God’s punishment on Babylon

21 “So, I, Yahweh, say to the enemies of Babylonia,‘Attack the people who live in the Merathaim region

and the people in the Pekod region of Babylonia.

Pursue them, kill them, and completely get rid of them,

as I have commanded you to do.

22 Shout your battle cries throughout the land;

shout when you are causing great destruction.

23 The army of Babylon is like [MET] the most powerful hammer on the earth,

but it will be completely shattered.

Babylon will be deserted among the other nations.’

24 You people of Babylon, listen,

because I have set a trap for you;

you will be caught in that trap,

because you fought against me.

25 It is as though I have opened the place where I store my weapons,

and I have brought out all the weapons

to use against the people with whom I am angry.

I, the Commander of the armies of angels, have a lot of work to do

to punish the people of Babylonia.

26 So, you enemies of Babylonia, come from distant lands and attack it.

Break open the places where they store the grain.

Crush the walls of the city and the houses

and pile up the rubble like [SIM] heaps of grain.

Destroy everything;

do not leave anything that is not destroyed.

27 Destroy all the young men who are as strong as [MET] bulls;

take them to where you will slaughter them.

It will be terrible for them,

because it will be time for them to be punished.

28 Listen to the people who have fled and escaped from Babylon

while they tell in Jerusalem how I, Yahweh, have gotten revenge against those who destroyed my temple in Jerusalem.

29 Summon archers [DOU] to come to attack Babylon;

surround the city

in order that no one will escape.

Do to the people of Babylon what they have done to others [DOU],

because they have defied me, the Holy One of the Israeli people.

30 The young men of Babylon will fall in the streets;

all their soldiers will be killed in one day.

31 I, the Commander of the armies of angels, say this:

‘You arrogant/proud people,

it is now the time;

it is the time [DOU] when I will punish you.

32 Your land is full of proud people,

but you will stumble and fall,

and no one will lift you up again.

I will light a fire in the cities in Babylonia

that will burn up everything that is nearby.’

33 I, the Commander of the armies of angels, also say this:

‘The people of Israel and Judah were ◄oppressed/treated cruelly►;

those who captured them guarded them carefully and would not allow them to leave Babylon.

34 But I am strong, and I will free them.

I am the Commander of the armies of angels;

I will defend my people

and enable them to return to their land where they will have peace,

but the people of Babylonia will not have peace.

35 I will send enemy soldiers carrying swords [PRS] to strike the people of Babylonia;

they will strike the officials and wise men

and all the other people who live in Babylon.

36 They will strike their false prophets with swords

and they will become foolish.

They will strike the strongest warriors of Babylonia,

and they will all be terrified.

37 They will strike their horses and chariots

and the foreigners who are in the army of Babylonia,

and they will all become as weak as [MET] women.

They will seize [MTY] all the valuable things there in Babylon

and take them away.

38 I will cause the streams to become dry.

I will do all those things because the entire land of Babylonia is filled with idols,

and those horrible idols have caused the people who worship them to become crazy.

39 Soon only hyenas and other wild creatures will live there;

and it will be a place where owls live.

People will never live there again;

it will be uninhabited forever [DOU].

40 I will destroy Babylon like I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns;

no one will ever live there again [DOU].

41 Look! A great army will come from the north.

A great nation far away with many kings is preparing to attack you people of Babylon.

42 Their army has bows and arrows and spears;

they are very cruel, and do not act mercifully to anyone.

As they ride along on their horses,

the sound of the horses’ hooves is like [SIM] the roaring of the ocean waves;

they are riding in battle formation

to attack you, you people of Babylon.

43 The King of Babylon says,

“I have heard reports about the enemy approaching;

so I am very frightened, with the result that I am weak.

I am very fearful, and anguished/worried,

like [SIM] a woman who is about to give birth to a baby.”

44 I, Yahweh, will come to Babylon suddenly like a lion comes out of the jungle

and leaps on the sheep that are eating the good pastureland.

I will quickly chase the people of Babylonia from their land.

And then I will appoint for them a leader whom I will choose;

I will do that because there is no one [RHQ] like me who can say that what I have done is not right.

No ruler can [RHQ] oppose me.

45 Listen to what I have planned to do to the people of Babylon city and the rest of Babylonia:

even the little children will be dragged away,

and I will completely destroy the people [MET] who live there.

46 When Babylon is destroyed, the noise will be extremely loud,

with the result that the earth will shake,

and the wailing of the people will be heard by the people of other nations.’ ”