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.
20. The Lord says, “Babylon, you are my club. I used you to smash nations. I used you to destroy kingdoms.
21. I used you to smash horse and rider. I used you to smash chariot and driver.
22. I used you to smash men and women. I used you to smash men, old and young. I used you to smash young men and young women.
23. I used you to smash shepherds and flocks. I used you to smash farmers and oxen. I used you to smash governors and important officials.
24. But I will repay Babylonia and all the Babylonians for all the evil things they did to Zion. I will pay them back so that you can see it, Judah.” This is what the Lord said.
25. The Lord says, “Babylon, you are like a volcano that destroys the whole country. But I have turned against you, and I will turn you into a burned-out mountain.
26. People will not take stones from Babylon to use as the foundation of a building. That is because they will not find any stones big enough for cornerstones. Your city will be a pile of broken rocks forever.” This is what the Lord said.
27. “Lift up the war flag in the land! Blow the trumpet in all the nations! Prepare the nations for war against Babylon. Call these kingdoms to come fight against Babylon: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Choose a commander to lead the army against her. Send so many horses that they are like a swarm of locusts.
28. Get the nations ready for battle against her. Get the kings of the Medes ready. Get their governors and all their important officials ready. Get all the countries they rule ready for battle against Babylon.