1The word that יהוה spoke concerning Baḇel, concerning the land of the Chaldeans by Yirmeyahu the prophet.

2“Declare among the nations, and let it be heard. And lift up a banner, let it be heard, and do not conceal it. Say, ‘Baḇel shall be taken, Bĕl shall be put to shame, Meroḏaḵ shall be broken, her images shall be put to shame, her idols shall be broken.’

3For a nation shall come up against her from the north, which shall make her land waste, and none shall dwell in it. They shall flee, they shall go, both man and beast.

4“In those days and at that time,” declares יהוה, “the children of Yisra’ĕl shall come, they and the children of Yehuḏah together, weeping as they come, and seek יהוה their Elohim.

5“They shall ask the way to Tsiyon, their faces toward it, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to יהוה, in an everlasting covenant, never to be forgotten.’

6“My people have been wanderinga sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.

7“All who found them have devoured them. And their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty, because they have sinned against יהוה, the Home of righteousness, and the Expectation of their fathers: יהוה.’

8“Flee from the midst of Baḇel, come outa of the land of the Chaldeans. And be as rams before a flock.

9“For look, I am stirring up and bringing up against Baḇel an assembly of great nations from a land of the north, and they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be captured – their arrows are like those of a mighty skilled man, not returning empty-handed.

10“And Chaldea shall become plunder, all who plunder her shall satisfy themselves,” declares יהוה.

11“Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, you who plunder My inheritance, because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, and you neigh like stallions,

12your mother shall be greatly ashamed. She who bore you shall be humiliated. Look, the last of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land and a desert.

13“Because of the wrath of יהוה she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be deserted – all of it. Everyone passing by Baḇel shall be astonished and whistle at all her plagues.

14“Set yourselves in array against Baḇel all around, all you who bend the bow. Shoot at her, spare no arrows, for she has sinned against יהוה.

15“Shout against her all around. She has given her hand, her foundations have fallen, her walls are thrown down, for it is the vengeance of יהוה. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, so do to her.

16“Cut off the sower from Baḇel, and him who handles the sickle at harvest time. From before the sword of the oppressor each one turns to his own people, and each one flees to his own land.

17“Yisra’ĕl is a scattered sheep, the lions have driven him away. First the sovereign of Ashshur devoured him, and now, at last, this Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel has broken his bones.”

18Therefore thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “See, I am punishing the sovereign of Baḇel and his land, as I have punished the sovereign of Ashshur.

19“And I shall bring back Yisra’ĕl to his pasture, and he shall feed on Karmel and Bashan. And his being shall be satisfied on Mount Ephrayim and Gil‛aḏ.

20“In those days and at that time,” declares יהוה, “the crookedness of Yisra’ĕl shall be searched for, but there shall be none; and the sin of Yehuḏah, but none shall be found. For I shall pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.

21“Go up against the land of Merathayim, against it, and against the inhabitants of Peqoḏ. Slay and put them under the ban,” declares יהוה, “and do according to all that I have commanded you.

22“There is a sound of battle in the land, and of great destruction.

23“How the hammer of all the earth has been cut off and broken! How Baḇel has become a ruin among the nations!

24“I have laid a snare for you, and you were captured, O Baḇel, and you yourself did not know! You have been found and also caught, because you strove against יהוה.”

25יהוה has opened His armoury, and has brought out the weapons of His displeasure, for the Master Elohim of hosts has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.

26Come against her from every quarter, open her storehouses, pile her up as heaps of ruins, and put her under the ban. Let her have no remnant.

27Slay all her bulls, let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment.

28Listen! They flee and escape from the land of Baḇel, to declare in Tsiyon the vengeance of יהוה our Elohim, the vengeance of His Hĕḵal.

29“Summon archers against Baḇel. All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around, let no one escape. Repay her according to her work, do to her according to all she has done. For she has been proud against יהוה, against the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl.

30“Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets, and all her men of battle shall perish in that day,” declares יהוה.

31“See, I am against you, O proud one!” declares the Master יהוה of hosts, “for your day has come, the time for your punishment.

32“And the proud one shall stumble, and he shall fall, with no one to raise him up. And I shall kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all around him.”

33Thus said יהוה of hosts, “The children of Yisra’ĕl were oppressed, along with the children of Yehuḏah. And all who took them captive have held them fast, they refused to let them go.

34“Their Redeemer is strong, יהוה of hosts is His Name. He shall strongly plead their case, so as to give rest to the land, but unrest to the inhabitants of Baḇel.

35“A sword is upon the Chaldeans,” declares יהוה, “and it is upon the inhabitants of Baḇel, and upon her heads and upon her wise men.

36“A sword is upon the liars, and they shall be fools. A sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be broken down.

37“A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mixed peoples who are in her midst, and they shall become like women. A sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be plundered.

38“A sword is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up. For it is a land of carved images, and they boast about their idols.

39“Therefore the wild desert beasts shall dwell with the jackals, and the ostriches dwell in it. And it shall never again be inhabited, nor dwelt in, unto all generations.

40“As Elohim overthrew Seḏom and Amorah and their neighbouring cities,” declares יהוה, “so no one would dwell there, nor would son of man sojourn in it.

41“See, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation and many sovereigns stirred up from the ends of the earth.

42“They lay hold of bow and spear, they are cruel and they show no compassion. They sound like the roaring sea, and ride on horses, set in array, like a man for the battle, against you, O daughter of Baḇel.

43“The sovereign of Baḇel has heard the report about them, and his hands became weak. Distress has seized him, pain like that of a woman in labour.

44“See, he comes up like a lion from the Yardĕn jungle, against the enduring pasture. But in an instant I shall make them run away from her. And who is the Chosen One whom I appoint against her? For who is like Me? Who summons Me? And who is that Shepherd who stands before Me?”

45Therefore hear the counsel of יהוה which He has counselled concerning Baḇel, and His purposes He has purposed concerning the land of the Chaldeans: the least of the flock shall drag them away! He shall make their pasture a waste before them!

46At the sound of Baḇel’s capture the earth shall be shaken, and the outcry shall be heard among the nations.