4. Babylon’s soldiers will be killed in the land of the Chaldeans. They will be badly wounded in the streets of Babylon.”
5. The Lord All-Powerful did not leave Israel and Judah alone, like a widow. No, they are guilty of leaving the Holy One of Israel. Their God did not leave them. They left him!
6. Run away from Babylon. Run to save your lives! Don’t stay and be killed because of Babylon’s sins! It is time for the Lord to punish the Babylonians for the bad things they have done. Babylon will get the punishment that she should have.
7. Babylon was like a golden cup in the Lord’S hand. Babylon made the whole world drunk. The nations drank Babylon’s wine, so they went crazy.
8. But Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Cry for her! Get medicine for her pain, and maybe she can be healed.
9. We tried to heal Babylon, but she cannot be healed. So let us leave her, and let each of us go to our own country. God in heaven will decide Babylon’s punishment. He will decide what will happen to Babylon.
10. The Lord got even for us. Come, let’s tell about that in Zion. Let’s tell what the Lord our God has done.
11. Sharpen the arrows! Get your shields! The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes because he wants to destroy Babylon. The army from Babylon destroyed his Temple in Jerusalem, so he will give them the punishment they deserve.
12. Lift up a flag against the walls of Babylon. Bring more guards. Put the watchmen in their places. Get ready for a secret attack. The Lord will do what he has planned. He will do what he said he would do against the people of Babylon.
13. Babylon, you live near much water. You are rich with treasures, but your end as a nation has come. It is time for you to be destroyed.
14. The Lord All-Powerful used his name to make this promise: “Babylon, I will fill you with so many enemy soldiers they will be like a cloud of locusts. They will win their war against you. They will stand over you shouting their victory cry.”
15. God used his great power and made the earth. He used his wisdom to build the world and his understanding to stretch out the skies.
16. When he thunders, the waters in the skies roar. He sends clouds all over the earth. He sends lightning with the rain. He brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17. But people are so stupid. They don’t understand what God has done. Skilled workers make statues of false gods. Those statues are only false gods. They show how foolish those workers are. Those statues are not alive.
18. Those idols are worthless. People made them, and they are nothing but a joke. Their time of judgment will come, and those idols will be destroyed.
19. But God, who is Jacob’s Portion, is not like those worthless statues. People didn’t make God; God made his people. He made everything. His name is the Lord All-Powerful.