Jeremiah 50:21-46

¶“Go against [Babylon] the land of Merathaim (Double Rebellion), Go up against it and against the people of Pekod (Punishment). Kill and utterly destroy them,” says the LORD, “And do everything that I have commanded you.” “The noise of battle is in the land, And [the noise of] great destruction. “How the hammer of the whole earth Is crushed and broken! How Babylon has become A horror [of desolation] among the nations! “I set a trap for you and you also were caught, O Babylon, And you did not know it; You have been found and also seized Because you have struggled against the LORD.” The LORD has opened His armory And has brought out [the nations who unknowingly are] the weapons of His indignation (wrath), For it is a work of the Lord GOD of hosts In the land of the Chaldeans. Come against her from the farthest border. Open her storehouses; Pile it up like heaps of rubbish. Burn and destroy her completely; Let nothing be left of her. Kill all her young bulls [her strength—her young men]; Let them go down to the slaughter! Woe (judgment is coming) to the Chaldeans, for their day has come, The time of their punishment. ¶Listen to the voice of the refugees who flee and escape from the land of Babylon, Proclaiming in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, The vengeance [of the LORD against the Chaldeans] for [plundering and destroying] His temple. ¶“Call together many [archers] against Babylon, All those who bend the bow. Encamp against her on every side; Let no one from there escape. Repay her according to her actions; Just as she has done, do to her. For she has been proudly defiant and presumptuous against the LORD, Against the Holy One of Israel. “Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, And all her soldiers will be destroyed on that day,” says the LORD. “Behold, I am against you, [O Babylon, you] arrogant one, [you who are pride and presumption personified],” Says the Lord GOD of hosts, “For your day has come, The time when I will punish you. “The arrogant (proud) one will stumble and fall With no one to raise him up; And I will set fire to his cities And it will devour all who are around him.” ¶Thus says the LORD of hosts, “The children of Israel are oppressed, And the children of Judah as well; And all who took them captive have held them tightly, They have refused to let them go. “Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is His name. He will most certainly plead their case and defend their cause So that He may bring rest to their land, But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon. “A sword against the Chaldeans,” says the LORD, “And against the inhabitants of Babylon And against her princes (officials, civic rulers) and against her wise men (astrologers, religious rulers)! “A sword against the oracle priests (the babbling liars), and they will become fools! A sword against her mighty warriors, and they will be shattered and destroyed! “A sword against their horses and against their chariots And against all the foreign troops that are in her midst, And they will become [as weak and defenseless as] women! A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered! “A drought on her waters, and they will dry up! For it is a land of [worthless] idols, And they are mad over fearsome idols [those objects of terror in which they foolishly trust]. ¶“Therefore wild beasts of the desert will live there [in Babylon] with the jackals; The ostriches also will live there, And it will never again be inhabited [with people] Or lived in from generation to generation. [Is 13:20-22] “As when God overthrew Sodom And Gomorrah and their neighboring cities,” says the LORD, “So no man will live there; Nor shall any son of man live there.” [Jer 49:18] ¶“Behold, a people is coming from the north, And a great nation and many kings Will be stirring from the remote parts of the earth. “They seize their bow and spear; They are cruel and have no compassion. They sound like the roaring of the sea; They ride on horses, Every man equipped like a man [ready] for the battle Against you, O Daughter of Babylon. “The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, And his hands fall limp and helpless; Anguish has seized him, And agony like that of a woman in childbirth. “See, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan against the enduring habitation [of Babylon] and its watered pastures; for in an instant I will make Babylon run from his land. I will appoint over Babylon the one whom I choose. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me [into court] and prosecute Me [for this]? Who is the [earthly] shepherd who can stand [defiantly] before Me?” [Jer 49:19] Therefore hear the plan of the LORD which He has devised against Babylon, and hear what He has purposed against [the inhabitants of the land of] the Chaldeans: surely they will be dragged away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their habitation desolate because of them. At the shout, “Babylon has been seized!” the earth quakes, and an outcry is heard among the nations.