1The word that LORD spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet. 2Declare ye among the nations and publish, and set up a standard, publish, and conceal not. Say, Babylon is taken. Bel is put to shame. Merodach is dismayed. Her images are put to shame; her idols are dismayed. 3For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein. They are fled. They are gone, both man and beast. 4In those days, and in that time, says LORD, the sons of Israel shall come, they and the sons of Judah together. They shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek LORD their God. 5They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces toward it, [saying], Come ye, and join yourselves to LORD in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten. 6My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting-place. 7All who found them have devoured them, and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against LORD, the habitation of righteousness, even LORD, the hope of their fathers. 8Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks. 9For, lo, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country, and they shall set themselves in array against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows shall be as of an exper 10And Chaldea shall be a prey. All who prey upon her shall be satisfied, says LORD. 11Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye who plunder my heritage, because ye are wanton as a heifer that treads out [the grain], and neigh as strong horses, 12your mother shall be utterly put to shame. She who bore you shall be confounded. Behold, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. 13Because of the wrath of LORD she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. 14Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all ye who bend the bow. Shoot at her; spare no arrows. For she has sinned against LORD. 15Shout against her round about. She has submitted herself. Her bulwarks are fallen. Her walls are thrown down. For it is the vengeance of LORD. Take vengeance upon her. As she has done, do to her. 16Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn each one to his people, and they shall flee each one to his own land. 17Israel is a hunted sheep, the lions have driven him away. First, the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones. 18Therefore thus says LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 19And I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. 20In those days, and in that time, says LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found. For I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant. 21Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and utterly destroy after them, says LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. 22A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. 23How the hammer of the whole earth is cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! 24I have laid a snare for thee, and thou are also taken, O Babylon, and thou were not aware. Thou are found, and also caught, because thou have striven against LORD. 25LORD has opened his armory, and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation, for the Lord, LORD of hosts, has a work in the land of the Chaldeans. 26Come against her from the utmost border. Open her store-houses. Cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left. 27Kill all her bullocks. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation. 28The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple. 29Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp against her round about; let none thereof escape. Recompense her according to her work. According to all that she has done, do to her. For she has been p 30Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says LORD. 31Behold, I am against thee, O thou proud one, says the Lord, LORD of hosts, for thy day has come, the time that I will visit thee. 32And the proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are round about him. 33Thus says LORD of hosts: The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah are oppressed together, and all who took them captive hold them firm; they refuse to let them go. 34Their Redeemer is strong. LORD of hosts is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. 35A sword is upon the Chaldeans, says LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her rulers, and upon her wise men. 36A sword is upon the boasters, and they shall become fools. A sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed. 37A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mixed people who are in the midst of her, and they shall become as women. A sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed. 38A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and they are mad over idols. 39Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein. And it shall no more be inhabited forever, nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. 40As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says LORD, so shall no man dwell there, nor shall any son of man sojourn in it. 41Behold, a people comes from the north, and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the outermost parts of the earth. 42They lay hold on bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, each one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. 43The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken hold of him, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail. 44Behold, [the enemy] shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation. For I will suddenly make them run away from it, and he who is chosen, him I will appoint over it. For who is like me, and who 45Therefore hear ye the counsel of LORD, that he has taken against Babylon, and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them away, [even] the little ones of the flock. Surely he sh 46At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations.