Through the Bible – Day 315

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.

₁I, the LORD, am sending

a wind to destroy

the people of Babylonia

and Babylon, its capital.

₂Foreign soldiers will come

from every direction,

and when the disaster is over,

Babylonia will be empty

and worthless.

₃I will tell these soldiers,

“Attack quickly,

before the Babylonians

can string their bows

or put on their armour.

Kill their best soldiers

and destroy their army!”

₄Their troops will fall wounded

in the streets of Babylon.

₅Everyone in Israel and Judah

is guilty.

But I, the LORD All-Powerful,

their holy God,

have not abandoned them.

₆Get out of Babylon!

Run for your lives!

If you stay, you will be killed

when I take revenge on the city

and punish it for its sins.

₇Babylon was my golden cup,

filled with the wine

of my anger.

The nations of the world

got drunk on this wine

and went insane.

₈But suddenly, Babylon will fall

and be destroyed.

I, the LORD, told the foreigners

who lived there,

“Weep for the city!

Get medicine for its wounds;

perhaps they will heal.”

₉The foreigners answered,

“We have already tried

to treat Babylon's wounds,

but they would not heal.

Come on, let's all go home

to our own countries.

Nothing is left in Babylonia;

everything is destroyed.”

₁₀The people of Israel said,

“Tell everyone in Zion!

The LORD has taken revenge

for what Babylon did to us.”

₁₁I, the LORD,

want Babylon destroyed,

because its army

destroyed my temple.

So, you kings of Media,

sharpen your arrows

and pick up your shields.

₁₂Raise the signal flag

and attack the city walls.

Post more guards.

Command soldiers to watch the city

and set up ambushes.

I have made plans

to destroy Babylon,

and nothing will stop me.

₁₃People of Babylon, you live

along the River Euphrates

and are surrounded by canals.

You are rich,

but now the time has come

for you to die.

₁₄I, the LORD All-Powerful,

swear by my own life

that enemy soldiers

will fill your streets

like a swarm of locusts.

They will shout

and celebrate their victory.

₁₅God used his wisdom and power

to create the earth

and spread out the heavens.

₁₆The waters in the heavens roar

at his command.

He makes clouds appear;

he sends the wind

from his storehouse

and makes lightning flash

in the rain.

₁₇People who make idols

are stupid!

They will be disappointed,

because their false gods

cannot breathe.

₁₈Idols are merely a joke,

and when the time is right,

they will be destroyed.

₁₉But the LORD, Israel's God,

is all-powerful.

He created everything,

and he chose Israel

to be his very own.

₂₀Babylonia, you were my hammer;

I used you to pound nations

and break kingdoms,

₂₁to shatter cavalry and chariots,

₂₂as well as men and women,

young and old,

₂₃shepherds and their flocks,

farmers and their oxen,

and governors and leaders.

₂₄But now, my people will watch,

while I repay you

for what you did to Zion.

₂₅You destroyed the nations

and seem strong as a mountain,

but I am your enemy.

I might even grab you

and roll you off a cliff.

When I have finished,

you'll only be a pile

of scorched bricks.

₂₆Your stone blocks won't be reused

for cornerstones

or foundations,

and I promise that for ever

you will be a desert.

I, the LORD, have spoken.

₂₇Signal the nations

to get ready to attack.

Raise a flag and blow a trumpet.

Send for the armies of Ararat,

Minni, and Ashkenaz.

Choose a commander;

let the cavalry attack

like a swarm of locusts.

₂₈Tell the kings and governors,

the leaders and the people

of the kingdoms of the Medes

to prepare for war!

₂₉The earth twists and turns

in torment,

because I have decided

to make Babylonia a desert

where no one can live,

and I won't change my mind.

₃₀The Babylonian soldiers

have lost their strength

and courage.

They stay in their fortresses,

unable to fight,

while the enemy breaks through

the city gates,

then sets their homes on fire.

₃₁One messenger after another

announces to the king,

“Babylon has been captured!

₃₂The enemy now controls

the river crossings!

The marshes are on fire!

Your army has panicked!”

₃₃I am the LORD All-Powerful,

the God of Israel,

and I make this promise—

“Soon Babylon will be levelled

and packed down

like a threshing place

at harvest time.”