⁵ For ^(F)neither Israel nor Judah has been ^[h]forsaken
By his God, the Lord of armies,
Although their land is ^(G)full of guilt
^[i]Before the Holy One of Israel.
^6 (H)Flee from the midst of Babylon,
And each of you save his life!
Do not ^(I)perish in her ^[j]punishment,
For this is the ^(J)Lord’s time of vengeance;
He is going to ^(K)repay to her what she deserves.
⁷ Babylon has been a golden ^(L)cup in the hand of the Lord,
Intoxicating all the earth.
The ^(M)nations have drunk of her wine;
Therefore the nations are ^(N)going insane.
⁸ Suddenly ^(O)Babylon has fallen and been broken;
^(P)Wail over her!
^(Q)Bring ^[k]balm for her pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.
⁹ We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed;
Abandon her and ^(R)let’s each go to his own country,
For her judgment has ^(S)reached to heaven
And it rises to the clouds.
¹⁰ The Lord has ^(T)brought ^[l]about our vindication;
Come and let’s ^(U)recount in Zion
The work of the Lord our God!

^11 (V)Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes,
Because His plan is against Babylon to destroy it;
For it is the ^(W)vengeance of the Lord, vengeance for His temple.
^12 (X)Lift up a signal flag against the walls of Babylon;
Post a strong guard,
Station ^[m]sentries,
Set up an ambush!
For the Lord has both ^(Y)planned and performed
What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
¹³ You who ^(Z)live by many waters,
Abundant in ^(AA)treasures,
Your end has come,
The ^[n]measure of your ^[o](AB)end.
¹⁴ The ^(AC)Lord of armies has sworn by Himself:
“I will certainly fill you with a ^[p]population like ^(AD)locusts,
And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you.”

¹⁵ It is ^(AE)He who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom,
And by His understanding He ^(AF)stretched out the heavens.
¹⁶ When He utters His ^(AG)voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
And He makes the ^(AH)clouds ascend from the end of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
And brings out ^(AI)wind from His storehouses.
^17 (AJ)Every person is stupid, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his ^[q]idols,
For his cast metal images are ^(AK)deceitful,
And there is no breath in them.
¹⁸ They are ^(AL)worthless, a work of mockery;
At the time of their punishment they will perish.
¹⁹ The ^(AM)portion of Jacob is not like these;
For He is the ^[r]Maker of everything,
And of the ^[s]tribe of His inheritance;
The ^(AN)Lord of armies is His name.
²⁰ He says, “You are My ^[t](AO)war-club, My weapon of war;
And with you I ^(AP)shatter nations,
And with you I destroy kingdoms.
²¹ With you I ^(AQ)shatter the horse and his rider,
And with you I shatter the ^(AR)chariot and its rider,
²² And with you I shatter ^(AS)man and woman,
And with you I shatter the old man and ^(AT)youth,
And with you I shatter the young man and virgin,
²³ And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock,
And with you I shatter the farmer and his team,
And with you I shatter governors and officials.

^27 (BA)Lift up a signal flag in the land,
Blow a trumpet among the nations!
Consecrate the nations against her,
Summon against her the ^(BB)kingdoms of ^(BC)Ararat, Minni, and ^(BD)Ashkenaz;
Appoint an officer against her,
Bring up the ^(BE)horses like bristly locusts.
²⁸ Consecrate the nations against her,
The kings of the Medes,
^[u]Their governors and all ^[v]their officials,
And every land ^[w]under their control.
²⁹ So the ^(BF)land quakes and writhes,
For the plans of the Lord against Babylon stand,
To make the land of Babylon
^[x]A ^(BG)desolation without inhabitants.
³⁰ The ^(BH)warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting,
They stay in the strongholds;
^(BI)Their strength is ^[y]exhausted,
They are becoming ^(BJ)like women;
Their homes are set on fire,
The ^(BK)bars of her gates are broken.
³¹ One ^[z](BL)courier runs to meet ^[aa]another,
And one ^[ab](BM)messenger to meet ^[ac]another,
To tell the king of Babylon
That his city has been captured from end to end;
³² The river crossing places have been seized,
And they have burned the marshes with fire,
And the men of war are terrified.

³³ For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says:
“The daughter of Babylon is like a ^(BN)threshing floor
At the time that ^[ad]it is tread down;
In just a little while the time of ^(BO)harvest will come for her.”

³⁴ “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has ^(BP)devoured me, he has crushed me,
He has set me down like an ^(BQ)empty vessel;
He has ^(BR)swallowed me like a monster,
He has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
He has washed me away.
³⁵ May the ^(BS)violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,”
The ^[ae]inhabitant of Zion will say;
And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
Jerusalem will say.

⁴¹ “How ^[ah](CC)Sheshak has been captured,
And ^(CD)the praise of the whole earth has been seized!
How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!
⁴² The ^[ai](CE)sea has come up over Babylon;
She has been engulfed by its roaring waves.
⁴³ Her cities have become an ^(CF)object of horror,
A dry land and a desert,
A land in which ^(CG)no one lives
And through which no ^[aj]one of mankind passes.
^44 (CH)I will punish Bel in Babylon,
And I will make what he has swallowed ^(CI)come out of his mouth;
And the nations will no longer ^(CJ)stream toward him.
Even the ^(CK)wall of Babylon has fallen down!

⁴⁵ “^(CL)Come out from her midst, My people,
And each of you ^(CM)save yourselves
From the fierce anger of the Lord.
⁴⁶ Now, ^(CN)so that your heart does not grow faint,
And you are not afraid at the ^(CO)report that will be heard in the land—
For the report will come in ^[ak]one year,
And after that ^[al]another report in ^[am]another year,
And violence will be in the land
With ^(CP)ruler against ruler—
⁴⁷ Therefore behold, days are coming
When I will punish the ^(CQ)idols of Babylon;
And her whole land will be ^(CR)put to shame.
And all her slain will fall in her midst.
⁴⁸ Then ^(CS)heaven and earth and everything that is in them
Will shout for joy over Babylon,
Because ^(CT)the destroyers will come to her from the north,”
Declares the Lord.

^49 (CU)Indeed, Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel,
As ^(CV)the slain of all the earth have also fallen for Babylon.
⁵⁰ You ^(CW)who have escaped the sword,
Go! Do not stay!
^(CX)Remember the Lord from far away,
And let Jerusalem ^[an]come to your mind.
^51 (CY)We are ashamed because we have heard rebuke;
Disgrace has covered our faces,
Because ^(CZ)strangers have entered
The holy places of the Lord’s house.

⁵² “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When I will punish her ^(DA)idols,
And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.
⁵³ Though Babylon ^(DB)ascends to the heavens,
And though she fortifies ^[ao]her lofty stronghold,
Destroyers will come from ^(DC)Me to her,” declares the Lord.

⁵⁴ The ^(DD)sound of an outcry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
⁵⁵ For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon,
And He will make her loud ^[ap]noise vanish from her.
And their ^(DE)waves will roar like many waters;
The clamor of their voices ^[aq]sounds forth.
⁵⁶ For the ^(DF)destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
And her warriors will be captured,
Their ^(DG)bows shattered;
For the Lord is a God of ^(DH)retribution,
He will fully repay.
⁵⁷ “I will ^(DI)make her leaders and her wise men drunk,
Her governors, her officials, and her warriors,
So that they will sleep a ^(DJ)perpetual sleep and not wake up,”
^(DK)Declares the King, whose name is the Lord of armies.