8. “Run away from Babylon. Leave the land of the Babylonians. Be like the goats that lead the flock.
9. I will bring many nations together from the north. This group of nations will get ready for war against Babylon. Babylon will be captured by people from the north. Those nations will shoot many arrows at Babylon. Their arrows will be like soldiers who don’t come back from war with their hands empty.
10. The enemy will take all the wealth from the Chaldeans. The soldiers will take all they want.” This is what the Lord said.
11. “Babylon, you are excited and happy. You took my land. You dance around like a young cow that got into the grain. Your laughter is like the happy sounds that horses make.
12. Now your mother will be very ashamed. The woman who gave you birth will be embarrassed. Babylon will be the least important of all the nations. She will be an empty, dry desert.
13. The Lord will show his anger, so no one will live there. Babylon will be completely empty. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be afraid. They will shake their heads when they see how badly it has been destroyed.
14. “Prepare for war against Babylon. All you soldiers with bows, shoot your arrows at Babylon. Don’t save any of your arrows. Babylon has sinned against the Lord.
15. Soldiers around Babylon, shout the cry of victory! Babylon has surrendered! Her walls and towers have been pulled down! The Lord is giving her people the punishment they deserve. You nations should give Babylon the punishment she deserves. Do to her what she has done to other nations.
16. Don’t let the people from Babylon plant their crops. Don’t let them gather the harvest. The soldiers of Babylon brought many prisoners to their city. Now the enemy soldiers have come, so the prisoners are going back home. They are running back to their own countries.
17. “Israel is like a flock of sheep that was scattered all over the country. Israel is like sheep that were chased away by lions. The first lion to attack was the king of Assyria. The last lion to crush Israel’s bones was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
18. So this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will soon punish the king of Babylon and his country as I punished the king of Assyria.
19. “‘I will bring Israel back to his own fields. He will eat food that grows on Mount Carmel and in the land of Bashan. He will eat and be full. He will eat on the hills in the lands of Ephraim and Gilead.’”
20. The Lord says, “At that time people will try hard to find Israel’s guilt, but there will be no guilt. People will try to find Judah’s sins, but no sins will be found. That is because I am saving a few survivors from Israel and Judah. And I am forgiving them for all their sins.”