Jeremiah 50:33-46

English Standard Version

³³“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(A)The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; ^(B)they refuse to let them go. ³⁴^(C)Their Redeemer is strong; ^(D)the Lord of hosts is his name. ^(E)He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵“A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord,
    and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
    and against ^(F)her officials and her ^(G)wise men!
³⁶A sword against the diviners,
    that they may become fools!
A sword against her ^(H)warriors,
    that they may be destroyed!
³⁷A sword against her horses and against her chariots,
    and against all ^(I)the foreign troops in her midst,
    that ^(J)they may become women!
^(K)A sword against all her treasures,
    that they may be plundered!
³⁸^(L)A drought against her waters,
    that they may be dried up!
^(M)For it is a land of images,
    and they are mad over idols.

³⁹^(N)“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon,^[a] and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations. ⁴⁰^(O)As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the Lord, ^(P)so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.

⁴¹^(Q)“Behold, a people comes from the north;
    a mighty nation and many kings
    are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
⁴²They lay hold of bow and spear;
    they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;
    they ride on horses,
arrayed as a man for battle
    against you, O daughter of Babylon!

⁴³“The king of Babylon heard the report of them,
and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
pain as of a woman in labor.

⁴⁴^(R)“Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd ^(S)can stand before me? ⁴⁵Therefore hear ^(T)the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon, ^(U)and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: ^(V)Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. ⁴⁶^(W)At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.”