Judgment on Babylon

¹The word that the Lord spoke concerning cBabylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, dby Jeremiah the prophet:

²“Declare among the nations and proclaim,

set up a banner and proclaim,

conceal it not, and say:

e‘Babylon is taken,

fBel is put to shame,

Merodach is dismayed.

eHer images are put to shame,

her idols are dismayed.’

³“For gout of the north a nation has come up against her, hwhich shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; iboth man and beast shall flee away.

⁴j“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, jthe people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, kweeping as they come, and they lshall seek the Lord their God. ⁵mThey shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, nsaying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an oeverlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’

⁶p“My people have been lost sheep. qTheir shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. ⁷All who found them have devoured them, rand their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for sthey have sinned against the Lord, ttheir habitation of righteousness, the Lord, uthe hope of their fathers.’

⁸v“Flee from the midst of Babylon, vand go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. ⁹For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon wa gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. ¹⁰xChaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord.

¹¹y“Though you rejoice, though you exult,

O plunderers of my heritage,

though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture,

and neigh like stallions,

¹²your mother shall be utterly shamed,

and she who bore you shall be disgraced.

Behold, she shall be the last of the nations,

za wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

¹³aBecause of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited

but shall be an utter desolation;

beveryone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled,

band hiss because of all her wounds.

¹⁴cSet yourselves in array against Babylon all around,

dall you who bend the bow;

shoot at her, spare no arrows,

efor she has sinned against the Lord.

¹⁵fRaise a shout against her all around;

she has surrendered;

her bulwarks have fallen;

gher walls are thrown down.

For hthis is the vengeance of the Lord:

take vengeance on her;

ido to her as she has done.

¹⁶Cut off from Babylon the sower,

and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest;

jbecause of the sword of the oppressor,

kevery one shall turn to his own people,

and every one shall flee to his own land.

¹⁷l“Israel is a hunted sheep mdriven away by lions. nFirst the king of Assyria odevoured him, and now at last pNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon qhas gnawed his bones. ¹⁸Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, rI am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, sas I punished the king of Assyria. ¹⁹tI will restore Israel to his pasture, and the shall feed on uCarmel and in uBashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in uGilead. ²⁰In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, viniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for wI will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.

²¹“Go up against the land of Merathaim,1

and against the inhabitants of Pekod.2

Kill, xand devote them to destruction,3

declares the Lord,

and do all that I have commanded you.

²²yThe noise of battle is in the land,

and great destruction!

²³zHow the hammer of the whole earth

is cut down and broken!

aHow Babylon bhas become

a horror among the nations!

²⁴cI set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon,

and dyou did not know it;

you were found and caught,

because you opposed the Lord.

²⁵The Lord has opened his armory

and brought out ethe weapons of his wrath,

for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do

in the land of the Chaldeans.

²⁶Come against her from every quarter;

open her granaries;

fpile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction;

let nothing be left of her.

²⁷Kill all gher bulls;

let them go down to the slaughter.

Woe to them, for their day has come,

hthe time of their punishment.

²⁸“A voice! They iflee and escape from the land of Babylon, jto declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for khis temple.

²⁹l“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. lEncamp around her; let no one escape. mRepay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has nproudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰oTherefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, declares the Lord.

³¹“Behold, I am against you, O nproud one,

declares the Lord God of hosts,

pfor your day has come,

the time when I will punish you.

³²nThe proud one shall stumble and fall,

with none to raise him up,

qand I will kindle a fire in his cities,

and it will devour all that is around him.

³³“Thus says the Lord of hosts: rThe people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; sthey refuse to let them go. ³⁴tTheir Redeemer is strong; uthe Lord of hosts is his name. vHe will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵“A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord,

and against the inhabitants of Babylon,

and against wher officials and her xwise men!

³⁶A sword against the diviners,

that they may become fools!

A sword against her ywarriors,

that they may be destroyed!

³⁷A sword against her horses and against her chariots,

and against all zthe foreign troops in her midst,

that athey may become women!

bA sword against all her treasures,

that they may be plundered!

³⁸cA drought against her waters,

that they may be dried up!

dFor it is a land of images,

and they are mad over idols.

³⁹e“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon,4 and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations. ⁴⁰fAs when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the Lord, gso no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.

⁴¹h“Behold, a people comes from the north;

a mighty nation and many kings

are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.

⁴²They lay hold of bow and spear;

they are cruel and have no mercy.

The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;

they ride on horses,

arrayed as a man for battle

against you, O daughter of Babylon!

⁴³“The king of Babylon heard the report of them,

and his hands fell helpless;

anguish seized him,

pain as of a woman in labor.

⁴⁴i“Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd jcan stand before me? ⁴⁵Therefore hear kthe plan that the Lord has made against Babylon, kand the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: lSurely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. ⁴⁶mAt the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.”