1. The Lord says, "I will stir up the spirits of destroyers. They will march out against Babylonia and its people.
2. I will send other nations against it to separate the straw from the grain. I will send them to destroy Babylonia completely. They will oppose it on every side. At that time it will be destroyed.
3. Do not let its soldiers get their bows ready to use. Do not let them put on their armor. Do not spare their young men. Destroy their armies completely.
4. They will fall down dead in Babylon. They will receive deadly wounds in its streets.
5. The land of Israel and Judah is full of guilt. Its people have sinned against me. But I have not deserted them. I am their God. I am the Lord who rules over all. I am the Holy One of Israel.
6. "People of Judah, run away from Babylonia! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of the sins of its people. It is time for me to pay them back. I will punish them for what they have done.
7. Babylon was like a gold cup in my hand. That city made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank its wine. So now they have gone crazy.
8. Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Sob over it! Get healing lotion for its pain. Perhaps it can be healed.
9. "The nations say, 'We would have healed Babylon. But it can't be healed. So let's leave it. Let's each go to our own land. Babylon 's sins reach all the way to the skies. They rise up as high as the clouds.'
10. "The people of Judah say, 'The Lord has made things right for us again. So come. Let's tell in Zion what the Lord our God has done.'
11. "I have stirred up you kings of the Medes. So sharpen your arrows! Get your shields! I plan to destroy Babylon. I will pay the Babylonians back. They have destroyed my temple.
12. Lift up a banner! Attack Babylon's walls! Put more guards on duty! Station more of them to watch over you! Hide and wait to attack them! I will do what I have planned. I will do what I have decided to do against the people of Babylon.
13. You who live by the rivers of Babylon, your end has come. You who are rich in treasures, it is time for you to be destroyed.
14. I am the Lord who rules over all. I have made a promise with an oath in my own name. I have said, 'I will certainly fill your land with soldiers. They will be as many as a huge number of locusts. They will win the battle over you. They will shout for joy.'
15. "I used my power to make the earth. I used my wisdom to set the world in place. I used my understanding to spread the heavens out.
16. When I thunder, the waters in the heavens roar. I make clouds rise from one end of the earth to the other. I send lightning with the rain. I bring out the wind from my storerooms.