1 The word that the Lord spoke lconcerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet:
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.’
3 “For out of the onorth a nation has come up against her, which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; both man and beast shall flee away.
4 “In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come ptogether, qweeping as they come, and they shall rseek the Lord their God. 5 They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, s‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an teverlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’
6 “My people have been ulost sheep. Their shepherds have led them vastray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. 7 All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, the whope of their fathers.’
8 x“Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. 9 For behold, yI am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. 10 Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord.
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.
17 “Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by flions. gFirst the king of Assyria devoured him, and hnow at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones. 18 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, as I ipunished the king of Assyria. 19 I will restore Israel to his pasture, and jhe shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. 20 In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, kiniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for I will lpardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
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