1 * The Lord told me to say:

Announce what will happen

and don't leave anything out.

2 Raise the signal flags;

shout so all nations can hear—

Babylon will be captured!

Marduk,* Babylon's god,

will be ashamed and terrified,

and his idols broken.

3 The attack on the Babylonians

will come from the north;

they and their animals will run,

leaving the land empty.

4 The Lord said:

People of Israel and Judah,

when these things happen

you will weep, and together

you will return to your land

and worship me,

the Lord your God.

5 You will ask the way to Zion

and then come and join with me

in making an agreement

you won't break or forget.

6 My people, you are lost sheep

abandoned in the mountains

by their shepherds.

You don't even remember

your resting place.

7 I am your true pastureland,

the one who gave hope

to your ancestors.

But you abandoned me,

so when your enemies found you,

they felt no guilt

as they gobbled you up.

8 * Escape from Babylonia,

my people.

Get out of that country!

Don't wait for anyone else.

9 In the north I am bringing

great nations together.

They will attack Babylon

and capture it.

The arrows they shoot

are like the best soldiers,*

always finding their target.

10 Babylonia will be conquered,

and its enemies will carry off

everything they want.

11 People of Babylonia,

you were glad

to rob my people.

You had a good time,

making more noise

than horses

and jumping around

like calves threshing grain.*

12 The city of Babylon

was like a mother to you.

But it will be disgraced

and become nothing

but a barren desert.

13 My anger will destroy Babylon,

and no one will live there.

Everyone who passes by

will be shocked to see

what has happened.

14 Babylon has rebelled against me.

Archers, take your places.

Shoot all your arrows at Babylon.

15 Attack from every side!

Babylon surrenders!

The enemy tears down

its walls and towers.

I am taking my revenge

by doing to Babylon what it did

to other cities.

16 There is no one in Babylonia

to plant or harvest crops.

Even foreigners who lived there

have left for their homelands,

afraid of the enemy armies.

17 Israel is a flock of sheep

scattered by hungry lions.

The king of Assyria*

first gobbled Israel up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar,*

king of Babylonia,

crunched on Israel's bones.

18 I, the Lord All-Powerful,

the God of Israel,

punished the king of Assyria,

and I will also punish

the king of Babylonia.

19 But I will bring Israel

back to its own land.

The people will be like sheep

eating their fill

on Mount Carmel

and in Bashan,

in the hill country of Ephraim

and in Gilead.

20 I will rescue a few people

from Israel and Judah.

I will forgive them so completely

that their sin and guilt

will disappear,

never to be found.

21 The Lord said:

I have told

the enemies of Babylonia,

"Attack the people of Merathaim

and Pekod.*

Kill them all!

Destroy their possessions!"

22 Sounds of war

and the noise of destruction

can be heard.

23 Babylonia was a hammer

pounding every country,

but now it lies broken.

What a shock to the nations

of the world!

24 Babylonia challenged me,

the Lord God All-Powerful,

but that nation doesn't know

it is caught in a trap

that I set.

25 I've brought out my weapons,

and with them I will put a curse

on Babylonia.

26 Come from far away,

you enemies of Babylon!

Pile up the grain

from its storehouses,

and destroy it completely,

along with everything else.

27 Kill the soldiers of Babylonia,

because the time has come

for them to be punished.

28 The Babylonian army

destroyed my temple,

but soon I will take revenge.

Then refugees from Babylon

will tell about it in Zion.

29 * Attack Babylon, enemy archers;

set up camp around the city,

and don't let anyone escape.

It challenged me, the holy God,

so do to it

what it did to other cities.

30 People of Babylon,

I, the Lord, promise

that even your best soldiers

will lie dead in the streets.

31 Babylon, you should be named,

"The Proud One."

But the time has come when I,

the Lord All-Powerful,

will punish you.

32 You are proud,

but you will stumble and fall,

and no one will help you up.

I will set your villages on fire,

and everything around you

will go up in flames.

33 You Babylonians were cruel

to Israel and Judah.

You took them captive, and now

you refuse to let them go.

34 But I, the Lord All-Powerful,

will rescue and protect them.

I will bring peace to their land

and trouble to yours.

35 I have declared war on you,

your officials, and advisors.

36 This war will prove

that your prophets

are liars and fools.

And it will frighten

your warriors.

37 Then your chariot horses

and the foreigners in your army

will refuse to go into battle,

and the enemy will carry away

everything you treasure.

38 Your rivers and canals

will dry up.

All of this will happen,

because your land

is full of idols,

and they have made fools

of you.

39 * Never again will people live

in your land—

only desert animals, jackals,*

and unclean birds.

40 * I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah

and the nearby towns,

and I will destroy Babylon

just as completely.

No one will live there again.

41 Far to the north,

a nation and its allies

have been awakened.

They are powerful

and ready for war.

42 Bows and arrows and swords

are in their hands.

The soldiers are cruel

and show no pity.

The hoofbeats of their horses echo

like ocean waves

crashing against the shore.

The army has lined up for battle

and is coming to attack you,

people of Babylonia!

43 Ever since your king heard

about this army,

he has been weak with fear;

he twists and turns in pain

like a woman giving birth.

44 Babylonia, I will attack you

like a lion from the forest,

attacking sheep in a meadow

along the Jordan.

In a moment the flock runs,

and the land is empty.

Who will I choose to attack you?

I will do it myself!

No one can force me to fight

or chase me away.

45 Listen to my plans for you,

people of Babylonia.

Your children will be dragged off,

and your country destroyed.

46 The sounds of your destruction

will be heard among the nations,

and the earth will shake.