20. When that time comes,no guilt will be found in Israel.No sin will be found in Judah.For I will forgive those of them I have allowed to survive.I, the Lord, affirm it!’”
21. The Lord says,“Attack the land of Merathaimand the people who live in Pekod!Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them!Do just as I have commanded you!
22. The noise of battle can be heard in the land of Babylonia.There is the sound of great destruction.
23. Babylon hammered the whole world to pieces.But see how that ‘hammer’ has been broken and shattered!See what an object of horror Babylon has become among the nations!
24. I set a trap for you, Babylon;you were caught before you knew it.You fought against me.So you were found and captured.
25. I have opened up the place where my weapons are stored.I have brought out the weapons for carrying out my wrath.For I, the Lord God who rules over all, have work to carry out in the land of Babylonia.
26. Come from far away and attack Babylonia!Open up the places where she stores her grain!Pile her up in ruins! Destroy her completely!Do not leave anyone alive!
27. Kill all her soldiers!Let them be slaughtered!They are doomed, for their day of reckoning has come,the time for them to be punished.”
28. Listen! Fugitives and refugees are coming from the land of Babylon.They are coming to Zion to declare therehow the Lord our God is getting revenge,getting revenge for what they have done to his temple.
29. “Call for archers to come against Babylon!Summon against her all who draw the bow!Set up camp all around the city!Do not allow anyone to escape!Pay her back for what she has done.Do to her what she has done to others.For she has proudly defied me,the Holy One of Israel.
30. So her young men will fall in her city squares.All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,”says the Lord.
31. “Listen! I am opposed to you, you proud city,”says the Lord God who rules over all.“Indeed, your day of reckoning has come,the time when I will punish you.
32. You will stumble and fall, you proud city;no one will help you get up.I will set fire to your towns;it will burn up everything that surrounds you.”