1. Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai The spirit of a destroyer.
2. "I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her And may devastate her land; For on every side they will be opposed to her In the day of her calamity.
3. "Let not him who bends his bow bend it, Nor let him rise up in his scale-armor; So do not spare her young men; Devote all her army to destruction.
4. "They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, And pierced through in their streets."
5. For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken By his God, the Lord of hosts, Although their land is full of guilt Before the Holy One of Israel.
6. Flee from the midst of Babylon, And each of you save his life! Do not be destroyed in her punishment, For this is the Lord's time of vengeance; He is going to render recompense to her.
7. Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, Intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; Therefore the nations are going mad.
8. Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; Wail over her! Bring balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed.
9. We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; Forsake her and let us each go to his own country, For her judgment has reached to heaven And towers up to the very skies.
10. The Lord has brought about our vindication; Come and let us recount in Zion The work of the Lord our God!
11. Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! The Lord has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it; For it is the vengeance of the Lord, vengeance for His temple.
12. Lift up a signal against the walls of Babylon; Post a strong guard, Station sentries, Place men in ambush! For the Lord has both purposed and performed What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13. O you who dwell by many waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your end.
14. The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself: "Surely I will fill you with a population like locusts, And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you."