Jeremiah 50

¹ The word that Yahweh spoke against Babylon, against the country of the Chaldaeans, through theprophet Jeremiah.

² Announce it to the nations, proclaim it, hoist a signal and proclaim it, making no secret of it, say,'Babylon is captured, Bel disgraced, Marduk shattered. (Her idols are disgraced, her Obscenities shattered.)'

³ For a nation is marching on her from the north, to turn her country into a desert: no one will live thereany more; human and animal have fled and gone.

⁴ In those days and at that time the people of Israel will return (they and the people of Judah); they wilcome weeping in search of Yahweh their God.

⁵ They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces towards her, 'Come, let us bind ourselves to Yahwehby an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten!'

⁶ Lost sheep, such were my people; their shepherds led them astray, the mountains misled them; frommountain to hil they went, forgetful of their fold.

⁷ Whoever came across them devoured them, their enemies said, 'We are not to blame, since they havesinned against Yahweh, the Home of Justice, against Yahweh, the Hope of their ancestors.'

⁸ Escape from Babylon, leave the country of the Chaldaeans. Be like he-goats, leading the sheep!

⁹ For look, I shall raise a league of mighty nations to attack Babylon, from the land of the north. They wiltake up position against her; by them she wil be taken. Their arrows, like an experienced soldier's, never returnin vain.

¹⁰ Chaldaea wil be plundered, al her plunderers wil be satisfied, Yahweh declares.

¹¹ Rejoice! Have your triumph, you plunderers of my heritage! Be playful like a heifer let out to grass!Neigh like stallions!

¹² But your mother is covered with shame, disgraced is the woman who bore you; she is the least ofnations now; a desert, a parched land, a wasteland.

¹³ Because of Yahweh's anger, no one wil live there any more, she wil become a total solitude. All whopass by Babylon wil be appal ed and whistle at the sight of al her wounds.

¹⁴ Take position against Babylon, surround her, al you who bend the bow. Shoot at her! Do not spareyour arrows, for she has sinned against Yahweh!

¹⁵ Raise the war cry against her from all sides. She surrenders! Her bastions fal ! Her wal s collapse!This is Yahweh's vengeance! Take revenge on her. Treat her as she has treated others.

¹⁶ Deprive Babylon of the man who sows, of the man who wields the sickle at harvest. Away from thedevastating sword, let everyone return to his own people, let everyone flee to his own country!

¹⁷ Israel was a straying sheep pursued by lions. First, the king of Assyria devoured him, and latterlyNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon crunched his bones.

¹⁸ So Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, says this: Look, I shall punish the king of Babylon and his countryas I punished the king of Assyria.

¹⁹ I wil bring Israel back to his pastures to browse on Carmel and in Bashan, on the highlands ofEphraim and in Gilead, and he wil be satisfied.

²⁰ In those days and at that time, Yahweh declares, you may look for Israel's guilt, it will not be there, forJudah's sins, you wil not find them, for I shal pardon the remnant that I leave.

²¹ March on the country of Merathaim, march on it and on the inhabitants of Pekod; slaughter and cursewith destruction every last one of them, Yahweh declares, carry out my orders to the letter!

²² The din of battle fil s the country, immense destruction.

²³ How utterly shattered that hammer of the whole world! What a thing of horror Babylon has becomethroughout the nations!

²⁴ I set a snare for you, Babylon; you were caught before you knew it. You have been found andoverpowered for having defied Yahweh.

²⁵ Yahweh has opened his armoury and taken out the weapons of his fury. For Lord Yahweh Sabaothhas work to do in the country of the Chaldaeans.

²⁶ Fal on her from every side, open her granaries, pile her in heaps, curse her with destruction, untilnothing is left of her.

²⁷ Slaughter al her bulls, down to the slaughterhouse with them! Disaster on them, their day has come,their time for being punished.

²⁸ Listen! Fugitives and runaways from the country of Babylon arrive in Zion and proclaim the revenge ofYahweh our God, revenge for his Temple!

²⁹ Call up the archers against Babylon! Al you who bend the bow, invest her on al sides, leave her noway of escape. Repay her as her deeds deserve; treat her as she has treated others, for she was arrogant toYahweh, to the Holy One of Israel.

³⁰ And so in her squares her young men wil fall, and all her fighting men wil perish, that day, Yahwehdeclares.

³¹ My quarrel is with you, 'Arrogance!' Lord Yahweh Sabaoth declares, your day has come, the time forme to punish you.

³² 'Arrogance' wil stumble, she will fal , no one wil lift her up: I shal set fire to her towns and it wildevour all around it.

³³ Yahweh Sabaoth says this: The people of Israel are oppressed (and the people of Judah too), al theircaptors hold them fast, they will not let them go.

³⁴ But their redeemer is strong: Yahweh Sabaoth is his name. He wil take up their cause, to give ourcountry rest but make the inhabitants of Babylon tremble.

³⁵ A sword against the Chaldaeans, Yahweh declares, against the inhabitants of Babylon, against herprinces and her sages!

³⁶ A sword against her diviners: may they lose their wits! A sword against her warriors: may they panic!

³⁷ A sword against her horses, her chariots and the conglomeration of people inside her: may they belike women! A sword against her treasures: may they be plundered!

³⁸ Drought on her waters: may they dry up! For it is a country of idols, and they are mad about those bogeys of theirs!

³⁹ Hence wild cats and jackals wil live there, and ostriches make their home there. She will never againbe inhabited, for ever, but remain uninhabited age after age.

⁴⁰ As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and their neighbouring towns, Yahweh declares, noone will live there any more, no human being settle there again.

⁴¹ Look, a people is coming from the north, a mighty nation; from the far ends of the earth many kingsare stirring.

⁴² They are armed with bow and spear, they are cruel and pitiless; their noise is like the roaring of thesea; they ride horses, ready as one man to fight you, daughter of Babylon!

⁴³ The king of Babylon has heard the news, his hands fal limp, anguish has seized him, pain like that ofa woman in labour.

⁴⁴ Look, like a lion he climbs the thickets of the Jordan to the perennial pasture! In a flash I shal makethem run away and there appoint someone I shal choose. For who is there like me? Who can hale me intocourt? Name me the shepherd who can stand up to me.

⁴⁵ So now hear the plan that Yahweh has laid against Babylon, the schemes he has in mind against thecountry of the Chaldaeans: they wil certainly be dragged away like the smallest in the flock! Their pastures willcertainly be sacked before their eyes!

⁴⁶ The earth quakes at the sound of Babylon's capture, and the shouting echoes through the nations.