A message about Babylon

1Yahweh gave to me, Jeremiah the prophet, a message about Babylon city and the country of Babylonia.

2This is what Yahweh says: “Proclaim [DOU] a message among the nations; do not withhold any of it; raise up a signal flag to announce that Babylon will be captured. Its chief god Marduk, whose other name is Bel, will be completely disgraced, and all the other statues and idols will be shattered.

3The army of a nation will come from the north to attack Babylon and destroy the city very thoroughly, with the result that no one will live there again. Both people and animals will run away.”

The people of Israel will return from Babylon

4“But I, Yahweh, say that in the future, when that is about to happen, the people of Israel and the people of Judah will join together. They will be weeping and wanting to worship me, their God.

5They will inquire about the road to Jerusalem, and then they will start traveling [IDM] toward it. They will say to each other, ‘We must return to Yahweh again!’
They will make an everlasting agreement with me that they will never forget.

6My people have been like [MET] lost sheep. Their leaders/rulers have caused them to abandon me
like [MET] shepherds who have allowed their sheep to wander in the hills and mountains. My people are like [MET] sheep that do not know the path to return to the sheepfold.

7All their enemies who found them attacked them. They said, ‘We did not sin by attacking them, because they sinned against Yahweh; he is the one who provides what they need; he is the one to whom they should have remained faithful; he is the one whom their ancestors confidently expected to help them.’

8But now, I say to the leaders of my people, ‘Flee from Babylon! Leave the land of Babylonia! Be like [SIM] male goats that go in front of the rest of the flock; lead my people back to their own land.

9Do that because I am going to gather an army of great nations to the north of Babylon. They will join together to attack Babylon and will capture it. Their arrows will be like [SIM] skilled warriors that always hit what they aim at.

10Babylonia will be conquered, and those who conquer it will take away everything they want.
That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’ ”

The conquest of Babylon

11“You people of Babylon who ◄plundered/stole everything valuable from► my chosen people, now you are very happy [DOU]. You run around joyfully like [SIM] a calf in a meadow, and are happy like [SIM] male horses are happy when they are neighing.

12But soon your people will be very disgraced [DOU] as a result of being conquered. Your country will be the most insignificant nation;
it will be a desert, a dry and deserted land.

13Because I, Yahweh, am angry with you people of Babylon, I will cause your city to become completely deserted. All who pass by will be horrified and will ◄gasp/be shocked► because of the destruction there.

14All you nations that surround Babylon, prepare to attack it! Tell your archers to shoot at their enemies; shoot all of your arrows at them [LIT],
because the people/leaders of Babylon have sinned against me, Yahweh.

15Shout war-cries against Babylon from all sides of the city. The soldiers of Babylon will surrender;
the towers and walls will be torn down. It is I, Yahweh, who will be getting revenge on the people of Babylon, so help me to get revenge.
Do to the people of Babylon what they have done to others!

16Take away from Babylon those who plant crops and those who reap the harvests! Because of the swords carried by those who will attack Babylon, those people in Babylon who have come from other countries
should all run away, back to their own countries [DOU]!”

God’s people will return to Israel

17“The Israeli people are like [MET] sheep that have been scattered by lions. First the army of the King of Assyria defeated them. Then the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon smashed them.

18So this is what I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israeli people worship, say: ‘Now I will punish the King of Babylon and the people of his land, like I punished the King of Assyria.

19And I will bring the people of Israel back to their own land where they will eat the food that grows in the fields of the Carmel and Bashan regions, and the people in the hilly areas of Ephraim and Gilead will have all they want to eat.

20At that time, there will not be people in Israel and in Judah who are still guilty for having sinned [DOU], because I will forgive the small group of people whom I enable to still be alive.’”

God’s punishment on Babylon

21“So, I, Yahweh, say to the enemies of Babylonia,‘Attack the people who live in the Merathaim region and the people in the Pekod region of Babylonia. Pursue them, kill them, and completely get rid of them, as I have commanded you to do.

22Shout your battle cries throughout the land; shout when you are causing great destruction.

23The army of Babylon is like [MET] the most powerful hammer on the earth, but it will be completely shattered. Babylon will be deserted among the other nations.’

24You people of Babylon, listen, because I have set a trap for you; you will be caught in that trap, because you fought against me.

25It is as though I have opened the place where I store my weapons, and I have brought out all the weapons
to use against the people with whom I am angry. I, the Commander of the armies of angels, have a lot of work to do to punish the people of Babylonia.

26So, you enemies of Babylonia, come from distant lands and attack it. Break open the places where they store the grain. Crush the walls of the city and the houses and pile up the rubble like [SIM] heaps of grain. Destroy everything; do not leave anything that is not destroyed.

27Destroy all the young men who are as strong as [MET] bulls; take them to where you will slaughter them. It will be terrible for them, because it will be time for them to be punished.

28Listen to the people who have fled and escaped from Babylon while they tell in Jerusalem how I, Yahweh, have gotten revenge against those who destroyed my temple in Jerusalem.

29Summon archers [DOU] to come to attack Babylon; surround the city
in order that no one will escape. Do to the people of Babylon what they have done to others [DOU], because they have defied me, the Holy One of the Israeli people.

30The young men of Babylon will fall in the streets; all their soldiers will be killed in one day.

31I, the Commander of the armies of angels, say this: ‘You arrogant/proud people, it is now the time; it is the time [DOU] when I will punish you.

32Your land is full of proud people, but you will stumble and fall, and no one will lift you up again.
I will light a fire in the cities in Babylonia that will burn up everything that is nearby.’

33I, the Commander of the armies of angels, also say this: ‘The people of Israel and Judah were ◄oppressed/treated cruelly►; those who captured them guarded them carefully and would not allow them to leave Babylon.

34But I am strong, and I will free them. I am the Commander of the armies of angels; I will defend my people and enable them to return to their land where they will have peace, but the people of Babylonia will not have peace.

35I will send enemy soldiers carrying swords [PRS] to strike the people of Babylonia; they will strike the officials and wise men
and all the other people who live in Babylon.

36They will strike their false prophets with swords and they will become foolish. They will strike the strongest warriors of Babylonia, and they will all be terrified.

37They will strike their horses and chariots and the foreigners who are in the army of Babylonia,
and they will all become as weak as [MET] women. They will seize [MTY] all the valuable things there in Babylon and take them away.

38I will cause the streams to become dry.
I will do all those things because the entire land of Babylonia is filled with idols, and those horrible idols have caused the people who worship them to become crazy.

39Soon only hyenas and other wild creatures will live there; and it will be a place where owls live. People will never live there again; it will be uninhabited forever [DOU].

40I will destroy Babylon like I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns; no one will ever live there again [DOU].

41Look! A great army will come from the north. A great nation far away with many kings is preparing to attack you people of Babylon.

42Their army has bows and arrows and spears; they are very cruel, and do not act mercifully to anyone. As they ride along on their horses, the sound of the horses’ hooves is like [SIM] the roaring of the ocean waves; they are riding in battle formation to attack you, you people of Babylon.

43The King of Babylon says,
“I have heard reports about the enemy approaching; so I am very frightened, with the result that I am weak. I am very fearful, and anguished/worried, like [SIM] a woman who is about to give birth to a baby.”

44I, Yahweh, will come to Babylon suddenly like a lion comes out of the jungle and leaps on the sheep that are eating the good pastureland. I will quickly chase the people of Babylonia from their land. And then I will appoint for them a leader whom I will choose; I will do that because there is no one [RHQ] like me who can say that what I have done is not right. No ruler can [RHQ] oppose me.

45Listen to what I have planned to do to the people of Babylon city and the rest of Babylonia:
even the little children will be dragged away, and I will completely destroy the people [MET] who live there.

46When Babylon is destroyed, the noise will be extremely loud, with the result that the earth will shake, and the wailing of the people will be heard by the people of other nations.’ ”