¹The word that the LORD spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans , by Jeremiah the prophet .

²“Declare amongst the nations and publish ,

and set up a standard ;

publish , and don’t conceal ;

say, ‘Babylon has been taken ,

Bel is disappointed,

Merodach is dismayed !

Her images are disappointed.

Her idols are dismayed .’

³For a nation comes up out of the north against her ,

which will make her land desolate ,

and no one will dwell in it .

They have fled .

They are gone ,

both man and animal .

⁴“In those days , and in that time ,” says the LORD ,

“the children of Israel will come ,

they and the children of Judah together ;

they will go on their way weeping ,

and will seek the LORD their God .

⁵They will enquire concerning Zion with their faces turned towards it ,

saying, ‘Come, and join yourselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant

that will not be forgotten .’

⁶My 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 .

⁷All who found them have devoured them .

Their adversaries said, ‘We are not guilty,

because they have sinned against the LORD ,

the habitation of righteousness ,

even the LORD , the hope of their fathers.’

⁸“Flee out of the middle of Babylon!

Go out of the land of the Chaldeans ,

and be as the male goats before the flocks .

⁹For , behold , I will stir up

and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country;

and they will set themselves in array against her .

She will be taken from there .

Their arrows will be as of an expert mighty man .

None of them will return in vain .

¹⁰Chaldea will be a prey .

All who prey on her will be satisfied ,” says the LORD .

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,

¹²your mother will be utterly disappointed.

She who bore you will be confounded .

Behold , she will be the least of the nations ,

a wilderness , a dry land , and a desert .

¹³Because of the LORD ’s wrath she won’t be inhabited ,

but she will be wholly desolate .

Everyone who goes by Babylon will be astonished ,

and hiss at all her plagues .

¹⁴Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around ,

all you who bend the bow ;

shoot at her .

Spare no arrows ,

for she has sinned against the LORD .

¹⁵Shout against her all around .

She has submitted herself .

Her bulwarks have fallen .

Her walls have been thrown down ,

for it is the vengeance of the LORD .

Take vengeance on her .

As she has done , do to her .

¹⁶Cut off the sower from Babylon,

and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest .

For fear of the oppressing sword ,

they will each return to their own people ,

and they will each flee to their 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 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones .”

¹⁸Therefore the LORD of Armies , the God of Israel , says :

“Behold , I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,

as I have punished the king of Assyria.

¹⁹I will bring Israel again to his pasture ,

and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan .

His soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead .

²⁰In those days , and in that time ,” says the LORD ,

“the iniquity of Israel will be sought for ,

and there will be none ,

also the sins of Judah ,

and they won’t 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 the LORD ,

“and do according to all that I have commanded you .

²²A sound of battle is in the land,

and of great destruction .

²³How the hammer of the whole earth is cut apart and broken !

How Babylon has become a desolation amongst the nations !

²⁴I 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 fought against the LORD .

²⁵The LORD has opened his armoury,

and has brought out the weapons of his indignation ;

for the Lord , GOD of Armies , has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans .

²⁶Come against her from the farthest border .

Open her storehouses .

Cast her up as heaps .

Destroy her utterly .

Let nothing of her be left .

²⁷Kill all her bulls .

Let them go down to the slaughter .

Woe to them ! For their day has come ,

the time of their visitation .

²⁸Listen to those who 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 those who bend the bow .

Encamp against her all around .

Let none of it escape .

Pay her back according to her work .

According to all that she has done , do to her ;

for she has been proud against the LORD ,

against the Holy One of Israel .

³⁰Therefore her young men will fall in her streets .

All her men of war will be brought to silence in that day ,” says the LORD .

³¹“Behold , I am against you , you proud one ,” says the Lord , GOD of Armies ;

“for your day has come ,

the time that I will visit you .

³²The proud one will stumble and fall ,

and no one will raise him up .

I will kindle a fire in his cities ,

and it will devour all who are around him .”

³³The LORD of Armies says : “The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together .

All who took them captive hold them fast .

They refuse to let them go .

³⁴Their Redeemer is strong .

The LORD of Armies 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 the LORD ,

“and on the inhabitants of Babylon,

on her princes ,

and on her wise men .

³⁶A sword is on the boasters,

and they will become fools .

A sword is on her mighty men ,

and they will be dismayed .

³⁷A sword is on their horses ,

on their chariots ,

and on all the mixed people who are in the middle of her ;

and they will become as women.

A sword is on her treasures,

and they will be robbed.

³⁸A drought is on her waters ,

and they will be dried up ;

for it is a land of engraved images ,

and they are mad over idols .

³⁹Therefore the wild animals of the desert

with the wolves will dwell there .

The ostriches will dwell therein .

It will be inhabited no more forever ,

neither will it be lived in from generation to generation .

⁴⁰As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbour cities,” says the LORD ,

“so no man will dwell there ,

neither will any son of man live therein .

⁴¹“Behold , a people comes from the north .

A great nation and many kings will be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.

⁴²They take up bow and spear .

They are cruel, and have no mercy .

Their voice roars like the sea .

They ride on horses ,

everyone set in array ,

as a man to the battle ,

against you , daughter of Babylon.

⁴³The king of Babylon has heard the news of them ,

and his hands become feeble .

Anguish has taken hold of him ,

pains as of a woman in labour .

⁴⁴Behold , the enemy will come up like a lion

from the thickets of the Jordan against the strong habitation ;

for I will suddenly make them run away from it .

Whoever is chosen,

I will appoint him over it ,

for who is like me ?

Who will appoint me a time ?

Who is the shepherd who can stand before me ?”

⁴⁵Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD

that he has taken against Babylon;

and his purposes

that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans :

Surely they will drag them away ,

even the little ones of the flock .

Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them .

⁴⁶The earth trembles at the noise of the taking of Babylon.

The cry is heard amongst the nations .