The word which יהוה spoke to Babel, to the land of the Kasdim, by the hand of Yirmeyahu the prophet.

Declare among the nations and make heard, and lift up a signal; make heard, do not conceal. Say, 'Babel is captured; Bel is shamed, Merodach is broken; her idols are shamed, her images are broken.'

For a nation has come up against her from the north; it will make her land a desolation, and no one will dwell in it, from man to beast; they have wandered, they have gone.

In those days and in that time, declares יהוה, the sons of Yisra'el will come, they and the sons of Yehudah together; they will go, weeping as they go, and they will seek יהוה their Elohim.

They will ask the way to Tsiyon, their faces turned this way: 'Come, and let us join ourselves to יהוה by an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.'

My people were lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray; they have caused them to wander on the mountains; from mountain to hill they have gone; they have forgotten their resting place.

All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies said, 'We are not guilty, because they sinned against יהוה, the dwelling place of righteousness, and the hope of their fathers, יהוה.'

Flee from the midst of Babel, and go out from the land of the Kasdim, and be like he-goats before the flock.

For behold, I am stirring up from the north a great assembly of nations against Babel. From there they will capture her; her arrows will be like a skilled warrior's; none will return empty.

And Kasdim will become plunder; all who plunder her will be satisfied, declares יהוה.

Because you rejoice, because you exult, you who plunder my inheritance, because you paw like a heifer in the grass and neigh like stallions,

Your mother is greatly ashamed; she who bore you is disgraced. Behold, the end of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

Because of the wrath of יהוה, she will not be inhabited, but will be wholly desolate. Everyone who passes by Babel will be astonished and will hiss at all her wounds.

Set yourselves in array against Babel all around, all you who draw the bow; shoot at her; spare no arrows, for she has sinned against יהוה.

Shout against her all around; she has given her hand; her foundations have fallen; her walls have been torn down, for it is the vengeance of יהוה. Take vengeance on her; as she has done, so do to her.

Cut off the sower from Babel, and the one who wields the sickle in the time of harvest. Because of the sword of the oppressor, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land.

Yisra'el is a scattered sheep; lions have driven him away. The first one devoured him, the king of Ashshur, and this last one has gnawed his bones, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel.

Therefore, thus says יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra'el, 'Behold, I am about to punish the king of Babel and his land, just as I punished the king of Ashshur.'

And I will bring Yisra'el back to his pasture, and he will feed on the Karmel and on the Bashan, and on the mountains of Efrayim and in Gil'ad he will be satisfied.

In those days and in that time, declares יהוה, the iniquity of Yisra'el will be sought, and there will be none, and the sins of Yehudah, and they will not be found, for I will forgive those whom I leave.

Go up against the land of Merathayim, attack it, and against the inhabitants of Peqod. Destroy and devote to destruction after them, declares יהוה, and do all that I have commanded you.

A sound of war is in the land, and great destruction.

How has the hammer of the whole earth been cut down and shattered! How has Babel become a desolation among the nations!

I have set a trap for you, and you have also been captured, O Babel, and you did not know. You have been found and also caught, because you have contended against יהוה.

יהוה has opened his armory and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for this is a work for the Sovereign יהוה of hosts in the land of the Kasdim.

Come against her from the farthest border; open her granaries; pile her up like heaps, and devote her to destruction; let nothing remain of her.

Destroy all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come, the time of their punishment.

The sound of those who flee and escape from the land of Babel, to declare in Tsiyon the vengeance of יהוה our Elohim, the vengeance of his temple.

Announce against Babel, many archers, all who draw the bow; encamp against her all around; let no one escape her. Repay her according to her deeds; as she has done, so do to her, for she has acted arrogantly against יהוה, against the Holy One of Yisra'el.

Therefore her young men will fall in her squares, and all her warriors will be silenced on that day, declares יהוה.

Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one, declares the Sovereign יהוה of hosts, for your day has come, the time when I will punish you.

And the arrogant one will stumble and fall, and no one will raise him up. And I will kindle a fire in her cities, and it will devour all who surround her.

Thus says יהוה of hosts: The sons of Yisra'el and the sons of Yehudah are oppressed together, and all who took them captive have held them fast; they refuse to let them go.

Their redeemer is strong; יהוה of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, so that he may bring rest to the land, and disquiet to the inhabitants of Babel.

A sword is upon the Kasdim, declares יהוה, and upon the inhabitants of Babel, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.

A sword is upon the false gods, and they will become fools. A sword is upon her warriors, and they will be terrified.

A sword is upon her horses, and upon her chariots, and upon all the foreign troops in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is upon her treasures, and they will be plundered.

A drought is upon her waters, and they will dry up, for it is a land of idols, and they will rave because of their terrifying images.

Therefore desert creatures will dwell with hyenas, and ostriches will dwell in her; she will never again be inhabited, nor will she be lived in from generation to generation.

As when Elohim overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, declares יהוה, no one will dwell there, nor will any human son reside in it.

Behold, a people is coming from the north, and a great nation, and many kings will be roused from the ends of the earth.

They hold the bow and the javelin; they are cruel and show no mercy; their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, arrayed like a man for war against you, O daughter of Babel.

The king of Babel heard their report, and his hands grew weak; distress seized him; pain like a woman in labor.

Behold, like a lion he comes up from the pride of the Yarden to the pasture of the strong. For I will quickly drive them from her, and who is the chosen one for her? For who is like me, and who will summon me? And who is this shepherd who will stand before me?

Therefore, hear the counsel of יהוה which he has counseled against Babel, and his plans which he has planned against the land of the Kasdim: surely the young of the flock will drag them away; surely he will set a pasture over them.

At the sound of the capture of Babel, the earth is shaken, and a cry is heard among the nations.