Jeremiah 51:1-16

YAHWEH says, “I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer to fight against Babylon and the heart of my enemies. I will bring foreigners against Babylon to winnow her and plunder her country. They will attack her on every side in the day of her disaster. Shoot down all their archers and all their proud warriors dressed in armor. Do not spare her soldiers! Destroy her entire army! The slaughtered will fall throughout the land of the Chaldeans. They will be wounded and die in their city streets. Remember, your God, YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, has not forsaken Israel and Judah even though the land is awash with their sins against me, the Holy One of Israel. Flee from Babylon! Save your lives! Don’t you perish when I punish her for her guilt; the time of revenge is here. Now YAHWEH will pay her back for what she has done. Babylon was like a golden cup in YAHWEH’s hand; she made the whole world drunk. The nations drank her wine and then went mad. Suddenly the cup of Babylon falls to the ground and is shattered. Wail for her! Get medicine for her wounds; perhaps she can be cured. They said, ‘We tried to heal Babylon but failed. She can’t be healed, so let’s each go to our own country. For her judgment has reached up to heaven and rises to the very clouds. YAHWEH has judged in our favor. Come, let us tell the news in Zion, all the wonders that YAHWEH our God has done!’ ” YAHWEH has stirred up a spirit of hostility in the king of the Medes because YAHWEH’s plan is to destroy Babylon. This is YAHWEH’s revenge for destroying his temple. “Sharpen the arrows; fill up your quivers! Give the signal to attack Babylon’s walls! Post sentries and reinforce the guards! Prepare a surprise attack! YAHWEH has done what he said he would do to the people of Babylon. You who are enthroned beside many rivers and canals and are rich in treasures, your end has come. The thread of your life is cut. For I have sworn by my great name, YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, that I will fill your land with warriors as a swarm of locusts, and they will raise up the victory shout over you.” YAHWEH made the earth by his glorious power and firmly established it by his great wisdom. His skill stretched out the sky. When he speaks, a roar is released in the waters of heaven. Clouds rise from the far-off horizons. He unleashes on the earth from his storehouses, rain, lightning bolts, and stormy winds.