19. But I will bring Israel back to their own pasture, and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan; their appetite will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20. In those days, at that time,” declares the Lord, “search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare.
21. “Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy them,” declares the Lord. “Do everything I have commanded you.
22. The noise of battle is in the land, the noise of great destruction!
23. How broken and shattered is the hammer of the whole earth! How desolate is Babylon among the nations!
24. I set a trap for you, Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it; you were found and captured because you opposed the Lord.
25. The Lord has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Sovereign Lord Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians.
26. Come against her from afar. Break open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain. Completely destroy her and leave her no remnant.
27. Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter! Woe to them! For their day has come, the time for them to be punished.
28. Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the Lord our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for his temple.
29. “Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
30. Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,” declares the Lord.
31. “See, I am against you, you arrogant one,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty, “for your day has come, the time for you to be punished.
32. The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her.”
33. This is what the Lord Almighty says: “The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go.
34. Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.
35. “A sword against the Babylonians!” declares the Lord— “against those who live in Babylon and against her officials and wise men!
36. A sword against her false prophets! They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror.
37. A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks! They will become weaklings. A sword against her treasures! They will be plundered.