12. Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon!Reinforce the guard,station the watchmen,prepare an ambush!The Lord will carry out his purpose,his decree against the people of Babylon.
13. You who live by many watersand are rich in treasures,your end has come,the time for you to be destroyed.
14. The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself:I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts,and they will shout in triumph over you.
15. ‘He made the earth by his power;he founded the world by his wisdomand stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
16. When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.He sends lightning with the rainand brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17. ‘Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.The images he makes are a fraud;they have no breath in them.
18. They are worthless, the objects of mockery;when their judgment comes, they will perish.
19. He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,for he is the Maker of all things,including the people of his inheritance –the Lord Almighty is his name.
20. ‘You are my war club,my weapon for battle –with you I shatter nations,with you I destroy kingdoms,