¹ The word that Jehovah spoke to^▵ Babylon, to^▵ the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah^◦ the prophet.

² Tell it among^◦ the nations, and make it heard, and lift a standard; make it heard, and conceal^◦ not; say, Babylon is captured, Bel is shamed, Merodach is·​·dismayed; her images^◦ are shamed, her idols are·​·dismayed.

³ For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall set^◦ her land as a desolation, and none shall dwell therein; they shall flee·​·away, they shall go^◦, both man and beast.

⁴ In those days, and in that time, says^◦ Jehovah, the sons of Israel shall come, they and the sons of Judah together, going and weeping; they shall go, and seek Jehovah their God.

⁵ They shall ask Zion concerning the way with their faces hither, saying: Come, and let us join ourselves to^▵ Jehovah in an eternal covenant that shall not be forgotten.

⁶ My people have been as a flock of the lost; their shepherds have caused them to go·​·astray; they have turned· them ·back on the mountains. They have walked from mountain to^▵ hill; they have forgotten their place·​·to·​·lie·​·down^◦.

⁷ All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are· not ·guilty, on account of the fact that they have sinned against Jehovah, the home of justice, and the hope^◦ of their fathers, Jehovah.

⁸ Flee·​·away from the midst of Babylon, and from the land of the Chaldeans go·​·out, and be as the he-goats before the flock.

⁹ For, behold, I^▵ will stir·​·up and cause to go·​·up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north; and they shall set·​·themselves·​·in·​·array against her; from thence she shall be taken; his arrows shall be as a mighty·​·man bereaving; none shall return empty.

¹⁰ And Chaldea shall be a spoil; all who spoil her shall be satisfied, says^◦ Jehovah,

¹¹ because you were·​·glad, because you triumphed, O ye pillagers of My inheritance, because you are spread·​·out as the heifer on the tender·​·herb, and neigh as steeds.

¹² Your mother shall be very ashamed; she who gave·​·birth to you shall blush; behold, the last of the nations shall be a wilderness, an arid place, and a desert.

¹³ From the rage of Jehovah she shall not dwell, and all of her shall be desolate; all who pass·​·by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her blows^◦.

¹⁴ Set· yourselves ·in·​·array against Babylon all around; all ye that bend^◦ the bow, shoot·​·out at her, spare not the arrow: for she has sinned against Jehovah.

¹⁵ Shout against her all around; she has given her hand; her foundations are fallen, her walls are broken·​·down; for it is the vengeance of Jehovah; avenge on her; as^◦ she has done, do to her.

¹⁶ Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handles the sickle in the time of harvest; for fear of the oppressing sword they shall face every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.

¹⁷ As an animal·​·of·​·the·​·flock Israel is scattered^◦; the lions have expelled him; first the king of Assyria has eaten him up; and afterwards Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, has removed· his ·bones.

¹⁸ Therefore thus says Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel, Behold, I will visit the king of Babylon and his land, as^◦ I have visited the king of Assyria.

¹⁹ And I will return Israel to^▵ his home, and he shall pasture on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on^◦ Mount Ephraim and Gilead.

²⁰ In those^◦ days, and in that^◦ time, says^◦ Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon them whom I have left.

²¹ Against the land of Merathaim, go·​·up against her, and against those who dwell in Pekod; waste and doom thou after them, says^◦ Jehovah, and do according·​·to all that I have commanded thee.

²² A voice of battle is in the land, and of great breaking.

²³ How^◦ is the mallet of all the earth hewn·​·off and broken! How^◦ is Babylon become a desolation among^◦ the nations!

²⁴ I have set a snare for thee, and thou art also captured, O Babylon, and thou dost· not ·know; thou art·​·found, and also caught, for thou hast meddled with Jehovah.

²⁵ Jehovah has opened His treasury, and has brought·​·out the weapons^◦ of His indignation; for it is the business of the Lord Jehovih^* of Armies in the land of the Chaldeans.

²⁶ Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses; build· her ·up as stacks, and doom her: let nothing of her be left.

²⁷ Waste all her bullocks; let them go·​·down to the butchering. Woe to them! For their day is come, the time of their visitation.

²⁸ The voice of them that flee and are delivered from the land of Babylon, to tell in Zion about the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance of His temple.

²⁹ Cause the shooters of arrows to hear against Babylon; all ye who bend^◦ the bow, camp against her all around; let none thereof escape^◦; repay her according·​·to her work; according·​·to all that she has done, do to her: for she has been·​·presumptuous to^▵ Jehovah, to^▵ the Holy·​·One of Israel.

³⁰ Therefore shall her young·​·men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be·​·still in that day, says^◦ Jehovah.

³¹ Behold, I am against thee, O thou most presumptuous, says^◦ the Lord Jehovih of Armies; for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.

³² And the presumptuous shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise· him ·up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all those around him.

³³ Thus says Jehovah of Armies; The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah were oppressed together; and all that took them captives held· them ·firm; they refused to send· them ·out.

³⁴ Their Redeemer is firm; Jehovah of Armies is His name; pleading He shall plead their plea, so·​·that He may give·​·repose to the land, and make those who dwell in Babylon tremble.

³⁵ A sword is upon the Chaldeans, says^◦ Jehovah, and upon those who dwell in Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.

³⁶ A sword is upon the fabricators; and they shall become·​·stupid; a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall·​·be·​·dismayed.

³⁷ A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the commingled crowd that are in her midst; and they shall become as women; a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be preyed·​·on.

³⁸ A drought is to her waters; and they shall be dried·​·up; for she is a land of carved images, and they rave by terrors.

³⁹ Therefore the Tsiim with^◦ the Ijim^* shall dwell there, and in her shall dwell the daughters of an owl; and no^◦ one shall dwell·​·in her any·​·more perpetually; neither shall it be inhabited even·​·to generation and generation.

⁴⁰ As God overturned Sodom and Gomorrah and her neighbor^◦, says^◦ Jehovah; a man^◦ shall not dwell there, a son of man shall not sojourn in her.

⁴¹ Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred·​·up from the flanks of the earth.

⁴² They shall take·​·hold of the bow and the javelin; they are cruel, and will not have·​·compassion; their voice shall make a noise as the sea, and they shall ride on horses, every one set·​·in·​·array, as a man^◦ for the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

⁴³ The king of Babylon has heard the rumor of them, and his hands have slackened; adversity held· him ·firmly, and travailing as a woman giving·​·birth.

⁴⁴ Behold, he shall come·​·up as a lion from the pride of the Jordan to^▵ the home of Ethan^*; but^◦ running I will make him run away from her in a moment. And who is chosen that I may appoint over her? For who is like^▵ Me? And who will cause Me to congregate, and who is this shepherd that will stand before Me?

⁴⁵ Therefore hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, that He has taken counsel against Babylon; and His thoughts, that He has reckoned against the land of the Chaldeans; Surely the little ones of the flock shall drag· them ·out; surely He shall make their home desolate with them.

⁴⁶ At the voice of the occupying of Babylon the earth has quaked, and a cry is heard among^◦ the nations.

²⁰ He said, "I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end shall be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.

²¹ They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

²² For a fire is kindled in my anger, Burns to the lowest Sheol, Devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.

²³ "I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them.

²⁴ [They shall be] wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, With the poison of crawling things of the dust.

²⁵ Outside the sword shall bereave, and in the rooms, terror; on both young man and virgin, The nursing infant with the gray-haired man.

²⁶ I said, I would scatter them afar. I would make the memory of them to cease from among men;

²⁷ were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, 'Our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this.'"

²⁸ For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them.

²⁹ Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

³⁰ How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up?

³¹ For their rock is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

³² For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, Their clusters are bitter.

³³ Their wine is the poison of serpents, The cruel venom of asps.

³⁴ "Isn't this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures?

³⁵ Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. The things that are to come on them shall make haste."