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.