Jeremiah 51:14

THE MESSAGE

God -of-the-Angel-Armies has solemnly sworn: "I'll fill this place with soldiers. They'll swarm through here like locusts chanting victory songs over you."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The Lord of Armies has sworn by himself:

Hebrew Names Version
The LORD of Hosts has sworn by himself, [saying], Surely I will fill you with men, as with the canker-worm; and they shall lift up a shout against you.

King James Version
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.

English Standard Version
The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself: Surely I will fill you with men, as many as locusts, and they shall raise the shout of victory over you.

New American Standard Bible
The LORD of armies has sworn by Himself: "I will certainly fill you with a population like locusts, And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you."

New Century Version
The Lord All-Powerful has promised in his own name: ‘Babylon, I will surely fill you with so many enemy soldiers they will be like a swarm of locusts. They will stand over you and shout their victory.'

Amplified Bible
The LORD of hosts has sworn [an oath] by Himself, saying, "Surely I will fill you with men, as with [a swarm of] locusts [who strip the land clean], And they will lift up a song and shout of victory over you."

World English Bible
Yahweh of Hosts has sworn by himself, [saying], Surely I will fill you with men, as with the canker-worm; and they shall lift up a shout against you.

Geneva Bible (1587)
The Lord of hostes hath sworne by him selfe, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers, and they shall cry and shoute against thee.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The LORD of hosts has sworn by Himself: "Surely I will fill you with a population like locusts, And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you."

Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh of hosts has sworn by Himself:"Surely I will fill you with a population like locusts,And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you."

Berean Standard Bible
The LORD of Hosts has sworn by Himself: "Surely I will fill you up with men like locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you."

Contemporary English Version
I, the Lord All-Powerful, swear by my own life that enemy soldiers will fill your streets like a swarm of locusts. They will shout and celebrate their victory.

Complete Jewish Bible
Adonai -Tzva'ot has sworn by himself, "I will fill you with men as numerous as grasshoppers; they will raise over you a shout of triumph."

Darby Translation
Jehovah of hosts hath sworn by himself, I will assuredly fill thee with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall raise a shout against thee.

Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord All-Powerful used his name to make this promise: "Babylon, I will fill you with so many enemy soldiers they will be like a cloud of locusts. They will win their war against you. They will stand over you shouting their victory cry."

George Lamsa Translation
The LORD of hosts has sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill you with men, numerous as locusts; and they shall lift up a shout against you, saying, It is done! It is done!

Good News Translation
The Lord Almighty has sworn by his own life that he will bring many men to attack Babylonia like a swarm of locusts, and they will shout with victory.

Lexham English Bible
Yahweh of hosts has sworn by himself, "Surely I will fill you with troops like the creeping locusts, and they will sing over you a war cry."

Literal Translation
Jehovah of Hosts has sworn by Himself, saying , Surely I will fill you with men as with locusts, and they shall lift up a shout against you.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The LORDE of hoostes hath sworne by himself, that he wil ouer whelme the with men like greshoppers in nombre, which with a corage shall crie Alarum Alarum agaynst the.

American Standard Version
Jehovah of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with the canker-worm; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.

Bible in Basic English
The Lord of armies has taken an oath by himself, saying, Truly, I will make you full with men as with locusts, and their voices will be loud against you.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
The LORD of hosts hath sworn by Himself: Surely I will fill thee with men, as with the canker-worm, and they shall lift up a shout against thee.

King James Version (1611)
The Lord of hostes hath sworne by himselfe, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift vp a shoute against thee.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The Lorde of hoastes hath sworne by hym selfe, that he wyll ouerwhelme thee with men lyke grashoppers in number, whiche with a courage shall crye alarum alarum agaynst thee:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and there shall not one be preserved of the remnant of Juda that sojourn in the land of Egypt, to return to the land of Juda, to which they hope in their hearts to return: they shall not return, but only they that escape.

English Revised Version
The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with the cankerworm; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The Lord of oostis swoor bi his soule, that Y schal fille thee with men, as with bruke, and a myry song schal be sungun on thee.

Update Bible Version
Yahweh of hosts has sworn by himself, [saying], Surely I will fill you with man, as with the canker-worm; and they shall lift up a shout against you.

Webster's Bible Translation
The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, [saying], Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall raise a shout against thee.

New English Translation
The Lord who rules over all has solemnly sworn, ‘I will fill your land with enemy soldiers. They will swarm over it like locusts. They will raise up shouts of victory over it.'

New King James Version
The LORD of hosts has sworn by Himself: "Surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, And they shall lift up a shout against you."

New Living Translation
The Lord of Heaven's Armies has taken this vow and has sworn to it by his own name: "Your cities will be filled with enemies, like fields swarming with locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you."

New Life Bible
The Lord of All has promised by Himself, saying, "For sure I will fill you with men, as with many locusts. And they will call out that they have won the war against you."

New Revised Standard
The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself: Surely I will fill you with troops like a swarm of locusts, and they shall raise a shout of victory over you.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Yahweh of hosts hath sworn, by his own soul: Surely I have filled thee with men as with locusts, And they have answered against thee with a shout.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying: I will fill thee with men as with locusts, and they shall lift up a joyful shout against thee.

Revised Standard Version
The LORD of hosts has sworn by himself: Surely I will fill you with men, as many as locusts, and they shall raise the shout of victory over you.

Young's Literal Translation
Sworn hath Jehovah of Hosts by Himself, That, Surely I have filled thee [with] men as the cankerworm, And they have cried against thee -- shouting.

Contextual Overview

¹There's more. God says more: "Watch this: I'm whipping up A death-dealing hurricane against Babylon—‘Hurricane Persia'— against all who live in that perverse land. I'm sending a cleanup crew into Babylon. They'll clean the place out from top to bottom. When they get through there'll be nothing left of her worth taking or talking about. They won't miss a thing. A total and final Doomsday! Fighters will fight with everything they've got. It's no-holds-barred. They will spare nothing and no one. It's final and wholesale destruction—the end! Babylon littered with the wounded, streets piled with corpses. It turns out that Israel and Judah are not widowed after all. As their God, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, I am still alive and well, committed to them even though They filled their land with sin against Israel's most Holy God. ⁶"Get out of Babylon as fast as you can. Run for your lives! Save your necks! Don't linger and lose your lives to my vengeance on her as I pay her back for her sins. Babylon was a fancy gold chalice held in my hand, Filled with the wine of my anger to make the whole world drunk. The nations drank the wine and they've all gone crazy. Babylon herself will stagger and crash, senseless in a drunken stupor—tragic! Get anointing balm for her wound. Maybe she can be cured." ⁹ "We did our best, but she can't be helped. Babylon is past fixing. Give her up to her fate. Go home. The judgment on her will be vast, a skyscraper-memorial of vengeance. ¹⁰ " God has set everything right for us. Come! Let's tell the good news Back home in Zion. Let's tell what our God did to set things right. ¹¹"Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! God has stirred up the kings of the Medes, infecting them with war fever: ‘Destroy Babylon!' God 's on the warpath. He's out to avenge his Temple. Give the signal to attack Babylon's walls. Station guards around the clock. Bring in reinforcements. Set men in ambush. God will do what he planned, what he said he'd do to the people of Babylon. You have more water than you need, you have more money than you need— But your life is over, your lifeline cut." ¹⁴ God -of-the-Angel-Armies has solemnly sworn: "I'll fill this place with soldiers. They'll swarm through here like locusts chanting victory songs over you." ¹⁵By his power he made earth. His wisdom gave shape to the world. He crafted the cosmos. He thunders and rain pours down. He sends the clouds soaring. He embellishes the storm with lightnings, launches the wind from his warehouse. Stick-god worshipers look mighty foolish! god-makers embarrassed by their handmade gods! Their gods are frauds, dead sticks— deadwood gods, tasteless jokes. They're nothing but stale smoke. When the smoke clears, they're gone. But the Portion-of-Jacob is the real thing; he put the whole universe together, With special attention to Israel. His name? God -of-the-Angel-Armies! ²⁰God says, "You, Babylon, are my hammer, my weapon of war. I'll use you to smash godless nations, use you to knock kingdoms to bits. I'll use you to smash horse and rider, use you to smash chariot and driver. I'll use you to smash man and woman, use you to smash the old man and the boy. I'll use you to smash the young man and young woman, use you to smash shepherd and sheep. I'll use you to smash farmer and yoked oxen, use you to smash governors and senators. ²⁴ "Judeans, you'll see it with your own eyes. I'll pay Babylon and all the Chaldeans back for all the evil they did in Zion." God 's Decree. ²⁵"I'm your enemy, Babylon, Mount Destroyer, you ravager of the whole earth. I'll reach out, I'll take you in my hand, and I'll crush you till there's no mountain left. I'll turn you into a gravel pit— no more cornerstones cut from you, No more foundation stones quarried from you! Nothing left of you but gravel." God 's Decree.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

sworn: Jeremiah 49:13, Amos 6:8, Hebrews 6:13

himself: Heb. his soul

as with: Jeremiah 46:23, Judges 6:5, Joel 1:4-7, Joel 2:3, Joel 2:4, Joel 2:25, Nahum 3:15-17

lift up: Heb. utter, Jeremiah 50:15

Reciprocal: Genesis 22:16 - General Exodus 32:17 - There is a noise Jeremiah 51:27 - cause Ezekiel 21:22 - to lift

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The Lord hath sworn by himself, [saying],.... Or, "by his soul" or "life" q; which is himself, than which he cannot swear by a greater, Hebrews 6:13; and the certain performance of what he swears unto need not be doubted of; and indeed the design of the oath is to assure of the truth of the thing, about which, after this, there ought to be no hesitation:

surely I fill thee with men as with caterpillars; or "locusts" r; march in vast numbers, and make sad desolation where they come; and to which a numerous army may fitly be compared; and which are here meant, even the army of Cyrus, that should enter Babylon, and fill it, as it did. So the Targum,

"the Lord of hosts hath sworn by his word, if I fill them with armies of many people as locusts:''

and they shall lift up a shout against thee; as soldiers, when they make the onset in battle; or as besiegers, when they make their attack on a city; or as when grape gatherers bring in their vintage, or tread out their wine, to which the allusion is: it signifies that her enemies should get an entire victory, and triumph over her.

q בנפשו "per animam suam", Pagninus, Cocceius, Schmidt. r כילק "ut, [vel] quasi brucho", V. L. Cocceius, Montanus, Grotius, Schmidt.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Rather, “Surely I have filled thee with men as with locusts, and they shall sing over thee the vintage-song.” The vintage-shout suggests the idea of trampling Babylon under foot, as the vintagers trample the grapes; a metaphor of the divine wrath.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 51:14. I will fill thee with men — By means of these very waters through the channel of thy boasted river, thou shalt be filled with men, suddenly appearing as an army of locusts; and, without being expected, shall lift up a terrific cry, as soon as they have risen from the channel of the river.