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¹ The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.² Declare among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and do not conceal: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed; her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.³ For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they have fled, they have gone, both man and beast.⁴ In those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, the sons of Israel shall come, they and the sons of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek Yahweh their God.⁵ They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces toward there, [saying], Come, and join yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.⁶ My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting-place.⁷ All that found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation of righteousness, even Yahweh, the hope of their fathers.⁸ Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks.

⁹ For, look, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as a mighty man taking away children, they shall not return in vain.¹⁰ And Chaldea shall be a prey: all that prey on her shall be satisfied, says Yahweh.¹¹ Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you that plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out [the grain], and neigh as strong horses;¹² your mother shall be completely put to shame; she that bore you shall be confounded: look, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.¹³ Because of the wrath of Yahweh she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: every one that goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.¹⁴ Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all you that bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against Yahweh.¹⁵ Shout against her round about: she has submitted herself; her bulwarks have fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Yahweh: take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her.¹⁶ Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handles the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.¹⁷ Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.¹⁸ Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: Look, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.¹⁹ And I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.²⁰ In those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.

²¹ Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: slay and completely destroy after them, says Yahweh, and do according to all that I have commanded you.²² A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.²³ How is the hammer of the whole earth cut apart and broken! how has Babylon become a desolation among the nations!²⁴ I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, O Babylon, and you were not aware: you are found, and also caught, because you have striven against Yahweh.²⁵ Yahweh has opened his armory, and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, has a work [to do] in the land of the Chaldeans.²⁶ Come against her from the utmost border; open her store-houses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her completely; let nothing of her be left.²⁷ Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! for their day has come, the time of their visitation.²⁸ The voice of those that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God, the vengeance of his temple.²⁹ Call together the archers against Babylon, all those that bend the bow; encamp against her round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against Yahweh, against the Holy One of Israel.³⁰ Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says Yahweh.³¹ Look, I am against you, O you proud one, says the Lord, Yahweh of hosts; for your day has come, the time that I will visit you.³² And the proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all that are round about him.

³³ Thus says Yahweh of hosts: The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah are oppressed together; and all that took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go.³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong; Yahweh of hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.³⁵ A sword is on the Chaldeans, says Yahweh, and on the inhabitants of Babylon, and on her princes, and on her wise men.³⁶ A sword is on the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.³⁷ A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is on her treasures, and they shall be robbed.³⁸ A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad over idols.³⁹ Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be inhabited no more forever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.⁴⁰ As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says Yahweh, so a man shall not dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.⁴¹ Look, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.⁴² They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon.⁴³ The king of Babylon has heard the tidings of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail.⁴⁴ Look, [the enemy] shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd that can stand before me?⁴⁵ Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.⁴⁶ At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations.