and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

English Standard Version
"Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill, and devote them to destruction, declares the Lord , and do all that I have commanded you.

New American Standard Bible
"Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and completely destroy them," declares the LORD, "And do according to everything that I have commanded you.

New Century Version
"Attack the land of Merathaim. Attack the people who live in Pekod. Chase them, kill them, and completely destroy them. Do everything I commanded you!" says the Lord .

Amplified Bible
"Go against [Babylon] the land of Merathaim (Double Rebellion), Go up against it and against the people of Pekod (Punishment). Kill and utterly destroy them," says the LORD, "And do everything that I have commanded you."

World English Bible
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: kill and utterly destroy after them, says Yahweh, and do according to all that I have commanded you.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Goe vp against the lande of the rebelles, euen against it, and against the inhabitantes of Pekod: destroy, and lay it waste after them, saieth the Lorde, and doe according to all that I haue commaunded thee.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Slay and utterly destroy them," declares the LORD, "And do according to all that I have commanded you.

Legacy Standard Bible
"Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it,And against the inhabitants of Pekod.Put them to the sword and devote them to destruction," declares Yahweh,"And do according to all that I have commanded you.

Berean Standard Bible
"Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the residents of Pekod. Put them to the sword and devote them to destruction," declares the LORD. "Do everything I have commanded you.

Contemporary English Version
The Lord said: I have told the enemies of Babylonia, "Attack the people of Merathaim and Pekod. Kill them all! Destroy their possessions!"

Complete Jewish Bible
"Attack the land of Meratayim; attack it and those living in P'kod. Waste them, utterly destroy them; do all I have ordered you," says Adonai .

Darby Translation
Go up against the land of double rebellion, against it, and against the inhabitants of visitation; waste and utterly destroy after them, saith Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

George Lamsa Translation
Go up against the rebellious land, go up against it, and against its inhabitants; unsheath the sword and destroy them, says the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded you.

Good News Translation
The Lord says, "Attack the people of Merathaim and of Pekod. Kill and destroy them. Do everything I command you. I, the Lord , have spoken.

Lexham English Bible
To the land of Merathaim, go up against her, and against the inhabitants of Pekod, massacre and destroy them," declares Yahweh, "and do according to all that I have commanded you.

Literal Translation
Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it and against the dwellers of Pekod. Waste and destroy after them, says Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded you.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Go downe (o thou avenger) in to the enemies londe, & viset them that dwell therin: downe with them, and smyte them vpon the backes, saieth the LORDE: do acordinge to all, that I haue commaunded the.

American Standard Version
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: slay and utterly destroy after them, saith Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

Bible in Basic English
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the people of Pekod; put them to death and send destruction after them, says the Lord, and do everything I have given you orders to do.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod; waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

King James Version (1611)
Goe vp against the land of Merathaim, euen against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and vtterly destroy after them, sayeth the Lord, and doe according to all that I haue commanded thee.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Go downe [O thou auenger] into the enemies lande, and visite them that dwell therin: downe with them, & smite them vpon the backes saith the Lorde, do accordyng to all that I haue commaunded thee.

English Revised Version
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: slay and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Stie thou on the lond of lordis, and visite thou on the dwelleris therof; scatere thou, and sle tho thingis, that ben aftir hem, seith the Lord; and do thou bi alle thingis which Y comaundide to thee.

Update Bible Version
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: slay and completely destroy after them, says Yahweh, and do according to all that I have commanded you.

Webster's Bible Translation
Go up against the land of Merathaim, [even] against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

New English Translation
The Lord says, "Attack the land of Merathaim and the people who live in Pekod! Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them! Do just as I have commanded you!

New King James Version
"Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Waste and utterly destroy them," says the LORD, "And do according to all that I have commanded you.

New Living Translation
"Go up, my warriors, against the land of Merathaim and against the people of Pekod. Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them, as I have commanded you," says the Lord .

New Life Bible
"Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the people of Pekod. Kill and destroy all of them," says the Lord, "and do all that I have told you.

New Revised Standard
Go up to the land of Merathaim; go up against her, and attack the inhabitants of Pekod and utterly destroy the last of them, says the Lord ; do all that I have commanded you.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Against the land of Merathaim, go thou up against her, And against the inhabitants of Pekod, - Lay waste and devote to destruction after them Declareth Yahweh, And do according to all which I have commanded thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Go up against the land of the rulers, and punish the inhabitants thereof, waste, and destroy all behind them, saith the Lord: and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

Revised Standard Version
"Go up against the land of Meratha'im, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Slay, and utterly destroy after them, says the LORD, and do all that I have commanded you.

Young's Literal Translation
Against the land of Merathaim: Go up against it, and unto the inhabitants of Pekod, Waste and devote their posterity, An affirmation of Jehovah, And do according to all that I have commanded thee.

THE MESSAGE
"Attack Merathaim, land of rebels! Go after Pekod, country of doom! Hunt them down. Make a clean sweep." God 's Decree. "These are my orders. Do what I tell you.

Contextual Overview

²¹ The Lord says, "Attack the country of Merathaim! Attack the people living in Pekod! Attack them! Kill them and destroy them completely! Do everything I commanded you! ²² "The noise of battle can be heard all over the country. It is the noise of much destruction. ²³ Babylon was called ‘The Hammer of the Whole Earth.' But now the ‘Hammer' is shattered. Babylon is the most ruined of the nations. ²⁴ Babylon, I set a trap for you, and you were caught before you knew it. You fought against the Lord , so you were found and captured. ²⁵ The Lord has opened up his storeroom and brought out the weapons of his anger. The Lord God All-Powerful brought out those weapons, because he has work to do in the land of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ "Come against Babylon from far away. Break open the storehouses where she keeps her grain. Destroy Babylon completely. Don't leave anyone alive. Pile up her dead bodies like big piles of grain. ²⁷ Kill all the young men in Babylon. Let them be slaughtered like bulls. How terrible for them that their day of defeat has come! It is time for them to be punished. ²⁸ People are running out of Babylon. They are escaping from that country and coming to Zion. They are telling everyone the good news about what the Lord is doing. The Lord our God is giving Babylon the punishment it deserves. The Lord is destroying Babylon, because it destroyed his Temple! ²⁹ "Call for the archers. Tell them to attack Babylon. Tell them to surround the city. Don't let anyone escape. Pay her back for the bad things she has done. Do to her what she has done to other nations. Babylon did not respect the Lord . Babylon was very rude to the Holy One of Israel. So punish Babylon. ³⁰ Babylon's young men will be killed in the streets. All her soldiers will die on that day." This is what the Lord says.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

up: Jeremiah 50:3, Jeremiah 50:9, Jeremiah 50:15

Merathaim: or, the rebels

Pekod: or, visitation, Ezekiel 23:23

and do: Jeremiah 34:22, Jeremiah 48:10, Numbers 31:14-18, 1 Samuel 15:3, 1 Samuel 15:11-24, 2 Samuel 16:11, 2 Kings 18:25, 2 Chronicles 36:23, Isaiah 10:6, Isaiah 44:28, Isaiah 48:14

Reciprocal: Genesis 10:10 - And the Isaiah 13:3 - commanded Isaiah 13:4 - noise Isaiah 13:20 - General Jeremiah 51:1 - I will Jeremiah 51:3 - destroy Jeremiah 51:53 - from Daniel 7:5 - Arise Habakkuk 2:7 - they

Cross-References

Genesis 34:3
But he was so attracted to her that he fell in love and began expressing his feelings to her.

Genesis 47:12
Joseph also gave his father, his brothers, and all their people the food they needed.

Genesis 50:10
They went to Goren Atad, east of the Jordan River. There they had a long funeral service for Israel, which continued for seven days.

Genesis 50:11
When the people who lived in Canaan saw the funeral service at Goren Atad, they said, "This is a time of great sorrow for those Egyptians." So now that place across the Jordan River is named Abel Mizraim.

Genesis 50:20
It is true that you planned to do something bad to me. But really, God was planning good things. God's plan was to use me to save the lives of many people. And that is what happened.

Genesis 50:21
So don't be afraid. I will take care of you and your children." And so Joseph said kind things to his brothers, and this made them feel better.

Isaiah 40:2
Speak kindly to Jerusalem and tell her, ‘Your time of service is finished. You have paid the price for your sins.' I, the Lord , have punished you twice for every sin you committed."

Matthew 5:44
But I tell you, love your enemies. Pray for those who treat you badly.

Matthew 6:14
Yes, if you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, then your Father in heaven will also forgive your wrongs.

1 Thessalonians 5:15
Be sure that no one pays back wrong for wrong. But always try to do what is good for each other and for all people.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Go up against the land of Merathaim,.... Thought to be the country of the Mardi, which lay part of it in Assyria, and part of it in Armenia; expressed in the dual number, because one part of it lay on one side the Tigris, and the other on the other side. Cyrus, with his army of Medes and Persians, is here called upon; who, according to Herodotus, passed through Assyria to Babylon: and so it may be agreeably rendered, "go by the land of Merathaim"; or the country of the Mardi. Many interpreters take it for an appellative, and not the proper name of a country. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "the land of rulers"; and the Targum,

"the land of the rebellious people;''

and so Kimchi w: and to the same sense Jarchi, the land

"that hath exasperated me, and provoked me to anger;''

meaning the land of the Chaldeans, which had ruled over others, rebelled against the Lord, and provoked him to wrath against it. The word, being in the dual number, may, in the mystical sense, respect the two antichrists, the eastern and western, that have ruled over the nations, and rebelled against God, and provoked him; the Turks and Papists, those two rebels, the beast and false prophet, Revelation 19:20; against whom the Christian princes will be bid to go up;

[even] against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod; the name of a place in Assyria; see Ezekiel 23:23; by which also Cyrus might go up to Babylon, so Jarchi; and the Targum takes it to be the name of a place: but Kimchi and others take it to be an appellative; and so it may be rendered, "the inhabitants of visitation" x; because the time was come to visit and punish them for their sins; and may particularly design the inhabitants of Babylon, the city to be visited for its iniquities; and especially mystical Babylon, which shall come up in remembrance before God, Revelation 16:19;

waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the Lord; either after the destruction of the places before mentioned; or pursue after those that flee and make their escape from thence, and destroy them; or rather their posterity, the remnant of them, as the Targum:

and do according to all that I have commanded thee; either Cyrus, according to all the Lord commanded him by the Prophet Isaiah, as Jarchi; or the seven angels, that are to pour out the vials of wrath on antichrist; the kings of the earth, who are to fulfil the will of God upon the man of sin, Revelation 16:1.

w על הארץ מרתים "contra terram rebellantium", Pagninus; "super", Montanus; "contra terram rebellionum", Schmidt. x יושבי פקוד "habitatores visitationis", Vatablus, Calvin, De Dieu.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The land of Merathaim - of double rebellion. Like Mitsraim, i. e., the two Egypts, Aram-Naharaim, i. e., Syria of the two rivers, or Mesopotamia, it is a dual. It may have been a real name; or - the dual ending being intensive - it may mean the land of very great rebelliousness.

Pekod - Possibly a Babylonian town.

Waste - Rather, slay, Jeremiah 50:27.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 50:21. Go up against the land of Merathaim - and against the inhabitants of Pekod — No such places as these are to be found any where else; and it is not likely that places are at all meant. The ancient Versions agree in rendering the first as an appellative, and the last as a verb, except the Chaldee, which has Pekod as a proper name. Dr. Blayney translates: -

"Against the land of bitternesses, go up:

Upon it, and upon its inhabitants, visit, O sword!"

Dr. Dahler renders thus: -

"March against the country doubly rebellious,

And against its inhabitants worthy of punishment."

The latter of these two versions I take to be the most literal. The words are addressed to the Medes and Persians; and the country is Chaldea, doubly rebellious by its idolatry and its insufferable pride. In these two, it was exceeded by no other land.