2 “Declare among the nations and proclaim,
Proclaim, you must not conceal it.
Say, ‘Babylon is captured,
her idols are ashamed,
3 For a nation will come up against her from the north.
It will make her land as a horror,
From humans[fn] to animals[fn] they all will wander off.
4 In those days and in that time,’ ” declares[fn] Yahweh,
“the people[fn] of Israel will come,
they and the people[fn] of Judah together.
Weeping as they go ,[fn] they will go,
5 They will ask the way to Zion,
They will come and join themselves to Yahweh
by an everlasting covenant[fn] that will not be forgotten.
6 My people have become lost sheep,
They led them away to the mountains.
From mountain to hill they have gone,
7 All those who found them have devoured them.
because[fn] they have sinned against Yahweh, the true pasture ,[fn]
even Yahweh, the hope of their ancestors.’[fn]
8 Flee from the midst of Babylon,
Go out and be like he-goats
9 For look, I am going to stir up,
a contingent of great nations
And they will draw up a battle formation against her,
Their arrows are like a warrior who has achieved success,
10 And Chaldea will be as booty,
all those who plunder her will be satisfied,” declares[fn] Yahweh.
11 “Though you rejoice, though you exult,
though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass,
12 your mother will be very ashamed.
She who gave birth to you will be humiliated.[fn]
Look, she will be the least of the nations,
a desert,[fn] dry land, and wilderness.[fn]
13 Because of the anger of Yahweh she will not be inhabited,
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled
14 Draw up a battle formation at Babylon all around,
You must not spare arrows,[fn]
15 Raise a war cry against her on all sides.
She has surrendered .[fn]
Her towers have fallen,
For this is the vengeance of Yahweh.
As she has done to others,
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon,
Because of[fn] the sword of the oppressor
17 Israel is a sheep scattered,
The first who devoured it was the king of Assyria,
“Look, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land
19 And I will restore Israel to its pasture,
and on the hills[fn] of Ephraim, and in Gilead
20 In those days and at that time,” declares[fn] Yahweh,
and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found,
21 To the land of Merathaim,
and against the inhabitants of Pekod,
massacre and destroy them,” declares[fn] Yahweh,
“and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 The sound of battle is in the land,
23 How the blacksmith’s hammer of all the earth is cut down and broken!
24 I laid a bird snare for you, and you were caught, O Babylon.
You were discovered and seized,
25 Yahweh has opened his armory,
for it is a word for my Lord Yahweh of hosts
26 Come against her from the end,
Pile her up like heaps and destroy her.
27 Massacre all her bulls,
Woe to them, for their day has come,
28 There is the sound of fugitives and survivors
to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God,
29 Summon archers against Babylon,
Encamp all around her,
Take revenge on her according to her deeds.
For against Yahweh she has behaved insolently,
30 Therefore[fn] her young men will fall in her public squares,
and all her soldiers[fn] will perish on that day,” declares[fn] Yahweh.
31 “Look, I am against you, O arrogant one,”
declares[fn] Lord Yahweh of hosts,
“for your day has come,
32 And the arrogant one will stumble and fall,
And I will kindle a fire in his cities,
“The people[fn] of Israel are oppressed,
and the people[fn] of Judah likewise,
for[fn] all their captors have seized them,
34 Their redeemer is strong,
Surely he will plead their case,
but to cause unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares[fn] Yahweh,
and against her officials,
36 A sword against the oracle priests,
A sword against her warriors,
37 A sword against his horses,
and against his chariots,[fn]
and against all the foreign troops who are in the midst of her,
A sword against her treasures,
38 A drought will come against her waters,
for it is a land of images,
39 Therefore[fn] desert creatures will live there[fn] with jackals,
and daughters of ostriches[fn] will inhabit her.
And she will not be inhabited again forever ,[fn]
and she will not be dwelt in for all generations .[fn]
40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighbors,” declares[fn] Yahweh,
“no one will live there,
41 Look, a people is about to come
and a great nation and many kings are woken up
42 They keep hold of bow and short sword.
Their sound is like the sea, it roars,
Drawn up for battle as a man for the battle,
43 The king of Babylon heard their report
Anxiety has seized him,
44 Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets[fn] of the Jordan
against a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream ,[fn]
so I will chase them away quickly[fn] from her,
For who is like me, and who can summon me,
and who is this shepherd who can stand before me ?[fn]
45 Therefore[fn] hear the plan of Yahweh
and his plans
Surely[fn] they will drag them away,
Surely[fn] he will cause their grazing place
46 At the sound, ‘Babylon has been captured,’
and a cry for help among the nations
“Look, I am going to stir up against Babylon
2 And I will send winnowers to Babylon,
and they will lay waste her land,
3 Let not him who bends the bow shoot his bow,
And you must not spare her young men;
4 And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
5 For neither Israel nor Judah is a widower from their God,
though their land is full of guilt
6 Flee from the midst of Babylon and save each one his life.
For this is the time of vengeance for Yahweh,
7 Babylon was a cup of gold in the hand of Yahweh,
The nations drank of her wine.
Therefore[fn] the nations acted like madmen.
8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and she is shattered.
Take balm for her wounds,
9 We tried to heal Babylon, and she was not healed.
for her judgment has reached to the heavens,
10 Yahweh has brought forth our vindication.
11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
Because his plan concerning Babylon is to destroy it,
12 Against the walls of Babylon raise a banner;
post a strong watch ,[fn] post watchmen, prepare the ambushes,
for Yahweh has both planned as well as performed
13 O you who live by mighty waters, rich in treasures,
your end has come, the measure of your life .[fn]
14 Yahweh of hosts has sworn by himself,
15 He is the one who made the earth by his power,
16 At the giving of his voice
and he causes the patches of mist
He makes lightning for the rain,
17 All humankind turns out to be stupid,
Every goldsmith is put to shame
For his cast image is a lie,
-
At the time of their punishment,
19 The portion of Jacob is not like these,
Yahweh of hosts is his name.
20 He says, “You are a war club for me,
and I smash nations with you,
21 And I smash the horse with you,
and I smash the chariot with you,
22 And I smash man and woman with you,
and I smash the old man and the boy with you,
and I smash the young man and the young woman with you.
23 And I smash the shepherd and his flock with you,
24 And I will repay Babylon,
all their wickedness that they have done in Zion
before your eyes,” declares[fn] Yahweh.
25 “Look, I am against you,
And I will stretch out my hand against you,
26 They will not take from you
and a stone for a foundation,
for you will be an everlasting desolation ,”[fn] declares[fn] Yahweh.
27 Raise a banner in the land;
prepare for holy war against her;
the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz;
28 Prepare the nations for holy war against her,
with their governors and all their officials,
29 And the land quakes and writhes,
to make the land of Babylon as a horror,
30 The warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight,
their power has dried up,
Her dwelling places are set on fire,
31 one runner runs to meet another runner,
to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been captured,
32 And the fords have been seized,
“Look, I am going to contend your case,
and I will cause her sea to dry up,
37 And Babylon will become as a heap of stones,
an object of horror, and an object of hissing,
38 They will roar together like the young lions,
39 At their becoming hot I will set their banquets,
so that they will fall into a swoon,
and they will sleep an everlasting sleep ,[fn]
and they will not wake up,” declares[fn] Yahweh.
40 “I will bring them down like young rams to slaughter,
41 How Sheshach is captured,
How Babylon has become as an object of horror
42 The sea has risen over Babylon,
43 Her cities have become as an object of horror,
a dry land and a wilderness,[fn]
a land in which no person lives,
44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon,
and I will wrench out from his mouth what he has swallowed .[fn]
And the nations will not stream towards him any longer
what’s worse ,[fn] the wall of Babylon has fallen.
45 Come out from her midst, my people,
46 Now so that you are not fainthearted ,[fn]
and you are afraid at the rumors[fn] that are heard in the land—
and in the year the rumor comes,
and violence is in the land,
47 therefore[fn] look, days are coming,
and all her land will be put to shame,
48 Then the heaven and the earth and all that is in them
for from the north
the destroyers will come to it,” declares[fn] Yahweh.
49 Babylon must fall not only because of the slain ones of Israel,
50 Survivors of the sword, go!
Remember Yahweh from far away,
and let Jerusalem come to your mind .[fn]
-
for we have heard taunts,[fn]
disgrace covers our faces,
52 “ Therefore[fn] look, days are coming,” declares[fn] Yahweh,
53 Though Babylon goes up to the heavens,
54 The sound of a cry for help from Babylon,
55 For Yahweh is devastating Babylon,
and he obliterates her loud noise[fn] from her.
Their waves roar like mighty waters,
the roar of their voices[fn] resounds.
56 For a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
Their bows are broken;
57 “And I will make drunk her officials, and her wise men,
and they will sleep an everlasting sleep ,[fn]
declares[fn] the King, Yahweh of hosts is his name.
The Open English Translation (OET) main site is at OpenEnglishTranslation.Bible or OET.Bible.