1The word that Yehovah spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet. 2Declare 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. 3For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell in it: they have fled, they are gone, both man and beast. 4In those days, and in that time, says Yehovah, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek Yehovah their God. 5They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces toward it, saying, Come, and join yourselves to Yehovah in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten. 6My 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. 7All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yehovah, the habitation of righteousness, even Yehovah, the hope of their fathers. 8Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flocks. 9For, behold, 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 of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain. 10And Chaldea shall be a prey: all who prey upon her shall be satisfied, says Yehovah. 11Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses; 12your mother shall be utterly put to shame; she who bore you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the last of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. 13Because of the wrath of Yehovah she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. 14Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against Yehovah. 15Shout against her all around: she has submitted herself; her bulwarks have fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Yehovah: take vengeance upon her; as she has done, do to her. 16Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who 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. 17Israel 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. 18Therefore thus says Yehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 19And I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. 20In those days, and in that time, says Yehovah, 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 those whom I leave as a remnant. 21Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: slay and utterly destroy after them, says Yehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded you. 22A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. 23How the hammer of the whole earth is cut apart and broken! how Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! 24I 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 Yehovah. 25Yehovah has opened his armory, and has brought out the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Yehovah of hosts, has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans. 26Come against her from the utmost border; open her storehouses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left. 27Slay all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! for their day has come, the time of their visitation. 28The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yehovah our God, the vengeance of his temple. 29Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow; encamp against her all around; let none of them escape: repay her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against Yehovah, against the Holy One of Israel. 30Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says Yehovah. 31Behold, I am against you, O proud one, says the Lord, Yehovah of hosts; for your day has come, the time that I will visit you. 32And the proud one shall stumble and fall, and no one shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are around him. 33Thus says Yehovah of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all who took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go. 34Their Redeemer is strong; Yehovah 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. 35A sword is upon the Chaldeans, says Yehovah, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. 36A sword is upon the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed. 37A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people who are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed. 38A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad over idols. 39Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell in it: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. 40As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, says Yehovah, so no man shall dwell there, nor shall any son of man sojourn in it. 41Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. 42They lay hold of bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride upon horses, every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon. 43The king of Babylon has heard the report of them, and his hands grow feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in labor. 44Behold, the enemy shall come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him I will appoint over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd who can stand before me? 45Therefore hear the counsel of Yehovah, which he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, which 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. 46At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations.