1 The word that the LORD spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.
2 Declare ye among the Gentiles, and publish, and set up a banner; publish, and do not conceal: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
3 For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell therein: they shall leave, they shall depart, both man and beast.
4 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the sons of Israel shall come, they and the sons of Judah together, going and weeping they shall go and seek the LORD their God. 5 They shall ask the way to Zion, unto where they shall turn their faces, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in an eternal covenant that shall never be forgotten.
6 My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their restingplace. 7 All that found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.
8 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the meek in front of the flocks. 9 For, behold, I awake and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country, and from there they shall set themselves in array against her; she shall be taken; their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert one, who shall not return in vain. 10 And the land of the Chaldeans shall be for a spoil; all that spoil her shall come forth full, saith the LORD.
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced destroying my heritage, because ye filled yourselves as a heifer on grass and neighed like horses; 12 your mother was sore confounded; she that bore you was ashamed: see here the latter end of the Gentiles: wilderness, dry land, and desert. 13 Because of the wrath of the LORD, she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be completely desolate; every one that goes by Babylon shall be astonished and hiss at all her plagues. 14 Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about; all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows; for she has sinned against the LORD. 15 Shout against her round about; she has given her hand; her foundations are fallen; her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD; take vengeance upon her; as she has done, do unto 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 turn each one to his people, and they shall flee each one to his own land.
17 Israel has been like scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away; first the king of Assyria has devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones. 18 Therefore thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel said; Behold, I visit the king of Babylon and his land as I have visited the king of Assyria. 19 And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead. 20 In those days, and in that time, said the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon those whom I shall have left.
21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it and against the inhabitants of Pekod; waste and utterly destroy after them, said the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. 22 A sound of battle is in the land and of great destruction. 23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! How is Babylon become a desolation among the Gentiles! 24 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 provoked the LORD. 25 The LORD has opened his treasury and has brought forth the vessels of his indignation; for this is the work of the Lord GOD of the hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. 26 Come against her from the ends of the earth, open her storehouses; cast her up as heaps and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left. 27 Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
28 The voice of those that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.
29 Call together the archers against Babylon; all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do unto her; for she has become proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. 30 Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, said the LORD.
31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou proud one, said the Lord GOD of the hosts; for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. 32 And the proud one shall stumble and fall and have no one to raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.
33 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said: The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah were oppressed together; and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. 34 Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of the hosts is his name: he shall thoroughly plead their cause that he may give rest to the land and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword is upon the Chaldeans, said the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon and upon her princes and upon her wise men. 36 A sword is upon the fortune-tellers; and they shall be fools: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be broken. 37 A sword is upon their horses and upon their chariots and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women; a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed. 38 A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up; for it is the land of graven images, and they are become mad upon their idols.
39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall no longer be inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. 40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
41 Behold, a people comes from the north, and a great nation and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 42 They shall hold the bow and the lance; they shall be cruel and will not show mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble; anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the strong habitation; but I will rest and will make him run from upon her; and he who shall be chosen I will appoint over her. For who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? 45 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD that he has taken against Babylon and his thoughts that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall drag them out, and they shall destroy their habitations with them. 46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon, the earth was moved, and the cry was heard among the Gentiles.