Jeremiah 51:36-44

New International Reader's Version

“I will stand up for you.
    I will pay the Babylonians back for what they did to you.
I will dry up their water supply.
    I will make their springs run dry.
³⁷ Babylon will have all its buildings knocked down.
    It will be a home for wild dogs.
No one will live there.
    People will be shocked at it.
    They will make fun of it.
³⁸ All its people roar like young lions.
    They growl like lion cubs.
³⁹ They are stirred up.
    So I will set a feast in front of them.
    I will make them drunk.
And they will shout and laugh.
    But then they will lie down and die.
    They will never wake up,”
    announces the Lord.
⁴⁰ “I will lead them down like lambs to be put to death.
    They will be like rams and goats that have been killed.

⁴¹ “Babylon will be captured!
    The whole earth was very proud of it.
But it will be taken over by others!
    It will be a deserted place among the nations.
⁴² Babylon’s enemies will sweep over it like an ocean.
    Like roaring waves they will cover it.
⁴³ The towns of Babylon will be empty.
    It will become a dry and desert land.
No one will live there.
    No one will even travel through it.
⁴⁴ I will punish the god named Bel in Babylon.
    I will make Bel spit out what he has swallowed.
The nations will not come and worship him anymore.
    And Babylon’s walls will fall down.