¹² Raise the battle flag against Babylon!
    Reinforce the guard and station the watchmen.
Prepare an ambush,
    for the Lord will fulfill all his plans against Babylon.

¹¹ Sharpen the arrows!
    Lift up the shields!^[a]
For the Lord has inspired the kings of the Medes
    to march against Babylon and destroy her.
This is his vengeance against those
    who desecrated his Temple.

² “Raise a signal flag on a bare hilltop.
    Call up an army against Babylon.
Wave your hand to encourage them
    as they march into the palaces of the high and mighty.

²⁹ The earth trembles and writhes in pain,
    for everything the Lord has planned against Babylon stands unchanged.
Babylon will be left desolate without a single inhabitant.

¹⁴ Get ready for the siege!
    Store up water!
    Strengthen the defenses!
Go into the pits to trample clay,
    and pack it into molds,
    making bricks to repair the walls.

¹⁵ But the fire will devour you;
    the sword will cut you down.
The enemy will consume you like locusts,
    devouring everything they see.
There will be no escape,
    even if you multiply like swarming locusts.

⁹ Say to the nations far and wide:
    “Get ready for war!
Call out your best warriors.
    Let all your fighting men advance for the attack.
¹⁰ Hammer your plowshares into swords
    and your pruning hooks into spears.
    Train even your weaklings to be warriors.
¹¹ Come quickly, all you nations everywhere.
    Gather together in the valley.”

And now, O Lord, call out your warriors!

¹² “Let the nations be called to arms.
    Let them march to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I, the Lord, will sit
    to pronounce judgment on them all.
¹³ Swing the sickle,
    for the harvest is ripe.^[a]
Come, tread the grapes,
    for the winepress is full.
The storage vats are overflowing
    with the wickedness of these people.”

¹⁴ Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision.
    There the day of the Lord will soon arrive.

¹⁷ But it is the Lord who did just as he planned.
    He has fulfilled the promises of disaster
    he made long ago.
He has destroyed Jerusalem without mercy.
    He has caused her enemies to gloat over her
    and has given them power over her.