16. Cut off the sower from Babylon,And him who handles the sickle at harvest time.For fear of the oppressing swordEveryone shall turn to his own people,And everyone shall flee to his own land.
17. “Israel is like scattered sheep;The lions have driven him away.First the king of Assyria devoured him;Now at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”
18. Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:“Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,As I have punished the king of Assyria.
19. But I will bring back Israel to his home,And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan;His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20. In those days and in that time,” says the Lord,“The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none;And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found;For I will pardon those whom I preserve.
21. “Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it,And against the inhabitants of Pekod.Waste and utterly destroy them,” says the Lord,“And do according to all that I have commanded you.
22. A sound of battle is in the land,And of great destruction.
23. How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken!How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
24. I have laid a snare for you;You have indeed been trapped, O Babylon,And you were not aware;You have been found and also caught,Because you have contended against the Lord.