¹⁹ And it will be that ^(A)Babylon, the ^(B)beauty of kingdoms, the ^[a]honor of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God ^(C)overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
²⁰ It will ^(D)never be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation;
Nor will the ^[b](E)Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.
²¹ But ^(F)desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of ^[c]owls;
Ostriches also will dwell there, and ^[d]shaggy goats will leap there.
^22 [e]And hyenas will howl in their fortified towers
And jackals in their luxurious ^(G)palaces.
Her fateful time also ^[f]will soon come
And her days will not be prolonged.

¹³ Because of the wrath of Yahweh she will ^(A)not be inhabited,
But she will be ^(B)completely desolate;
Everyone who passes by Babylon ^(C)will be in desolation
And will hiss because of all her wounds.

³⁹ “Therefore the ^(A)desert creatures will live there along with the jackals;
The ostriches also will live in it,
And it will ^(B)never again be lived in
Or dwelt in from generation to generation.
⁴⁰ As when God overthrew ^(C)Sodom
And Gomorrah with its neighbors,” declares Yahweh,
“No man will live there,
Nor will any son of man sojourn in it.