9  And behold, here come riders,

horsemen in pairs!”

^fAnd he answered,

^g“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;

^hand all the carved images of her gods

he has shattered to the ground.”

1  ^eCome down and sit in the dust,

O virgin ^fdaughter of Babylon;

^gsit on the ground without a throne,

O daughter of ^hthe Chaldeans!

ⁱFor you shall no more be called

tender and delicate.

2  Take the millstones and ^jgrind flour,

^kput off your veil,

strip off your robe, uncover your legs,

pass through the rivers.

3  Your nakedness shall be uncovered,

and your disgrace shall be seen.

I will take vengeance,

and I will spare no one.

4  ^lOur Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—

is the Holy One of Israel.

5  ^mSit in silence, and go into darkness,

O daughter of ^hthe Chaldeans;

for you shall no more be called

ⁿthe mistress of kingdoms.

6  ^oI was angry with my people;

I profaned my heritage;

I gave them into your hand;

^pyou showed them no mercy;

on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.

7  You said, “I shall be ^qmistress forever,”

so that you did not lay these things to heart

or remember their end.

8  Now therefore hear this, ^qyou lover of pleasures,

^rwho sit securely,

who say in your heart,

^s“I am, and there is no one besides me;

^tI shall not sit as a widow

or know the loss of children”:

9  ^uThese two things shall come to you

in a moment, ^vin one day;

the loss of children and widowhood

shall come upon you in full measure,

^win spite of your many sorceries

and the great power of your enchantments.

10  You felt secure in your wickedness;

you said, “No one sees me”;

your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,

and you said in your heart,

^x“I am, and there is no one besides me.”

11  But evil shall come upon you,

which you will not know how to charm away;

disaster shall fall upon you,

for which you will not be able to atone;

^yand ruin shall come upon you suddenly,

of which you know nothing.

12  ^zStand fast in your enchantments

and your many sorceries,

with which you have labored from your youth;

perhaps you may be able to succeed;

perhaps you may inspire terror.

13  You are wearied with your many counsels;

let them stand forth and save you,

^athose who divide the heavens,

who gaze at the stars,

who at the new moons make known

what shall come upon you.

14  Behold, ^bthey are like stubble;

^cthe fire consumes them;

they cannot deliver themselves

from the power of the flame.

No coal for warming oneself is this,

no fire to sit before!

15  Such to you are those with whom you have labored,

who have done business with you from your youth;

they wander about, each in his own direction;

there is no one to save you.

2  “Declare among the nations and proclaim,

set up a banner and proclaim,

conceal it not, and say:

^e‘Babylon is taken,

^fBel is put to shame,

Merodach is dismayed.

^eHer images are put to shame,

her idols are dismayed.’

11  ^y“Though you rejoice, though you exult,

O plunderers of my heritage,

though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture,

and neigh like stallions,

12  your mother shall be utterly shamed,

and she who bore you shall be disgraced.

Behold, she shall be the last of the nations,

^za wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

13  ^aBecause of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited

but shall be an utter desolation;

^beveryone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled,

^band hiss because of all her wounds.

14  ^cSet yourselves in array against Babylon all around,

^dall you who bend the bow;

shoot at her, spare no arrows,

^efor she has sinned against the Lord.

15  ^fRaise a shout against her all around;

she has surrendered;

her bulwarks have fallen;

^gher walls are thrown down.

For ^hthis is the vengeance of the Lord:

take vengeance on her;

ⁱdo to her as she has done.

16  Cut off from Babylon the sower,

and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest;

^jbecause of the sword of the oppressor,

^kevery one shall turn to his own people,

and every one shall flee to his own land.

21  “Go up against the land of Merathaim,¹

and against the inhabitants of Pekod.²

Kill, ^xand devote them to destruction,³

declares the Lord,

and do all that I have commanded you.

22  ^yThe noise of battle is in the land,

and great destruction!

23  ^zHow the hammer of the whole earth

is cut down and broken!

^aHow Babylon ^bhas become

a horror among the nations!

24  ^cI set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon,

and ^dyou did not know it;

you were found and caught,

because you opposed the Lord.

25  The Lord has opened his armory

and brought out ^ethe weapons of his wrath,

for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do

in the land of the Chaldeans.

26  Come against her from every quarter;

open her granaries;

^fpile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction;

let nothing be left of her.

27  Kill all ^gher bulls;

let them go down to the slaughter.

Woe to them, for their day has come,

^hthe time of their punishment.

31  “Behold, I am against you, O ⁿproud one,

declares the Lord God of hosts,

^pfor your day has come,

the time when I will punish you.

32  ⁿThe proud one shall stumble and fall,

with none to raise him up,

^qand I will kindle a fire in his cities,

and it will devour all that is around him.

35  “A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord,

and against the inhabitants of Babylon,

and against ^wher officials and her ^xwise men!

36  A sword against the diviners,

that they may become fools!

A sword against her ^ywarriors,

that they may be destroyed!

37  A sword against her horses and against her chariots,

and against all ^zthe foreign troops in her midst,

that ^athey may become women!

^bA sword against all her treasures,

that they may be plundered!

38  ^cA drought against her waters,

that they may be dried up!

^dFor it is a land of images,

and they are mad over idols.

41  ^h“Behold, a people comes from the north;

a mighty nation and many kings

are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.

42  They lay hold of bow and spear;

they are cruel and have no mercy.

The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;

they ride on horses,

arrayed as a man for battle

against you, O daughter of Babylon!

43  “The king of Babylon heard the report of them,

and his hands fell helpless;

anguish seized him,

pain as of a woman in labor.

1  Thus says the Lord:

“Behold, I will stir up ⁿthe spirit of a destroyer

against Babylon,

against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai,¹

2  and I will send to Babylon winnowers,

and ^othey shall winnow her,

and they shall empty her land,

when they come against her from every side

^pon the day of trouble.

3  ^qLet not the archer bend his bow,

and let him not stand up in his armor.

Spare not her young men;

^rdevote to destruction² all her army.

4  They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,

^sand wounded in her streets.

5  ^tFor Israel and Judah have not been forsaken

by their God, the Lord of hosts,

but the land of the Chaldeans³ is full of guilt

against the Holy One of Israel.

6  ^u“Flee from the midst of Babylon;

let every one save his life!

^vBe not cut off in her punishment,

^wfor this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance,

the repayment he is rendering her.

7  Babylon was ^xa golden cup in the Lord’s hand,

^ymaking all the earth drunken;

^zthe nations drank of her wine;

therefore the nations went mad.

8  ^aSuddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;

^bwail for her!

^cTake balm for her pain;

perhaps she may be healed.

9  We would have healed Babylon,

but she was not healed.

^dForsake her, and ^elet us go

each to his own country,

for ^fher judgment has reached up to heaven

and has been lifted up even to the skies.

10  ^gThe Lord has brought about our vindication;

^hcome, let us declare in Zion

the work of the Lord our God.

11  ⁱ“Sharpen the arrows!

Take up the shields!

12  ⁿ“Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon;

^omake the watch strong;

set up watchmen;

prepare the ambushes;

^lfor the Lord has both planned and done

what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

13  ^pO you who dwell by many waters,

rich in treasures,

your end has come;

the thread of your life is cut.

14  ^qThe Lord of hosts has sworn by himself:

Surely I will fill you with men, ^ras many as locusts,

^sand they shall raise the shout of victory over you.

15  ^t“It is he who made the earth by his power,

who established the world by his wisdom,

and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

16  When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain,

and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

17  Every man is stupid and without knowledge;

every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,

for his images are false,

and there is no breath in them.

18  They are worthless, a work of delusion;

at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

19  Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,

for he is the one who formed all things,

and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;

the Lord of hosts is his name.

20  “You are my hammer and weapon of war:

with you I ^ubreak nations in pieces;

with you I destroy kingdoms;

21  with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider;

with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer;

22  with you I break in pieces man and woman;

with you I break in pieces ^vthe old man and the youth;

with you I break in pieces ^vthe young man and the young woman;

23  with you I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;

with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team;

with you I break in pieces ^wgovernors and commanders.

25  “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,

declares the Lord,

which destroys the whole earth;

I will stretch out my hand against you,

and roll you down from the crags,

^yand make you a burnt mountain.

26  No ^zstone shall be taken from you for a corner

and no stone for a foundation,

but you shall be ^aa perpetual waste,

declares the Lord.

27  ^b“Set up a standard on the earth;

^cblow the trumpet among the nations;

^dprepare ^ethe nations for war against her;

summon against her ^fthe kingdoms,

^gArarat, Minni, and ^hAshkenaz;

appoint a ⁱmarshal against her;

^jbring up horses like bristling locusts.

28  ^dPrepare ^ethe nations for war against her,

the kings of ^kthe Medes, ^lwith their governors ^land deputies,

and every ^mland under their dominion.

29  ⁿThe land trembles and writhes in pain,

^ofor the Lord’s purposes against Babylon stand,

to make the land of Babylon a desolation,

without inhabitant.

30  The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting;

they remain in their strongholds;

their strength has failed;

^pthey have become women;

^qher dwellings are on fire;

^rher bars are broken.

31  One ^srunner runs to meet another,

and one messenger to meet another,

to tell the king of Babylon

that his city is taken on every side;

32  the fords have been ^tseized,

the marshes are burned with fire,

and the soldiers are in panic.

33  For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

^uThe daughter of Babylon is like ^ua threshing floor

at the time when it is trodden;

yet a little while

and ^vthe time of her harvest will come.”

34  “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon ^whas devoured me;

he has crushed me;

he has made me an empty vessel;

^xhe has swallowed me like ^ya monster;

he has filled his stomach with my delicacies;

he has rinsed me out.⁴

35  The violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon,”

let the inhabitant of Zion say.

“My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”

let Jerusalem say.

36  Therefore thus says the Lord:

“Behold, ^zI will plead your cause

and take vengeance for you.

^aI will dry up her sea

and ^bmake her fountain dry,

37  and Babylon shall become ^ca heap of ruins,

^dthe haunt of jackals,

^ea horror ^eand a hissing,

without inhabitant.

38  ^f“They shall roar together ^glike lions;

they shall growl like lions’ cubs.

39  ^hWhile they are inflamed ^hI will prepare them a feast

and ⁱmake them drunk, that they may become merry,

ⁱthen sleep a perpetual sleep

and not wake, declares the Lord.

40  I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,

like rams and male goats.

41  “How ^jBabylon⁵ is taken,

^kthe praise of the whole earth ^lseized!

How Babylon has become

a horror among the nations!

42  ^mThe sea has come up on Babylon;

she is covered with its tumultuous waves.

43  Her cities have become a horror,

ⁿa land of drought and a desert,

^oa land in which no one dwells,

and through which no son of man passes.

44  And I will punish ^pBel in Babylon,

and ^qtake out of his mouth ^rwhat he has swallowed.

^sThe nations shall no longer flow to him;

^tthe wall of Babylon has fallen.

45  “Go out of the midst of her, ^umy people!

Let every one save his life

from ^vthe fierce anger of the Lord!

46  Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful

^wat the report heard in the land,

^xwhen a report comes in one year

and afterward a report in another year,

and violence is in the land,

^xand ruler is against ruler.

47  “Therefore, behold, the days are coming

when ^yI will punish the images of Babylon;