12
Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon; Make the guard strong, Set up the watchmen, Prepare the ambushes. For the Lord has both devised and done What He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13
O you who dwell by many waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your covetousness.
14
The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself: "Surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, And they shall lift up a shout against you."
15
He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, And stretched out the heaven by His understanding.
16
When He utters His voice-- There is a multitude of waters in the heavens: "He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries."
17
Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there is no breath in them.
18
They are futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment they shall perish.
19
The Portion of Jacob is not like them, For He is the Maker of all things; And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The Lord of hosts is His name.
20
"You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nation in pieces; With you I will destroy kingdoms;
21
With you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider; With you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider;
22
With you also I will break in pieces man and woman; With you I will break in pieces old and young; With you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden;
23
With you also I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen; And with you I will break in pieces governors and rulers.
24
"And I will repay Babylon And all the inhabitants of Chaldea For all the evil they have done In Zion in your sight," says the Lord.
25
"Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys all the earth," says the Lord. "And I will stretch out My hand against you, Roll you down from the rocks, And make you a burnt mountain.
26
They shall not take from you a stone for a corner Nor a stone for a foundation, But you shall be desolate forever," says the Lord.
27
Set up a banner in the land, Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, Call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her; Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts.
28
Prepare against her the nations, With the kings of the Medes, Its governors and all its rulers, All the land of his dominion.
29
And the land will tremble and sorrow; For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.
30
The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, They have remained in their strongholds; Their might has failed, They became like women; They have burned her dwelling places, The bars of her gate are broken.
31
One runner will run to meet another, And one messenger to meet another, To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides;
32
The passages are blocked, The reeds they have burned with fire, And the men of war are terrified.