For this is the day of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself of His foes. And the sword shall devour, and it shall be filled and made drunk with their blood, for the Lord Jehovah of Hosts has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

Go up into Gilead and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt. In vain shall you use many medicines, for you shall not be cured.

The nations have heard of your shame, and your cry has filled the land. For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, and they have both fallen together.

O daughter dwelling in Egypt, get ready to go into captivity. For Noph shall be waste and a desert without inhabitant.

Also her hired ones are in her midst like calves of the stall; for they also have turned back, fleeing together. They did not stand, because the day of their calamity had come on them, the time of their visitation.

Its sound is like a serpent's going, for they shall go in force and come against her with axes like woodcutters.

But you do not fear, O My servant Jacob, and be not afraid, O Israel. For, behold, I will save you from afar off, and your seed from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.

Do not fear, O Jacob My servant, says Jehovah, for I am with you. For I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you. But I will not make a full end of you, but correct you in measure; yet I will not leave you wholly unpunished.

because of the day that comes to plunder all the Philistines and to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every survivor who helps. For Jehovah will plunder the Philistines, the rest of the country of Caphtor.

So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, against Moab: Woe to Nebo, for it is ravaged! Kiriathaim is shamed and captured. The Fortress is shamed and razed.

For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of ruin.

For because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you shall also be captured. And Chemosh shall go into exile with his priests and his rulers.

Give wings to Moab so that it may flee and get away; for its cities shall be a desert, without an inhabitant in them.

How do you say, We are mighty and strong men for war?

O dweller, daughter of Dibon, come down from your glory and sit in thirst. For the ravager of Moab shall come on you; he shall destroy your strongholds.

Moab is put to shame, for it is broken down. Howl and cry! Tell it in Arnon that Moab is stripped.

Make him drunk, for he magnified himself against Jehovah. Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be a mockery.

For was not Israel a mockery to you? Was he found among thieves? For ever since you spoke of him, you skipped for joy.

So I will wail for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab, and shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.

O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer. Your plants have gone over the sea; they reach to the sea of Jazer. A ravager has fallen on your summer fruits and on your grape crop.

From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh, and to Jahaz, they have uttered their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim, like a heifer three years old. For the waters of Nimrim also shall be deserted.

Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like flutes, and my heart shall sound like flutes for the men of Kirheres, because the riches that he has gotten have perished.

For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped. On all the hands shall be cuttings, and on the loins sackcloth.

On all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets, there is weeping for all. For I have broken Moab like a vessel in which is no pleasure, says Jehovah.

For so says Jehovah: Behold, he shall fly like an eagle and shall spread his wings over Moab.

He who flees from the terror shall fall into the pit; and he who goes up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare. For I will bring on it, even on Moab, the year of their judgment, says Jehovah.

Those who fled stood powerless in the shadow of Heshbon, for a fire shall come out from Heshbon, and a flame out of the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab and the crown of the head of the sons of desolation.

Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh perish; for your sons are taken away into exile, and your daughters into exile.

Wail, O Heshbon; Ai is spoiled! Cry, daughters of Rabbah; clothe yourselves with sackcloth, mourn, and run to and fro by the hedges! For their king shall go into exile; his priests and his rulers together.

Flee, turn back, dwell deep, O people of Dedan. For I will bring the calamity of Esau on him in the time that I will visit him.

For so says Jehovah: Behold, those whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have surely drunk. And are you to be entirely acquitted? You shall not be acquitted, but you shall surely drink.

For I have sworn by Myself, says Jehovah, that Bozrah shall become a ruin, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. And all its cities shall be wastes forever.

For lo, I will make you small among the nations, despised among men.

Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the home of the strong. But I will suddenly make him run away from her. And who is a chosen one I may appoint over it? For who is like Me? And who will summon Me? And who is that shepherd who will stand before Me?

Concerning Damascus: Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard bad news. They are melted; anxiety is in the sea; it cannot be quiet.

Flee, go far away, go deep to dwell; O people of Hazor, says Jehovah; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has plotted a plan against you.

And Hazor shall be a dwelling for jackals and a ruin forever. No man shall live there, nor any son of man dwell in it.

For I will cause Elam to be afraid before their enemies and before those who seek their life. And I will bring evil on them, even My fierce anger, says Jehovah. And I will send the sword after them until I have destroyed them;

For out of the north a nation comes up against her, which shall make her land a desert, and none shall dwell in it. They shall flee, they shall depart, both man and beast.

For, lo, I am stirring up and bringing up against Babylon a company of great nations from a northern land. And they shall array themselves against her. She shall be captured there. Their arrows shall be as those of a skillful, mighty man; none shall return in vain.

Put yourselves in order against Babylon all around; all you who bend the bow, shoot at her. Hold back no arrows, for she has sinned against Jehovah.

Shout against her all around. She has given her hand; her foundations have fallen, her walls have been thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Jehovah. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, do to her.

Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the pressing sword they shall turn, each one to his people; and they shall flee, each one to his own land.

In those days, and at that time, says Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and it shall not be found; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.

I have laid a trap for you, and you are also captured, O Babylon, and you did not know. You were found and also caught, because you have fought against Jehovah.

Jehovah has opened His armory, and has brought forth the weapons of His fury. For this is the work of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment.

Make the archers hear against Babylon. All you who tread a bow, camp against it all around; let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her. For she has been proud against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel.

Behold, I am against you, O proud ones, says the Lord Jehovah of Hosts; for your day has come, the time that I will judge you.

A drought is on her waters; and they shall be dried up. For it is the land of idols, and they act madly with idols.

They lay hold on a bow and spear; they are cruel and will not show mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride on horses arrayed like a man for the battle against you, O daughter of Babylon.

Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan to the home of the strong. But I will make them suddenly run away from her. And who is a chosen one whom I will appoint over her? For who is like Me? And who will set Me the time? And who is that shepherd who will stand before Me?

And I will send aliens to Babylon who will sift her and will empty her land. For in the day of trouble they shall be against her all around.

For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God, by Jehovah of Hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

Flee out of the middle of Babylon, and each man deliver his soul. Be not cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of Jehovah's vengeance; He will give to her a just reward.

Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed. Wail for her; take balm for her pain, if perhaps she may be healed.

We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her and let us go, each one into his own country; for her judgment reaches to the heavens and is lifted up to the skies.

Sharpen the arrows; gather the shields; Jehovah has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of His temple.

Set up the banner on the walls of Babylon; make the watch strong; set up the watchmen; prepare the ambushes. For Jehovah has both planned and done that which He spoke against the people of Babylon.

Every man is brutish in knowledge; every refiner is put to shame by idols. For his molded image is a lie, and no breath is in them.

The Portion of Jacob is not like them; for He is the Former of all things, and Israel is the rod of His inheritance. Jehovah of Hosts is His name.

You are My war-club and weapons of war; for with you I will shatter nations; and with you I will destroy kingdoms.

And they shall not take a stone from you for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be a waste forever, says Jehovah.

And the land shall tremble and writhe. For every purpose of Jehovah shall be done against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desert without inhabitant.

For so says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor; it is time to thresh her. Yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.

So Jehovah says this: Behold, I will plead your cause and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.

And Babylon shall become heaps, a home for jackals, a horror and a hissing, without an inhabitant.

And the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, shall shout for Babylon; for the plunderers shall come to her from the north, says Jehovah.

As Babylon is to fall for the dead of Israel, so at Babylon the dead of all the earth shall fall.

We have turned pale because we have heard reproach; shame has covered our faces, for foreigners have come into the holy places of Jehovah's house.

because the ravager has come on her, even on Babylon, and her mighty men are captured. Every one of their bows is broken, for Jehovah, the God of vengeance, shall surely repay.

For it was because of the anger of Jehovah in Jerusalem and Judah (until He had cast them out from His presence) that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

And in the fourth month, in the ninth of the month, the famine was very grievous in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

But Nebuzaradan the chief of the executioners left some of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for farmers.

Her enemies have become as chief; her haters are at ease; for Jehovah has afflicted her for the multitude of her sins. Her children have gone, captive before the enemy.

In the days of her affliction and her wandering Jerusalem remembered all her desirable things from previous days; when her people fell into the hand of the foe; and there is no ally for her. The foes saw her; they laughed at her annihilation.

Her uncleanness is in her skirts; she did not remember her end, and has gone down astoundingly. There is no comforter for her. O Jehovah, behold my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself.

The enemy has spread out his hand upon all her desirable things; for she has seen the nations enter her holy place, whom You commanded that they should not enter into Your congregation.

All her people sigh; they seek bread. They have given their desirable things for food to relieve the soul. See, O Jehovah, and look on me, for I have become vile.

From above He has sent fire into my bones and it has laid them low. He has spread a net for my feet; He has turned me back; He has made me amazed and faint all the day.

For these I weep; my eye, my eye runs down with water, because the comforter who could refresh my soul is far from me. My sons are desolated because the enemy prevails.

Jehovah is righteous, for I have rebelled against His command. I beseech you, all peoples, hear and behold my sorrow. My virgins and my young men went into exile.

I called for my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and my elders expired in the city while they sought food for them to bring back their life.

Behold, O Jehovah, for I am in trouble; my inward parts ferment; my heart is turned within me, for I have grievously rebelled. On the outside the sword bereaves; in the house it is as death.

Let all their wickedness come before You; and do to them as You have done to me for all my transgressions. For my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.

My eyes fail with tears; my inward parts ferment; my liver is poured on the ground for the ruin of the daughter of my people, in that the children and the babies faint in the streets of the city.

What can I testify for you? What thing shall I compare to you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I equal to you, so that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your break is great like the sea! Who can heal you?

Your prophets have seen false and foolish things for you, and they have not uncovered your iniquity, to turn away your captivity; but they have seen false oracles and seductions for you.

All your enemies have opened their mouth against you; they hiss and gnash the teeth; they say, We have swallowed her up. Certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen.

Arise, cry out in the night. At the beginning of the watches, pour out your heart like water before the face of Jehovah. Lift up your hands toward Him for the life of your children who are faint for hunger in the head of every street.

He was a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in secret places.

He has bent His bow and set me as a mark for the arrow.

Jehovah is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.

It is good that one should hope for the salvation of Jehovah, even in silence.

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

For the Lord will not cast off forever;

for though He causes grief, yet He will have pity according to the multitude of His kindnesses.

For He does not afflict from His heart, nor does He grieve the sons of men;

Streams of water run down my eye for the ruin of the daughter of my people.

You have heard my voice; do not hide Your ear at my relief, at my cry for help.