1. Thus says the Lord:“Behold, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyeragainst Babylon,against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai,
2. and I will send to Babylon winnowers,and they shall winnow her,and they shall empty her land,when they come against her from every side on the day of trouble.
3. Let not the archer bend his bow,and let him not stand up in his armor.Spare not her young men; devote to destruction all her army.
4. They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and wounded in her streets.
5. For Israel and Judah have not been forsakenby their God, the Lord of hosts,but the land of the Chaldeans is full of guiltagainst the Holy One of Israel.
6. “Flee from the midst of Babylon;let every one save his life! Be not cut off in her punishment, for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance,the repayment he is rendering her.
7. Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, making all the earth drunken; the nations drank of her wine;therefore the nations went mad.