JEREMIAH.
50.
Yahweh gave to  me, Jeremiah the prophet, a message about Babylon  city and the country of Babylonia. 
 This is what Yahweh says: “Proclaim DOU  a message among the nations; do not withhold any of it; raise up a signal flag to announce that Babylon will be captured.  Its chief god Marduk,  whose other name is Bel, will be completely disgraced, and all the  other statues and idols will be shattered. 
 The army of a nation will come from the north to attack Babylon and destroy the city very thoroughly,  with the result that no one will live there  again. Both people and animals will run away.” 
“But  I, Yahweh, say that in the future, when that is about to happen, the people of Israel and the people of Judah will join together. They will be weeping and wanting  to worship me, their God. 
They will inquire about the road to Jerusalem,  and then they will start traveling IDM toward it. They will say  to each other, ‘We must return to Yahweh  again!’ They will make an everlasting agreement with me that they will never forget. 
My people have been  like MET lost sheep. Their  leaders/rulers have caused them  to abandon me like MET shepherds who have allowed their sheep to wander in the hills and mountains.  My people are like MET sheep that do not know the path to return to the sheepfold. 
All their enemies who found them attacked them. They said, ‘We did not sin  by attacking them, because they sinned against Yahweh; he is the one who provides what they need; he is the one to whom they should have remained faithful; he is the one whom their ancestors confidently expected  to help them.’ 
 But now, I say to the leaders of my people, ‘Flee from Babylon! Leave the land of Babylonia! Be like SIM male goats  that go in front of  the rest of the flock;  lead my people back to their own land. 
 Do that because I am going to gather an army of great nations to the north  of Babylon. They will join together to attack Babylon and will capture it. Their arrows will be like SIM skilled warriors that always hit what they aim at. 
Babylonia will be conquered, and those who conquer it will take away everything they want.  That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’ ” 
“You people  of Babylon who ◄plundered/stole everything valuable from► my chosen people, now you are very happy DOU. You run around joyfully like SIM a calf in a meadow, and are happy like SIM male horses are happy when they are neighing. 
But  soon your people will be very disgraced DOU  as a result of being conquered. Your country will be the most insignificant nation; it will be a desert, a dry and deserted land. 
Because  I, Yahweh, am angry  with you people of Babylon, I will cause your city to become completely deserted. All who pass by will be horrified and will ◄gasp/be shocked► because of the destruction there. 
 All you nations that surround Babylon, prepare to attack it! Tell your archers to shoot at their enemies; shoot all of your arrows at them LIT, because  the people/leaders of Babylon have sinned against me, Yahweh. 
Shout war-cries against Babylon from all sides  of the city.  The soldiers of Babylon will surrender; the towers and walls will be torn down. It is  I, Yahweh, who will be getting revenge  on the people of Babylon,  so help me to get revenge. Do to  the people of Babylon what they have done to others! 
Take away from Babylon those who plant  crops and those who reap the harvests! Because of the swords carried by those who will attack  Babylon,  those people in Babylon who have come from other countries should all run away, back to their own countries DOU!” 
“The Israeli  people are  like MET sheep that have been scattered by lions. First  the army of the King of Assyria defeated them. Then  the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon smashed them. 
So this is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israeli people  worship, say: ‘Now I will punish the King of Babylon and the people of his land, like I punished the King of Assyria. 
And I will bring the people of Israel back to their own land where they will eat  the food that grows in the fields of the Carmel and Bashan  regions, and  the people in the hilly areas of Ephraim and Gilead will have all they want to eat. 
At that time, there will not be people in Israel and in Judah who  are still guilty for having sinned DOU, because I will forgive the small group of people whom I enable to still be alive.’” 
“ 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. 
Shout your battle cries throughout the land; shout  when you are causing great destruction. 
 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.’ 
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. 
 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. 
 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. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
The young men of Babylon will fall in the streets; all their soldiers will be killed in one day. 
 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. 
 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.’ 
 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. 
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. 
 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. 
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. 
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. 
 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. 
 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. 
 I will destroy Babylon like I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns; no one will  ever live there  again DOU. 
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. 
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. 
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.” 
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. 
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. 
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.’ ”