The Destruction of Babylon

21 Go up against the land of Merathaim,

and against the residents of Pekod.

Kill them [fn] and devote them to destruction.[fn]

Do all that I have commanded you,”

declares the LORD.

22 “The noise of battle is in the land—

the noise of great destruction.

23 How the hammer of the whole earth

lies broken and shattered!

What a horror Babylon has become

among the nations!

24 I laid a snare for you, O Babylon,

and you were caught before you knew it.

You were found and captured

because you challenged the LORD.

25 The LORD has opened His armory

and brought out His weapons of wrath,

for this is the work of the Lord GOD of Hosts

in the land of the Chaldeans.

26 Come against her

from the farthest border.

Break open her granaries;

pile her up like mounds of grain.

Devote her to destruction;

leave her no survivors.

27 Kill all her young bulls;

let them go down to the slaughter.

Woe to them, for their day has come—

the time of their punishment.

28 Listen to the fugitives and refugees

from the land of Babylon,

declaring in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God,

the vengeance for His temple.

29 Summon the archers against Babylon,

all who string the bow.

Encamp all around her;

let no one escape.

Repay her according to her deeds;

do to her as she has done.

For she has defied the LORD,

the Holy One of Israel.

30 Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets,

and all her warriors will be silenced in that day,”

declares the LORD.

31 “Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,”

declares the Lord GOD of Hosts,

“for your day has come,

the time when I will punish you.

32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall

with no one to pick him up.

And I will kindle a fire in his cities

to consume all those around him.”

33 This is what the LORD of Hosts says:

“The sons of Israel are oppressed,

and the sons of Judah as well.

All their captors hold them fast,

refusing to release them.

34 Their Redeemer is strong;

the LORD of Hosts is His name.

He will fervently plead their case

so that He may bring rest to the earth,

but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.

35 A sword is against the Chaldeans,

declares the LORD,

against those who live in Babylon,

and against her officials and wise men.

36 A sword is against her false prophets,

and they will become fools.

A sword is against her warriors,

and they will be filled with terror.

37 A sword is against her horses and chariots

and against all the foreigners in her midst,

and they will become like women.

A sword is against her treasuries,

and they will be plundered.

38 A drought is upon her waters,

and they will be dried up.

For it is a land of graven images,

and the people go mad over idols.[fn]

39 So the desert creatures and hyenas will live there

and ostriches [fn] will dwell there.

It will never again be inhabited

or lived in from generation to generation.

40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah

along with their neighbors,”

declares the LORD,

“no one will dwell there;

no man will abide there.

41 Behold, an army is coming from the north;

a great nation and many kings are stirred up

from the ends of the earth.

42 They grasp the bow and spear;[fn]

they are cruel and merciless.

Their voice roars like the sea,

and they ride upon horses,

lined up like men in formation

against you, O Daughter of Babylon.

43 The king of Babylon has heard the report,

and his hands hang limp.

Anguish has gripped him,

pain like that of a woman in labor.

44 Behold, one will come up like a lion

from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture.

For in an instant I will chase Babylon from her land.

Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this?

For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me?

What shepherd can stand against Me?”

45 Therefore hear the plans

that the LORD has drawn up against Babylon

and the strategies He has devised

against the land of the Chaldeans:

Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away;

certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them.

46 At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will quake;

a cry will be heard among the nations.