“Arise, go up against Kedar
and devastate the children of the east.
²⁹ They will take away their tents and their flocks.
They will carry away their curtains,
all their gear and their camels.
They will cry out against them,
‘Terror on every side!’
³⁰ Flee! Scatter far!
Stay low, inhabitants of Hazor!”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has taken counsel against you,
and devised a plan against you.
³¹ Arise, go up against a nation at ease,
dwelling securely,” says Adonai.
“They have no gates or bars;
they dwell alone.
³² Their camels will become plunder,
their many cattle a spoil.
I will scatter to all the winds those who shave the edges.
I bring their calamity from every side.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
³³ “Hazor will be a lair of jackals,
a desolation forever—
no one will abide there,
nor any son of man dwell there.”

“Behold, I will break Elam’s bow—
the source of their might.
³⁶ I will bring upon Elam the four winds
from the four quarters of heaven,
and will scatter them to all those winds.
There will be no nation
where the dispersed of Elam will not go.
³⁷ I will shatter Elam before their enemies
and before those seeking their soul.
I will bring calamity on them—
My burning anger!”
It is a declaration of Adonai,
“I will send the sword after them
until I have consumed them.
³⁸ Then I will put My throne in Elam
and destroy from it king and princes.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
³⁹ “Yet it will be in the end of days,
that I will restore Elam from exile.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.

50 The word that Adonai spoke about Babylon, about the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:
² “Declare it among the nations and proclaim!
Raise a banner, announce, hide nothing!
Say: ‘Babylon will be captured,
Bel put to shame,
Merodach dismayed,
her images disgraced,
her idols shattered!’
³ For a nation comes up against her
out of the land of the north
—it will desolate her land.
No one will dwell there—
they have fled, gone, both man and beast.”

⁴ “In those days and at that time”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“the children of Israel will come,
together with the children of Judah,
weeping as they come,
and will seek Adonai their God.
⁵ They will ask about Zion, the way—
here are their faces! Come!
They will join themselves to Adonai
in an everlasting covenant
that will never be forgotten.^[a]
6 My people have been lost sheep.^[b]
Their shepherds led them astray.
Turning around in the mountains,
they went from mountain to hill,
and forgot their resting place.
⁷ Everyone finding them devoured them.
Their foes said: ‘We’re not guilty!’
Instead, they sinned against Adonai,
the habitation of justice—
Adonai, the hope of their fathers.”

⁸ “Flee from within Babylon,^[c]
get out of the land of the Chaldeans,
and be like he-goats before the flock.
⁹ For I will soon stir up and bring against Babylon
an alliance of great nations from the north.
They will form battle lines against her,
from there she will be captured.
Their arrows will be like a warrior who bereaves,
not returning empty.
¹⁰ Chaldea will be a spoil—
all who plunder her will be satisfied.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
¹¹ “Because you rejoice, because you exult—
you who plunder My inheritance—
because you frolic like a trampling heifer
and neigh like stallions,
¹² your mother will be utterly ashamed,
she who bore you will be humiliated.
Behold, the least of the nations will be a wilderness,
a dry land, a desert.”
¹³ Because of Adonai’s wrath,
it will be uninhabited, all waste.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled,
hissing at all her wounds.
¹⁴ Array against Babylon all around,
all you who bend the bow.
Shoot at her! Spare no arrows—
for she has sinned against Adonai.
¹⁵ Raise a war cry against her all around!
She has thrown up her hands,
her bulwarks are fallen,
her walls thrown down.
For it is Adonai’s vengeance:
take vengeance on her,
as she has done, do to her!^[d]
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon
and the one who wields a sickle in the time of harvest.
Before the sword of the oppressor
they will each turn to his people,
each will flee to his own land.
¹⁷ Israel is a scattered flock—
lions have driven them away.
First, Assyria’s king devoured him.
This last one who broke his bones
was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
¹⁸ Therefore thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot,
the God of Israel:
“Indeed, I will punish Babylon’s king and his land,
just as I punished Assyria’s king.
¹⁹ I will bring Israel back to his pasture.
He will feed on Carmel and Bashan,
and his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
²⁰ In those days and in that time”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“Israel’s guilt will be sought,
but there will be none,
also for the sins of Judah,
but they will not be found.
For I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
²¹ Go up against the land of Merathaim,
against the inhabitants of Pekod.
Put them to the sword
and utterly destroy them”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“and do all that I commanded you.”
²² The noise of battle is in the land
and great crashing.
²³ How the hammer of the whole earth
has been cut down and smashed!
How Babylon has become a horror
among the nations!
²⁴ I set a snare for you, so you were caught,
O Babylon, when you were unaware.
You were found and also caught,
because you challenged Adonai.
²⁵ Adonai has opened His armory
and brought out the weapons of His indignation.
For it is a work that my Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot has to do
in the land of Chaldea.
²⁶ Come against her from afar,
open her granaries,
pile her up like heaps
and utterly destroy her!
Let nothing be left to her.
²⁷ To the sword with all her bulls,
going down to the slaughter!
Oy to them! Their day has come—
the time of their visitation.
²⁸ The sound of fugitives, escaping out of the land of Babylon—
declaring in Zion the vengeance of Adonai our God,
vengeance for His Temple.
²⁹ Summon archers to Babylon,
all who bend the bow.
Encamp against her all around,
let no one there escape.
Repay her for her deed.
As all she has done, do to her.^[e]
For she was arrogant against Adonai,
against the Holy One of Israel.
³⁰ Therefore her young men will fall in her squares,
all her warriors silenced in that day.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
³¹ “Look, I am against you, arrogant one”
—declares my Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot—
“for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
³² The arrogant will stumble and fall,
and no one will lift him up.
I will kindle fire in his cities,
and it will devour all who are round about him.”
³³ Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“The children of Israel and the children of Judah
are oppressed together.
All their captors hold them fast.
They refused to let them go.
³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong
—Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name—
He will vigorously plead their case,
so He may give rest to the earth,
but trembling to the Babylonians.
³⁵ “A sword is on the Chaldeans”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“and on Babylon’s inhabitants,
and her officials and wise men.
³⁶ A sword on the diviners—fools!
A sword on her warriors—shattered!
³⁷ A sword on their horses, their chariots,
on all the mixed people within her,
so they will become like women!
A sword on her treasures—
so they may be plundered.
³⁸ A drought is on her waters,
so they will be dried up.
For it is a land of idols—
they are mad about horrible things.
³⁹ So wildcats and hyenas will live there
and ostriches settle there.
It will never again be inhabited
or dwelt in from generation to generation.^[f]
40 As when Elohim overthrew Sodom, Gomorrah
and their neighbor towns”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
so no man will live there,
nor any son of man dwell in it.^[g]
41 Look! A people coming from the north,
a great nation and many kings
will rise up from the ends of the earth.
⁴² They grasp bow and javelin.
They are cruel, with no compassion.
Their voice roars like the sea,
as they ride on horses,
arranged as warriors for battle,
against you, daughter of Babylon.
⁴³ Babylon’s king heard news of them.
His hands droop;
anguish grabs him,
agony like a woman in labor.
⁴⁴ Look, it is like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan
to a secure pasture—
for abruptly I will make him run away from it.
I appoint over it whomever I choose.
For who is like Me?
Who will summon Me to court?
What shepherd stands up to Me?”
⁴⁵ Therefore hear the plan that Adonai has drawn up against Babylon,
and His strategies that He designed against the land of the Chaldeans.
Surely the least of the flock will be dragged away,
Surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them.
⁴⁶ The earth will tremble at the noise of Babylon’s capture.
The sound of their outcry will be heard among the nations.

¹ Adonai reigns, let the earth rejoice,
let the many islands be glad.
² Clouds and darkness are all around Him.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
³ Fire goes before Him
and burns up His adversaries on every side.
⁴ His lightning lights up the world—
the earth sees and trembles.
⁵ The mountains melt like wax
at the presence of Adonai,
at the presence of the Lord of all earth.
⁶ The heavens declare His righteousness,
and all the peoples have seen His glory.
⁷ Let all who serve graven images be ashamed—who boast in idols.
Bow down before Him, all you gods!
⁸ Zion hears and is glad,
and the daughters of Judah rejoice,
because of Your judgments, Adonai.
⁹ For You, Adonai, are Elyon above all the earth.
You are exalted far above all gods.

¹ A psalm.
Sing to Adonai a new song,
    for He has done marvelous things.
His right hand and His holy arm
    have won victory for Him.
² Adonai has made His salvation known.
He has revealed His righteousness before the eyes of the nations.
³ He has remembered His lovingkindness,
    His faithfulness to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
⁴ Shout joyfully to Adonai, all the earth.
Break forth, sing for joy, and sing praises.
⁵ Sing praises to Adonai with the harp,
with the harp and a voice of melody.
⁶ With trumpets and sound of the shofar
blast a sound before the King, Adonai.
⁷ Let the sea roar and all within it,
the world and those who dwell in it.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing for joy together—
⁹ before Adonai, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with fairness.

¹³ A slacker says,
“There’s a lion on the road!
A lion is in the streets!”
¹⁴ As a door turns on its hinges
so a slacker turns on his bed.
¹⁵ The slacker plunges his hand in the dish—
he is too tired to bring it back to his mouth.
¹⁶ A slacker is wiser in his own eyes
than seven people who answer sensibly.