Jeremiah 50

_1-2The LORD told me to say:

Announce what will happen

and don't leave anything out.

Raise the signal flags;

shout so all nations can hear—

Babylon will be captured!

Marduk, Babylon's god,

will be ashamed and terrified,

and his idols broken.

₃The attack on the Babylonians

will come from the north;

they and their animals will run,

leaving the land empty.

People of Israel and Judah,

when these things happen

you will weep, and together

you will return to your land

and worship me,

the LORD your God.

₅You will ask the way to Zion

and then come and join with me

in making an agreement

you won't break or forget.

₆My people, you are lost sheep

abandoned by their shepherds

in the mountains.

You don't even remember

your resting place.

₇I am your true pasture land,

the one who gave hope

to your ancestors.

But you abandoned me,

so when your enemies found you,

they felt no guilt

as they gobbled you up.

₈Escape from Babylonia,

my people.

Get out of that country!

Don't wait for anyone else.

₉In the north I am bringing

great nations together.

They will attack Babylon

and capture it.

The arrows they shoot

are like the best soldiers,

always finding their target.

₁₀Babylonia will be conquered,

and its enemies will carry off

everything they want.

₁₁People of Babylonia,

you were glad

to rob my people.

You had a good time,

making more noise

than horses

and jumping around

like calves threshing grain.

₁₂The city of Babylon

was like a mother to you.

But it will be disgraced

and become nothing

but a barren desert.

₁₃My anger will destroy Babylon,

and no one will live there.

Everyone who passes by

will be shocked to see

what has happened.

₁₄Babylon has rebelled against me.

Archers, take your places.

Shoot all your arrows at Babylon.

₁₅Attack from every side!

Babylon surrenders!

The enemy tears down

its walls and towers.

I am taking my revenge

by doing to Babylon what it did

to other cities.

₁₆There is no one in Babylonia

to plant or harvest crops.

Even foreigners who lived there

have left for their homelands,

afraid of the enemy armies.

₁₇Israel is a flock of sheep

scattered by hungry lions.

The king of Assyria

first gobbled Israel up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar,

king of Babylonia,

crunched on Israel's bones.

₁₈I, the LORD All-Powerful,

the God of Israel,

punished the king of Assyria,

and I will also punish

the king of Babylonia.

₁₉But I will bring Israel

back to its own land.

The people will be like sheep

eating their fill

on Mount Carmel

and in Bashan,

in the hill country of Ephraim

and in Gilead.

₂₀I will rescue a few people

from Israel and Judah.

I will forgive them so completely

that their sin and guilt

will disappear,

never to be found.

I have told

the enemies of Babylonia,

“Attack the people of Merathaim

and Pekod.

Kill them all!

Destroy their possessions!”

₂₂Sounds of war

and the noise of destruction

can be heard.

₂₃Babylonia was a hammer

pounding every country,

but now it lies broken.

What a shock to the nations

of the world!

₂₄Babylonia challenged me,

the LORD God All-Powerful,

but that nation doesn't know

it is caught in a trap

that I set.

₂₅I've brought out my weapons,

and with them I will put a curse

on Babylonia.

₂₆Come from far away,

you enemies of Babylon!

Pile up the grain

from its storehouses,

and destroy it completely,

along with everything else.

₂₇Kill the soldiers of Babylonia,

because the time has come

for them to be punished.

₂₈The Babylonian army

destroyed my temple,

but soon I will take revenge.

Then refugees from Babylon

will tell about it in Zion.

₂₉Attack Babylon, enemy archers;

set up camp around the city,

and don't let anyone escape.

It challenged me, the holy God,

so do to it

what it did to other cities.

₃₀People of Babylon,

I, the LORD, promise

that even your best soldiers

will lie dead in the streets.

₃₁Babylon, you should be named,

“The Proud One”.

But the time has come when I,

the LORD All-Powerful,

will punish you.

₃₂You are proud,

but you will stumble and fall,

and no one will help you up.

I will set your villages on fire,

and everything around you

will go up in flames.

₃₃You Babylonians were cruel

to Israel and Judah.

You took them captive, and now

you refuse to let them go.

₃₄But I, the LORD All-Powerful,

will rescue and protect them.

I will bring peace to their land

and trouble to yours.

₃₅I have declared war on you,

your officials, and advisers.

₃₆This war will prove

that your prophets

are liars and fools.

And it will frighten

your warriors.

₃₇Then your chariot horses

and the foreigners in your army

will refuse to go into battle,

and the enemy will carry away

everything you treasure.

₃₈Your rivers and canals

will dry up.

All this will happen,

because your land

is full of idols,

and they have made fools

of you.

₃₉Never again will people live

in your land—

only desert animals, jackals,

and unclean birds.

₄₀I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah

and the nearby towns,

and I will destroy Babylon

just as completely.

No one will live there again.

₄₁Far to the north,

a nation and its allies

have been awakened.

They are powerful

and ready for war.

₄₂Bows and arrows and swords

are in their hands.

The soldiers are cruel

and show no pity.

The hoofbeats of their horses

echo like ocean waves

crashing against the shore.

The army has lined up for battle

and is coming to attack you,

people of Babylonia!

₄₃Ever since your king heard

about this army,

he has been weak with fear;

he twists and turns in pain

like a woman giving birth.

₄₄Babylonia, I will attack you

like a lion from the forest,

attacking sheep in a meadow

along the Jordan.

In a moment the flock runs,

and the land is empty.

Who will I choose to attack you?

I will do it myself!

No one can force me to fight

or chase me away.

₄₅Listen to my plans for you,

people of Babylonia.

Your children will be dragged off,

and your country destroyed.

₄₆The sounds of your destruction

will be heard among the nations,

and the earth will shake.