Word Against Babylon
The word which Yahweh spoke concerning aBabylon, the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet:
2 “aDeclare and make it heard among the nations.
Make it heard and blift up a standard.
Do not conceal it but say,
‘cBabylon has been captured;
dBel has been put to shame; Marduk has been shattered;
Her eimages have been put to shame; her idols have been shattered.’
3 For a nation has come up against her out of the anorth; it will make her land ban object of horror, and there will be cno inhabitant in it. Both man and beast have wandered off; they have gone away!
4 “In those days and at that time,” declares Yahweh, “the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah aas well; they will go along bweeping as they go, and it will be cYahweh their God they will seek. 5 They will aask for the way to Zion—turning their faces in its direction and saying, ‘Come!’—in order that they may join themselves to Yahweh in an beverlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.
6 “My people have become alost sheep;
bTheir shepherds have led them astray.
They have made them turn away on the cmountains;
They have gone along from mountain to hill
And have forgotten their dresting place.
7 All who came out against them have devoured them;
And their adversaries have said, ‘aWe are not guilty,
Inasmuch as they have sinned against Yahweh, who is the babode of righteousness,
Even Yahweh, the chope of their fathers.’
8 “Wander away from the amidst of Babylon
And go forth from the land of the Chaldeans;
Be also like male goats at the head of the flock.
9 For behold, I am going to aarouse and bring up against Babylon
An assembly of great nations from the land of the north,
And they will arrange their battle lines against her;
From there she will be taken captive.
Their arrows will be like a warrior who makes one childless
Who does not return empty‑handed.
10 aChaldea will become spoil;
All who take her spoil will have enough,” declares Yahweh.
11 “Because you are glad, because you exult,
O you who aplunder My inheritance,
Because you skip about like a threshing bheifer
And neigh like valiant steeds,
12 Your amother will be greatly ashamed;
She who gave you birth will be humiliated.
Behold, she will be the least of the nations,
A bwilderness, a parched land, and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of Yahweh she will anot be inhabited,
But she will be bcompletely desolate;
Everyone who passes by Babylon cwill be in desolation
And will hiss because of all her wounds.
14 Arrange your battle lines against Babylon on every side,
All you who bend the bow;
Shoot at her, do not be sparing with your arrows,
For she has asinned against Yahweh.
15 Raise a loud shout against her on every side!
She has agiven herself up, her pillars have fallen,
Her bwalls have been pulled down.
For this is the cvengeance of Yahweh:
Take vengeance on her;
dAs she has done to others, so do to her.
16 Cut off the asower from Babylon
And the one who seizes the sickle at the time of harvest;
From before the bsword of the oppressor
cThey will each turn back to his own people,
And they will each flee to his own land.
17 “Israel is a ascattered flock; the blions have banished them away. The first one who devoured him was the cking of Assyria, and this last one who has broken his bones is dNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 18 Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I apunished the king of Assyria. 19 And I will areturn Israel back to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the bhill country of Ephraim and Gilead. 20 In those days and at that time,’ declares Yahweh, ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but athere will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those bwhom I leave as a remnant.’
21 “Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it,
And against the inhabitants of aPekod.
Put them to the sword and devote them to destruction,” declares Yahweh,
“And do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 The anoise of battle is in the land,
And great destruction.
23 How the ahammer of the whole earth
Has been cut in pieces and broken!
How Babylon has become
An object of horror among the nations!
24 I aset a snare for you, and you were also bcaught, O Babylon,
But you yourself did not know;
You have been found and also seized
Because you have engaged in cconflict with Yahweh.”
25 Yahweh has opened His armory
And has brought forth the aweapons of His indignation,
For it is a bwork of Lord Yahweh of hosts
In the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come to her from the farthest border;
aOpen up her barns;
Pile her up like heaps,
And bdevote her to destruction;
Let nothing of her remain.
27 aPut all her young bulls to the sword;
Let them bgo down to the slaughter!
Woe be upon them, for their cday has come,
The time of their punishment.
28 There is a asound of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon,
To declare in Zion the bvengeance of Yahweh our God,
Vengeance for His ctemple.
29 “Summon many against Babylon,
All those who bend the bow:
Encamp against her on every side,
Let there be no escape.
Repay her according to her work;
aAccording to all that she has done, so do to her;
For she has become barrogant against Yahweh,
Against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore her ayoung men will fall in her open squares,
And all her men of war will be bsilenced in that day,” declares Yahweh.
31 “Behold, aI am against you, O arrogant one,”
Declares Lord Yahweh of hosts,
“For your day has come,
The time when I will punish you.
32 The aarrogant one will stumble and fall
With no one to raise him up;
And I will bset fire to his cities,
And it will devour him on every side.”
33 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“The sons of Israel are oppressed,
And the sons of Judah as well;
And aall who took them captive have held them fast;
They have refused to let them go.
34 Their aRedeemer is strong, bYahweh of hosts is His name;
He will vigorously cplead their case
So that He may dbring relief to the earth,
But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A asword against the Chaldeans,” declares Yahweh,
“And against the inhabitants of Babylon
And against her bofficials and her cwise men!
36 A sword against the aoracle priests, and they will become fools!
A sword against her bmighty men, and they will be cshattered!
37 A sword against their ahorses and against their chariots
And against all the bforeigners who are in the midst of her,
And they will become cwomen!
A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!
38 A adrought on her waters, and they will be dried up!
For it is a land of bgraven images,
And they are mad over terrifying idols.
39 “Therefore the adesert creatures will live there along with the jackals;
The ostriches also will live in it,
And it will bnever again be lived in
Or dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 As when God overthrew aSodom
And Gomorrah with its neighbors,” declares Yahweh,
“No man will live there,
Nor will any son of man sojourn in it.
41 “Behold, a people is coming afrom the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.
42 They aseize their bow and javelin;
They are bcruel and have no compassion.
Their cvoice roars like the sea;
And they ride on dhorses,
eArranged like a man for the battle
Against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The aking of Babylon has heard the report about them,
And his hands hang limp;
bDistress has taken hold of him,
Agony like a woman in childbirth.
44 “aBehold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to an enduring pasture; for in an instant I will make them run away from it, and whoever is bchosen I will appoint over it. For who is clike Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can dstand before Me?” 45 Therefore hear the acounsel of Yahweh which He has counseled against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: bsurely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them. 46 At the sound, “Babylon has been seized!” the aearth is shaken, and an boutcry is heard among the nations.