Jeremiah 46-51

Lexham English Bible

³ “Prepare small shield and shield,
    and approach for the battle!
⁴ Harness the horses and mount the steeds!
    And take your stand with helmets!
Polish the spears!
    Put on the body armor!
⁵ Why do I see them terrified?
    They are turning back
and their warriors are beaten down.
    And they have fled to a place of refuge
and they do not turn back.
    Terror is from all around,” declares^[a] Yahweh.
⁶ The swift cannot flee,
    and the warrior cannot escape.
They have stumbled and they have fallen,
    by the bank of the Euphrates River.
⁷ Who is this that rises like the Nile,
    like the rivers whose waters surge?
⁸ Egypt rises like the Nile,
    even like the rivers whose waters surge.
And he says, “Let me rise,
    let me cover the earth,
let me destroy cities,
    and the inhabitants in them.”
⁹ Go up, O horses,
    and drive madly, O chariots,^[b]
and let the warriors go forth;
    Cush and Put, who wield the small shield,
    and Lud, who wield and bend the bow.
¹⁰ For that day is to the Lord Yahweh of hosts
    a day of retribution,
    to take revenge on his foes.
And the sword will devour and be satisfied,
    and it will drink its fill of their blood,
for a sacrifice is for the Lord Yahweh of hosts
    in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.
¹¹ Go up to Gilead and take balm,
    O virgin of the daughter of Egypt.
In vain^[c] you make use of many medicines;
    there is no healing for you.
¹² The nations have heard your shame,
    and your cry of lament fills the earth.
For warrior has stumbled against warrior,
    together they have fallen, the two of them.

¹⁴ “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol,
    and proclaim in Memphis and in Tahpanhes,
say, ‘Take your stand and be prepared,
    for the sword will devour those all around you.’
¹⁵ Why are your bulls defeated?
    He did not stand because Yahweh thrust him down.
¹⁶ He multiplied the ones^[d] stumbling.
    Furthermore, each one fell to his neighbor,
and said, ‘Stand up, and let us return to our people
    and to the land of our birth,
    because of^[e] the presence^[f] of the sword of the oppressor.’
¹⁷ They will call there,
‘Pharaoh, the king of Egypt is but a roar,
    he missed the opportunity.’^[g]
18 As I live,”^[h] declares^[i] the king,
    Yahweh of hosts is his name,
“one will come like Tabor among the mountains
    and like Carmel by the sea.
¹⁹ Pack your baggage for exile,
    O inhabitants^[j] of the daughter of Egypt,
for Memphis will become as a horror,
    and it will be destroyed, without^[k] inhabitant.
²⁰ Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
    but a gadfly from the north will come against her.
²¹ Even her mercenaries in her midst are like calves of fattening,
    for they also have turned away,
    they have fled together.
They stand not,
    for the day of their calamity has come,
    the time of their punishment.
²² Her sound is like a snake that glides away,
    for they march in force.
And with axes they come to her
    like those who chop trees.
²³ They will cut down her forest,” declares^[l] Yahweh,
    “for it is impenetrable.^[m]
Yes, they are more numerous than locusts,^[n]
    and they are without number.^[o]
24 The daughter of Egypt will be ashamed,
    she will be given into the hand of the people of the north.”

²⁷ “But as for you, my servant Jacob, you must not be afraid,
    and Israel, you must not be dismayed,
for look, I am going to save you from far,
    and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
And Jacob will return,
    and he will be quiet,
and he will be at ease,
    and without one who makes him afraid.
²⁸ You must not be afraid, my servant Jacob,” declares^[s] Yahweh,
    “for I am with you.
For I will make a complete destruction in all the nations where I scattered you,
    but you I will not make a complete destruction,
though I will chastise you to the measure,
    and I will certainly not leave you unpunished.”

“Look, waters are rising from the north,
    and they will become as a raging torrent,
and they will overflow the land,
    and that which fills it,
    the city and those who live in it.
And the people will cry out,
    and every inhabitant of the land will wail,
³ from the sound of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,
    from the clattering of his chariots,^[u]
    the noise of their wheels.
Fathers do not turn to their children
    because of the slackness of their hands.
⁴ Because of the day that is coming
    to destroy all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and from Sidon
    every survivor who could help,
for Yahweh is destroying the Philistines,
    the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.
⁵ Baldness has come upon Gaza,
    Ashkelon is destroyed.
O remnant of their valley,
    how long^[v] will you cut yourself with a blade?
⁶ Ah, sword of Yahweh,
    how long^[w] will you not be quiet?
Gather to your sheath,
    keep quiet and stand still.
⁷ How can you be quiet
    when Yahweh has given an order to it?
Against Ashkelon and against the shore of the sea,
    there he has appointed it.”

“Woe to Nebo,
    for it is devastated.
It is ashamed,
    Kiriathaim is captured.
Misgab is ashamed,
    and it is filled with terror.
² The glory of Moab is no longer.
    In Heshbon they planned evil against her.
Come and let us cut her off from being a nation.
Also, Madmen, you will be silent.
    After you will go the sword.
³ The sound of a cry of distress arises from Horonaim,
    devastation and great destruction.
⁴ Moab is broken,
    her little ones make heard^[x] a cry for help.
⁵ For the ascent of Luhith,
    in weeping they go weeping,
For on the slope of Horonaim they have heard
    the distresses of the cry of distress of the destruction.
⁶ Flee! Save your life!
    For^[y] you must not be like the juniper tree in the desert.
⁷ For because of your trusting in your works and in your treasures,
    even you yourselves will be taken,
and Chemosh will go out into the exile,
    his priests and his officials together.
⁸ And the destroyer will come to every town,
    and a town will not escape.
And the valley will be destroyed,
    and the plain will be destroyed, as Yahweh has spoken.
⁹ Give salt for Moab,
    for certainly she will go to ruin,
and her towns will become as a desolation,
    without^[z] an inhabitant in them.
¹⁰ The one who does the work of Yahweh with slackness is cursed,
    and the one who keeps away blood from his sword is cursed.
¹¹ Moab has been at ease from his youth,
    and he has been quiet on his dregs,
    and he has not been poured out from vessel to vessel,
    and he has not gone into exile.
Therefore^[aa] his taste has remained unchanged,
    and his fragrance has not changed.
¹² Therefore^[ab] look, days are coming,” declares^[ac] Yahweh,
    “and I will send to him decanters,^[ad]
    and they will decant him,
    and his vessels they will empty out,
    and their jars they will smash.
¹³ Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
    just as the house of Israel were ashamed of Bethel, their trust.
¹⁴ How can you say, ‘we are warriors,
    and men of might for the battle.’
¹⁵ Moab is destroyed,
    and his towns have gone up,
and the choice of his young men have gone down to the slaughtering,”
    declares^[ae] the King, Yahweh of hosts is his name.
¹⁶ “The disaster of Moab is near to come,
    and his disaster approaches very quickly.^[af]
17 Mourn for him, all his surroundings,
    and all those who knew his name.
Say, ‘How the staff of might is broken,
    the staff of glory.’
¹⁸ Come down from glory and sit on the parched ground,
    O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon,
for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you,
    he has destroyed your fortifications.
¹⁹ Stand by the road and watch,
    O inhabitant of Aroer.
Ask the man who is fleeing and the woman who is escaping,
    say, ‘What has happened?’
²⁰ Moab is ashamed,
    for it is filled with terror.
Wail and cry out,
    tell it by Arnon that Moab is devastated.

²⁶ “Make him drunk,
    because he magnified himself against Yahweh,
and let Moab wallow in his vomit.
    And he also will become a laughingstock.
²⁷ Now was not Israel the laughingstock to you?
    Or was he found among thieves?
For as often as^[ah] you spoke over him
    you shook your head.
²⁸ Leave the towns and dwell on the rock,
    O inhabitants of Moab,
and be like the dove,
    it nests on the sides of the mouth of a ravine.
²⁹ We have heard of the pride of Moab
    —he is very proud—
his height, and his pride, and his arrogance,
    and the haughtiness of his heart.
³⁰ I know his insolence,” declares^[ai] Yahweh,
    “and his boastings are false;^[aj]
    they act falsely.^[ak]
31 Therefore^[al] over Moab I wail,
    and for all of Moab I cry out,
    for the people^[am] of Kir-heres I moan.
³² More than the weeping of Jazer
    I weep for you, O vine Sibmah.
Your branches cross over the sea,
    up to the sea of Jazer they reach.
Upon your summer fruit and upon your vintage
    the destroyer has fallen.
³³ And joy and rejoicing have been taken away from the fruitful land,
    even from the land of Moab.
And the wine from the wine presses
    I have caused to disappear.
He will not tread with exuberant shouts.^[an]
    Exuberant shouts^[ao] will not be exuberant shouts.^[ap]
34 From the cry for help of Heshbon, up to Elealeh,
    up to Jahaz, they give their voice,
from Zoar up to Horonaim, up to Eglath-shelishiyah,
    for even the waters of Nimrim have become as a desolation.
³⁵ And I will cause to disappear for Moab,” declares^[aq] Yahweh,
    “the one who presents a sacrifice at a high place,
    and the one who burns a smoke offering to his gods.
³⁶ Therefore^[ar] my heart moans for Moab like the flute.^[as]
    It moans for the people^[at] of Kir-heres like the flute.^[au]
    Therefore^[av] the wealth they gained has perished.
³⁷ For on every head is baldness,
    and every beard is trimmed.
On all the hands, slashes,
    and on the loins, sackcloth.
³⁸ On all the roofs of Moab, and in its public squares,
    there is wailing everywhere.
For I have broken Moab like a vessel,
    there is no delight in it,” declares^[aw] Yahweh.
³⁹ “How it is filled with terror! How they wail!
    How Moab has turned his back! He is disgraced!
So Moab has become as a derision,
    and as a terror for all his surrounding peoples.”

“Look, like an eagle he will swoop down,
    and he will spread out his wings against Moab.
⁴¹ Kerioth will be taken,
    and the strongholds will be conquered,
and the hearts^[ax] of the warriors of Moab will be on that day
    like the heart of a woman who is in labor.
⁴² And Moab will be destroyed from being a people,
    because against Yahweh he magnified himself.
⁴³ Dread, and pit, and a trapping net are against you,
    O inhabitant of Moab,” declares^[ay] Yahweh.
⁴⁴ “He who flees before^[az] the dread
    will fall into the pit,
and the one who climbs up from the pit
    will be caught in the trapping net,
for I will bring on Moab
    the year of their punishment,” declares^[ba] Yahweh.
⁴⁵ “In the shadow of Heshbon
    fugitives stand without strength,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
    and a flame from Sihon.
And it has eaten the forehead of Moab,
    and the skulls^[bb] of the people^[bc] of tumult.
⁴⁶ Woe to you, Moab!
    The people of Chemosh have perished.
For your sons have been taken into captivity,
    and your daughters into captivity.
⁴⁷ Yet I will restore the fortunes^[bd] of Moab
    in the last of the days,” declares^[be] Yahweh.

“Are there no sons for Israel?
    Or is there no heir for him?
Why has Milcom taken possession of Gad,
    and his people dwelled in its towns?
² Therefore^[bh] look, days are coming,” declares^[bi] Yahweh,
“and I will sound against Rabbah, the Ammonites,^[bj]
    the alarm of the war,
and it will become as a mound of desolation,
    and its daughters will burn in the fire.
Then Israel will dispossess his dispossessors,” says Yahweh.
³ “Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated.
    Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, put on sackcloth.
    Lament and run back and forth among the walls.
For Milcom will go into exile,
    his priests and his officials together.
⁴ Why do you boast in your valleys?
    Your valleys^[bk] are ebbing.
O unfaithful daughter, who trusted in her treasures,
    who said, ‘Who will come against me?’
⁵ Look, I am going to bring dread on you,”
declares^[bl] Lord Yahweh of hosts,
    “from all your surrounding neighbors.
And you will be scattered,
    each one before it,^[bm]
and there is no one who gathers the fugitives.^[bn]
6 Yet afterward^[bo] I will restore
    the fortunes^[bp] of the Ammonites,”^[bq] declares^[br] Yahweh.

“Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?
    Has counsel become lost from those who understand?
    Is their wisdom rotting?
⁸ Flee! Turn back! Get down low!^[bs]
    O inhabitants of Dedan.
For I will bring upon him the disaster of Esau
    at the time when I will punish him.
⁹ If grape-gatherers come to you,
    would they not leave gleanings?
If thieves in the night,
    they destroy only enough for them.^[bt]
10 But I have stripped Esau bare.
    I have uncovered his hiding places,
    and he is not able to hide himself.
His offspring are devastated, along with^[bu] his brothers,
    and his neighbors, and he is no more.^[bv]
11 Leave your orphans. I will let them^[bw] live.
    And your widows, let them trust in me.”

¹⁴ I have heard a message from Yahweh,
    and a messenger has been sent among the nations.
“Gather and come against her,
    and rise for the battle.”
¹⁵ “For look, I will make you small among the nations,
    despised by the humankind.
¹⁶ Your terror has deceived you,
    the pride of your heart,
O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
    you who seize the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest high like the eagle,
    from there I will bring you down,” declares^[cc] Yahweh.
¹⁷ “And Edom will become as a horror,
    everyone who passes by it^[cd] will be appalled,
    and will hiss because of all its blows.
¹⁸ As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah
    and their neighbors,” says Yahweh,
“no one^[ce] will live there,
    and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in it.
¹⁹ Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets of the Jordan
    to a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream.^[cf]
So I will chase him away hurriedly^[cg] from it.
    And whoever is chosen I will appoint over it.
For who is like me, and who can summon me?
    And who is this, the shepherd who can stand before me?”^[ch]
20 Therefore^[ci] hear the plan of Yahweh that he has planned against Edom,
    and his plans that he has planned against the inhabitants of Teman.
Surely^[cj] they will drag them away,
    the little ones of the flock.
Surely^[ck] he will cause to be desolated over them
    their grazing place.
²¹ The earth will quake from the sound of their falling.
    A cry of distress! Their voice will be heard at the Red Sea.^[cl]
22 Look, like an eagle he will go up and he will swoop down,
    and he will spread out his wings against Bozrah.
And the heart of the warriors of Edom will be in that day
    like the heart of a woman who is in labor.

“Hamath and Arpad are ashamed,
    for they have heard bad news;
    they melt.
There is concern in the sea.
    It is not able to keep quiet.
²⁴ Damascus has grown slack.
    She has turned away to flee and panic.
Anxiety has seized her,
    and labor pains have grasped her,
    like a woman in labor.
²⁵ How the city of praise has not been abandoned!
    The city of my joy!
²⁶ Therefore^[cm] her young men will fall in her public squares,
    and all the soldiers^[cn] will perish in that day,” declares^[co] Yahweh of hosts.
²⁷ “And I will kindle a fire at the wall of Damascus,
    and it will devour the citadel fortresses of Ben-hadad.”

“Rise up, go up against Kedar
    and destroy the people^[cp] of the east.
²⁹ They will take their tents, and their flocks,
    their tent curtains, and all their equipment,
and their camels they will carry away for themselves,
    and they will call to them, ‘Terror is from all around.’
³⁰ Flee! Wander far away! Get down low!^[cq]
    O inhabitants of Hazor,” declares^[cr] Yahweh.
“For Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has planned a plan against you.
    And he has schemed^[cs] a scheme^[ct] against you.
³¹ Rise up, go up against a nation which is at ease,
    living securely,”^[cu] declares^[cv] Yahweh.
“There are no gates and there are no bars^[cw] for them,
    they dwell alone.
³² And their camels will become as plunder,
    and the multitude of their livestock as spoil.
And I will scatter to every wind those who are trimmed to the side,
    and from every side^[cx] I will bring their disaster,” declares^[cy] Yahweh.
³³ “And Hazor will become as a lair of jackals,
    a waste forever;
no one will live there,
    and no son of humankind will dwell as an alien in it.”

‘Look, I am going to break the bow of Elam,
    the first and best of their might.
³⁶ And I will bring to Elam four winds,
    from the four corners of heaven,
and I will scatter them to all these winds,
    and there will not be a nation
    where the scattered people of Elam will not go.
³⁷ So I will shatter Elam before^[da] their enemies,
    and before^[db] the seekers of their life.
And I will bring disaster upon them,
    my burning anger,^[dc]’ declares^[dd] Yahweh.
‘And I will send after them the sword
    until I have destroyed them.
³⁸ And I will set my throne in Elam
    and I will destroy from there king and officials,’ declares^[de] Yahweh.
³⁹ ‘And then^[df] in the last of the days
    I will restore the fortunes^[dg] of Elam,’ declares^[dh] Yahweh.”

² “Declare among the nations and proclaim,
    and lift up a banner.
Proclaim, you must not conceal it.
Say, ‘Babylon is captured,
    Bel is ashamed,
    Merodach is filled with terror,
her idols are ashamed,
    her idols are filled with terror.
³ For a nation will come up against her from the north.
It will make her land as a horror,
    and an inhabitant will not be in her.
From humans^[di] to animals^[dj] they all will wander off.
    They will go away.
⁴ In those days and in that time,’” declares^[dk] Yahweh,
    “the people^[dl] of Israel will come,
    they and the people^[dm] of Judah together.
Weeping as they go,^[dn] they will go,
    and Yahweh their God they will seek.
⁵ They will ask the way to Zion,
    turning their faces there.
They will come and join themselves to Yahweh
    by an everlasting covenant^[do] that will not be forgotten.
⁶ My people have become lost sheep,
    their shepherds have caused them to go astray.
They led them away to the mountains.
From mountain to hill they have gone,
    they have forgotten their resting place.
⁷ All those who found them have devoured them.
    And their foes have said, ‘We are not guilty,
because^[dp] they have sinned against Yahweh, the true pasture,^[dq]
    even Yahweh, the hope of their ancestors.’^[dr]
8 Flee from the midst of Babylon,
    and from the land of the Chaldeans.
Go out and be like he-goats
    before^[ds] the flock.
⁹ For look, I am going to stir up,
    and I am going to bring against Babylon
a contingent of great nations
    from the land of the north.
And they will draw up a battle formation against her,
    from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like a warrior who has achieved success,
    he does not return without success.
¹⁰ And Chaldea will be as booty,
    all those who plunder her will be satisfied,” declares^[dt] Yahweh.
¹¹ “Though you rejoice, though you exult,
    O plunderers of my inheritance,
though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass,
    and you neigh like the powerful stallions,
¹² your mother will be very ashamed.
    She who gave birth to you will be humiliated.^[du]
Look, she will be the least of the nations,
    a desert,^[dv] dry land, and wilderness.^[dw]
13 Because of the anger of Yahweh she will not be inhabited,
    but she will be a wasteland, all of her.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled
    and will hiss because of all her wounds.
¹⁴ Draw up a battle formation at Babylon all around,
    all those who bend the bow, shoot at her.
You must not spare arrows,^[dx]
    for she has sinned against Yahweh.
¹⁵ Raise a war cry against her on all sides.
    She has surrendered.^[dy]
Her towers have fallen,
    her walls are ruined.
For this is the vengeance of Yahweh.
    Take revenge on her.
As she has done to others,
    so do to her.
¹⁶ Cut off the sower from Babylon,
    and the one who uses the sickle in the time of harvest.
Because of^[dz] the sword of the oppressor
    each one will turn to their people,
    and each one will flee to their land.
¹⁷ Israel is a sheep scattered,
    lions drove them away.
The first who devoured it was the king of Assyria,
    and now at the end Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, gnawed its bones.”

“Look, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land
    just as I punished the king of Assyria.
¹⁹ And I will restore Israel to its pasture,
    and it will feed on Carmel, and in Bashan,
and on the hills^[eb] of Ephraim, and in Gilead
    its hunger will be satisfied.
²⁰ In those days and at that time,” declares^[ec] Yahweh,
    “the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there is none,
and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found,
    for I will forgive those I left behind.
²¹ To the land of Merathaim,
    go up against her,
and against the inhabitants of Pekod,
    massacre and destroy them,” declares^[ed] Yahweh,
“and do according to all that I have commanded you.
²² The sound of battle is in the land,
    and great destruction.
²³ How the blacksmith’s hammer of all the earth is cut down and broken!
    How Babylon has become as a horror among the nations!
²⁴ I laid a bird snare for you, and you were caught, O Babylon.
    But you yourself did not know.
You were discovered and seized,
    because with Yahweh you measured yourself.
²⁵ Yahweh has opened his armory,
    and he has brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for it is a word for my Lord Yahweh of hosts
    in the land of the Chaldeans.
²⁶ Come against her from the end,
    open her granaries.
Pile her up like heaps and destroy her.
    Let there be no remnant for her.
²⁷ Massacre all her bulls,
    let them go down to the slaughtering.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
    the time of their punishment.
²⁸ There is the sound of fugitives and survivors
    from the land of Babylon,
to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God,
    the vengeance for his temple.
²⁹ Summon archers against Babylon,
    all those who bend the bow.
Encamp all around her,
    there must not be for her an escape.
Take revenge on her according to her deeds.
    According to all that she has done, so do to her.
For against Yahweh she has behaved insolently,
    against the Holy One of Israel.
³⁰ Therefore^[ee] her young men will fall in her public squares,
    and all her soldiers^[ef] will perish on that day,” declares^[eg] Yahweh.
³¹ “Look, I am against you, O arrogant one,”
    declares^[eh] Lord Yahweh of hosts,
“for your day has come,
    the time when I will punish you.
³² And the arrogant one will stumble and fall,
    and there is no one who raises him up.
And I will kindle a fire in his cities,
    and it will devour everything around him.”

“The people^[ei] of Israel are oppressed,
    and the people^[ej] of Judah likewise,
for^[ek] all their captors have seized them,
    they refuse to let them go free.
³⁴ Their redeemer is strong,
    his name is Yahweh of hosts.
Surely he will plead their case,
    in order to make peace for the earth,
but to cause unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.
³⁵ A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares^[el] Yahweh,
    “and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
and against her officials,
    and against her wise men.
³⁶ A sword against the oracle priests,
    and they will become foolish.
A sword against her warriors,
    and they will be filled with terror.
³⁷ A sword against his horses,
    and against his chariots,^[em]
and against all the foreign troops who are in the midst of her,
    so that they may become as women.
A sword against her treasures,
    so that they may be plundered.
³⁸ A drought will come against her waters,
    and they will dry up,
for it is a land of images,
    and because of the frightful objects, they act like madmen.
³⁹ Therefore^[en] desert creatures will live there^[eo] with jackals,
    and daughters of ostriches^[ep] will inhabit her.
And she will not be inhabited again forever,^[eq]
    and she will not be dwelt in for all generations.^[er]
40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
    and their neighbors,” declares^[es] Yahweh,
“no one will live there,
    and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in her.
⁴¹ Look, a people is about to come
    from the north,
and a great nation and many kings are woken up
    from the remotest part of the earth.
⁴² They keep hold of bow and short sword.
    They are cruel and they have no mercy.
Their sound is like the sea, it roars,
    and upon horses they ride.
Drawn up for battle as a man for the battle,
    against you, O daughter of Babylon.
⁴³ The king of Babylon heard their report
    and his hands grew slack.
Anxiety has seized him,
    fear and pain like the woman who gives birth.
⁴⁴ Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets^[et] of the Jordan
    against a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream,^[eu]
so I will chase them away quickly^[ev] from her,
    and I will appoint whoever is chosen over her.
For who is like me, and who can summon me,
    and who is this shepherd who can stand before me?^[ew]
45 Therefore^[ex] hear the plan of Yahweh
    that he has planned against Babylon,
and his plans
    that he has planned against the land of the Chaldeans.
Surely^[ey] they will drag them away,
    the little ones of the flock.
Surely^[ez] he will cause their grazing place
    to be desolate over them.
⁴⁶ At the sound, ‘Babylon has been captured,’
    the earth will quake,
and a cry for help among the nations
    will be heard.”

“Look, I am going to stir up against Babylon
    and against the inhabitants of Leb-qamai a destructive wind.
² And I will send winnowers to Babylon,
    and they will winnow her,
and they will lay waste her land,
    for they will be against her from all sides on the day of disaster.
³ Let not him who bends the bow shoot his bow,
    and let him not rise high in his body armor.
And you must not spare her young men;
    destroy her whole army.
⁴ And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
    and pierced through in her streets.
⁵ For neither Israel nor Judah is a widower from their God,
    from Yahweh of hosts,
though their land is full of guilt
    against the Holy One of Israel.”
⁶ Flee from the midst of Babylon and save each one his life.
    You must not perish because of her guilt.
For this is the time of vengeance for Yahweh,
    he will repay her what is deserved.
⁷ Babylon was a cup of gold in the hand of Yahweh,
    making drunk all the earth.
The nations drank of her wine.
    Therefore^[fa] the nations acted like madmen.
⁸ Suddenly Babylon has fallen and she is shattered.
    Wail over her!
Take balm for her wounds,
    perhaps she may be healed.
⁹ We tried to heal Babylon, and she was not healed.
    Forsake her and let us go each one to his country,
for her judgment has reached to the heavens,
    and it has been lifted up to the skies.
¹⁰ Yahweh has brought forth our vindication.
    Come and let us make known in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.
¹¹ Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
    Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes.
Because his plan concerning Babylon is to destroy it,
    for that is the vengeance of Yahweh,
    the vengeance for his temple.
¹² Against the walls of Babylon raise a banner;
    post a strong watch,^[fb] post watchmen, prepare the ambushes,
for Yahweh has both planned as well as performed
    what he has spoken concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
¹³ O you who live by mighty waters, rich in treasures,
    your end has come, the measure of your life.^[fc]
14 Yahweh of hosts has sworn by himself,
    “Surely I will fill you with troops like the creeping locusts,^[fd]
    and they will sing over you a war cry.”
¹⁵ He is the one who made the earth by his power,
    the one who created the world by his wisdom,
    and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens.
¹⁶ At the giving of his voice
    there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
and he causes the patches of mist
    to go up from the end of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
    and he brings out the wind from his storehouses.
¹⁷ All humankind turns out to be stupid,
    without knowledge.
Every goldsmith is put to shame
    by the divine image.
For his cast image is a lie,
    and there is no breath in them.
¹⁸ They are worthless,
    a work of mockery.
At the time of their punishment,
    they will perish.
¹⁹ The portion of Jacob is not like these,
    for he is the creator of everything,^[fe]
    and the tribe of his inheritance.
Yahweh of hosts is his name.
²⁰ He says, “You are a war club for me,
    a weapon of battle,
and I smash nations with you,
    and I destroy kingdoms with you.
²¹ And I smash the horse with you,
    and its rider,
and I smash the chariot with you,
    and its rider.
²² And I smash man and woman with you,
    and I smash the old man and the boy with you,
    and I smash the young man and the young woman with you.
²³ And I smash the shepherd and his flock with you,
    and I smash the farmer and his team with you,
    and I smash the governors and the officials with you.
²⁴ And I will repay Babylon,
    and all the inhabitants of Chaldea,
all their wickedness that they have done in Zion
    before your eyes,” declares^[ff] Yahweh.
²⁵ “Look, I am against you,
    O mountain of the destruction,” declares^[fg] Yahweh,
    “the one that destroys the whole earth.
And I will stretch out my hand against you,
    and I will roll you down from the cliffs,
    and I will make you as a mountain burned away.
²⁶ They will not take from you
    a stone for a corner,
and a stone for a foundation,
    for you will be an everlasting desolation,”^[fh] declares^[fi] Yahweh.
²⁷ Raise a banner in the land;
    blow a horn among the nations;
prepare for holy war against her;
    summon the nations against her,
the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz;
    summon against her an official;
    bring up horses^[fj] like bristling creeping locusts.^[fk]
28 Prepare the nations for holy war against her,
    the kings of the Medes,
with their governors and all their officials,
    and every land of their dominion.
²⁹ And the land quakes and writhes,
    for the plans of Yahweh against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon as a horror,
    without^[fl] inhabitant.
³⁰ The warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight,
    they remain in the strongholds,
their power has dried up,
    they have become as women.
Her dwelling places are set on fire,
    her bars are broken.
³¹ one runner runs to meet another runner,
    and one messenger to meet another messenger,
to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been captured,
    from end to end.^[fm]
32 And the fords have been seized,
    and the reed marshes have been burned with fire,
    and the soldiers^[fn] are horrified.

“The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor
    at the time it is trodden down,
just a little while^[fo]
    and the time of the harvest will come for her.”
³⁴ Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon
    has devoured me and sucked me dry;
he has made me an empty vessel;
    he has swallowed me like the sea monster;
he has filled his belly with my delicacies;
    he has rinsed me.
³⁵ “May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon,”
    the inhabitants^[fp] of Zion will say;
and “My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
    Jerusalem will say.

“Look, I am going to contend your case,
    and I will avenge your vengeance,
and I will cause her sea to dry up,
    and I will cause her fountain to dry up.
³⁷ And Babylon will become as a heap of stones,
    a lair of jackals,
an object of horror, and an object of hissing,
    without^[fr] inhabitants.
³⁸ They will roar together like the young lions,
    they will growl like the cubs of lions.
³⁹ At their becoming hot I will set their banquets,
    and I will make them drunk,
so that they will fall into a swoon,
    and they will sleep an everlasting sleep,^[fs]
    and they will not wake up,” declares^[ft] Yahweh.
⁴⁰ “I will bring them down like young rams to slaughter,
    like rams and goats.
⁴¹ How Sheshach is captured,
    and the glory of all the earth is seized!
How Babylon has become as an object of horror
    among the nations!
⁴² The sea has risen over Babylon,
    she has been covered by the roar of its waves.
⁴³ Her cities have become as an object of horror,
    a dry land and a wilderness,^[fu]
a land in which no person lives,
    nor does a son of humankind pass through it.
⁴⁴ And I will punish Bel in Babylon,
    and I will wrench out from his mouth what he has swallowed.^[fv]
And the nations will not stream towards him any longer
    what’s worse,^[fw] the wall of Babylon has fallen.
⁴⁵ Come out from her midst, my people,
    and save each one his life
    from the burning anger of^[fx] Yahweh.
⁴⁶ Now so that you are not fainthearted,^[fy]
    and you are afraid at the rumors^[fz] that are heard in the land—
and in the year the rumor comes,
    and in the year after it the rumor,
and violence is in the land,
    with ruler against ruler—
⁴⁷ therefore^[ga] look, days are coming,
    and I will punish the images of Babylon,
and all her land will be put to shame,
    and all her slain ones will fall in the midst of her.
⁴⁸ Then the heaven and the earth and all that is in them
    will shout for joy over Babylon,
for from the north
    the destroyers will come to it,” declares^[gb] Yahweh.
⁴⁹ Babylon must fall not only because of the slain ones of Israel,
    but also because of Babylon the slain ones of all the earth have fallen.
⁵⁰ Survivors of the sword, go!
    You must not linger!
Remember Yahweh from far away,
    and let Jerusalem come to your mind.^[gc]
51 We are ashamed,
    for we have heard taunts,^[gd]
disgrace covers our faces,
    for strangers have come to the holy places of the house of Yahweh.
⁵² “Therefore^[ge] look, days are coming,” declares^[gf] Yahweh,
    “and I will punish her images,
    and the fatally wounded will sigh through all her land.
⁵³ Though Babylon goes up to the heavens,
    and though she fortifies the high place of her strength,
    from me destroyers will come to her,” declares^[gg] Yahweh.
⁵⁴ The sound of a cry for help from Babylon,
    and a great collapse from the land of the Chaldeans.
⁵⁵ For Yahweh is devastating Babylon,
    and he obliterates her loud noise^[gh] from her.
Their waves roar like mighty waters,
    the roar of their voices^[gi] resounds.
⁵⁶ For a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
    and her warriors are captured.
Their bows are broken;
    for Yahweh is a God of recompense,
    certainly he will repay.
⁵⁷ “And I will make drunk her officials, and her wise men,
    her governors, and her officials, and her warriors,
and they will sleep an everlasting sleep,^[gj]
    and they will not wake up,”
declares^[gk] the King, Yahweh of hosts is his name.

“The broad walls of Babylon will be utterly demolished,
    and her high gates will burn with fire,
and the peoples will labor for nothing,^[gl]
    and the nations for fire,^[gm]
and they will grow weary.”