NSB(i)
22 »The noise of battle and great destruction fills the land.
23 »The hammer of the whole earth is broken and shattered. See how desolate Babylon is of all the nations!
24 »I will set traps for you, Babylon. You will be caught, but you will not know it. You will be found and captured because you have opposed Jehovah.«
25 Jehovah will open his armory and bring out the weapons of his fury, because Jehovah of Hosts has a job to do in the land of the Babylonians.
26 Attack them from a distance, open their storehouses, pile up their corpses like piles of grain, claim them for me by destroying them, and do not leave anyone behind.
27 Kill all their young bulls. Let them go to be slaughtered. How horrible it will be for them when their time has come, the time for them to be punished.
28 Fugitives and refugees from Babylon are coming to Zion to tell about the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance for his temple.
29 »Call together the archers, the soldiers with bows, against Babylon. Set up blockades around it. Do not let anyone escape. Pay the people of Babylon back for what they have done. Do to them what they did to others. They have disobeyed Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel.
30 »That is why their young men will die in the streets, and all their soldiers will be silenced that day, declares Jehovah.
31 »I am against you, you arrogant city, declares the Lord Jehovah of Hosts. »Your day has come, the time when I will punish you.
32 »Those prideful people will stumble and fall, and there will be no one to help them get up. I will light a fire in their cities that will burn up everything around them.«
33 Jehovah of Hosts says: »All the people of Israel and Judah are oppressed. All their enemies have captured them. They refuse to let them go.
34 »Their defender is strong. His name is Jehovah of Hosts. He will certainly take up their cause in order to bring rest to the land of Israel and unrest to the people who live in Babylon.
35 »A sword will kill the Babylonians and everyone who lives in Babylon,« declares Jehovah. »A sword will kill their officials and their wise men.
36 »A sword will kill the false prophets. They will become fools. A sword will kill their soldiers and defeat them.
37 »A sword will kill their horses, their chariots, and all the foreigners within their ranks. They will become women. A sword will destroy their treasures, and they will be looted.
38 »A drought will diminish their water supply, and it will dry up. Babylon is a land of idols, statues that will go crazy with fear.
39 »That is why desert animals will live with hyenas. Desert owls will also live there. It will no longer be inhabited or lived in for generations.
40 »Babylon will be like Sodom and Gomorrah, and their neighboring cities when I, God, destroyed them. No one will live there. No human will stay there, proclaims Jehovah.
41 »People are going to come from the north. A great nation and many kings will rise from the ends of the earth.
42 »They will take hold of bows and spears. They will be cruel and have no compassion. They will sound like the sea when it roars. They will ride horses. They are ready for war, ready to attack you, people of Babylon.
43 »The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and he loses courage. Anguish will grip him as pain grips a woman in labor.
44 »I will suddenly chase them from their places like a lion coming out of the jungle along the Jordan River into pastureland. I will appoint over Babylon whomever I choose. Who is like me? Who can challenge me? Is there any leader who can stand up to me?«
45 Listen to what Jehovah is going to do against Babylon and the things he intends to do to the land of the Babylonians. He will surely drag away the little ones of the flock. He will surely destroy the pasture because of the Babylonians.
46 The earth will quake at the news, »Babylon has been captured!« Its cry will be heard among the nations.