23. I use you to smash shepherds and flocks.I use you to smash farmers and oxen.I use you to smash governors and officers.
24. “But I will pay back Babylon and all the Babylonians for all the evil things they did to Jerusalem in your sight,” says the Lord.
25. The Lord says,“Babylon, you are a destroying mountain,and I am against you.You have destroyed the whole land.I will put my hand out against you.I will roll you off the cliffs,and I will make you a burned-out mountain.
26. People will not find any rocks in Babylon big enough for cornerstones.People will not take any rocks from Babylon to use for the foundation of a building,because your city will be just a pile of ruins forever,” says the Lord.
27. “Lift up a banner in the land!Blow the trumpet among the nations!Get the nations ready for battle against Babylon.Call these kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz to fight against her.Choose a commander to lead the army against Babylon.Send so many horses that they are like a swarm of locusts.
28. Get the nations ready for battle against Babylon—the kings of the Medes,their governors and all their officers,and all the countries they rule.
29. The land shakes and moves in pain,because the Lord will do what he has planned to Babylon.He will make Babylon an empty desert,where no one will live.
30. Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting.They stay in their protected cities.Their strength is gone,and they have become like frightened women.Babylon’s houses are burning.The bars of her gates are broken.
31. One messenger follows another;messenger follows messenger.They announce to the king of Babylonthat his whole city has been captured.
32. The river crossings have been captured,and the swamplands are burning.All of Babylon’s soldiers are terribly afraid.”