A Prophecy against Babylon.

This is the word which THE LORD spoke against Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans, through the prophet Jeremiah:

       Declare this among the nations and

              proclaim it;

          lift up a banner and proclaim it;

          keep nothing back, but announce,

       "Babylon will be captured;

          Bel will be put to shame;

          Marduk will be dismayed.

       Her images are disgraced;

          her idols are shattered."

       A nation from the north is marching against

              her

          that will turn her land into a desolate waste,

          so that no one will be able to live there

              anymore;

          both men and beasts have fled and are gone.

       In those days and at that time,

          says THE LORD,

       the people of Israel and of Judah will come,

          weeping as they seek THE LORD, their

              GOD.

       They will ask the way to Zion

          and turn their faces toward it, saying,

       "Come, let us bind ourselves to THE LORD

          in an everlasting covenant

          that will never be forgotten."

       MY people were lost sheep;

          their shepherds led them astray

          and caused them to roam on the mountains.

       They wandered over mountains and hills

          and lost the way to their fold.

       Whoever came upon them devoured them,

          and their enemies insisted,

          "We incur no guilt,

       because they have sinned

          against THE LORD, their true pasture,

          against THE LORD, the hope of their

              fathers."

       Flee from Babylon and the land of the

              Chaldeans;

          be like male goats leading the flock.

       Behold, I will stir up against Babylon

          a host of mighty nations from the land of

              the north.

       They will advance against her,

          and there she will be conquered.

       Their arrows are like those of a skilled

              warrior

          that are never shot unsuccessfully.

       Chaldea will be plundered,

          and all who plunder her will be sated,

          says THE LORD.

       O you who plundered MY heritage,

          although you rejoice and exult,

       although you playfully frolic

          like heifers on the grass

          and neigh like stallions,

       your mother will be cruelly put to shame;

          she who bore you will be completely

              disgraced.

       She is now the least of the nations,

          a desert, a parched land, a wilderness.

       Because of the wrath of THE LORD

          she will not be inhabited

          but will be totally desolate.

       Everyone who passes by Babylon will be

              appalled

          and stunned at the enormity of her wounds.

       Take up your positions and surround

              Babylon,

          all you who draw the bow.

       Shoot at her, and do not spare your arrows,

          for she has sinned against THE LORD.

       Raise your war cries against her on all sides;

          shout in triumph,

       "She has surrendered,

          her bastions have fallen,

          her walls have been demolished."

       This is the vengeance of THE LORD.

          Avenge yourselves on her;

          as she has done, so do to her.

       Drive out from Babylon the sowers

          and those who wield the sickle at harvest

              time.

       To escape the destroying sword,

          all of them will return to their own people;

          all of them will flee to their own land.

       Israel is a scattered flock

          that was pursued by lions.

       First the king of Assyria devoured her,

          and now her bones have been crushed

          by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.

       Therefore, thus says THE LORD OF HOSTS,

              THE GOD OF ISRAEL:

       I intend to punish the king of Babylon and his

              land,

          as I formerly punished the king of Assyria.

       I will restore Israel to her pastures,

          and she will graze on Carmel and in

              Bashan;

       on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead

          her hunger will be satisfied.

       In those days, and at that time,

              says THE LORD,

       you will search for evidence of the iniquity of

              Israel,

          but there will be none,

       and for the sins of Judah,

          but these will no longer be found,

       for I will pardon the remnant

          of those that I have preserved.

       Attack the land of Merathaim

          and the inhabitants of Pekod.

       Put them to the sword and destroy them;

          do all I have commanded you,

              says THE LORD.

       The noise of battle amid great destruction

          is heard throughout the land.

       See how the hammer of the whole world

          has been broken and shattered,

       how Babylon has become

          an object of horror among the nations.

       I set a snare for you, O Babylon,

          and you were caught before you realized it.

       You were discovered and seized

          because you challenged THE LORD.

       THE LORD has opened HIS armory

          and brought forth the weapons of HIS

              wrath.

       For THE LORD GOD has work to do

          in the land of the Chaldeans.

       Come against her from every side;

          open her granaries,

       pile up her goods in heaps,

          and completely destroy her

          until nothing of her is left.

       Slay all her bulls;

          lead them down to the slaughterhouse.

       Woe to them, for their time has come,

          their day of punishment.

       Listen! Fugitives and refugees

          from the land of Babylon

       have arrived in Zion to proclaim

          the vengeance of THE LORD, our GOD,

          the vengeance HE inflicts for HIS temple.

       Summon against Babylon the archers,

          all those who are skilled with the bow.

       Surround her on all sides;

          allow no one to escape.

       Repay her in full for her misdeeds;

          treat her as she has treated others.

       Therefore, her young men will fall in the

              streets,

          and all her soldiers will be destroyed on that

              day,

          says THE LORD.

       I am against you, O arrogant city,

          says THE LORD OF HOSTS.

       For your day has come,

          the time for ME to punish you.

       You will stumble and fall, O arrogant city,

          and no one will offer to raise you up.

       I will kindle a fire in your cities

          that will devour everything within it.

       Thus says THE LORD OF HOSTS:

          The people of Israel are oppressed,

          as are the people of Judah.

       All their captors hold them fast

          and refuse to let them go.

       But their redeemer is strong;

          HIS name is THE LORD OF HOSTS.

       HE will successfully take up their cause,

          thereby affording rest to the earth

          while leaving the inhabitants of Babylon in

              turmoil.

       A sword against the Chaldeans,

              says THE LORD,

          against the inhabitants of Babylon,

          and against her officials and her wise men.

       A sword against her false prophets;

          they will become fools.

       A sword against her warriors;

          they will succumb to panic.

       A sword against her horses and her chariots

          and all the foreign troops in her midst;

          they will become like women.

       A sword against her treasures;

          they will be plundered.

       A drought against her waters;

          they will be dried up.

       For it is a land of idols,

          and they will be overcome with terror

          when confronted by them.

       Therefore, wildcats and jackals will dwell

              there,

          and there ostriches will make their home.

       Never again will it be inhabited;

          no people ever again will dwell there.

       As when GOD overthrew Sodom and

              Gomorrah

          and all their neighboring towns,

              says THE LORD,

       no one will live there anymore

          or attempt to settle there.

       Look! A people is coming from the north,

          a mighty nation.

       Many kings are rousing themselves

          from the ends of the earth.

       They wield bows and spears,

          and their cruelty allows no mercy.

       As they ride forth on their horses,

          their sound resembles that of the roaring

              sea.

       All of them are arrayed for battle

          to fight against you, daughter of Babylon.

       News of their approach has reached the king

              of Babylon,

          and his hands fall limp at his side.

       Anguish has seized him,

          pangs like those of a woman in labor.

       Behold, like a lion coming up

          from the thickets of the Jordan

          to the perennial feeding grounds,

       I will in a single instant drive them away

          and appoint over her whomever I choose.

       For who is there like ME?

          Who can challenge ME?

          What shepherd can stand up to ME?

       Therefore, hear the plan

          that THE LORD has devised against

              Babylon,

       and what HE proposes to do

          against the land of the Chaldeans:

       The young of the flock will be dragged away,

          and he will completely destroy their

              pastures.

       The earth will tremble at the news,

          and the shouting will be heard among the

              nations.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 50

Another Prophecy against Babylon

       Thus says THE LORD:

          Against Babylon and the inhabitants of

              Chaldea

          I will rouse a destructive wind.

       I will send foreigners to Babylon

          to winnow her and lay waste her land.

       They will besiege her from all sides

          on the day of disaster.

       Let no archer draw his bow

          or array himself in his coat of armor.

       Do not spare her young men;

          completely destroy her entire army.

       Let them be slain in the land of the

              Chaldeans,

          lying mortally wounded in her streets.

       For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken

          by their GOD, THE LORD OF HOSTS,

       although their land is full of guilt

          that will not be ignored by THE HOLY ONE

              OF ISRAEL.

       Flee from Babylon!

          Save your lives, each one of you!

          Do not perish for her guilt.

       This is the time of vengeance for THE LORD;

          HE will exact full recompense for their

              deeds.

       Babylon was a golden cup

          in the hand of THE LORD,

          and she made the entire earth drunk.

       The nations drank her wine,

          and now they have gone mad.

       Suddenly Babylon has fallen and is shattered.

          Wail for her.

       Fetch balm for her wounds;

          perhaps she can be cured.

       We tried to heal Babylon,

          but she cannot be healed.

       Leave her and let us depart,

          each one to his own land.

       For her judgment reaches up to heaven

          and touches the clouds.

       THE LORD has made clear our vindication.

          Come, let us proclaim in Zion

          what THE LORD, our GOD, has done.

       Sharpen the arrows;

          fill the quivers.

       THE LORD has stirred up

          the spirit of the kings of the Medes

          because HE is determined to destroy

              Babylon.

       This will be the vengeance of THE LORD,

          vengeance for HIS temple.

       Raise the standard against the walls of

              Babylon.

          Strengthen the watch.

       Post sentinels and prepare ambushes,

          for THE LORD has both planned and will

              carry out

          HIS threat against the inhabitants of

              Babylon.

       You lands that lie on the shores of abundant

              waters

          and are rich in treasures,

       your end has now come,

          the cessation of your power.

       THE LORD OF HOSTS has sworn by

              HIMSELF,

          "I will fill you with enemies

       as numerous as a swarm of locusts,

          and they will raise a shout of victory over

              you."

       By HIS power, HE made the earth;

          by HIS wisdom, HE established the world

          by HIS discernment, HE stretched out the

              heavens.

       When HE thunders,

          there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

       and HE causes the clouds to rise

          from the farthest ends of the earth.

       HE sends forth lightning with the rain,

          and HE brings out the wind from HIS

              storehouses.

       Everyone is stupid and lacking in knowledge;

          goldsmiths are put to shame by their idols,

       for the images they cast are a sham,

          with no breath of life in them.

       They devise worthless objects of mockery;

          at the time of judgment, they will perish.

       Not like these is the portion of Jacob,

          for HE is THE CREATER OF ALL

              THINGS,

       and Israel is the tribe of HIS inheritance;

          THE LORD OF HOSTS is HIS name.

       You are MY war club,

          MY weapon in battle.

       With you I shatter nations,

          with you I destroy kingdoms.

       With you I crush horse and rider,

          with you I crush chariot and charioteer.

       With you I crush man and woman,

          with you I crush old and young,

          with you I crush youth and maiden.

       With you I crush shepherd and flock,

          with you I crush the plowman and his team,

          with you I crush governors and magistrates.

       Thus will I repay Babylon

          and all the inhabitants of Chaldea

       for all the wrongs that they have done in Zion

          before your very eyes, says THE LORD.

       I am against you, O mountain of destruction,

          destroyer of the entire earth, says THE

              LORD.

       I will stretch forth MY hand against you,

          send you tumbling down from the cliffs,

          and make you a burned-out mountain.

       No rock will be taken from you

          to be used for a cornerstone,

       nor any stone for a foundation,

          for you will be forever desolate,

          says THE LORD.

       Raise a standard throughout the earth.

          Blow the trumpet among the nations.

       Consecrate nations for war against her.

          Summon against her these kingdoms:

          Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.

       Appoint a commander against her.

          Bring forward horses bristling like locusts.

       Consecrate nations for war against her:

          the kings of Media,

       its governors and magistrates,

          and all the lands under their rule.

       The earth trembles and writhes

          as THE LORD's plan against Babylon is

              carried out,

          turning the land of Babylon into a desert

              waste.

       The warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight;

          they remain in their strongholds.

       Their courage has failed;

          they are now like women.

       Their buildings have been set on fire,

          and their gates are shattered.

       One courier appears after another,

          and one messenger follows another,

       to inform the king of Babylon

          that his entire city has been taken.

       The river crossings have been seized,

          the marshes have been set afire,

          and the soldiers are overcome with terror.

       For thus says THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE

              GOD OF ISRAEL:

       The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing

              floor

          at the time it is being trodden.

       Yet it will only be a short while

          before the time of her harvest will come.

       "King Nebuchadnezzar has devoured us;

          he has routed us

          and set us aside like an empty dish.

       Like a serpent he has swallowed us,

          filled his stomach with our delicacies,

          and then spewed us out.

       May our torn flesh be avenged on Babylon,"

          the inhabitants of Zion say.

       "May my blood be avenged

          on the inhabitants of Chaldea,"

          Jerusalem says.

       Therefore, thus says THE LORD:

       I will take up your cause

          and ensure that you will be avenged.

       I will dry up her sea

          and cause her springs to run dry.

       Babylon will become a heap of ruins,

          a haunt of jackals,

       an object of horror and scorn,

          where no one lives.

       Like lions they roar together

          and growl like lion cubs.

       But when they are afflicted with fever,

          I will set a drink before them

       and cause them to become drunk

          so that they will sink into an unending sleep,

          never to awaken again, says THE LORD.

       I will bring them down like lambs to the

              slaughter,

          like rams and goats.

       Babylon has been seized and conquered,

          she who was the pride of the entire world.

       What an object of horror

          has Babylon become among the nations.

       The sea has surged over Babylon,

          covering her with its roaring waves.

       Her cities have become desert wastelands,

          nothing more than parched and arid land,

       an area in which no one lives

          and through which no one passes.

       I will punish Bel in Babylon

          and compel him to spew out what he has

              swallowed.

       The nations will no longer stream to him;

          the wall of Babylon has fallen.

       Leave her, MY people.

          Save your lives, each one of you,

          from the fierce anger of THE LORD.

       Do not become faint-hearted or fearful

          at various rumors that are heard in the land.

       One year a certain rumor will spread,

          the next year another one,

       with rumors of possible violence in the land

          and of conflicts between rulers.

       But behold, the days are coming

          when I will punish the idols of Babylon;

       her entire territory will be put to shame,

          and all her slain warriors

          will lie fallen within her borders.

       The heavens and the earth

          and all that are in them

       will shout for joy in regard to Babylon,

          for marauders will descend from the north

          and attack her, says THE LORD.

       Babylon, too, must fall

          because of the slain of Israel,

       just as the slain of all the earth

          have fallen at the hands of Babylon.

       You who have escaped the sword,

          leave and do not linger.

       Remember THE LORD from afar,

          and let Jerusalem remain in your thoughts.

       We have been put to shame

          because of the insults we have endured.

       Our faces were covered in confusion

          because foreigners have dared to enter

          the holy places of THE LORD's house.

       However, the days are surely coming,

          says THE LORD,

       when I will punish her idols,

          and the wounded will groan

          throughout all her land.

       Even if Babylon were to scale the heavens

          and reinforce her inaccessible citadel,

       I would send forth destroyers,

          and they would come to her.

       Agonized cries can be heard from Babylon,

          and sounds of great destruction

          from the land of the Chaldeans.

       For THE LORD is laying waste to Babylon

          and stilling her loud cries of anguish.

       Massive waves of enemies will roar like

              mighty waters,

          and their clamor will be heard from afar.

       A destroying force is moving against Babylon;

          her warriors are captured,

          and their bows are broken.

       For THE LORD is a GOD of retribution,

          and HE never fails to repay in full.

       I will make her princes and her wise men

              drunk,

          as well as her governors,

          her prefects and her warriors.

       They will sink into an unending sleep,

          never to awaken again,

          says THE KING whose name is THE LORD

              OF HOSTS.

       Thus says THE LORD OF HOSTS:

       The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to

              the ground,

          and her lofty gates will be destroyed by fire.

       Thus the peoples exhaust themselves for

              nothing,

          and the nations weary themselves only for

              the flames.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 51, VERSES 1 - 58