14. They will be like hunted gazelles, like sheep without a shepherd;all will turn to their own peopleand flee to their own lands.
15. Whoever is found will be stabbed;whoever is caught will fall by the sword.
16. Their infants will be crushed before their eyes;their houses plundered, their women raped.
17. Look! I’m rousing the Medes against them;the Medes pay no mind to silver, no desire for gold.
18. Their bows will smash youths;they will be merciless to newborns, pitiless to children.
19. So Babylon, a jewel among kingdoms,the Chaldeans’ splendor and pride,will be like Sodom and Gomorrah,destroyed by God.
20. No one will ever resettleor live there for generations.No Arab will camp there;no shepherds will rest flocks there.
21. Wildcats will rest there;houses will be filled with owls.Ostriches will live there,and goat demons will dance there.
22. Hyenas will howl in its strongholds,and jackals in its luxurious palaces.Babylon’s time is coming soon;its days won’t drag on.