31. Messenger after messenger runs to tell the king of Babylonia that his city has been broken into from every side.
32. The enemy have captured the river crossing and have set the fortresses on fire. The Babylonian soldiers have panicked.
33. Soon the enemy will cut them down and trample them like corn on a threshing place. I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, have spoken.”
34. The king of Babylonia cut Jerusalem upand ate it.He emptied the city like a jar;like a monster he swallowed it.He took what he wantedand threw the rest away.
35. Let the people of Zion say,“May Babylonia be held responsiblefor the violence done to us!”Let the people of Jerusalem say,“May Babylonia be held responsiblefor what we have suffered!”
36. And so the Lord said to the people of Jerusalem, “I will take up your cause and will make your enemies pay for what they did to you. I will dry up the source of Babylonia's water and make its rivers go dry.
37. That country will become a pile of ruins where wild animals live. It will be a horrible sight; no one will live there, and all who see it will be terrified.
38. The Babylonians all roar like lions and growl like lion cubs.
39. Are they greedy? I will prepare them a feast and make them drunk and happy. They will go to sleep and never wake up.
40. I will take them to be slaughtered, like lambs, goats, and rams. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
41. The Lord says about Babylon: “The city that the whole world praised has been captured! What a horrifying sight Babylon has become to the nations!
42. The sea has rolled over Babylon and covered it with roaring waves.