46. Do not lose courage or be afraid because of the rumours you hear. Every year a different rumour spreads — rumours of violence in the land and of one king fighting another.
47. And so the time is coming when I will deal with Babylonia's idols. The whole country will be put to shame, and all its people will be killed.
48. Everything on earth and in the sky will shout for joy when Babylonia falls to the people who come from the north to destroy it.
49. Babylonia caused the death of people all over the world, and now Babylonia will fall because it caused the death of so many Israelites. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
50. The Lord says to his people in Babylonia: “You have escaped death! Now go! Don't wait! Though you are far from home, think about me, your Lord, and remember Jerusalem.
51. You say, ‘We've been disgraced and made ashamed; we feel completely helpless because foreigners have taken over the holy places in the Temple.’
52. So then, I say that the time is coming when I will deal with Babylon's idols, and the wounded will groan throughout the country.
53. Even if Babylon could climb to the sky and build a strong fortress there, I would still send people to destroy it. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
54. The Lord says,“Listen to the sound of crying in Babylon,of mourning for the destruction in the land.
55. I am destroying Babylonand putting it to silence.The armies rush in like roaring wavesand attack with noisy shouts.
56. They have come to destroy Babylon;its soldiers are captured,and their bows are broken.I am a God who punishes evil,and I will treat Babylon as it deserves.
57. I will make its rulers drunk —men of wisdom, leaders, and soldiers.They will go to sleep and never wake up.I, the king, have spoken,I am the Lord Almighty.
58. The walls of mighty Babylon will be thrown to the ground,and its towering gates burnt down.The work of the nations is all for nothing;their efforts go up in flames.I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken.”
59. King Zedekiah's personal attendant was Seraiah, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. In the fourth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, Seraiah was going to Babylonia with him, and I gave him some instructions.