Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria has devoured him; and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.

So this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: See, I will send punishment on the king of Babylon and on his land, as I have given punishment to the king of Assyria.

In those days and at that time—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
one will search for Israel’s guilt,
but there will be none,
and for Judah’s sins,
but they will not be found,
for I will forgive those I leave as a remnant.

“Go against the land of Merathaim,
and against those living in Pekod.
Put them to the sword;
completely destroy them—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
do everything I have commanded you.

How the blacksmith's hammer of all the earth is cut down and broken! How Babylon has become as a horror among the nations!

I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against Jehovah.

Yahweh has opened his armory, and he has brought out the weapons of his wrath, for it [is] a word for my Lord Yahweh of hosts in the land of [the] Chaldeans.

Massacre all her bulls, let them go down to the slaughtering. Woe to them, for [their] day has come, the time of their punishment.

Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend [the] bow. Encamp all around her, there must not be for her an escape. Take revenge on her according to her deeds. According to all that she has done, [so] do to her. For against Yahweh she has behaved insolently, against the Holy One of Israel.

Therefore, her young men will fall
in her public squares;
all the warriors will perish in that day.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

"Look, I [am] against you, arrogant [one]," {declares} Lord Yahweh of hosts, "for your day has come, [the] time [when] I will punish you.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are crushed down together: all those who took them prisoner keep them in a tight grip; they will not let them go.

A sword is over the Chaldeans—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
against those who live in Babylon,
against her officials, and against her sages.

Just as God demolished Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighboring towns—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
so no one will live there;
no human being will even stay in it
as a temporary resident.

The king of Babylon heard their report and his hands grew slack. Anxiety has seized him, fear and pain like the [woman who] gives birth.

{Therefore} hear the plan of Yahweh that he has planned against Babylon, and his plans that he has planned against the land of [the] Chaldeans. {Surely} they will drag them away, the little [ones] of the flock. {Surely} he will cause [their] grazing place to be desolate over them.

At [the] sound, 'Babylon has been captured,' the earth will quake, and a cry for help among the nations will be heard."

The Lord has said: See, I will make a wind of destruction come up against Babylon and against those who are living in Chaldaea;

For Israel has not been forsaken, nor Judah by his God, by the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people. Flee to save your lives. Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins. For it is time for the Lord to wreak his revenge. He will pay Babylonia back for what she has done.

Babylon has been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunk: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

Suddenly Babylon has fallen and she is shattered. Wail over her! Take balm for her wounds, perhaps she may be healed.

We tried to heal Babylon, and she was not healed. Forsake her and let us go each one to his country, for her judgment has reached to the heavens, and it has been lifted up to [the] skies.

Yahweh has brought forth our vindication. Come and let us make known in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.

Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. Because his plan concerning Babylon [is] to destroy it, for that is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance for his temple.

Against the walls of Babylon raise a banner; {post a strong watch}, post watchmen, prepare the ambushes, for Yahweh has both planned as well as performed what he has spoken concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

[O you who] live by mighty waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, {the measure of your life}.

Yahweh of hosts has sworn by himself, "Surely I will fill you [with] troops like the creeping locusts, and they will sing over you a war cry."

He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heaven by his understanding.

Then every man becomes like a beast without knowledge; every gold-worker is put to shame by the image he has made: for his metal image is deceit, and there is no breath in them.

The Portion of Jacob [the true God of Israel] is not like these [handmade gods];
For He is the Maker of all and the One who formed and fashioned all things,
And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—
The Lord of hosts is His name.

“I will repay Babylon and all the residents of Chaldea for all their evil they have done in Zion before your very eyes.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Look, I am against you, devastating mountain—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you devastate the whole earth.
I will stretch out My hand against you,
roll you down from the cliffs,
and turn you into a charred mountain.

The warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight, they remain in the strongholds, their power has dried up, they have become as women. Her dwelling places are set on fire, her bars are broken.

[one] runner runs to meet [another] runner, and [one] messenger to meet [another] messenger, to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been captured, {from end to end}.

For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, 'Fair Babylon will be like a threshing floor which has been trampled flat for harvest. The time for her to be cut down and harvested will come very soon.'

Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me [and] sucked me dry; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like the sea monster; he has filled his belly with my delicacies; he has rinsed me.

For this reason the Lord has said: See, I will give support to your cause, and take payment for what you have undergone; I will make her sea dry, and her fountain without water.

While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast,
and I will make them drunk so that they revel.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

How Sheshach is captured, and the glory of all the earth is seized! How Babylon has become as an [object of] horror among the nations!

The sea has risen over Babylon, she has been covered by the roar of its waves.

Her towns have become a waste, a dry and unwatered land, where no man has his living-place and no son of man goes by.

And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will wrench out from his mouth {what he has swallowed}. And [the] nations will not stream towards him [any] longer {what's worse}, the wall of Babylon has fallen.

As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

We are ashamed, because we have heard reproach: shame has covered our faces: for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.

Therefore, look, the days are coming—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when I will punish her carved images,
and the wounded will groan
throughout her land.

Because the LORD has plundered Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is raised:

Because the plunderer has come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, everyone of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompenses shall surely repay.

I will make her princes and sages drunk,
along with her governors, officials, and warriors.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.

The Lord of armies has said: The wide walls of Babylon will be completely uncovered and her high doorways will be burned with fire; so peoples keep on working for nothing, and the weariness of nations comes to an end in the smoke.

And Jeremiah saith unto Seraiah, 'When thou dost enter Babylon, then thou hast seen, and hast read all these words,

and thou shalt say - O Yahweh! thou, thyself, hast spoken against this place to cut it off, That there be in it no inhabitant Neither man nor beast, - But desolations age-abiding, shall it become!

And it shall be when thou hast made an end of reading this scroll, that thou shalt bind thereunto a stone, and cast it in the midst of the Euphrates,