[1] The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of
the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet. [2] Declare you among the nations
and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don`t conceal: say,
Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed; her images are
put to shame, her idols are dismayed. [3] For out of the north there comes
up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall
dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and animal. [4] In
those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, the children of Israel shall
come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way
weeping, and shall seek Yahweh their God. [5] They shall inquire concerning
Zion with their faces turned toward it, [saying], Come you, and join
yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that shall not 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 resting-place. [7]
All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are
not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation of
righteousness, even Yahweh, 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 male goats before the flocks. [9] For, behold, I will stir up and cause
to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north
country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she
shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none
shall return in vain. [10] Chaldea shall be a prey: all who prey on her
shall be satisfied, says Yahweh. [11] Because you are glad, because you
rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer
that treads out [the grain], and neigh as strong horses; [12] your mother
shall be utterly put to shame; she who bore you shall be confounded:
behold, she shall be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land,
and a desert. [13] Because of the wrath of Yahweh she shall not be
inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: everyone who goes by Babylon
shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. [14] Set yourselves in
array against Babylon round about, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her,
spare no arrows: for she has sinned against Yahweh. [15] Shout against her
round about: she has submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls
are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Yahweh: take vengeance on her;
as she has done, do to her. [16] Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him
who handles the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing
sword they shall turn everyone to his people, and they shall flee everyone
to his own land. [17] Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him
away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones. [18] Therefore thus
says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of
Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. [19] I will
bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan,
and his soul shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. [20]
In those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, 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 them whom I leave as a remnant. [21]
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the
inhabitants of Pekod: kill and utterly destroy after them, says Yahweh, and
do according to all that I have commanded you. [22] A sound of battle is in
the land, and of great destruction. [23] How is the hammer of the whole
earth cut apart and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the
nations! [24] I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Babylon,
and you weren`t aware: you are found, and also caught, because you have
striven against Yahweh. [25] Yahweh has opened his armory, and has brought
forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, has a
work [to do] in the land of the Chaldeans. [26] Come against her from the
utmost border; open her store-houses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her
utterly; let nothing of her be left. [27] Kill all her bulls; let them go
down to the slaughter: woe to them! for their day is come, the time of
their visitation. [28] The voice of those who flee and escape out of the
land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God, the
vengeance of his temple. [29] Call together the archers against Babylon,
all those who bend the bow; encamp against her round about; let none of it
escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has
done, do to her; for she has been proud against Yahweh, against the Holy
One of Israel. [30] Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and
all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says Yahweh.
[31] Behold, I am against you, you proud one, says the Lord, Yahweh of
Hosts; for your day is come, the time that I will visit you. [32] The proud
one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle
a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are round about him. [33]
Thus says Yahweh of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah
are oppressed together; and all who took them captive hold them fast; they
refuse to let them go. [34] Their Redeemer is strong; Yahweh of Hosts is
his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to
the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. [35] A sword is on the
Chaldeans, says Yahweh, and on the inhabitants of Babylon, and on her
princes, and on her wise men. [36] A sword is on the boasters, and they
shall become fools; a sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be
dismayed. [37] A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on
all the mingled people who are in the midst of her; and they shall become
as women: a sword is on her treasures, and they shall be robbed. [38] A
drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of
engraved images, and they are mad over idols. [39] Therefore the wild
animals of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches
shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither
shall it be lived in from generation to generation. [40] As when God
overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it, says Yahweh, so
shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.
[41] Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many
kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. [42] They
lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice
roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a
man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon. [43] The king of
Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish has
taken hold of him, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail. [44] Behold, [the
enemy] shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the
strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and
whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and who
will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd who can stand before me?
[45] Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against
Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the
Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them away, [even] the little ones of the
flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them. [46] At
the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard
among the nations.
