2“Announce and proclaim among the nations, and raise a flag; and keep nothing back as you publish it: ‘Babylon will fall; Bel will be confounded, Merodach and her idols and images are broken in pieces. 3For a nation out from the north shall attack and leave her land desolate, and none shall live in it; both man and beast shall flee.’

4In those days, and in that time”, says the LORD, “the people of Israel, and the people of Judah shall come together with weeping as they seek the LORD, their God. 5They shall ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it, saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall never be forgotten or broken’. 6My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, they have let them wander in the wilderness, and from mountain to hill; they have forgotten the way to their sheepfold. 7And those that found them have exploited them; and their adversaries said, ‘We are not guilty; it is because they have sinned against the LORD, forsaking their true resting place and refuge for justice - the LORD, the hope of their fathers’.

8Flee out of the Babylon, and leave the land of the Chaldeans, and be like he-goats that lead the flocks. 9For I will stir up against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the north country, and they shall deploy themselves in battle array against her; and she shall be captured. Their arrows shall be like those of mighty expert warriors; none shall miss their mark. 10And Chaldea shall be plundered; all that raid her shall be satisfied”, says the LORD. 11“Because you were glad, you rejoiced when you destroyed My heritage, and you have grown fat like the heifer in grass, and you bellow like bulls; 12Your mother, who bore you, shall be completely ashamed; you shall become the least of the nations - a wilderness, dry land, and a desert. 13Because of the wrath of the LORD you shall not be inhabited, but shall be wholly desolate; anyone that passes by Babylon shall be appalled, and gasp at all her plagues. 14Take up your battle positions around Babylon; all that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows; for she has sinned against the LORD. 15Shout against her on every side; she surrenders; her towers and fortifications collapse; for it is the vengeance of the LORD upon her; as she has done to others, so do to her. 16Remove from Babylon the spring planter and the reaper in the time of harvest; for they shall all flee to other lands for fear of the sword.”

17Israel is a scattered flock of sheep that lions have driven away; first the king of Assyria devoured him, and then this Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, has broken Israel’s bones. 18Therefore, the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 19And I will bring back the Israel exiles to their pasture, and they shall graze on Carmel and Bashan, and their soul shall be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead. 20In those days, and in that time”, says the LORD, “the iniquity of Israel shall be looked for, and shall not be found, nor shall the sins of Judah be found; for I will pardon the remnant that I spare. 21Attack the land of Merathaim (country of rebellion), and the inhabitants of Pekod; kill and totally destroy them”, says the LORD, “and do all that I have commanded you. 22The sound of battle and of great destruction is in the land. 23How broken is the hammer of the whole earth! How desolate is Babylon among the nations! 24I have set a trap for you, and you were caught unawares, O Babylon; you were found and captured, because you have challenged the LORD. 25The LORD has opened His arsenal, and has brought out the weapons of His indignation; for this is the work of the LORD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonians). 26Come against her from afar, break open her storehouses; pile her into heaps, and destroy her utterly; leave nothing of her to remain. 27Slay all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their judgment. 28Listen to the refugees who escape from the land of Babylon, as they declare in Zion how the LORD, our God, has taken vengeance for His temple. 29Summon all the archers against Babylon, all that bend the bow, surround her; let none escape. Repay her according to her deeds; as she has done, do to her; for she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

30Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her soldiers shall be killed in that day”, says the LORD. 31“Behold, I am against you, O you most arrogant people”, says the LORD God of hosts; “for your day has come when I will punish you. 32And the most arrogant shall stumble and fall, and none shall help him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall burn all around him”.

33The LORD Almighty says: “The people of both Israel and of Judah were wronged, and all their captors oppressed them; and refused to let them go. 34But their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is His name; He shall vigorously defend their cause, that He may bring rest to their land, and unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

35A sword shall strike the Chaldeans”, says the LORD, “and the inhabitants of Babylon - her officials, and her wise men. 36A sword shall strike her false prophets – liars; and they shall become fools; a sword is against her warriors; and they shall panic. 37A sword shall strike their horses and chariots, and all the foreign people (mercenaries) that are in her ranks; and they shall become feeble; a sword shall strike her treasures; and they shall be looted. 38A drought shall strike her waters; and they shall be dried up; because it is the land of carved images, and they are mad over their idols. 39Therefore, wild desert beasts and hyenas shall dwell there, as well as ostriches; but no people shall live there from generation to generation. 40As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and its surrounding towns”, says the LORD, “so shall no man live there”.

41Look! An army is coming from a great nation in the north, and many kings shall rise against you from the ends of the earth. 42They shall be armed with bow and lance; they are cruel, and show no mercy; their voices roar like the sea as they ride their horses, all in formation, ready to do battle against you, O daughter of Babylon. 43The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his hands became feeble; anguish took hold of him, and pangs like a woman in labor. 44I shall come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the where the strong (rulers) live, but I will cause their defenders to abruptly flee from Babylon. And I will appoint whomever I choose as their leader. For who is like Me? And who will challenge Me? And what shepherd (ruler) can stand before Me? 45Therefore, hear the action that the LORD has planned to take against Babylon; and what He has determined against the land of the Chaldeans. They shall drag the least of the flock out of the pasture; He shall cause their homes to be destroyed and become desolate. 46At the sound of the Babylon’s fall, the earth will tremble – it will resound among the nations.