Bible Strands
Jeremiah 50:9
For behold, I stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north. They will line up against her; from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to Judah and the exiles, pronouncing imminent judgment on Babylon immediately after commanding the people to flee the city.
The words — The Hebrew מֵעִיר֩ (me.'Ir) and וּ/מַעֲלֶ֨ה (u./ma.'a.Leh) literally mean "[am] about to rouse" and "and [am] about to bring up," marking God as the direct agent mobilizing the invading armies.
The thread — This divine mobilization reappears in Ezra 1:1 where the LORD stirs Cyrus to fulfill the prophecy, while the gathering call in Isaiah 13:2 mirrors the summons of northern nations against Babylon.
Why it lands — The passage declares that political powers fall by sovereign command, requiring readers to recognize divine authority over history and obey the call to separate from corrupt systems before judgment executes.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly 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 a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 1:22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not retreat, and the sword of Saul did not return empty.
- Ezra 1:1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:
- Isaiah 13:2 Raise a banner on a barren hilltop; call aloud to them. Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
- Isaiah 13:17 Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes, who have no regard for silver and no desire for gold.
- Isaiah 21:2 A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.”
- Isaiah 41:25 I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who treads the clay.
- Isaiah 45:1 This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:
- Jeremiah 15:14 Then I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for My anger will kindle a fire that will burn against you.”
- Jeremiah 50:3 For a nation from the north will come against her; it will make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee.”
- Jeremiah 50:14 Line up in formation around Babylon, all you who draw the bow! Shoot at her! Spare no arrows! For she has sinned against the LORD.