17. Every man is stupid and without knowledge;every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,for his images are false,and there is no breath in them.
18. They are worthless, a work of delusion;at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
19. Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,for he is the one who formed all things,and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;the Lord of hosts is his name.
20. “You are my hammer and weapon of war:with you I break nations in pieces;with you I destroy kingdoms;
21. with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider;with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer;
22. with you I break in pieces man and woman;with you I break in pieces the old man and the youth;with you I break in pieces the young man and the young woman;
23. with you I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team;with you I break in pieces governors and commanders.
24. “I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the Lord.
25. “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,declares the Lord,which destroys the whole earth;I will stretch out my hand against you,and roll you down from the crags, and make you a burnt mountain.
26. No stone shall be taken from you for a cornerand no stone for a foundation,but you shall be a perpetual waste,declares the Lord.
27. “Set up a standard on the earth; blow the trumpet among the nations; prepare the nations for war against her;summon against her the kingdoms, Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz;appoint a marshal against her; bring up horses like bristling locusts.
28. Prepare the nations for war against her,the kings of the Medes, with their governors and deputies,and every land under their dominion.
29. The land trembles and writhes in pain, for the Lord’s purposes against Babylon stand,to make the land of Babylon a desolation,without inhabitant.
30. The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting;they remain in their strongholds;their strength has failed; they have become women; her dwellings are on fire; her bars are broken.
31. One runner runs to meet another,and one messenger to meet another,to tell the king of Babylonthat his city is taken on every side;
32. the fords have been seized,the marshes are burned with fire,and the soldiers are in panic.
33. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floorat the time when it is trodden;yet a little whileand the time of her harvest will come.”
34. “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me;he has crushed me;he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster;he has filled his stomach with my delicacies;he has rinsed me out.
35. The violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon,”let the inhabitant of Zion say.“My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”let Jerusalem say.
36. Therefore thus says the Lord:“Behold, I will plead your causeand take vengeance for you. I will dry up her seaand make her fountain dry,
37. and Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, the haunt of jackals, a horror and a hissing,without inhabitant.