^6 (H)“Flee from the midst of Babylon;
    let every one save his life!
^(I)Be not cut off in her punishment,
    ^(J)for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance,
    the repayment he is rendering her.
⁷ Babylon was ^(K)a golden cup in the Lord's hand,
    ^(L)making all the earth drunken;
^(M)the nations drank of her wine;
    therefore the nations went mad.
^8 (N)Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
    ^(O)wail for her!
^(P)Take balm for her pain;
    perhaps she may be healed.
⁹ We would have healed Babylon,
    but she was not healed.
^(Q)Forsake her, and ^(R)let us go
    each to his own country,
for ^(S)her judgment has reached up to heaven
    and has been lifted up even to the skies.
^10 (T)The Lord has brought about our vindication;
    ^(U)come, let us declare in Zion
    the work of the Lord our God.

^11 (V)“Sharpen the arrows!
    Take up the shields!

^12 (AB)“Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon;
    ^(AC)make the watch strong;
set up watchmen;
    prepare the ambushes;
^(AD)for the Lord has both planned and done
    what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
^13 (AE)O you who dwell by many waters,
    rich in treasures,
your end has come;
    the thread of your life is cut.
^14 (AF)The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself:
Surely I will fill you with men, ^(AG)as many as locusts,
    ^(AH)and they shall raise the shout of victory over you.

² On a bare hill ^(C)raise a signal;
    cry aloud to them;
wave the hand for ^(D)them to enter
    the gates of the nobles.
³ I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
    and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger,
    my proudly exulting ones.^[a]

^(C)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
    She has become ^(D)a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt ^(E)for every unclean spirit,
    a haunt ^(F)for every unclean bird,
    a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
³ For all nations have drunk^{[a]
    (G)}the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and ^(H)the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
    and ^(I)the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

^(J)“Come out of her, my people,
    lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
⁵ for ^(K)her sins are heaped high as heaven,
    and ^(L)God has remembered her iniquities.
^6 (M)Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,
    and repay her ^(N)double for her deeds;
    mix a double portion for her ^(O)in the cup she mixed.
^7 (P)As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
    so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
    ^(Q)‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
    and mourning I shall never see.’
⁸ For this reason her plagues will come ^(R)in a single day,
    death and mourning and famine,
and ^(S)she will be burned up with fire;
    for ^(T)mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

“Alas! Alas! ^(Y)You great city,
    you mighty city, Babylon!
For ^(Z)in a single hour your judgment has come.”

¹⁴ “The fruit for which your soul longed
    has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
    are lost to you,
    never to be found again!”

¹⁶ “Alas, alas, for the great city
    ^(AD)that was clothed in fine linen,
        in purple and scarlet,
    adorned with gold,
        with jewels, and with pearls!
¹⁷ For ^(AE)in a single hour all this wealth ^(AF)has been laid waste.”

^(AJ)“What city was like the great city?”

“Alas, alas, for the great city
    ^(AL)where all who had ships at sea
    grew rich by her wealth!
For ^(AM)in a single hour she has been laid waste.
^20 (AN)Rejoice over her, O heaven,
    and you saints and ^(AO)apostles and prophets,
for ^(AP)God has given judgment for you against her!”

“So will Babylon ^(AS)the great city be thrown down with violence,
    and will be found no more;
²² and ^(AT)the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
    will be heard in you no more,
and a craftsman of any craft
    will be found in you no more,
and ^(AU)the sound of the mill
    will be heard in you no more,
²³ and the light of a lamp
    will shine in you no more,
and ^(AV)the voice of bridegroom and bride
    will be heard in you no more,
for ^(AW)your merchants were the great ones of the earth,
    and all nations were deceived ^(AX)by your sorcery.
²⁴ And ^(AY)in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
    and of ^(AZ)all who have been slain on earth.”

⁵ “Moreover, wine^[a] is ^(A)a traitor,
    an arrogant man who is never at rest.^[b]
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
    like death ^(B)he has never enough.
^(C)He gathers for himself all nations
    and collects as his own all peoples.”

^(E)“Woe to him ^(F)who heaps up what is not his own—
    for ^(G)how long?—
    and ^(H)loads himself with pledges!”
^7 (I)Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
    and those awake who will make you tremble?
    Then you will be spoil for them.
^8 (J)Because you have plundered many nations,
    all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
^(K)for the blood of man and ^(L)violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.

^9 (M)“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
    ^(N)to ^(O)set his nest on high,
    to be safe from the reach of harm!
¹⁰ You have devised shame for your house
    ^(P)by cutting off many peoples;
    you have forfeited your life.
¹¹ For ^(Q)the stone will cry out from the wall,
    and the beam from the woodwork respond.

^12 (R)“Woe to him ^(S)who builds a town with blood
    and founds a city on iniquity!
¹³ Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
    that ^(T)peoples labor merely for fire,
    and nations weary themselves for nothing?
^14 (U)For the earth will be filled
    with the knowledge of ^(V)the glory of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

^15 (W)“Woe to him ^(X)who makes his neighbors drink—
    you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
    in order to gaze ^(Y)at their nakedness!
¹⁶ You will have your fill ^(Z)of shame instead of glory.
    ^(AA)Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
^(AB)The cup in the Lord's right hand
    will come around to you,
    and ^(AC)utter shame will come upon your glory!
^17 (AD)The violence ^(AE)done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
^(AF)for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.

^18 (AG)“What profit is an idol
    when its maker has shaped it,
    a metal image, ^(AH)a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
    when he makes ^(AI)speechless idols!
^19 (AJ)Woe to him ^(AK)who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
    to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
    and ^(AL)there is no breath at all in it.
²⁰ But ^(AM)the Lord is in his holy temple;
    ^(AN)let all the earth keep silence before him.”