36. A sword upon the soothsayers,and they become fools!A sword upon the warriors,and they tremble;
37. A sword upon their motley throng,and they become women!A sword upon their treasures,and they are plundered;
38. A drought upon the waters,and they dry up!For it is a land of idols,soon made frantic by phantoms.
39. Hence, wildcats shall dwell there with hyenas,and ostriches occupy it;Never again shall it be inhabited or settled,from age to age.
40. As happened when God overturned Sodomand Gomorrah and their neighbors—oracle of the Lord—No one shall dwell there,no mortal shall settle there.
41. See, a people comes from the north,a great nation, and mighty kingsrising from the ends of the earth.
42. Bow and javelin they wield,cruel and pitiless are they;They sound like the roaring sea,as they ride forth on horses,Each in place for battleagainst you, daughter Babylon.
43. The king of Babylon hears news of them,and his hands hang helpless;Anguish takes hold of him,like the pangs of a woman giving birth.
44. As happens when a lion comes up from a thicket of the Jordanto permanent pasture,So I, in an instant, will chase them off,and establish there whomever I choose!For who is like me? Who can call me to account?What shepherd can stand against me?
45. Therefore, hear the strategy of the Lord,which he has devised against Babylon;Hear the plans drawn upagainst the land of the Chaldeans:They shall be dragged away, even the smallest sheep;their own pasture aghast because of them.
46. At the cry “Babylon is captured!” the earth quakes;the outcry is heard among the nations.