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The word that the
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Declare among the nations and proclaim,
set up a banner and proclaim,
do not conceal it, say:
Babylon is taken,
Bel is put to shame,
Merodach is dismayed.
Her images are put to shame,
her idols are dismayed.
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For out of the north a nation has come up against her; it shall make her land a desolation, and no one shall live in it; both human beings and animals shall flee away.
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In those days and in that time, says the
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My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains; from mountain to hill they have gone, they have forgotten their fold.
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All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, "We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the
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Flee from Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be like male goats leading the flock.
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For I am going to stir up and bring against Babylon a company of great nations from the land of the north; and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like the arrows of a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed.
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Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, says the
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Though you rejoice, though you exult,
O plunderers of my heritage,
though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass,
and neigh like stallions,
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your mother shall be utterly shamed,
and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
Lo, she shall be the last of the nations,
a wilderness, dry land, and a desert.
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Because of the wrath of the
but shall be an utter desolation;
everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled
and hiss because of all her wounds.
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Take up your positions around Babylon,
all you that bend the bow;
shoot at her, spare no arrows,
for she has sinned against the
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Raise a shout against her from all sides,
"She has surrendered;
her bulwarks have fallen,
her walls are thrown down."
For this is the vengeance of the
take vengeance on her,
do to her as she has done.
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Cut off from Babylon the sower,
and the wielder of the sickle in time of harvest;
because of the destroying sword
all of them shall return to their own people,
and all of them shall flee to their own land.
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Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured it, and now at the end King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon has gnawed its bones.
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Therefore, thus says the
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Go up to the land of Merathaim; 2
go up against her,
and attack the inhabitants of Pekod 3
and utterly destroy the last of them, 4
+qsays the
do all that I have commanded you.
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The noise of battle is in the land,
and great destruction!
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How the hammer of the whole earth
is cut down and broken!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations!
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You set a snare for yourself and you were caught, O Babylon,
but you did not know it;
you were discovered and seized,
because you challenged the
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The
and brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for the Lord
in the land of the Chaldeans.
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Come against her from every quarter;
open her granaries;
pile her up like heaps of grain, and destroy her utterly;
let nothing be left of her.
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Kill all her bulls,
let them go down to the slaughter.
Alas for them, their day has come,
the time of their punishment!
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Listen! Fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon are coming to declare in Zion the vengeance of the
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Summon archers against Babylon, all who bend the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; just as she has done, do to her--for she has arrogantly defied the
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I am against you, O arrogant one,
says the Lord
for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
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The arrogant one shall stumble and fall,
with no one to raise him up,
and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
and it will devour everything around him.
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Thus says the
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A sword against the Chaldeans, says the
and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
and against her officials and her sages!
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A sword against the diviners,
so that they may become fools!
A sword against her warriors,
so that they may be destroyed!
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A sword against her 5 horses and against her 5 chariots,
and against all the foreign troops in her midst,
so that they may become women!
A sword against all her treasures,
that they may be plundered!
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A drought 7 against her waters,
that they may be dried up!
For it is a land of images,
and they go mad over idols.
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Therefore wild animals shall live with hyenas in Babylon, 8 and ostriches shall inhabit her; she shall never again be peopled, or inhabited for all generations.
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As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, says the
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Look, a people is coming from the north;
a mighty nation and many kings
are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
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They wield bow and spear,
they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring sea;
they ride upon horses,
set in array as a warrior for battle,
against you, O daughter Babylon!
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The king of Babylon heard news of them,
and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
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Like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly chase them away from her; and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. 9 For who is like me? Who can summon me? Who is the shepherd who can stand before me?
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Therefore hear the plan that the