Bible Strands
Jeremiah 51:13
You who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come; the thread of your life is cut.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet delivers God’s judgment against Babylon immediately after ordering the raising of a banner and the stationing of guards for its siege. The address targets the city at the precise moment its military defenses are being mobilized.
The words — שֹׁכַנְתְּ֙ (sho.khan.ti) = O [one who] dwells and קִצֵּ֖/ךְ (ki.Tze/kh) = end/your frame the verse’s contrast between permanent habitation and sudden termination. These terms anchor the declaration that geographic stability cannot prevent a declared cutoff.
The thread — The imagery of waters and treasures recurs in Revelation 17:15, where waters represent multitudes and nations, and Isaiah 45:3, where hidden riches are granted by God. The sudden termination motif parallels the divine judgment pronounced in Revelation 17:1.
Why it lands — The text states that geographic advantage and accumulated wealth cannot delay a declared end. It requires the reader to acknowledge that human prosperity is subordinate to divine decree.
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
O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
Cross-references
- Revelation 17:1 Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.
- Isaiah 45:3 I will give you the treasures of darkness and the riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name.
- Revelation 17:15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
- Genesis 6:13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all living creatures has come before Me, because through them the earth is full of violence. Now behold, I will destroy both them and the earth.
- Jeremiah 51:36 Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.
- Jeremiah 17:11 Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will be the fool.”
- Jeremiah 50:27 Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time of their punishment.
- Jeremiah 50:31 “Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts, “for your day has come, the time when I will punish you.
- Jeremiah 50:37 A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered.
- Lamentations 4:18 They stalked our every step, so that we could not walk in our streets. Our end drew near, our time ran out, for our end had come!