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.
38. Like lions they will roar together;they will growl like lions’ cubs.
39. They are ready to devour,so I’ll prepare the feastand mix the drinks!But after their noisy drunkenness,they will fall fast asleep.They will sleep forever,never to get up,declares the Lord.
40. I’ll lead them offlike lambs for slaughter,like rams and goats.
41. How Sheshach has been defeated,the pride of the whole earthtaken captive!How Babylon has become a wastelandamong the nations!
42. The sea has risen over Babylon;its pounding waves overwhelm her.
43. Her towns are devastated;her land is scorched and barren,a place where no one livesor dares to pass through.
44. I will punish Bel in Babylon;I will force him to vomitwhat he’s consumed.Then nations will no longerstream to him,and Babylon’s walls will collapse!
45. Get out of Babylon, my people!Run for your livesfrom the Lord’s fierce anger.