1 The Word that Jehovah spoke against Babylon, against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
2 Declare among the nations, proclaim, and lift up a banner. Proclaim and do not hide it; say, Babylon is captured, Bel is ashamed, Merodach is broken in pieces; her images are withered up, her idols are broken in pieces.
3 For out of the north a nation comes up against her, which shall make her land a waste, and no one shall dwell in it. They shall flee, they shall depart, both man and beast.
4 In those days, and at that time, says Jehovah, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping. They shall go and seek Jehovah their God.
5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces headed there, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten.
6 My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.
7 All who have found them have devoured them. And their enemies said, We have done no wrong, because they have sinned against Jehovah, the habitation of righteousness, even Jehovah, the hope of their fathers.
8 Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be like the rams before the flocks.
9 For, lo, I am stirring up and bringing up against Babylon a company of great nations from a northern land. And they shall array themselves against her. She shall be captured there. Their arrows shall be as those of a skillful, mighty man; none shall return in vain.
10 And Chaldea shall be a spoils; all who plunder her shall be satisfied, says Jehovah.
11 Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O destroyers of My inheritance; because you are fat like a heifer in lush grass, and bellow like bulls;
12 your mother shall be deeply ashamed; she who bore you shall be embarrassed. Behold, the last of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of Jehovah it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly a waste. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified and hiss at all her plagues.
14 Put yourselves in array against Babylon all around; all you who bend the bow, shoot at her, and spare no arrows; for she has sinned against Jehovah.
15 Shout against her all around. She has given her hand; her foundations have fallen, her walls have been thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Jehovah. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, do unto her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn, each one to his people; and they shall flee, each one to his own land.
17 Israel is like scattered sheep, driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has crushed his bones.
18 Therefore thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will bring Israel back to his home, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days, and at that time, says Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and it shall not be found; and the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; for I will pardon those whom I spare.
21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Waste and exterminate after them, says Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
23 How the hammer of the whole earth is chopped off and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
24 I have laid a trap for you, and you have also been caught, O Babylon, and you did not even know it. You have been found and also captured, because you have fought against Jehovah.
25 Jehovah has opened His armory, and has brought forth the weapons of His indignation. For this is the work of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the border; open her storehouses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her completely. Let nothing of her be left.
27 Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment.
28 The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance of His temple.
29 Summon the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the bow, camp against it all around; let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her. For she has been proud against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be silenced in that day, says Jehovah.
31 Behold, I am against you, O proud ones, says the Lord Jehovah of Hosts; for your day has come, the time that I will judge you.
32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and no one shall raise him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall consume everything all around him.
33 Thus says Jehovah of Hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together. And all who captured them have held them fast; they have refused to let them go.
34 Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of Hosts, is His name. He shall thoroughly plead their case, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword is upon the Chaldeans, says Jehovah, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her rulers, and upon her wise men.
36 A sword is upon the liars, and they shall become fools. A sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.
37 A sword is upon their horses and their chariots, and upon all the mixed people in her midst; and they shall become as women. A sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed.
38 A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up. For it is the land of graven images, and they act madly and are in dread.
39 Therefore the beasts of the desert shall dwell there with the howling beasts. And the young owls shall dwell in it. And it shall not again be inhabited forever; it shall not be lived in from generation to generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, says Jehovah, so no man shall remain there, nor shall any son of man live in it.
41 Behold, a people shall come from the north, even a great nation; and many kings shall be aroused from the ends of the earth.
42 They lay hold on the bow and spear; they are cruel and shall not show mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride on horses, set in array like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard the report of them, and his hands became feeble. Anguish has taken hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in labor.
44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of the Jordan against the dwelling of the strong. But I will make them suddenly run away from her. And who is a chosen one whom I may appoint over her? For who is like Me? And who will set My appointments? And who is that shepherd who will face Me?
45 Therefore hear the counsel of Jehovah that He has taken against Babylon; and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely the least of the flock shall drag them; surely He shall make their dwelling desolate to them.
46 At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth quakes, and a cry is heard among the nations.