9. We would have helped her if we could,but nothing can save her now.Let her go; abandon her.Return now to your own land.For her punishment reaches to the heavens;it is so great it cannot be measured.
10. The lord has vindicated us.Come, let us announce in Jerusalemeverything the lord our God has done.
11. Sharpen the arrows!Lift up the shields!For the lord has inspired the kings of the Medesto march against Babylon and destroy her.This is his vengeance against thosewho desecrated his Temple.
12. Raise the battle flag against Babylon!Reinforce the guard and station the watchmen.Prepare an ambush,for the lord will fulfill all his plans against Babylon.
13. You are a city by a great river,a great center of commerce,but your end has come.The thread of your life is cut.
14. The lord of Heaven’s Armies has taken this vowand has sworn to it by his own name:“Your cities will be filled with enemies,like fields swarming with locusts,and they will shout in triumph over you.”
15. The lord made the earth by his power,and he preserves it by his wisdom.With his own understandinghe stretched out the heavens.
16. When he speaks in the thunder,the heavens roar with rain.He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.He sends the lightning with the rainand releases the wind from his storehouses.
17. The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge!The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make,for their carefully shaped works are a fraud.These idols have no breath or power.
18. Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies!On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.
19. But the God of Israel is no idol!He is the Creator of everything that exists,including his people, his own special possession.The lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name!
20. “You are my battle-ax and sword,”says the lord.“With you I will shatter nationsand destroy many kingdoms.
21. With you I will shatter armies—destroying the horse and rider,the chariot and charioteer.
22. With you I will shatter men and women,old people and children,young men and young women.
23. With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks,farmers and oxen,captains and officers.
24. “I will repay Babylonand the people of Babyloniafor all the wrong they have doneto my people in Jerusalem,” says the lord.
25. “Look, O mighty mountain, destroyer of the earth!I am your enemy,” says the lord.“I will raise my fist against you,to knock you down from the heights.When I am finished,you will be nothing but a heap of burnt rubble.
26. You will be desolate forever.Even your stones will never again be used for building.You will be completely wiped out,”says the lord.
27. Raise a signal flag to the nations.Sound the battle cry!Mobilize them all against Babylon.Prepare them to fight against her!Bring out the armies of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.Appoint a commander,and bring a multitude of horses like swarming locusts!