Jeremiah 51:13

“You who live along the rivers of Babylon, ¹  the time of your end has come. You who are rich in plundered treasure, it is time for your lives to be cut off. ² 

You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be cut off.

O you who dwell by many waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your end.

You are a city rich with water, a great center of commerce, but your end has come. The thread of your life is cut.

You have more water than you need, you have more money than you need--But your life is over, your lifeline cut."

O you whose living-place is by the wide waters, whose stores are great, your end is come, your evil profit is ended.

You who live by mighty waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, the thread of your life is cut.

O you who dwell by many waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your covetousness.

“You who live along the rivers of Babylon, ¹  the time of your end has come. You who are rich in plundered treasure, it is time for your lives to be cut off. ² 

¹ sn Babylon was situated on the Euphrates River and was surrounded by canals (also called “rivers”).

² tn Heb “You who live upon [or beside] many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, the cubit of your cutting off.” The sentence has been restructured and paraphrased to provide clarity for the average reader. The meaning of the last phrase is debated. For a discussion of the two options see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:423. Most modern commentaries and English versions see an allusion to the figure in Isa 38:12 where the reference is to the end of life compared to a tapestry which is suddenly cut off from the loom. Hence, NRSV renders the last line as “the thread of your life is cut” and TEV renders “its thread of life is cut.” That idea is accepted also in HALOT 141 s.v. בצע Qal.1.