39. Babylon will never again be filled with people. Wild dogs, ostriches, and other desert animals will live there. But no one will live there ever again.
40. God completely destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them. In the same way no one will live in Babylon, and no one will ever go to live there.” This is what the Lord says.
41. “Look! There are people coming from the north. They come from a powerful nation. Many kings are coming together from all around the world.
42. Their armies have bows and spears. The soldiers are cruel. They have no mercy. The soldiers come riding on their horses; the sound is as loud as the roaring sea. They stand in their places, ready for battle. They are ready to attack you, city of Babylon.
43. The king of Babylon heard about those armies, and he is paralyzed with fear. He is overcome with fear and pain, like a woman giving birth.
44. “Sometimes a lion will come from the thick bushes near the Jordan River. It will walk into the fields where people have their animals. I will be like that lion; I will chase Babylon from its land. Who should I choose to do this? There is no one like me. There is no one who can challenge me. No shepherd will come to chase me away. I will chase away the Babylonians.”
45. Listen to what the Lord has planned to do to Babylon. Listen to what he has decided to do to the Babylonians. “I promise that an enemy will drag away the young kids of Babylon’s flock, and Babylon will become an empty pasture.
46. Babylon will fall, and that fall will shake the earth. People in all nations will hear about the destruction of Babylon.”