²⁶ No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
    nor any stone for a foundation,
    for you will be desolate^(A) forever,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁹ Babylon,^(A) the jewel of kingdoms,^(B)
    the pride and glory^(C) of the Babylonians,^[a]
will be overthrown^(D) by God
    like Sodom and Gomorrah.^(E)
20 She will never be inhabited^(F)
    or lived in through all generations;
there no nomads^(G) will pitch their tents,
    there no shepherds will rest their flocks.
²¹ But desert creatures^(H) will lie there,
    jackals^(I) will fill her houses;
there the owls^(J) will dwell,
    and there the wild goats^(K) will leap about.
²² Hyenas^(L) will inhabit her strongholds,^(M)
    jackals^(N) her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,^(O)
    and her days will not be prolonged.^(P)

⁴³ Her towns will be desolate,
    a dry and desert^(A) land,
a land where no one lives,
    through which no one travels.^(B)

¹² your mother will be greatly ashamed;
    she who gave you birth will be disgraced.^(A)
She will be the least of the nations—
    a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.^(B)
13 Because of the Lord’s anger she will not be inhabited
    but will be completely desolate.^(C)
All who pass Babylon will be appalled;^(D)
    they will scoff^(E) because of all her wounds.^(F)

²⁰ “Rejoice over her, you heavens!^(A)
    Rejoice, you people of God!
    Rejoice, apostles and prophets!
For God has judged her
    with the judgment she imposed on you.”^(B)

“With such violence
    the great city^(E) of Babylon will be thrown down,
    never to be found again.
²² The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters,
    will never be heard in you again.^(F)
No worker of any trade
    will ever be found in you again.
The sound of a millstone
    will never be heard in you again.^(G)
23 The light of a lamp
    will never shine in you again.
The voice of bridegroom and bride
    will never be heard in you again.^(H)
Your merchants were the world’s important people.^(I)
    By your magic spell^(J) all the nations were led astray.
²⁴ In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people,^(K)
    of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”^(L)

³⁷ Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
    a haunt^(A) of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,^(B)
    a place where no one lives.^(C)

²⁹ The land trembles^(A) and writhes,
    for the Lord’s purposes^(B) against Babylon stand—
to lay waste^(C) the land of Babylon
    so that no one will live there.^(D)

⁴⁰ As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah^(A)
    along with their neighboring towns,”
declares the Lord,
“so no one will live there;
    no people will dwell in it.^(B)

⁴¹ “Look! An army is coming from the north;^(C)
    a great nation and many kings
    are being stirred^(D) up from the ends of the earth.^(E)

⁸ For the Lord has a day^(A) of vengeance,^(B)
    a year of retribution,^(C) to uphold Zion’s cause.
⁹ Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
    her dust into burning sulfur;^(D)
    her land will become blazing pitch!
¹⁰ It will not be quenched^(E) night or day;
    its smoke will rise forever.^(F)
From generation to generation^(G) it will lie desolate;^(H)
    no one will ever pass through it again.
¹¹ The desert owl^[a](I) and screech owl^[b] will possess it;
    the great owl^[c] and the raven^(J) will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom^(K)
    the measuring line of chaos^(L)
    and the plumb line^(M) of desolation.
¹² Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
    all her princes^(N) will vanish^(O) away.
¹³ Thorns^(P) will overrun her citadels,
    nettles and brambles her strongholds.^(Q)
She will become a haunt for jackals,^(R)
    a home for owls.^(S)
14 Desert creatures^(T) will meet with hyenas,^(U)
    and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures^(V) will also lie down
    and find for themselves places of rest.
¹⁵ The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
    she will hatch them, and care for her young
    under the shadow of her wings;^(W)
there also the falcons^(X) will gather,
    each with its mate.

None of these will be missing,^(Z)
    not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth^(AA) that has given the order,^(AB)
    and his Spirit will gather them together.
¹⁷ He allots their portions;^(AC)
    his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
    and dwell there from generation to generation.^(AD)