13. “You who live along the rivers of Babylon,the time of your end has come.You who are rich in plundered treasure,it is time for your lives to be cut off.
14. The Lord who rules over all has solemnly sworn,‘I will fill your land with enemy soldiers.They will swarm over it like locusts.They will raise up shouts of victory over it.’
15. He is the one who by his power made the earth.He is the one who by his wisdom fixed the world in place,by his understanding he spread out the heavens.
16. When his voice thunders, the waters in the heavens roar.He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons.He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain.He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it.
17. All idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant.Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.For the image he forges is merely a sham.There is no breath in any of those idols.
18. They are worthless, objects to be ridiculed.When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.
19. The Lord, who is the portion of the descendants of Jacob, is not like them.For he is the one who created everything,including the people of Israel whom he claims as his own.He is known as the Lord who rules over all.
20. “Babylon, you are my war club,my weapon for battle.I used you to smash nations.I used you to destroy kingdoms.
21. I used you to smash horses and their riders.I used you to smash chariots and their drivers.