¹⁷ See, I will stir up^(A) against them the Medes,^(B)
    who do not care for silver
    and have no delight in gold.^(C)

Like whirlwinds^(C) sweeping through the southland,^(D)
    an invader comes from the desert,
    from a land of terror.

² A dire^(E) vision has been shown to me:
    The traitor betrays,^(F) the looter takes loot.
Elam,^(G) attack! Media,^(H) lay siege!
    I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.

³ At this my body is racked with pain,^(I)
    pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;^(J)
I am staggered by what I hear,
    I am bewildered^(K) by what I see.
⁴ My heart^(L) falters,
    fear makes me tremble;^(M)
the twilight I longed for
    has become a horror^(N) to me.

⁵ They set the tables,
    they spread the rugs,
    they eat, they drink!^(O)
Get up, you officers,
    oil the shields!^(P)

“Go, post a lookout^(Q)
    and have him report what he sees.
⁷ When he sees chariots^(R)
    with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
    or riders on camels,^(S)
let him be alert,
    fully alert.”

“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
    every night I stay at my post.
⁹ Look, here comes a man in a chariot^(U)
    with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
    ‘Babylon^(V) has fallen,^(W) has fallen!
All the images of its gods^(X)
    lie shattered^(Y) on the ground!’”

¹⁰ My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,^(Z)
    I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
    from the God of Israel.

“See, I will break the bow^(C) of Elam,
    the mainstay of their might.
³⁶ I will bring against Elam the four winds^(D)
    from the four quarters of heaven;^(E)
I will scatter them to the four winds,
    and there will not be a nation
    where Elam’s exiles do not go.
³⁷ I will shatter Elam before their foes,
    before those who want to kill them;
I will bring disaster on them,
    even my fierce anger,”^(F)
declares the Lord.
“I will pursue them with the sword^(G)
    until I have made an end of them.
³⁸ I will set my throne in Elam
    and destroy her king and officials,”
declares the Lord.

³⁹ “Yet I will restore^(H) the fortunes of Elam
    in days to come,”
declares the Lord.

¹¹ “Sharpen the arrows,^(A)
    take up the shields!^(B)
The Lord has stirred up the kings^(C) of the Medes,^(D)
    because his purpose^(E) is to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will take vengeance,^(F)
    vengeance for his temple.^(G)
12 Lift up a banner^(H) against the walls of Babylon!
    Reinforce the guard,
station the watchmen,^(I)
    prepare an ambush!^(J)
The Lord will carry out his purpose,^(K)
    his decree against the people of Babylon.
¹³ You who live by many waters^(L)
    and are rich in treasures,^(M)
your end has come,
    the time for you to be destroyed.^(N)
14 The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself:^(O)
    I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts,^(P)
    and they will shout^(Q) in triumph over you.

¹⁵ “He made the earth by his power;
    he founded the world by his wisdom^(R)
    and stretched^(S) out the heavens by his understanding.^(T)
16 When he thunders,^(U) the waters in the heavens roar;
    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain^(V)
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.^(W)

¹⁷ “Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
    every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;^(X)
    they have no breath in them.
¹⁸ They are worthless,^(Y) the objects of mockery;
    when their judgment comes, they will perish.
¹⁹ He who is the Portion^(Z) of Jacob is not like these,
    for he is the Maker of all things,
including the people of his inheritance^(AA)—
    the Lord Almighty is his name.

²⁰ “You are my war club,^(AB)
    my weapon for battle—
with you I shatter^(AC) nations,^(AD)
    with you I destroy kingdoms,
²¹ with you I shatter horse and rider,^(AE)
    with you I shatter chariot^(AF) and driver,
²² with you I shatter man and woman,
    with you I shatter old man and youth,
    with you I shatter young man and young woman,^(AG)
23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
    with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
    with you I shatter governors and officials.^(AH)

²⁵ “I am against^(AK) you, you destroying mountain,
    you who destroy the whole earth,”^(AL)
declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand^(AM) against you,
    roll you off the cliffs,
    and make you a burned-out mountain.^(AN)
26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
    nor any stone for a foundation,
    for you will be desolate^(AO) forever,”
declares the Lord.

²⁷ “Lift up a banner^(AP) in the land!
    Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
    summon against her these kingdoms:^(AQ)
    Ararat,^(AR) Minni and Ashkenaz.^(AS)
Appoint a commander against her;
    send up horses like a swarm of locusts.^(AT)
28 Prepare the nations for battle against her—
    the kings of the Medes,^(AU)
their governors and all their officials,
    and all the countries they rule.^(AV)
29 The land trembles^(AW) and writhes,
    for the Lord’s purposes^(AX) against Babylon stand—
to lay waste^(AY) the land of Babylon
    so that no one will live there.^(AZ)
30 Babylon’s warriors^(BA) have stopped fighting;
    they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
    they have become weaklings.^(BB)
Her dwellings are set on fire;^(BC)
    the bars^(BD) of her gates are broken.
³¹ One courier^(BE) follows another
    and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
    that his entire city is captured,^(BF)
32 the river crossings seized,
    the marshes set on fire,^(BG)
    and the soldiers terrified.^(BH)”

“Daughter Babylon^(BI) is like a threshing floor^(BJ)
    at the time it is trampled;
    the time to harvest^(BK) her will soon come.^(BL)”

³⁴ “Nebuchadnezzar^(BM) king of Babylon has devoured^(BN) us,^(BO)
    he has thrown us into confusion,
    he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
    and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
    and then has spewed^(BP) us out.
³⁵ May the violence^(BQ) done to our flesh^[b] be on Babylon,”
    say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
    says Jerusalem.^(BR)

“See, I will defend your cause^(BS)
    and avenge^(BT) you;
I will dry up^(BU) her sea
    and make her springs dry.
³⁷ Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
    a haunt^(BV) of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,^(BW)
    a place where no one lives.^(BX)
38 Her people all roar like young lions,^(BY)
    they growl like lion cubs.
³⁹ But while they are aroused,
    I will set out a feast for them
    and make them drunk,^(BZ)
so that they shout with laughter—
    then sleep forever^(CA) and not awake,”
declares the Lord.^(CB)
40 “I will bring them down
    like lambs to the slaughter,
    like rams and goats.^(CC)

⁴¹ “How Sheshak^[c](CD) will be captured,^(CE)
    the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate^(CF) Babylon will be
    among the nations!
⁴² The sea will rise over Babylon;
    its roaring waves^(CG) will cover her.
⁴³ Her towns will be desolate,
    a dry and desert^(CH) land,
a land where no one lives,
    through which no one travels.^(CI)
44 I will punish Bel^(CJ) in Babylon
    and make him spew out^(CK) what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
    And the wall^(CL) of Babylon will fall.

⁴⁵ “Come out^(CM) of her, my people!
    Run^(CN) for your lives!
    Run from the fierce anger^(CO) of the Lord.
⁴⁶ Do not lose heart^(CP) or be afraid^(CQ)
    when rumors^(CR) are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
    rumors of violence in the land
    and of ruler against ruler.
⁴⁷ For the time will surely come
    when I will punish the idols^(CS) of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced^(CT)
    and her slain will all lie fallen within her.^(CU)
48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
    will shout^(CV) for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north^(CW)
    destroyers^(CX) will attack her,”
declares the Lord.

⁴⁹ “Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain,
    just as the slain in all the earth
    have fallen because of Babylon.^(CY)
50 You who have escaped the sword,
    leave^(CZ) and do not linger!
Remember^(DA) the Lord in a distant land,^(DB)
    and call to mind Jerusalem.”

⁵¹ “We are disgraced,^(DC)
    for we have been insulted
    and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
    the holy places of the Lord’s house.”^(DD)

⁵² “But days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will punish her idols,^(DE)
and throughout her land
    the wounded will groan.^(DF)
53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens^(DG)
    and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
    I will send destroyers^(DH) against her,”
declares the Lord.

⁵⁴ “The sound of a cry^(DI) comes from Babylon,
    the sound of great destruction^(DJ)
    from the land of the Babylonians.^[d]
55 The Lord will destroy Babylon;
    he will silence^(DK) her noisy din.
Waves^(DL) of enemies will rage like great waters;
    the roar of their voices will resound.
⁵⁶ A destroyer^(DM) will come against Babylon;
    her warriors will be captured,
    and their bows will be broken.^(DN)
For the Lord is a God of retribution;
    he will repay^(DO) in full.
⁵⁷ I will make her officials^(DP) and wise^(DQ) men drunk,^(DR)
    her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep^(DS) forever and not awake,”
    declares the King,^(DT) whose name is the Lord Almighty.

“Babylon’s thick wall^(DU) will be leveled
    and her high gates^(DV) set on fire;
the peoples^(DW) exhaust^(DX) themselves for nothing,
    the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”^(DY)