16. Cut off the sower from Bavel, and him that reapeth with the magal (sickle) in the time of katzir; for fear of the oppressing cherev they shall turn every ish to his people, and they shall flee every ish to his own land.
17. Yisroel is a seh pezurah (scattered sheep); the aryot (lions) have driven him away; first Melech Ashur (King of Assyria) hath devoured him; and last this Nevuchadretzar Melech Bavel hath broken his atzmot.
18. Therefore thus saith Hashem Tzva'os Elohei Yisroel: Hineni, I will punish Melech Bavel and his land, as I have punished Melech Ashur.
19. And I will bring Yisroel back to his naveh (habitation), and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his nefesh shall be satisfied upon Har Ephrayim and Gil`ad.
20. In those yamim, and at that time, saith Hashem, the avon Yisroel shall be searched for, and there shall be none; and the chattot Yehudah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon them whom I preserve as remnant.
21. Go up against Eretz Meratayim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod; lay waste and utterly destroy after them, saith Hashem, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
22. A sound of milchamah is in ha'aretz, and of shever gadol (great destruction).
23. How is the patish (hammer) of kol ha'aretz (the whole earth) shattered and broken! How is Bavel become a desolation among the Goyim!
24. I have laid a trap for thee, and thou art indeed caught, O Bavel, and thou wast not aware; thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against Hashem.
25. Hashem hath opened His armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of His indignation; for this is the work of Adonoi Hashem Tzva'os in Eretz Kasdim.
26. Come against her from afar, open her storehouses; pile her up like heaps of grain, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be she'erit (remnant).
27. Slay all her bulls; let them go down latevach (to the slaughter; see Isaiah 53:7); woe unto them! For their day is come, the time of their visitation [for punishment].
28. The voice of them that flee and escape as fugitives out of Eretz Bavel, to declare in Tziyon the vengeance of Hashem Eloheinu, the vengeance of His Heikhal.