51 Thus says the Lord:
I am going to stir up a destructive wind^[a]
    against Babylon
    and against the inhabitants of Leb-qamai,^[b](A)
2 and I will send winnowers to Babylon,
    and they shall winnow her.
They shall empty her land
    when they come against her from every side
    on the day of trouble.^(B)
3 Let not the archer bend his bow,
    and let him not array himself in his coat of mail.
Do not spare her young men;
    utterly destroy her entire army.^(C)
4 They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans
    and wounded in her streets.
⁵ Indeed, Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
    by their God, the Lord of hosts,
though their land is full of guilt
    before the Holy One of Israel.^(D)

⁶ Flee from the midst of Babylon;
    save your lives, each of you!
Do not perish because of her guilt,
    for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance;
    he is repaying her what is due.^(E)
7 Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
    making all the earth drunken;
the nations drank of her wine,
    and so the nations went mad.^(F)
8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and is shattered;
    wail for her!
Bring balm for her wound;
    perhaps she may be healed.^(G)
9 We tried to heal Babylon,
    but she could not be healed.
Forsake her, and let each of us go
    to our own country,
for her judgment has reached up to heaven
    and has been lifted up even to the skies.^(H)
10 The Lord has brought forth our vindication;
    come, let us declare in Zion
    the work of the Lord our God.^(I)

¹¹ Sharpen the arrows!
    Fill the quivers!

¹² Raise a standard against the walls of Babylon;
    make the watch strong;
post sentinels;
    prepare the ambushes,
for the Lord has both planned and done
    what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.^(K)
13 You who live by mighty waters,
    rich in treasures,
your end has come;
    the thread of your life is cut.^(L)
14 The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself:
Surely I will fill you with troops like a swarm of locusts,
    and they shall raise a shout of victory over you.^(M)

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

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
    It has become a dwelling place of demons,
a haunt of every foul spirit,
    a haunt of every foul bird,
    a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.^[a](B)
3 For all the nations have fallen^[b]
    from the wine of the wrath of her prostitution,
and the kings of the earth have engaged in sexual immorality^[c] with her,
    and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power^[d] of her luxury.”^(C)

“Come out of her, my people,
    so that you do not take part in her sins
and so that you do not share in her plagues,^(D)
5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
    and God has remembered her iniquities.^(E)
6 Render to her as she herself has rendered,
    and repay her double for her deeds;
    mix a double dose for her in the cup she mixed.^(F)
7 As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,
    so give her a like measure of torment and grief.
Since in her heart she says,
    ‘I rule as a queen;
I am no widow,
    and I will never see grief,’^(G)
8 therefore her plagues will come in a single day—
    pestilence and mourning and famine—
and she will be burned with fire,
    for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”^(H)

“Alas, alas, the great city,
    Babylon, the mighty city!
For in one hour your judgment has come.”^(J)

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

¹⁶ “Alas, alas, the great city,
    clothed in fine linen,
        in purple and scarlet,
    adorned with gold,
        with jewels, and with pearls!^(N)
17 For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!”

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

“Alas, alas, the great city,
    where all who had ships at sea
    grew rich by her wealth!
For in one hour she has been laid waste.”^(Q)

“With such violence Babylon the great city
    will be thrown down
    and will be found no more;^(S)
22 and the sound of harpists and entertainers and of flutists and trumpeters
    will be heard in you no more,
and an artisan of any trade
    will be found in you no more,
and the sound of the millstone
    will be heard in you no more,^(T)
23 and the light of a lamp
    will shine in you no more,
and the voice of bridegroom and bride
    will be heard in you no more,
for your merchants were the magnates of the earth,
    and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.^(U)
24 And in you^[g] was found the blood of prophets and of saints
    and of all who have been slaughtered on earth.”^(V)

“Alas for you who heap up what is not your own!”
    How long will you load yourselves with goods taken in pledge?^(B)
7 Will not your own creditors suddenly rise
    and those who make you tremble wake up?
    Then you will be plunder for them.
⁸ Because you have plundered many nations,
    all who survive of the peoples shall plunder you—
because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who live in them.^(C)

⁹ “Alas for you who get evil gain for your house,
    setting your nest on high
    to be safe from the reach of harm!”^(D)
10 You have devised shame for your house
    by cutting off many peoples;
    you have forfeited your life.^(E)
11 The very stones will cry out from the wall,
    and the rafter will respond from the woodwork.

¹² “Alas for you who build a town by bloodshed
    and found a city on iniquity!”^(F)
13 Is it not from the Lord of hosts
    that peoples labor only to feed the flames
    and nations weary themselves for nothing?
¹⁴ But the earth will be filled
    with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
    as the waters cover the sea.^(G)

¹⁵ “Alas for you who make your neighbors drink,
    pouring out your wrath until they are drunk,
    in order to gaze on their nakedness!”^(H)
16 You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.
    Drink, you yourself, and stagger!^[b]
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
    will come around to you,
    and shame will come upon your glory!^(I)
17 For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
    the destruction of the animals will terrify you—^[c]
because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who live in them.^(J)

¹⁸ What use is an idol
    once its maker has shaped it—
    a cast image, a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in what has been made,
    though the product is only an idol that cannot speak!^(K)
19 Alas for you who say to the wood, “Wake up!”
    to silent stone, “Rouse yourself!”
    Can it teach?
See, it is gold and silver plated,
    and there is no breath in it at all.^(L)

²⁰ But the Lord is in his holy temple;
    let all the earth keep silence before him!^(M)