24. I will repay Babylon and all its inhabitantsfor the terrible thingsthey have done to Zion in your sight,declares the Lord.
25. I’m against you,you mountain of destruction,declares the Lord, you destroyer of the whole earth!I will reach out against you;I will topple you from your heights;I will turn you into a rubbish heap.
26. They will never remove a cornerstoneor a foundation stone from you.You will be a wasteland forever,declares the Lord.
27. Set up a flag in the land;sound the alarm among the nations!Prepare them for war against her;summon kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.Appoint a commander against her;call up the troops,like swarms of locusts!
28. Prepare the nations for war against her,the kings of Media,its governors, all its officials,and all the countries they rule.
29. The earth quakes and tremblesbecause the Lord’s plansagainst Babylon are fulfilled:to reduce Babylon to a wasteland,with no one left in it.
30. Babylon’s warriors quit fighting;they hide in their fortifications.Their strength is worn out;their courage is gone!Babylon’s houses are burned down,and its gates are smashed.
31. Courier joins courier,messenger joins messengerto relate the newsto the king of Babylonthat his entire city has fallen.
32. The river crossings are blocked;the marshes are on fire;the soldiers are terrified.
33. The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims:Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floorready to be trampled down.In a little while her harvest will come.
34. Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzarhas eaten us alive;he’s drained us of strength;he’s left us for dead.He’s gobbled us uplike a great sea monster;he’s filled his belly with our treasures;and he’s spit us out.
35. May Babylon be violatedas our bodies were,say the inhabitants of Zion.May our blood be on the Babylonians,say those from Jerusalem.
36. Therefore, the Lord proclaims:I’m going to defend your cause;I’ll turn the tables on your attacker.I’ll dry up her sea;I’ll shut up her springs.
37. Babylon will become a heap of ruins,a den of wild dogs, a wastelandwith no one left in it.