Beginning

“Ammonites, do you think that
    the people of Israel don’t have children?
Do you think there are no children
    to take the land when the parents die?
Maybe that is why Milcom took Gad’s^[a] land?”

² The Lord says, “The time will come in Rabbah of Ammon^[b]
    when people hear the sounds of battle.
Rabbah of Ammon will be destroyed.
    It will be an empty hill covered with ruined buildings,
    and the towns around it will be burned.
Those people forced the people of Israel to leave their own land.
    But later, Israel will force them to leave.”
This is what the Lord said.

³ “People in Heshbon, cry because the town of Ai is destroyed!
    Women in Rabbah of Ammon, cry!
Put on sackcloth and cry.
    Run to the city for safety,
because the enemy will take away the god Milcom,
    with his priests and officials.
⁴ You brag about your strength,
    but you are losing your strength.
You trust in your wealth to save you.
    You think no one would even think of attacking you.”
⁵ But this is what the Lord God All-Powerful says:
    “I will bring troubles to you from every side.
You will all run away,
    and no one will be able to bring you together again.”

“Is there no more wisdom in Teman?
    Are the wise men of Edom not able to give good advice?
    Have they lost their wisdom?
⁸ You people living in Dedan, run away and hide,
    because I will punish Esau for the bad things he did.

⁹ “Workers pick grapes from grapevines,
    but they leave a few grapes on the plants.
If thieves come at night,
    they don’t take everything.
¹⁰ But I will take everything from Esau.
    I will find all his hiding places.
He will not be able to hide from me.
    His children, relatives, and neighbors will all die.
¹¹ No one will be left to care for his children.
    His wives will have no one to depend on.”

¹⁴ I heard a message from the Lord:
    He sent this messenger to the nations.
This is the message:
    “Gather your armies together!
Get ready for battle!
    March against the nation of Edom!
¹⁵ Edom, I will make you become unimportant.
    Everyone will hate you.
¹⁶ Edom, you made other nations afraid,
    so you thought you were important.
But your pride has fooled you.
    You live in caves, high on the cliff.
    Your home is high in the hills.
But even if you build your home as high as an eagle’s nest,
    I will bring you down from there.”
This is what the Lord said.

¹⁷ “Edom will be destroyed.
    People will be shocked to see the destroyed cities.
    They will whistle from amazement at the destroyed cities.
¹⁸ Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them.
    No one will live there.”
This is what the Lord said.

²⁰ So listen to what the Lord has planned to do to the people of Edom.
    Listen to what he has decided to do to the people in Teman.
The enemy will drag away the young kids of Edom’s flock.
    Edom’s pastures will be empty because of what they did.
²¹ At the sound of Edom’s fall, the earth will shake.
    Their cry will be heard all the way to the Red Sea.

²² Just as an eagle flies high to see the animal it will attack,
    so the Lord will spread his wings over Bozrah.
And Edom’s soldiers will be filled with fear
    like a woman giving birth.

“The towns of Hamath and Arpad are afraid.
    They are afraid because they heard the bad news.
They are discouraged.
    They are worried and afraid.
²⁴ The city of Damascus has become weak.
    The people want to run away.
    They are ready to panic.
They are overcome with fear and pain,
    like a woman giving birth.

²⁵ “Damascus is a happy city.
    The people have not left that ‘fun city’ yet.
²⁶ So the young men will die in the public squares of that city.
    All her soldiers will be killed at that time.”
    This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
²⁷ “I will set the walls of Damascus on fire.
    The fire will completely burn up the strong forts of Ben-Hadad.^[c]”

“Go and attack the tribe of Kedar.
    Destroy the people of the East.
²⁹ Their tents and flocks will be taken away.
    Their tents and all their riches will be carried off.
    Their enemy will take away the camels.
Men will shout this to them:
    ‘Terrible things are happening all around us.’
³⁰ Run away quickly!
    People in Hazor, find a good place to hide.”
    This message is from the Lord.
“Nebuchadnezzar has made plans against you.
    He thought of a smart plan to defeat you.

³¹ “There is a nation that feels so safe and secure
    that it does not have gates or fences to protect it.
And no one lives near enough to help them.
    So attack that nation!” says the Lord.
³² “Their camels are there to be taken in battle.
    Their large herds of cattle will be yours.
I will scatter them throughout the earth—those people who cut their hair short.^[d]
    I will bring disaster on them from every direction.”
    This message is from the Lord.
³³ “Hazor will become a home for wild dogs, an empty desert forever.
No one will live there.
    No one will stay in that place.”

³⁵ The Lord All-Powerful says,
“I will break Elam’s bow very soon.
    It is Elam’s strongest weapon.
³⁶ I will bring the four winds against Elam.
    I will bring them from the four corners of the skies.
I will send the people of Elam to every place on the earth where the four winds blow.
    Elam’s captives will be carried away to every nation.
³⁷ I will break Elam to pieces while their enemies are watching.
    I will break Elam in front of the people who want to kill them.
I will bring terrible troubles to them.
    I will show them how angry I am.”
    This message is from the Lord.
“I will send a sword to chase Elam.
    The sword will chase them until I have killed them all.
³⁸ I will show Elam that I am in control,
    and I will destroy its king and his officials.”
    This message is from the Lord.
³⁹ “But in the future I will make good things happen to Elam.”
    This message is from the Lord.

² “Announce this to all nations!
    Lift up a flag and announce the message!
Speak the whole message and say,
    ‘The nation of Babylon will be captured.
The god Bel will be put to shame.
    The god Marduk will be very afraid.
Babylon’s idols will be put to shame.
    Her gods will be filled with terror.’
³ A nation from the north will attack Babylon.
    That nation will make Babylon like an empty desert.
No one will live there.
    Both men and animals will run away.”
⁴ The Lord says, “At that time
    the people of Israel and the people of Judah will be together.
They will cry and cry together,
    and together, they will go look for the Lord their God.
⁵ They will ask how to go to Zion.
    They will start to go in that direction.
They will say, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord.
    Let’s make an agreement that will last forever.
    Let’s make an agreement that we will never forget.’

⁶ “My people have been like lost sheep.
    Their shepherds led them the wrong way
and caused them to wander away into the mountains and hills.
    They forgot where their resting place was.
⁷ They were attacked by all who saw them.
    And their attackers said,
‘We were not wrong to attack them
    because they sinned against the Lord.
They should have stayed close to him, their true resting place.
    The Lord is the one their fathers trusted in.’

⁸ “Run away from Babylon.
    Leave the land of the Babylonians.
    Be like the goats that lead the flock.
⁹ I will bring many nations together from the north.
    This group of nations will get ready for war against Babylon.
Babylon will be captured by people from the north.
    Those nations will shoot many arrows at Babylon.
Their arrows will be like soldiers
    who don’t come back from war with their hands empty.
¹⁰ The enemy will take all the wealth from the Chaldeans.
    The soldiers will take all they want.”
This is what the Lord said.

¹¹ “Babylon, you are excited and happy.
    You took my land.
You dance around like a young cow
    that got into the grain.
Your laughter is like the happy sounds
    that horses make.
¹² Now your mother will be very ashamed.
    The woman who gave you birth will be embarrassed.
Babylon will be the least important of all the nations.
    She will be an empty, dry desert.
¹³ The Lord will show his anger,
    so no one will live there.
    Babylon will be completely empty.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be afraid.
    They will shake their heads when they see how badly it has been destroyed.

¹⁴ “Prepare for war against Babylon.
    All you soldiers with bows, shoot your arrows at Babylon.
Don’t save any of your arrows.
    Babylon has sinned against the Lord.
¹⁵ Soldiers around Babylon, shout the cry of victory!
    Babylon has surrendered!
    Her walls and towers have been pulled down!
The Lord is giving her people the punishment they deserve.
    You nations should give Babylon the punishment she deserves.
    Do to her what she has done to other nations.
¹⁶ Don’t let the people from Babylon plant their crops.
    Don’t let them gather the harvest.
The soldiers of Babylon brought many prisoners to their city.
    Now the enemy soldiers have come,
    so the prisoners are going back home.
    They are running back to their own countries.

¹⁷ “Israel is like a flock of sheep that was scattered all over the country.
    Israel is like sheep that were chased away by lions.
The first lion to attack was the king of Assyria.
    The last lion to crush Israel’s bones was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
¹⁸ So this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says:
‘I will soon punish the king of Babylon and his country
    as I punished the king of Assyria.

¹⁹ “‘I will bring Israel back to his own fields.
    He will eat food that grows on Mount Carmel and in the land of Bashan.
He will eat and be full.
    He will eat on the hills in the lands of Ephraim and Gilead.’”
²⁰ The Lord says, “At that time people will try hard to find Israel’s guilt,
    but there will be no guilt.
People will try to find Judah’s sins,
    but no sins will be found.
That is because I am saving a few survivors from Israel and Judah.
    And I am forgiving them for all their sins.”

²¹ The Lord says, “Attack the country of Merathaim!
    Attack the people living in Pekod!
Attack them!
    Kill them and destroy them completely!
    Do everything I commanded you!

²² “The noise of battle can be heard all over the country.
    It is the noise of much destruction.
²³ Babylon was called
    ‘The Hammer of the Whole Earth.’
But now the ‘Hammer’ is shattered.
    Babylon is the most ruined of the nations.
²⁴ Babylon, I set a trap for you,
    and you were caught before you knew it.
You fought against the Lord,
    so you were found and captured.
²⁵ The Lord has opened up his storeroom
    and brought out the weapons of his anger.
The Lord God All-Powerful brought out those weapons,
    because he has work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.

²⁶ “Come against Babylon from far away.
    Break open the storehouses where she keeps her grain.
Destroy Babylon completely.
    Don’t leave anyone alive.
    Pile up her dead bodies like big piles of grain.
²⁷ Kill all the young men in Babylon.
    Let them be slaughtered like bulls.
How terrible for them that their day of defeat has come!
    It is time for them to be punished.
²⁸ People are running out of Babylon.
    They are escaping from that country and coming to Zion.
They are telling everyone the good news about what the Lord is doing.
    The Lord our God is giving Babylon the punishment it deserves.
The Lord is destroying Babylon,
    because it destroyed his Temple!

²⁹ “Call for the archers.
    Tell them to attack Babylon.
Tell them to surround the city.
    Don’t let anyone escape.
Pay her back for the bad things she has done.
    Do to her what she has done to other nations.
Babylon did not respect the Lord.
    Babylon was very rude to the Holy One of Israel.
    So punish Babylon.
³⁰ Babylon’s young men will be killed in the streets.
    All her soldiers will die on that day.”
This is what the Lord says.

³¹ “Babylon, you are too proud,
    and I am against you,”
    says the Lord God All-Powerful.
“I am against you,
    and the time has come for you to be punished.
³² Proud Babylon will stumble and fall,
    and no one will help her get up.
I will start a fire in her towns.
    That fire will completely burn up everyone around her.”

³³ This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:
“The people of Israel and Judah are slaves.
    The enemy took them, and the enemy will not let Israel go.
³⁴ But God will get them back.
    His name is the Lord God All-Powerful.
He will defend them very strongly.
    He will argue their case so that he can let their land rest.
    But there will be no rest for those living in Babylon.”

³⁵ The Lord says,
“Sword, kill the people living in Babylon.
    Sword, kill the king’s officials
    and the wise men of Babylon.
³⁶ Sword, kill the priests of Babylon.
    They will be like fools.
Sword, kill the soldiers of Babylon.
    They will be full of fear.
³⁷ Sword, kill the horses and chariots of Babylon.
    Sword, kill all the soldiers hired from other countries.
    They will be like frightened women.
Sword, destroy the treasures of Babylon.
    Those treasures will be taken away.
³⁸ Sword, strike the waters of Babylon.
    Those waters will be dried up.
Babylon has many, many idols.
    These idols show that the people of Babylon are foolish.
    So bad things will happen to them.
³⁹ Babylon will never again be filled with people.
    Wild dogs, ostriches, and other desert animals will live there.
    But no one will live there ever again.
⁴⁰ God completely destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
    and the towns around them.
In the same way no one will live in Babylon,
    and no one will ever go to live there.”
This is what the Lord says.

⁴¹ “Look! There are people coming from the north.
    They come from a powerful nation.
    Many kings are coming together from all around the world.
⁴² Their armies have bows and spears.
    The soldiers are cruel.
    They have no mercy.
The soldiers come riding on their horses;
    the sound is as loud as the roaring sea.
They stand in their places, ready for battle.
    They are ready to attack you, city of Babylon.
⁴³ The king of Babylon heard about those armies,
    and he is paralyzed with fear.
He is overcome with fear and pain,
    like a woman giving birth.

⁴⁴ “Sometimes a lion will come
    from the thick bushes near the Jordan River.
It will walk into the fields
    where people have their animals.
I will be like that lion;
    I will chase Babylon from its land.
Who should I choose to do this?
    There is no one like me.
    There is no one who can challenge me.
No shepherd will come to chase me away.
    I will chase away the Babylonians.”

⁴⁵ Listen to what the Lord has planned
    to do to Babylon.
Listen to what he has decided
    to do to the Babylonians.
“I promise that an enemy will drag away the young kids of Babylon’s flock,
    and Babylon will become an empty pasture.
⁴⁶ Babylon will fall,
    and that fall will shake the earth.
People in all nations will hear about
    the destruction of Babylon.”