“Has Israel no sons?

Has he no heir?

Why then has ^jMilcom¹ dispossessed Gad,

and his people settled in its cities?

2  Therefore, behold, the days are coming,

declares the Lord,

when I will cause the battle cry to be heard

against Rabbah of the Ammonites;

it shall become a desolate mound,

and its villages shall be burned with fire;

then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,

says the Lord.

3  “Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!

Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!

Put on sackcloth,

lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!

For Milcom ^kshall go into exile,

with his priests and his officials.

4  Why do you boast of your valleys,²

O faithless daughter,

who trusted in her treasures, saying,

‘Who will come against me?’

5  Behold, I will bring terror upon you,

declares the Lord God of hosts,

from all who are around you,

and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him,

with none to gather the fugitives.

“Is ⁿwisdom no more in Teman?

Has counsel perished from the prudent?

Has their wisdom vanished?

8  Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of Dedan!

For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,

the time when I punish him.

9  If grape gatherers came to you,

would they not leave gleanings?

^oIf thieves came by night,

would they not destroy only enough for themselves?

10  But I have stripped Esau bare;

I have uncovered his hiding places,

and he is not able to conceal himself.

His children are destroyed, and his brothers,

and his neighbors; and he is no more.

11  Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;

and let your widows trust in me.”

14  ^rI have heard a message from the Lord,

and an envoy has been sent among the nations:

“Gather yourselves together and come against her,

and rise up for battle!

15  For behold, I will make you small among the nations,

despised among mankind.

16  The horror you inspire has deceived you,

and the pride of your heart,

you who live in the clefts of the rock,³

who hold the height of the hill.

Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,

I will bring you down from there,

declares the Lord.

“Hamath and Arpad are confounded,

for they have heard bad news;

they melt in fear,

they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.

24  Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee,

and panic seized her;

anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,

as of a woman in labor.

25  How is the famous city not forsaken,

the city of my joy?

26  ^aTherefore her young men shall fall in her squares,

and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,

declares the Lord of hosts.

27  ^bAnd I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,

and it shall devour the strongholds of ^cBen-hadad.”

Thus says the Lord:

“Rise up, advance against Kedar!

Destroy the people of the east!

29  Their tents and their flocks shall be taken,

their curtains and all their goods;

their camels shall be led away from them,

and men shall cry to them: ^d‘Terror on every side!’

30  Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of Hazor!

declares the Lord.

For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon

has made a plan against you

and formed a purpose against you.

31  “Rise up, advance against a nation at ease,

that dwells securely,

declares the Lord,

that has ^eno gates or bars,

that dwells alone.

32  Their camels shall become plunder,

their herds of livestock a spoil.

I will scatter to every wind

those who ^fcut the corners of their hair,

and I will bring their calamity

from every side of them,

declares the Lord.

33  Hazor shall become a haunt of ^gjackals,

an everlasting waste;

no man shall dwell there;

no man shall sojourn in her.”

2  “Declare among the nations and proclaim,

^mset up a banner and proclaim,

conceal it not, and say:

‘Babylon is taken,

ⁿBel is put to shame,

Merodach is dismayed.

Her images are put to shame,

her idols are dismayed.’

11  “Though you rejoice, though you exult,

O plunderers of my heritage,

though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture,

and neigh like stallions,

12  your mother shall be utterly shamed,

and she who bore you shall be disgraced.

Behold, she shall be the last of the nations,

a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

13  Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited

but shall be an utter desolation;

^zeveryone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled,

and hiss because of all her wounds.

14  Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around,

all you who bend the bow;

shoot at her, spare no arrows,

for she has sinned against the Lord.

15  Raise a shout against her all around;

she has surrendered;

her bulwarks have fallen;

^aher walls are thrown down.

For this is the ^bvengeance of the Lord:

take vengeance on her;

^cdo to her as she has done.

16  Cut off from Babylon the sower,

and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest;

^dbecause of the sword of the oppressor,

^eevery one shall turn to his own people,

and every one shall flee to his own land.

21  “Go up against the land of Merathaim,¹

and against the inhabitants of Pekod.²

Kill, and devote them to destruction,³

declares the Lord,

and do all that I have commanded you.

22  The noise of battle is in the land,

and ^mgreat destruction!

23  ⁿHow the hammer of the whole earth

is cut down and broken!

How Babylon has become

a horror among the nations!

24  I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon,

and you did not know it;

you were found and caught,

because you opposed the Lord.

25  The Lord has opened his armory

and brought out the weapons of his wrath,

for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do

in the land of the Chaldeans.

26  Come against her from every quarter;

open her granaries;

pile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction;

let nothing be left of her.

27  Kill all her bulls;

let them go down to the slaughter.

Woe to them, for their day has come,

the time of their punishment.

31  ^r“Behold, I am against you, O proud one,

declares the Lord God of hosts,

for your day has come,

the time when I will punish you.

32  The proud one shall stumble and fall,

with none to raise him up,

and I will kindle a fire in his cities,

and it will devour all that is around him.

35  “A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord,

and against the inhabitants of Babylon,

and against her officials and her wise men!

36  A sword against the diviners,

that they may become fools!

A sword against her warriors,

that they may be destroyed!

37  A sword against her horses and against her chariots,

and against all the foreign troops in her midst,

that they may ^ubecome women!

A sword against all her treasures,

that they may be plundered!

38  A drought against her waters,

that they may be dried up!

For it is a land of ^vimages,

and they are mad over idols.

41  “Behold, a people comes from the north;

a mighty nation and many kings

are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.

42  ^zThey lay hold of bow and spear;

they are cruel and have no mercy.

The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;

they ride on horses,

arrayed as a man for battle

against you, O daughter of Babylon!

43  “The king of Babylon ^aheard the report of them,

and his hands fell helpless;

anguish seized him,

pain as of a woman in labor.

51  Thus says the Lord:

“Behold, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer

against Babylon,

against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai,¹

2  and I will send to Babylon winnowers,

and they shall winnow her,

and they shall empty her land,

when they come against her from every side

on the day of trouble.

3  Let not the archer bend his bow,

and let him not stand up in his armor.

Spare not her young men;

devote to destruction² all her army.

4  They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,

and wounded in her streets.

5  For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken

by their God, the Lord of hosts,

but the land of the Chaldeans³ is full of guilt

against the Holy One of Israel.

6  ^f“Flee from the midst of Babylon;

let every one save his life!

Be not cut off in her punishment,

for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance,

the ^grepayment he is rendering her.

7  Babylon was a ^hgolden cup in the Lord’s hand,

making all the earth drunken;

the nations drank of her ⁱwine;

therefore the nations went mad.

8  Suddenly Babylon has ^jfallen and been broken;

wail for her!

^kTake balm for her pain;

perhaps she may be healed.

9  We would have healed Babylon,

but she was not healed.

Forsake her, and let us go

^leach to his own country,

for ^mher judgment has reached up to heaven

and has been lifted up even to the skies.

10  The Lord has brought about our vindication;

come, let us declare in Zion

the work of the Lord our God.

11  “Sharpen the arrows!

Take up the shields!

12  ^p“Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon;

make the watch strong;

set up watchmen;

prepare the ambushes;

for the Lord has both planned and done

what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

13  O you ^qwho dwell by many waters,

rich in treasures,

your end has come;

the thread of your life is cut.

14  The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself:

Surely I will fill you with men, ^ras many as locusts,

and they shall raise the shout of victory over you.

15  ^s“It is he who made the earth by his power,

who established the world ^tby his wisdom,

and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

16  When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

and ^uhe makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain,

and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

17  Every man is stupid and without knowledge;

every goldsmith is ^vput to shame by his idols,

for his images are false,

and ^wthere is no breath in them.

18  They are worthless, a work of delusion;

at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

19  Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,

for he is the one who formed all things,

and Israel is the ^xtribe of his inheritance;

^ythe Lord of hosts is his name.

20  “You are my hammer and weapon of war:

with you I break nations in pieces;

with you I destroy kingdoms;

21  with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider;

with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer;

22  with you I break in pieces man and woman;

with you I break in pieces the old man and the youth;

with you I break in pieces the young man and the young woman;

23  with you I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;

with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team;

with you I break in pieces governors and commanders.

25  ^a“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,

declares the Lord,

which destroys the whole earth;

I will stretch out my hand against you,

and roll you down from the crags,

and make you a burnt mountain.

26  No stone shall be taken from you for a corner

and no stone for a foundation,

but you shall be a perpetual waste,

declares the Lord.

27  “Set up a standard on the earth;

blow the trumpet among the nations;

^bprepare the nations for war against her;

summon against her the kingdoms,

Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz;

appoint a marshal against her;

bring up horses like bristling locusts.

28  Prepare the nations for war against her,

the kings of the Medes, with their governors and deputies,

and every land under their dominion.