Jeremiah 51:24-56

“But now,” YAHWEH says, “you will see with your own eyes how I repay you, Babylon and the Chaldeans, for all the wrongs you have done to Zion. I have become your enemy,” says YAHWEH, “O mountain of destruction, destroyer of the whole world! I will unleash my power against you, send you tumbling to the ground, and turn you into a mountain of soot and ashes. I, YAHWEH, declare: After I am through with you, people will not be able to find any among you to rebuild you, not one foundation stone or cornerstone. You will lie desolate forever.” “Raise up a signal flag throughout the world; sound the war trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations to attack her! Assemble the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, Ashkenaz to make war against her. Appoint a commanding officer to lead her enemies in battle; send multitudes of horsemen like swarms of locusts. Prepare the kings of Media, her governors, all her officials, and all the lands they rule to come make war against Babylon.” Then, when YAHWEH executed his plan against Babylon, the earth trembled and convulsed. He determined to make Babylon an uninhabited desert. Babylon’s warriors had enough of fighting, so they stayed inside their forts. With their courage melted away, they have been left like ordinary civilians. Their city gates have been broken through, and her houses are on fire. Courier after courier, messenger after messenger, runs to inform the king of Babylon: One says, “Your city has been taken from every side.” Another says, “The river crossings have been overrun.” And another, “The thickets and reed marshes have all been burned.” And yet another one says, “All your fighting men are gripped with panic.” For YAHWEH, the God of Israel, Commander of Angel Armies, says to you: “When people trample down the threshing place, the time of threshing is not far off. The time to harvest Fair Babylon is almost here!” Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, devoured us, chewed us up, and consumed us like a hungry man consumes a meal. Like a monster he swallowed us whole, filled his belly with our delicacies and then expelled us. Let the people of Zion say, “May the violence done to our people fall upon Babylon!” Let Jerusalem say, “May the Chaldeans pay for the crime of shedding my blood!” YAHWEH This is what YAHWEH says: “Look, I am taking up your cause to make sure you are avenged. I will dry up her water source and make her rivers run dry. Babylon will be reduced to a pile of ruins, the haunt of jackals, a thing of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives. Like lions, the Babylonians all roar over their prey; they growl like lions’ cubs. Are they ready to feast? I will prepare them a drink that will make them drunk. They will drink themselves tipsy and fall into an everlasting sleep,” declares YAHWEH. “I will lead these proud lions down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats to be sacrificed.” “What! Has the great city of Babylon been taken? Has the pride of the whole world been seized? Babylon has become an object of horror throughout the nations. The sea has risen over Babylon; she sinks beneath its crashing waves. Her nearby towns have become desolate, a parched land, a desert where no one lives and where nobody goes. I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon, and make him give back what he has stolen. The people will no longer stream to him to bring him their offering. The walls of Babylon have fallen.” YAHWEH “Leave Babylon behind, my people. Each of you, save your lives from YAHWEH’s furious anger. But make sure that you are not discouraged. Do not worry about the many conspiracy theories that are being circulated throughout the country. For every year a different rumor spreads— rumors of violence, rumors of one king fighting another. “Behold, the days are coming when I will punish Babylon’s ‘gods.’ Her entire country will be humiliated, with all her slaughtered lying in the streets. Creation itself will sing for joy over Babylon’s demise. Destroyers from the north will attack her,” declares YAHWEH. “For people throughout the world have been slain by Babylon. And now, because of Israel’s slaughtered ones, Babylon will fall.” YAHWEH “You who have escaped with your life, do not wait to leave Babylon behind. Remember YAHWEH your God in a distant land, and let your thoughts turn to beautiful Jerusalem.” “We were mocked and ashamed; we were covered with disgrace because foreigners had entered the temple of YAHWEH’s holy places.” YAHWEH declares, “Behold, the days are coming when I will punish Babylon’s ‘gods,’ and throughout the land, wounded people will be groaning in pain. I, YAHWEH, say, even if Babylon should climb up to the sky, and entrench herself in an inaccessible height, I would still call her enemies to destroy her.” “Listen! The voice of a shout from Babylon. It is a noise of great destruction coming from the country of the Chaldeans. I am attacking Babylon and will destroy her and will silence the noise of the city. The enemy armies rush in like roaring waves and attack with shouts and battle cries. An enemy has come to destroy Babylon. They have captured Babylon’s soldiers and broken their bows into pieces. For YAHWEH is a God of recompense; he never fails to repay.