Yirmiyahu 51-52

The prophecies about Babylonia, which continue in perek 51, are the final prophecies in the book of Yirmiyahu. Described in these prophecies is God's revenge on Babylonia and its gods which will bring to its total destruction. The perek ends with God's command to write a book of prophecies about Babylonia and to throw it into the Euphrates River, an act which symbolizes the "sinking" of this great empire.

Perek 52 which concludes our book does not include any prophecies by Yirmiyahu, rather it is a summary of his prophecies, and describes the realization of his different prophecies of destruction. The perek opens with a description of Tzikiyahu's bitter fate, and afterwards the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple is described, the looting of the Temple, and the murder and exile of the residents of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Perek 25 in Melachim II is the parallel source to our perek, and parts of it are mentioned as well in perek 39 of Yirmiyahu. Here, as well as in the parallel source in Melachim, the book ends with a spark of hope - the "lifting of the head" of Yehoyachin in the 37th year of his exile.