There follows a poetic passage in Jeremiah 50:35–38 in which the Lord declares his response to everything that the Babylonians have placed their trust in. The sword
is the invading army that the Lord will raise up against Babylon’s officials and wise men, diviners, warriors, chariots, foreign troops, treasures, and waters. Babylon had great faith in her political and military power, and in her natural riches and resources, but the Lord will destroy it all. However, Babylon’s arrogance is rooted in her idolatry. For it is a land of images, and they are mad over idols.
Babylon believed that it was the gods who made them invincible, but the Lord would destroy this illusion.
35 “A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her officials and her wise men!