Isaiah 13 Cross References - LEB

¹ The oracle of Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw: ² Raise a signal on a bare hill, lift up your voice to them; wave the hand and may they enter the gateways of the noblemen. ³ I myself I have commanded my consecrated ones, I have also summoned my mighty warriors concerning my anger, the _⌊ones who exalt over_⌋* my majesty. ⁴ A sound, a noise is on the mountains, the likeness of many people! A sound of the roar of the kingdoms, of nations gathering! Yahweh of hosts is mustering an army for battle. ⁵ They are coming from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, Yahweh and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy _⌊the whole earth_⌋.* ⁶ Wail, for the day of Yahweh is near; it will come like destruction from Shaddai!* ⁷ Therefore all hands will grow slack, and every human heart will melt, ⁸ and they will be dismayed. Pangs and labor pains will seize them; they will tremble like a woman giving birth. _⌊They will stare at one another_⌋,* _⌊their faces flushing_⌋.* ⁹ Look! The day of Yahweh is coming, cruel and wrath and the burning of anger, to make the earth a desolation, and he will destroy its sinners from it. ¹⁰ For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will keep back when it comes out, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. ¹¹ And I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. And I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant, and I will bring the haughtiness of tyrants low. ¹² I will make humanity more rare than gold and humankind more than the gold of Ophir. ¹³ Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will quake from its place because of the wrath of Yahweh of hosts, and in the day his anger burns. ¹⁴ And this shall happen:
like a hunted gazelle or sheep _⌊with none to gather them_⌋,* they will each turn to his own people, and they will each flee to his own land. ¹⁵ Everyone who is found will be pierced through, and everyone who is carried away will fall by the sword. ¹⁶ And their children will be dashed into pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be raped.* ¹⁷ Look! I am stirring the Medes up against them, who do not value silver and do not delight in gold. ¹⁸ And their bows will shatter young men. And they will not show mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not look compassionately on children. ¹⁹ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor of the Chaldeans' pride, will be like _⌊when God overthrew_⌋* Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁰ It will not be inhabited forever, and it will not be dwelled in _⌊forever_⌋;* and no Arab will pitch a tent there, and shepherds will not allow their flocks to lie down there. ²¹ But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures, and the daughters of ostriches* will live there, and goats will dance there. ²² And hyenas will answer in its palaces, and jackals in the pleasure palaces; and its time _⌊is coming soon_⌋,* and its days will not be prolonged.

¹ The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

¹⁹ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor of the Chaldeans' pride, will be like _⌊when God overthrew_⌋* Sodom and Gomorrah.

⁴ that you will take this taunt against the king of Babylon, and you will say: "How the oppressor has ceased! his insolence* has ceased. ⁵ Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, ⁶ that struck the peoples in wrath, a blow without ceasing, that ruled the nations in anger _⌊with unrestrained persecution_⌋.* ⁷ All of the earth rests and is quiet; they break forth into singing. ⁸ Even the cypresses rejoice over you, the cedars of Lebanon: 'Since you were laid down, no wood cutter comes up against us.' ⁹ Sheol below is getting excited over you, to meet _⌊you when you come_⌋;* it arouses the dead spirits for you, all of the leaders of the earth. It raises all of the kings of the nations from their thrones. ¹⁰ All of them will respond and say to you, 'You yourself also were made weak like us! You have become the same as us!' ¹¹ Your pride is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your harps; maggots* are spread out beneath you like a bed, and your covering is worms.* ¹² How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of dawn! You are cut down to the ground, conqueror of nations! ¹³ And you yourself said in your heart,
'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise up my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mountain of assembly on the summit of Zaphon;* ¹⁴ I will ascend to the high places of the clouds,* I will make myself like the Most High.' ¹⁵ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit. ¹⁶ Those who see you will stare at you, they will look closely at you: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who caused kingdoms to shake, ¹⁷ who made the world like the desert and destroyed its cities, who would not let his prisoners go home?' ¹⁸ All the kings of the nations, all of them, lie in glory, each one in his house. ¹⁹ But as for you, you are thrown away from your grave, like an abhorrent shoot, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, those who go down to the stones of the pit, like a corpse that is trodden down. ²⁰ You will not be united with them in burial because you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people.
The descendants* of evildoers will not be mentioned for eternity! ²¹ Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons because of the sin of their ancestors.* Let them not rise and take possession of the earth or fill up the face of the world with cities." ²² "And I will rise up against them,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts,
"and I will cut off name and a remnant from Babylon, and offspring and posterity,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ²³ "And I will make her a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts.

²⁸ In the year of the death of king Ahaz there was this oracle:

¹ An oracle of Moab:
Because Ar is devastated in a night, Moab is destroyed; because Kir of Moab is devastated in a night, it is destroyed.

¹ An oracle of Damascus:
"Look! Damascus will cease being a city and will become a heap of ruins.

¹ An oracle of Egypt:
Look! Yahweh is riding on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. And the idols of Egypt will tremble in front of him, and the heart of Egypt melts in his inner parts.

¹ The oracle of the wilderness of the sea:
As storm winds passing over in the Negev,
_⌊it comes_⌋* from the desert, from a frightful land. ² A hard revelation is told to me;
the treacherous deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; lay siege, Media!
I put an end to all of her sighing. ³ Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman giving birth. I am _⌊too bent to hear_⌋,* I am _⌊too dismayed to see_⌋.* ⁴ My _⌊mind_⌋* staggers; fear terrifies me; the twilight _⌊I desired_⌋* _⌊brought_⌋* me fear. ⁵ Set out the table in order! Spread out the rugs!* Eat! drink! Rise up, commanders; smear* the shield! ⁶ For the Lord said this to me:
"Go, set a watchman in position. He must announce what he sees. ⁷ When* he sees riders,* a pair of horsemen, riders* of donkeys,* riders* of camels,* _⌊then_⌋* he must listen attentively, paying attention, paying _⌊special_⌋* attention." ⁸ Then* the _⌊watchman_⌋* called,
"Lord, I am standing on the watchtower continually by day, and I am standing at my post _⌊throughout_⌋* the night. ⁹ And look at this! A man's a chariot is coming, a pair of horsemen!"
Then* he responded and said,
"It has fallen! Babylon has fallen! And all the images of her gods are* smashed on the ground!" ¹⁰ My downtrodden people and the son of my threshing floor,
I will announce to you what I have heard from Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel. ¹¹ The oracle of Dumah:
One is calling to me from Seir,
"Watchman, what _⌊of_⌋* the night? Watchman, what _⌊of_⌋* the night?"

¹³ An oracle _⌊concerning_⌋* Arabia:
You will spend the night in the thicket in a desert-plateau,* caravans of Dedanites.

¹ The oracle of the valley of vision:
_⌊What business do you have going_⌋* up, all of you, to the roofs,

²⁵ On that day, _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts, the peg that was driven will move away into a secure place, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on her will be cut off. For Yahweh has spoken.'"

¹⁴ Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel: "For your sake I will send to Babylon, and I will cause all of them to fall down as fugitives, and _⌊the Chaldeans_⌋,* their rejoicing on the ships.

¹ "But now hear, Jacob my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen. ² Thus says Yahweh, who made you, and who formed you in* the womb and will help you: you must not fear, my servant Jacob, and Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

¹ Come down and sit on the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon! Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of Chaldea! For _⌊they shall no longer call_⌋* you tender and delicate. ² Take the pair of mill stones and grind flour! Uncover your veil, strip off your skirt, uncover your thigh, pass through the rivers! ³ Your nakedness shall be exposed; indeed, your shame shall become visible. I will take vengeance and I will not _⌊spare_⌋* a person. ⁴ Our redeemer, Yahweh of hosts is his name, the holy one of Israel. ⁵ Sit silently and go into the darkness, daughter of Chaldea, for _⌊they shall no longer call_⌋* you mistress of kingdoms. ⁶ I was angry with my people; I profaned my inheritance, and I gave them into your hand. You did not _⌊give_⌋* them mercy; on the aged you made your yoke very heavy. ⁷ And you said, "I shall be an eternal mistress forever!" You did not set these things upon your heart; you did not remember its end. ⁸ Therefore now hear this, luxuriant one who sits* in security, who says* in her heart, "I am, and besides me there is no one. I shall not sit as a widow, and I shall not know the loss of children." ⁹ And these two shall come to you in a moment, in one day: the loss of children and widowhood shall come on you _⌊completely_⌋,* in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the power of your great enchantments. ¹⁰ And you felt secure in your wickedness; you said, "_⌊No one_⌋* sees* me." Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, "I am, and besides me there is no one." ¹¹ And evil shall come upon you, you will not know; it will be on the lookout for her. And disaster shall fall upon you; you will not be able to _⌊avert_⌋* it. And ruin shall come on you suddenly; you do not know. ¹² Stand, now, in your enchantments, and in your many sorceries with which you have labored from your youth. Perhaps you may be able to benefit; perhaps you may _⌊scare away_⌋.* ¹³ You struggle with your many consultations;* let them stand, now, and save you— those who see the stars, divide the _⌊celestial sphere_⌋,* who inform by new moons— from those things that are coming upon you. ¹⁴ Look! They are like stubble; the fire burns them completely. They cannot deliver _⌊themselves_⌋* from the _⌊power_⌋* of the flame; there is no coal _⌊for warming oneself_⌋,* no fire before which to sit. ¹⁵ So are to you those with whom you have labored, your traders from your youth. They wander, each to his side; there is no one who can save you.

³³ "Now when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, ask you, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'What is the burden* of Yahweh?' then you shall say to them, '_⌊You are the burden_⌋,* and I will forsake you,'" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ³⁴ "And the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, 'The burden* of Yahweh,' I will punish that man and his house. ³⁵ Thus you shall say, each one to his neighbor and each one to his brother: 'What has Yahweh answered?' or, 'What has Yahweh spoken?' ³⁶ But you shall not mention the burden* of Yahweh, for the burden* is to each one his word, and so you twist the words of the living God, Yahweh of hosts, our God. ³⁷ Thus you shall say to that prophet, 'What has Yahweh answered you?' or, 'What has Yahweh spoken?' ³⁸ But if you say, 'The burden* of Yahweh,' _⌊therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh, 'because of your saying these words,* "The burden* of Yahweh," then I will send to you, _⌊saying_⌋,* "You shall not say, 'The burden* of Yahweh.'" '

¹² _⌊And then_⌋* when the seventy years* are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it _⌊an everlasting waste_⌋.* ¹³ And I will bring upon that land all my words that I have spoken against it, everything that is written in this scroll which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. ¹⁴ For many nations and great kings will let them work, even them, and I will repay them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.'" ¹⁵ For thus said Yahweh, the God of Israel, to me, "Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand, and you must give it to all the nations to whom I am sending you to drink. ¹⁶ And they will drink, and they will stagger, and they will act like madmen because of the _⌊presence_⌋* of the sword that I am sending among them." ¹⁷ So I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and I gave it* to all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me to drink: ¹⁸ Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and its kings, and its officials, to make them a site of ruins, a horror, an object of hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; ¹⁹ Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and his servants, and his officials, and all his people; ²⁰ and all the other* people; and all the kings of the land of Uz; and all the kings of the land of the Philistines—*Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; ²¹ Edom, and Moab, and the _⌊Ammonites_⌋;* ²² and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland that is across the sea; ²³ and Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all those who are trimmed to the side; ²⁴ and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the other* people who dwell in the desert;* ²⁵ and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; ²⁶ and all the kings of the north, near and far, each one to his brother, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach, he will drink after them.

¹ The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet: ² "Declare among the nations and proclaim, and lift up a banner. Proclaim, you must not conceal it. Say, 'Babylon is captured, Bel is ashamed, Merodach is filled with terror, her idols are ashamed, her idols are filled with terror. ³ For a nation will come up against her from the north. It will make her land as a horror, and an inhabitant will not be in her. From humans* to animals* they all will wander off. They will go away. ⁴ In those days and in that time,'" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "the people* of Israel will come, they and the people* of Judah together. _⌊Weeping as they go_⌋,* they will go, and Yahweh their God they will seek. ⁵ They will ask the way to Zion, turning their faces there. They will come and join themselves to Yahweh by _⌊an everlasting covenant_⌋* that will not be forgotten. ⁶ My people have become lost sheep, their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They led them away to the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone, they have forgotten their resting place. ⁷ All those who found them have devoured them. And their foes have said, 'We are not guilty, _⌊because_⌋* they have sinned against Yahweh, the _⌊true pasture_⌋,* even Yahweh, the hope of their ancestors.'* ⁸ Flee from the midst of Babylon, and from the land of the Chaldeans. Go out and be like he-goats _⌊before_⌋* the flock. ⁹ For look, I am going to stir up, and I am going to bring against Babylon a contingent of great nations from the land of the north. And they will draw up a battle formation against her, from there she will be captured. Their arrows are like a warrior who has achieved success, he does not return without success. ¹⁰ And Chaldea will be as booty, all those who plunder her will be satisfied," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ¹¹ "Though you rejoice, though you exult, O plunderers of my inheritance, though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass, and you neigh like the powerful stallions, ¹² your mother will be very ashamed. She who gave birth to you will be humiliated.* Look, she will be the least of the nations, a desert,* dry land, and wilderness.* ¹³ Because of the anger of Yahweh she will not be inhabited, but she will be a wasteland, all of her. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled and will hiss because of all her wounds. ¹⁴ Draw up a battle formation at Babylon all around, all those who bend the bow, shoot at her. You must not spare arrows,* for she has sinned against Yahweh. ¹⁵ Raise a war cry against her on all sides. _⌊She has surrendered_⌋.* Her towers have fallen, her walls are ruined. For this is the vengeance of Yahweh. Take revenge on her. As she has done to others, so do to her. ¹⁶ Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who uses the sickle in the time of harvest. _⌊Because of_⌋* the sword of the oppressor each one will turn to their people, and each one will flee to their land. ¹⁷ Israel is a sheep scattered, lions drove them away. The first who devoured it was the king of Assyria, and now at the end Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, gnawed its bones." ¹⁸ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,
"Look, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ And I will restore Israel to its pasture, and it will feed on Carmel, and in Bashan, and on the hills* of Ephraim, and in Gilead its hunger will be satisfied. ²⁰ In those days and at that time," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "the guilt of Israel will be sought, but there is none, and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found, for I will forgive those I left behind. ²¹ To the land of Merathaim, go up against her, and against the inhabitants of Pekod, massacre and destroy them," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and do according to all that I have commanded you. ²² The sound of battle is in the land, and great destruction. ²³ How the blacksmith's hammer of all the earth is cut down and broken! How Babylon has become as a horror among the nations! ²⁴ I laid a bird snare for you, and you were caught, O Babylon. But you yourself did not know. You were discovered and seized, because with Yahweh you measured yourself. ²⁵ Yahweh has opened his armory, and he has brought out the weapons of his wrath, for it is a word for my Lord Yahweh of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ Come against her from the end, open her granaries. Pile her up like heaps and destroy her. Let there be no remnant for her. ²⁷ Massacre all her bulls, let them go down to the slaughtering. Woe to them, for their day has come, the time of their punishment. ²⁸ There is the sound of fugitives and survivors from the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God, the vengeance for his temple. ²⁹ Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp all around her, there must not be for her an escape. Take revenge on her according to her deeds. According to all that she has done, so do to her. For against Yahweh she has behaved insolently, against the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰ _⌊Therefore_⌋* her young men will fall in her public squares, and all _⌊her soldiers_⌋* will perish on that day," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ³¹ "Look, I am against you, O arrogant one," _⌊declares_⌋* Lord Yahweh of hosts, "for your day has come, the time when I will punish you. ³² And the arrogant one will stumble and fall, and there is no one who raises him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour everything around him." ³³ Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"The people* of Israel are oppressed, and the people* of Judah likewise, _⌊for_⌋* all their captors have seized them, they refuse to let them go free. ³⁴ Their redeemer is strong, his name is Yahweh of hosts. Surely he will plead their case, in order to make peace for the earth, but to cause unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon. ³⁵ A sword against the Chaldeans," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her officials, and against her wise men. ³⁶ A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become foolish. A sword against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror. ³⁷ A sword against his horses, and against his chariots,* and against all the foreign troops who are in the midst of her, so that they may become as women. A sword against her treasures, so that they may be plundered. ³⁸ A drought will come against her waters, and they will dry up, for it is a land of images, and because of the frightful objects, they act like madmen. ³⁹ _⌊Therefore_⌋* desert creatures will live there* with jackals, and daughters of ostriches* will inhabit her. And she will not be inhabited again _⌊forever_⌋,* and she will not be dwelt in _⌊for all generations_⌋.* ⁴⁰ As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "no one will live there, and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in her. ⁴¹ Look, a people is about to come from the north, and a great nation and many kings are woken up from the remotest part of the earth. ⁴² They keep hold of bow and short sword. They are cruel and they have no mercy. Their sound is like the sea, it roars, and upon horses they ride. Drawn up for battle as a man for the battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon. ⁴³ The king of Babylon heard their report and his hands grew slack. Anxiety has seized him, fear and pain like the woman who gives birth. ⁴⁴ Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets* of the Jordan against _⌊a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream_⌋,* so _⌊I will chase them away quickly_⌋* from her, and I will appoint whoever is chosen over her. For who is like me, and who can summon me, and who is this shepherd who can stand _⌊before me_⌋?* ⁴⁵ _⌊Therefore_⌋* hear the plan of Yahweh that he has planned against Babylon, and his plans that he has planned against the land of the Chaldeans. _⌊Surely_⌋* they will drag them away, the little ones of the flock. _⌊Surely_⌋* he will cause their grazing place to be desolate over them. ⁴⁶ At the sound, 'Babylon has been captured,' the earth will quake, and a cry for help among the nations will be heard."

¹ Thus says Yahweh:
"Look, I am going to stir up against Babylon and against the inhabitants of Leb-qamai a destructive wind. ² And I will send winnowers to Babylon, and they will winnow her, and they will lay waste her land, for they will be against her from all sides on the day of disaster. ³ Let not him who bends the bow shoot his bow, and let him not rise high in his body armor. And you must not spare her young men; destroy her whole army. ⁴ And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and pierced through in her streets. ⁵ For neither Israel nor Judah is a widower from their God, from Yahweh of hosts, though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel." ⁶ Flee from the midst of Babylon and save each one his life. You must not perish because of her guilt. For this is the time of vengeance for Yahweh, he will repay her what is deserved. ⁷ Babylon was a cup of gold in the hand of Yahweh, making drunk all the earth. The nations drank of her wine. _⌊Therefore_⌋* the nations acted like madmen. ⁸ Suddenly Babylon has fallen and she is shattered. Wail over her! Take balm for her wounds, perhaps she may be healed. ⁹ We tried to heal Babylon, and she was not healed. Forsake her and let us go each one to his country, for her judgment has reached to the heavens, and it has been lifted up to the skies. ¹⁰ Yahweh has brought forth our vindication. Come and let us make known in Zion the work of Yahweh our God. ¹¹ Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. Because his plan concerning Babylon is to destroy it, for that is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance for his temple. ¹² Against the walls of Babylon raise a banner; _⌊post a strong watch_⌋,* post watchmen, prepare the ambushes, for Yahweh has both planned as well as performed what he has spoken concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. ¹³ O you who live by mighty waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, _⌊the measure of your life_⌋.* ¹⁴ Yahweh of hosts has sworn by himself, "Surely I will fill you with troops like the creeping locusts,* and they will sing over you a war cry." ¹⁵ He is the one who made the earth by his power, the one who created the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens. ¹⁶ At the giving of his voice there is a roar of waters in the heavens, and he causes the patches of mist to go up from the end of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings out the wind from his storehouses. ¹⁷ All humankind turns out to be stupid, without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by the divine image. For his cast image is a lie, and there is no breath in them. ¹⁸ They are worthless, a work of mockery. At the time of their punishment, they will perish. ¹⁹ The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the creator of _⌊everything_⌋,* and the tribe of his inheritance. Yahweh of hosts is his name. ²⁰ He says, "You are a war club for me, a weapon of battle, and I smash nations with you, and I destroy kingdoms with you. ²¹ And I smash the horse with you, and its rider, and I smash the chariot with you, and its rider. ²² And I smash man and woman with you, and I smash the old man and the boy with you, and I smash the young man and the young woman with you. ²³ And I smash the shepherd and his flock with you, and I smash the farmer and his team with you, and I smash the governors and the officials with you. ²⁴ And I will repay Babylon, and all the inhabitants of Chaldea, all their wickedness that they have done in Zion before your eyes," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ²⁵ "Look, I am against you, O mountain of the destruction," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "the one that destroys the whole earth. And I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will roll you down from the cliffs, and I will make you as a mountain burned away. ²⁶ They will not take from you a stone for a corner, and a stone for a foundation, for you will be _⌊an everlasting desolation_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ²⁷ Raise a banner in the land; blow a horn among the nations; prepare for holy war against her; summon the nations against her, the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; summon against her an official; bring up horses* like bristling creeping locusts.* ²⁸ Prepare the nations for holy war against her, the kings of the Medes, with their governors and all their officials, and every land of their dominion. ²⁹ And the land quakes and writhes, for the plans of Yahweh against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon as a horror, _⌊without_⌋* inhabitant. ³⁰ The warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight, they remain in the strongholds, their power has dried up, they have become as women. Her dwelling places are set on fire, her bars are broken. ³¹ one runner runs to meet another runner, and one messenger to meet another messenger, to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been captured, _⌊from end to end_⌋.* ³² And the fords have been seized, and the reed marshes have been burned with fire, and _⌊the soldiers_⌋* are horrified. ³³ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,
"The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trodden down, _⌊just a little while_⌋* and the time of the harvest will come for her." ³⁴ Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me and sucked me dry; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like the sea monster; he has filled his belly with my delicacies; he has rinsed me. ³⁵ "May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon," the inhabitants* of Zion will say; and "My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea," Jerusalem will say. ³⁶ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh,
"Look, I am going to contend your case, and I will avenge your vengeance, and I will cause her sea to dry up, and I will cause her fountain to dry up. ³⁷ And Babylon will become as a heap of stones, a lair of jackals, an object of horror, and an object of hissing, _⌊without_⌋* inhabitants. ³⁸ They will roar together like the young lions, they will growl like the cubs of lions. ³⁹ At their becoming hot I will set their banquets, and I will make them drunk, so that they will fall into a swoon, and they will sleep _⌊an everlasting sleep_⌋,* and they will not wake up," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁴⁰ "I will bring them down like young rams to slaughter, like rams and goats. ⁴¹ How Sheshach is captured, and the glory of all the earth is seized! How Babylon has become as an object of horror among the nations! ⁴² The sea has risen over Babylon, she has been covered by the roar of its waves. ⁴³ Her cities have become as an object of horror, a dry land and a wilderness,* a land in which no person lives, nor does a son of humankind pass through it. ⁴⁴ And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will wrench out from his mouth _⌊what he has swallowed_⌋.* And the nations will not stream towards him any longer _⌊what's worse_⌋,* the wall of Babylon has fallen. ⁴⁵ Come out from her midst, my people, and save each one his life from _⌊the burning anger of_⌋* Yahweh. ⁴⁶ Now _⌊so that you are not fainthearted_⌋,* and you are afraid at the rumors* that are heard in the land— and in the year the rumor comes, and in the year after it the rumor, and violence is in the land, with ruler against ruler— ⁴⁷ _⌊therefore_⌋* look, days are coming, and I will punish the images of Babylon, and all her land will be put to shame, and all her slain ones will fall in the midst of her. ⁴⁸ Then the heaven and the earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for from the north the destroyers will come to it," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁴⁹ Babylon must fall not only because of the slain ones of Israel, but also because of Babylon the slain ones of all the earth have fallen. ⁵⁰ Survivors of the sword, go! You must not linger! Remember Yahweh from far away, and let Jerusalem come to your _⌊mind_⌋.* ⁵¹ We are ashamed, for we have heard taunts,* disgrace covers our faces, for strangers have come to the holy places of the house of Yahweh. ⁵² "_⌊Therefore_⌋* look, days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and I will punish her images, and the fatally wounded will sigh through all her land. ⁵³ Though Babylon goes up to the heavens, and though she fortifies the high place of her strength, from me destroyers will come to her," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁵⁴ The sound of a cry for help from Babylon, and a great collapse from the land of the Chaldeans. ⁵⁵ For Yahweh is devastating Babylon, and he obliterates her loud noise* from her. Their waves roar like mighty waters, the roar of their voices* resounds. ⁵⁶ For a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, and her warriors are captured. Their bows are broken; for Yahweh is a God of recompense, certainly he will repay. ⁵⁷ "And I will make drunk her officials, and her wise men, her governors, and her officials, and her warriors, and they will sleep _⌊an everlasting sleep_⌋,* and they will not wake up," _⌊declares_⌋* the King, Yahweh of hosts is his name. ⁵⁸ Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"The broad walls of Babylon will be utterly demolished, and her high gates will burn with fire, and the peoples will labor _⌊for nothing_⌋,* and the nations _⌊for fire_⌋,* and they will grow weary." ⁵⁹ The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, at his going with Zedekiah, the king of Judah, to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was the _⌊quartermaster_⌋.* ⁶⁰ And Jeremiah wrote all the disasters* that would come on Babylon in one scroll, all these words that are written concerning Babylon. ⁶¹ And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "At your coming to Babylon, then you must see that you read aloud all these words. ⁶² And you must say, 'Yahweh, you yourself spoke against this place, to destroy it, so that there will not be in it anything living, from humankind to animals,* for it will be _⌊an everlasting desolation_⌋.'* ⁶³ _⌊And then_⌋* when you finish reading aloud this scroll, you must tie a stone on it, and you must throw it into the middle of the Euphrates. ⁶⁴ And you must say, 'Babylon will sink, and she will not rise, _⌊because of_⌋* the face of the disasters* that I am bringing on her, and they will grow weary.'" _⌊Thus far_⌋* the words of Jeremiah.

¹⁰ Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "This oracle is about the prince in Jerusalem and _⌊the entire_⌋* house of Israel _⌊who are among them_⌋." '*

⁶ Then his face changed and his thoughts terrified him, and _⌊his hip joints gave way_⌋* and _⌊his knees knocked together_⌋.*

²⁸ " 'Peres'—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.'"

¹ The oracle concerning Nineveh— the scroll of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:

¹ The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

¹ An oracle. The word of Yahweh is against the land of Hadrach,
and Damascus is its resting place. For to Yahweh belongs the eye of humankind,* and all the tribes of Israel,

¹ An oracle. The word of Yahweh concerning Israel. "_⌊Thus declares_⌋* Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, founds the earth, and forms the spirit of humankind in its midst:*

¹ _⌊An oracle_⌋.* The word of Yahweh to Israel _⌊through_⌋* Malachi.*

¹ And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, ² with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality." ³ And he carried me away into the wilderness in the Spirit,* and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of detestable things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: "Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth." ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.
And _⌊I was greatly astonished when I saw her_⌋*. ⁷ And the angel said to me, "Why are you astonished? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that has the seven heads and the ten horns that carries her. ⁸ The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is going to come up from the abyss, and he is going to destruction. And those who live on the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be astonished when they* see the beast that was, and is not, and will be present. ⁹ Here is the mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains _⌊on which the woman sits_⌋* and they are seven kings. ¹⁰ Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and whenever he comes it is necessary for him to remain a short time. ¹¹ And the beast that was, and is not, is also himself an eighth, and is of the seven, and he is going to destruction. ¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they will receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast. ¹³ These have one opinion, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful." ¹⁵ And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and crowds and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And the ten horns that you saw and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For God put into their hearts to carry out his purpose and to make _⌊a unanimous decision_⌋* and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth.

²⁶ And he will raise a signal for a nation* from afar, and he will whistle for it from the end of the earth. And look! It comes quickly, swiftly!

³² _⌊This day_⌋* _⌊taking a stand_⌋* at Nob, he will shake his fist at the mountain of the daughter* of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.

¹² and he will raise a signal for the nations. And he will gather the outcasts of Israel, and he will gather the scattered ones of Judah together from the four _⌊corners_⌋* of the earth.

¹⁵ And Yahweh will divide* the tongue* of the sea of Egypt,* and he will wave his hand over the river* with his scorching wind; and he will strike it into seven streams, and he will _⌊make it passable by foot_⌋.*

³ All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers of the earth, _⌊when a signal is raised on the_⌋* mountains, you must look, and _⌊when a trumpet is blown_⌋,* you must listen!

¹ Thus says Yahweh to his anointed one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subjugate nations before him, and I uncover* the loins of kings to open doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut: ² "I myself will go before you, and I will level the _⌊mountains_⌋.* I will break the doors of bronze and cut throughthe bars of iron. ³ And I will give you the treasures of darkness and treasures of secret places so that you may know that I am Yahweh, the one who calls you by your name, the God of Israel,

² "Declare among the nations and proclaim, and lift up a banner. Proclaim, you must not conceal it. Say, 'Babylon is captured, Bel is ashamed, Merodach is filled with terror, her idols are ashamed, her idols are filled with terror.

²⁵ "Look, I am against you, O mountain of the destruction," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "the one that destroys the whole earth. And I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will roll you down from the cliffs, and I will make you as a mountain burned away.

²⁷ Raise a banner in the land; blow a horn among the nations; prepare for holy war against her; summon the nations against her, the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; summon against her an official; bring up horses* like bristling creeping locusts.* ²⁸ Prepare the nations for holy war against her, the kings of the Medes, with their governors and all their officials, and every land of their dominion.

⁵⁸ Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"The broad walls of Babylon will be utterly demolished, and her high gates will burn with fire, and the peoples will labor _⌊for nothing_⌋,* and the nations _⌊for fire_⌋,* and they will grow weary."

¹ In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to accomplish the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, Yahweh stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia and he sent a message to all of his kingdom and also put the message in writing: ² "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: Yahweh, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. And he himself has appointed me to build a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³ Whoever among you who is from all of his people, may his God be with him and may he go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and may he build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴ And let every survivor, from wherever he _⌊resides_⌋* be assisted by the men of that place with silver and gold, with possessions and domestic animals, and with the freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem." ⁵ So the heads of the _⌊families_⌋* for Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites—to all whose spirit God had stirred—prepared to go up and build the house of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem. ⁶ And all of their neighbors _⌊helped them_⌋* with objects of silver, gold, possessions, domestic animals, and with valuable gifts—besides all of the freewill offering. ⁷ And Cyrus the king brought out the objects of the house of Yahweh that Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. ⁸ Cyrus the king of Persia let them go out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. ⁹ Now these were the inventories: thirty gold metal dishes, one thousand silver metal dishes, twenty-nine vessels, ¹⁰ thirty bowls of gold, four hundred and ten matching silver metal bowls, and one thousand other objects. ¹¹ All of the objects of gold and silver metal were five thousand four hundred. All this Sheshbazzar brought up along with the exiles from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

¹ Then King Darius issued forth a decree, and they searched the house of the treasury of scrolls being stored in Babylonia. ² But it was in Ecbatana in the province of Media, in the citadel, that a certain scroll had written on it, "A record. ³ In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued forth a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem. Let the house be built, the place where sacrifices are offered and let its foundations be raised. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, ⁴ with three layers of great stones and a layer of timber. Let the new expenses be paid from the house of the king. ⁵ Also, let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylonia, be returned and brought to the temple in Jerusalem to its place. Put them in the house of God." ⁶ "Now then, Tattenai governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates, the envoys who are in the province Beyond the River—keep far away from there. ⁷ Leave this work of the house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God on its site. ⁸ And I issue forth a decree for what you should do for these elders of the Jews to build this house of God. The full expense will be paid to these men from the riches of the king from the taxes of the province Beyond the River, without delay. ⁹ Whatever may be needed—_⌊young bulls_⌋,* young rams, sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil for the priests in Jerusalem—let it be given to them day by day with no negligence, ¹⁰ that they may offer incense offerings to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his children. ¹¹ Furthermore, I issue forth a decree that if any person violates this decree, let a beam be pulled out from his house and let him be impaled on it. And let his house be made a pile of rubble on account of this. ¹² May the God who has set his name there overthrow any king or people who sets his hand to alter or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, issue forth a decree. Let it be done with diligence." ¹³ Then Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates consequently did with diligence what Darius the king ordered. ¹⁴ So the elders of the Jews were building and prospering, through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building by the command of the God of Israel and by the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia. ¹⁵ This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. ¹⁶ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the _⌊returned exiles_⌋* celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. ¹⁷ And they offered during the dedication of this house of God one hundred young bulls, two hundred young rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering for Israel according to the number of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁸ Then they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their sections for the work of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. ¹⁹ On the fourteenth day of the first month the returned exiles observed the Passover feast. ²⁰ For the priests and Levites together had consecrated themselves; all of them were clean. And they slaughtered the Passover sacrifice for all of the returned exiles, for their brothers the priests, and for themselves. ²¹ The _⌊Israelites_⌋* who returned from the exile and all those who separated themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the earth to seek Yahweh the God of Israel, ate. ²² With joy they celebrated the festival of unleavened bread for seven days, because Yahweh had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them in order to help them with the work of their hands on the house of the God of Israel.

¹² "Artaxerxes, the king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of the heavens. Peace. And now ¹³ I issue forth a decree that any of the people of Israel, their priests, or their Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem may go with you. ¹⁴ For you are sent from the king and his seven counselors to enquire about Judah and Jerusalem concerning the law of your God, which is in your hand. ¹⁵ Also, bring the silver and gold that the king and his advisors have freely offered to the God of Israel whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶ and all of the silver and gold that you will find in the whole province of Babylonia, with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests giving willingly for the house of their God in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ With this money, then, with diligence you must buy young bulls, young rams, lambs, and their offerings and libations. You must offer them on the altar that is in the house of your God in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ You may do whatever seems best to you and your brothers to do with the remainder of the silver and gold according to the desire of your God. ¹⁹ And the vessels that were given to you for the service of the house of your God you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. ²⁰ And the remainder of the needs for the house of your God that falls to you to provide, you may provide from the house of the king's treasury." ²¹ "I, even I, King Artaxerxes, issue forth a decree to all the treasurers who are in the province Beyond the River. Whatever the priest Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may ask of you, let it be done with diligence, ²² up to one hundred talents of silver, one hundred measures of wheat, one hundred baths of wine, one hundred baths of oil, and _⌊unlimited salt_⌋.* ²³ All that is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done with diligence for the house of the God of heaven, otherwise wrath will come on the kingdom of the king and his sons. ²⁴ You also should be aware that it is not permitted to place tax, tribute, or duty upon all of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, and other servants of the house of God. ²⁵ "You, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that you possess, appoint magistrates and judges who can judge all of the people in the province Beyond the River who know the laws of your God. And you will teach those who do not know. ²⁶ All who do not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with diligence, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods and for imprisonment."

² Let Israel be glad in its maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.

⁵ Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. ⁶ Let the extolling of God be in their throat, and a double-edged sword in their hand, ⁷ to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples,* ⁸ to bind their kings with chains and their _⌊nobles_⌋* with fetters of iron, ⁹ to execute on them the judgment that is decreed.* This will be honor for all his faithful ones; Praise Yah.*

¹¹ He has stretched his hand out over the sea; he has made kingdoms shake. Yahweh has commanded concerning Canaan to destroy her fortresses.

²⁷ who says to the deep, 'Dry up! And I will cause your rivers to dry up'; ²⁸ who says of Cyrus, 'My shepherd,' and he shall carry out all my wishes*; and saying of Jerusalem, 'It shall be rebuilt,' and the temple, 'It shall be founded.'"

⁴ for the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen one. And I call you by your name; I give you a name of honor, though* you do not know me. ⁵ I am Yahweh, and there is none besides me; besides me there is no god. I gird you though* you do not know me,

²¹ To the land of Merathaim, go up against her, and against the inhabitants of Pekod, massacre and destroy them," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and do according to all that I have commanded you. ²² The sound of battle is in the land, and great destruction. ²³ How the blacksmith's hammer of all the earth is cut down and broken! How Babylon has become as a horror among the nations! ²⁴ I laid a bird snare for you, and you were caught, O Babylon. But you yourself did not know. You were discovered and seized, because with Yahweh you measured yourself. ²⁵ Yahweh has opened his armory, and he has brought out the weapons of his wrath, for it is a word for my Lord Yahweh of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ Come against her from the end, open her granaries. Pile her up like heaps and destroy her. Let there be no remnant for her. ²⁷ Massacre all her bulls, let them go down to the slaughtering. Woe to them, for their day has come, the time of their punishment. ²⁸ There is the sound of fugitives and survivors from the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God, the vengeance for his temple. ²⁹ Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp all around her, there must not be for her an escape. Take revenge on her according to her deeds. According to all that she has done, so do to her. For against Yahweh she has behaved insolently, against the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰ _⌊Therefore_⌋* her young men will fall in her public squares, and all _⌊her soldiers_⌋* will perish on that day," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ³¹ "Look, I am against you, O arrogant one," _⌊declares_⌋* Lord Yahweh of hosts, "for your day has come, the time when I will punish you. ³² And the arrogant one will stumble and fall, and there is no one who raises him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour everything around him." ³³ Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"The people* of Israel are oppressed, and the people* of Judah likewise, _⌊for_⌋* all their captors have seized them, they refuse to let them go free. ³⁴ Their redeemer is strong, his name is Yahweh of hosts. Surely he will plead their case, in order to make peace for the earth, but to cause unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon. ³⁵ A sword against the Chaldeans," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her officials, and against her wise men. ³⁶ A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become foolish. A sword against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror. ³⁷ A sword against his horses, and against his chariots,* and against all the foreign troops who are in the midst of her, so that they may become as women. A sword against her treasures, so that they may be plundered. ³⁸ A drought will come against her waters, and they will dry up, for it is a land of images, and because of the frightful objects, they act like madmen. ³⁹ _⌊Therefore_⌋* desert creatures will live there* with jackals, and daughters of ostriches* will inhabit her. And she will not be inhabited again _⌊forever_⌋,* and she will not be dwelt in _⌊for all generations_⌋.* ⁴⁰ As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "no one will live there, and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in her. ⁴¹ Look, a people is about to come from the north, and a great nation and many kings are woken up from the remotest part of the earth. ⁴² They keep hold of bow and short sword. They are cruel and they have no mercy. Their sound is like the sea, it roars, and upon horses they ride. Drawn up for battle as a man for the battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon. ⁴³ The king of Babylon heard their report and his hands grew slack. Anxiety has seized him, fear and pain like the woman who gives birth. ⁴⁴ Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets* of the Jordan against _⌊a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream_⌋,* so _⌊I will chase them away quickly_⌋* from her, and I will appoint whoever is chosen over her. For who is like me, and who can summon me, and who is this shepherd who can stand _⌊before me_⌋?* ⁴⁵ _⌊Therefore_⌋* hear the plan of Yahweh that he has planned against Babylon, and his plans that he has planned against the land of the Chaldeans. _⌊Surely_⌋* they will drag them away, the little ones of the flock. _⌊Surely_⌋* he will cause their grazing place to be desolate over them. ⁴⁶ At the sound, 'Babylon has been captured,' the earth will quake, and a cry for help among the nations will be heard."

²⁰ He says, "You are a war club for me, a weapon of battle, and I smash nations with you, and I destroy kingdoms with you. ²¹ And I smash the horse with you, and its rider, and I smash the chariot with you, and its rider. ²² And I smash man and woman with you, and I smash the old man and the boy with you, and I smash the young man and the young woman with you. ²³ And I smash the shepherd and his flock with you, and I smash the farmer and his team with you, and I smash the governors and the officials with you. ²⁴ And I will repay Babylon, and all the inhabitants of Chaldea, all their wickedness that they have done in Zion before your eyes," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

¹¹ Hurry and come, all the nations, from all around, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your mighty warriors, O Yahweh!

⁴ And I heard another voice from heaven saying,
"Come out from her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins, and so that you will not receive her plagues, ⁵ because her sins have reached up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. ⁶ Pay back to her as she herself also paid out, and _⌊pay back double_⌋* according to her deeds; in the cup that she mixed, mix double for her. ⁷ As much as she glorified herself and lived in luxury, give to her so much torment and mourning, because in her heart she said, 'I sit as a queen, and am not a widow, and I will never see mourning!' ⁸ Because of this her plagues will come in one day— death and mourning and famine— and she will be burned up with fire, because the Lord God who passes judgment on her is powerful!"

²⁰ Rejoice over her, heaven and the saints and the apostles and the prophets, because God has pronounced your judgment on her!"

⁵ Ah! Assyria, the rod of my anger, and a staff is in their hand: my wrath! ⁶ I send him against a godless nation, and I command him against the people of my wrath, to capture spoil and to carry off plunder, and to make them* a trampling place, like the clay of the streets.

¹ The oracle of the valley of vision:
_⌊What business do you have going_⌋* up, all of you, to the roofs, ² _⌊noisy_⌋,* tumultuous city, exultant town? Your slain are not slain by the sword, nor are they dead from battle. ³ All of your rulers have fled together without a bow; all of _⌊you who were found_⌋* were captured. They were captured together; they had fled far away. ⁴ Therefore I said,
"Look away from me, let me _⌊weep bitterly_⌋;* you must not insist on comforting me for the destruction of the daughter of my people." ⁵ For the Lord Yahweh of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion* in the valley of vision, a tearing down of walls* and a cry for help to the mountains.* ⁶ And Elam lifted up the quiver, with chariots* of men* and cavalry. And Kir uncovered the shield. ⁷ And this happened:
the choicest of your valleys were full of chariots,* and the cavalry confidently stood at the gate. ⁸ And he uncovered the covering of Judah. And you looked, on that day, to the weapons* of the House of the Forest, ⁹ and you saw that the breaches in the walls of the city of David were many, and you gathered the waters of the lower pool.

¹ Thus says Yahweh to his anointed one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subjugate nations before him, and I uncover* the loins of kings to open doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut: ² "I myself will go before you, and I will level the _⌊mountains_⌋.* I will break the doors of bronze and cut throughthe bars of iron.

² "Declare among the nations and proclaim, and lift up a banner. Proclaim, you must not conceal it. Say, 'Babylon is captured, Bel is ashamed, Merodach is filled with terror, her idols are ashamed, her idols are filled with terror. ³ For a nation will come up against her from the north. It will make her land as a horror, and an inhabitant will not be in her. From humans* to animals* they all will wander off. They will go away.

¹⁴ Draw up a battle formation at Babylon all around, all those who bend the bow, shoot at her. You must not spare arrows,* for she has sinned against Yahweh. ¹⁵ Raise a war cry against her on all sides. _⌊She has surrendered_⌋.* Her towers have fallen, her walls are ruined. For this is the vengeance of Yahweh. Take revenge on her. As she has done to others, so do to her.

⁶ Flee from the midst of Babylon and save each one his life. You must not perish because of her guilt. For this is the time of vengeance for Yahweh, he will repay her what is deserved. ⁷ Babylon was a cup of gold in the hand of Yahweh, making drunk all the earth. The nations drank of her wine. _⌊Therefore_⌋* the nations acted like madmen. ⁸ Suddenly Babylon has fallen and she is shattered. Wail over her! Take balm for her wounds, perhaps she may be healed. ⁹ We tried to heal Babylon, and she was not healed. Forsake her and let us go each one to his country, for her judgment has reached to the heavens, and it has been lifted up to the skies. ¹⁰ Yahweh has brought forth our vindication. Come and let us make known in Zion the work of Yahweh our God. ¹¹ Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. Because his plan concerning Babylon is to destroy it, for that is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance for his temple. ¹² Against the walls of Babylon raise a banner; _⌊post a strong watch_⌋,* post watchmen, prepare the ambushes, for Yahweh has both planned as well as performed what he has spoken concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. ¹³ O you who live by mighty waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, _⌊the measure of your life_⌋.* ¹⁴ Yahweh of hosts has sworn by himself, "Surely I will fill you with troops like the creeping locusts,* and they will sing over you a war cry." ¹⁵ He is the one who made the earth by his power, the one who created the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens. ¹⁶ At the giving of his voice there is a roar of waters in the heavens, and he causes the patches of mist to go up from the end of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings out the wind from his storehouses. ¹⁷ All humankind turns out to be stupid, without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by the divine image. For his cast image is a lie, and there is no breath in them. ¹⁸ They are worthless, a work of mockery. At the time of their punishment, they will perish. ¹⁹ The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the creator of _⌊everything_⌋,* and the tribe of his inheritance. Yahweh of hosts is his name. ²⁰ He says, "You are a war club for me, a weapon of battle, and I smash nations with you, and I destroy kingdoms with you. ²¹ And I smash the horse with you, and its rider, and I smash the chariot with you, and its rider. ²² And I smash man and woman with you, and I smash the old man and the boy with you, and I smash the young man and the young woman with you. ²³ And I smash the shepherd and his flock with you, and I smash the farmer and his team with you, and I smash the governors and the officials with you. ²⁴ And I will repay Babylon, and all the inhabitants of Chaldea, all their wickedness that they have done in Zion before your eyes," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ²⁵ "Look, I am against you, O mountain of the destruction," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "the one that destroys the whole earth. And I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will roll you down from the cliffs, and I will make you as a mountain burned away.

³ And you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am against you, Gog, the head* leader of Meshach and Tubal, ⁴ and I will turn you around, and I will place* hooks in your cheeks, and I will bring you out and all of your horses and horsemen _⌊fully armed_⌋,* all of them, a great crowd, holding a shield,* and small shield, and holding* swords, all of them. ⁵ Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them, with a small shield and helmet. ⁶ Gomer and all of its troops, Beth Togarmah, the remote areas of the north, and with all of its troops and many peoples with them. ⁷ Be ready, and prepare _⌊yourselves_⌋,* you and all of your assembly,* the assembling* around you, and you must be* for them as a guard. ⁸ After many days you will be mustered; _⌊in the last years_⌋* you will come to a restored land from the sword, gathered from many peoples on the mountains of Israel which were as _⌊permanent ruins_⌋* but from peoples it was brought out, and they will dwell _⌊in safety_⌋,* all of them. ⁹ And you will advance like a storm; you will come, and you will be like a cloud _⌊covering_⌋* the land, and all of your troops and many nations along with you." ¹⁰ " 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "_⌊And then_⌋* on that day, things* will come up on* your mind, and you will devise evil plans. ¹¹ And you will say, 'I will go up against a land of open country; I will come* to the people being at rest _⌊in safety_⌋,* all of them dwelling without a wall* and crossbars* and _⌊without doors_⌋,* ¹² to* loot loot,* and to plunder* plunder, _⌊to assail_⌋* inhabited ruins and a people gathered together from various peoples and who are acquiring livestock and goods and dwelling at the center of the world. ¹³ Sheba and Dedan and traders of Tarshish and all its strong lions,* they will ask you, 'To* loot loot* are you coming? To plunder* plunder have you summoned your assembly, to take away silver and gold, to take livestock and goods, to loot great amounts* of loot?" ' ¹⁴ "Therefore prophesy, son of man,* and you must say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Will you not realize* on that day when my people Israel are dwelling _⌊in safety_⌋,* ¹⁵ and so you will come from your place, from the remote areas of the north, you and many people with you, _⌊horsemen_⌋* all of them, a great crowd and a vast army, ¹⁶ and you will advance against my people Israel like a cloud _⌊covering_⌋* the land; it will be* in the last days, and I will bring you against my land, so that the nations know me, _⌊when I show myself holy through you_⌋ before their eyes, O Gog!" ' ¹⁷ "Thus says the Lord Yahweh, 'Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel who were prophesying in those days for years that I would bring you against them? ¹⁸ And so then in that day, on the day of the coming of God against the land of Israel,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, 'my rage will come up in my anger. ¹⁹ And in my passion, in the fire of my wrath, I spoke* that _⌊certainly_⌋* on that day a great earthquake will be on the land of Israel. ²⁰ And the fish of the sea and the birds* of the heaven* and the animals* of the field and all of the creeping things that creep on the earth and all of the humans* who are on the surface of the earth will shake _⌊at my presence_⌋;* and the mountains will be demolished, and the steep mountain sides will fall, and every wall on* the earth will fall. ²¹ And I will call against him* in all of my mountains a sword,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, 'And the sword of each person will be against his brother. ²² And I will execute justice with* him with a plague and with blood and _⌊torrents of rain_⌋,* and hailstones; fire and sulfur I will cause to fall on him and on his troops and on many peoples who are with him. ²³ And so I will exalt myself, and I will show myself holy, and I will make myself known before the eyes of many nations, and they will know that I am Yahweh.'"

¹ Blow the trumpet* in Zion, and sound the alarm on _⌊my holy mountain_⌋!* Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh is coming —it is indeed near. ² A day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and thick darkness, like the dawn spreads on the mountains, a great and strong army! There has been nothing like it from old, and after it nothing will be again _⌊for generations to come_⌋.* ³ _⌊Before them_⌋* a fire devours, and behind them a flame burns. Like the garden of Eden is the land _⌊before them_⌋,* and after them it is like a desolate desert, and nothing can escape them. ⁴ Like the appearance of horses is their appearance, and like horsemen they run; ⁵ like the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains, they leap about; like the sound of a flame of fire devouring stubble; like a strong army arranged in rows for battle. ⁶ _⌊From before them_⌋* nations writhe, all faces _⌊turn pale_⌋.* ⁷ They run like mighty warriors,* they scale the wall like men of war; each goes on its own way, and they do not swerve from their paths. ⁸ They do not jostle _⌊one another_⌋;* each goes on its own trail; and through the falling weapons,* they are not halted. ⁹ In the city they rush forth; on the walls* they run. Into the houses they climb up; through the windows they enter like a thief. ¹⁰ _⌊Before them_⌋* the earth quakes; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars _⌊have withheld_⌋* their splendor ¹¹ And Yahweh _⌊utters_⌋* his voice before his army, because his encampment is very large; strong is the one who carries out his decree, for great is the day of Yahweh and exceedingly fearful. Who can endure it?

²⁵ I will repay you the years that the locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my mighty troops that I sent against you.

¹⁴ Commotion, commotion in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near in the valley of decision!

¹ Look! A day is coming for Yahweh, when your plunder will be divided in your midst. ² I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, and they will loot the houses, and the women will be raped; half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be cut off from the city. ³ Then Yahweh will go forth and fight against those nations, like _⌊when he fights_⌋* on a day of battle.

¹³ _⌊And then_⌋* on that day a great panic from Yahweh will fall* on them, and _⌊they will seize one another's hand_⌋,* and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of _⌊another_⌋.* ¹⁴ And Judah also will fight at* Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—gold and silver, and garments _⌊in great abundance_⌋.*

⁷ And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads were something like crowns similar in appearance to gold, and their faces were like men's faces, ⁸ and they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions, ⁹ and they had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many _⌊horse-drawn chariots_⌋* running into battle. ¹⁰ And they have tails similar in appearance to scorpions, and stings, and their power to injure people for five months is in their tails. ¹¹ They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, _⌊whose name_⌋* in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon. ¹² The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still coming after these things. ¹³ And the sixth angel blew the trumpet, and I heard one voice from the horns* of the golden altar that is before God ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel, the one who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who have been bound at the great river Euphrates!" ¹⁵ And the four angels who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year were released, in order that they should kill a third of humanity. ¹⁶ And the number of the troops of the cavalry was _⌊two hundred million_⌋*; I heard the number of them. ¹⁷ And in this way I saw the horses in the vision, and those seated on them, who had fiery red and hyacinth-colored and sulphurous yellow breastplates, and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and sulphur. ¹⁸ By these three plagues a third of humanity was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the sulphur that came out of their mouths. ¹⁹ For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are similar in appearance to snakes, having heads, and with them they cause injury.*

⁸ Because of this her plagues will come in one day— death and mourning and famine— and she will be burned up with fire, because the Lord God who passes judgment on her is powerful!"

¹¹ And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and the one seated on it was called "Faithful" and "True," and with justice* he judges and makes war. ¹² Now his eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many royal headbands having a name written that no one except he himself knows. ¹³ And he was dressed in an outer garment dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies that are in heaven, dressed in clean, white fine linen, were following him on white horses. ¹⁵ And out of his mouth came a sharp sword, so that with it he could strike the nations. And he will shepherd them with an iron rod,* and he stomps the winepress of the wine of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. ¹⁶ And he has a name written on his outer garment and on his thigh: "King of kings and Lord of lords." ¹⁷ And I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly _⌊directly overhead_⌋*,
"Come! Assemble for the great banquet of God, ¹⁸ in order that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of military tribunes, and the flesh of the powerful, and the flesh of horses and those seated on them, and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, and small and great!" ¹⁹ And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war with the one who is seated on the horse and with his army. ²⁰ And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs before him, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. ²¹ And the rest were killed by the sword of the one who is seated on the horse—the sword that comes out of his mouth—and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

¹⁷ Look! I am stirring the Medes up against them, who do not value silver and do not delight in gold.

¹ Look! Yahweh is about to lay the earth waste and is about to devastate it, and he will twist her surface, and he will scatter her inhabitants.

³ For a nation will come up against her from the north. It will make her land as a horror, and an inhabitant will not be in her. From humans* to animals* they all will wander off. They will go away.

⁹ For look, I am going to stir up, and I am going to bring against Babylon a contingent of great nations from the land of the north. And they will draw up a battle formation against her, from there she will be captured. Their arrows are like a warrior who has achieved success, he does not return without success.

¹¹ Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. Because his plan concerning Babylon is to destroy it, for that is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance for his temple.

²⁰ He says, "You are a war club for me, a weapon of battle, and I smash nations with you, and I destroy kingdoms with you. ²¹ And I smash the horse with you, and its rider, and I smash the chariot with you, and its rider. ²² And I smash man and woman with you, and I smash the old man and the boy with you, and I smash the young man and the young woman with you. ²³ And I smash the shepherd and his flock with you, and I smash the farmer and his team with you, and I smash the governors and the officials with you. ²⁴ And I will repay Babylon, and all the inhabitants of Chaldea, all their wickedness that they have done in Zion before your eyes," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ²⁵ "Look, I am against you, O mountain of the destruction," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "the one that destroys the whole earth. And I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will roll you down from the cliffs, and I will make you as a mountain burned away. ²⁶ They will not take from you a stone for a corner, and a stone for a foundation, for you will be _⌊an everlasting desolation_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ²⁷ Raise a banner in the land; blow a horn among the nations; prepare for holy war against her; summon the nations against her, the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; summon against her an official; bring up horses* like bristling creeping locusts.* ²⁸ Prepare the nations for holy war against her, the kings of the Medes, with their governors and all their officials, and every land of their dominion. ²⁹ And the land quakes and writhes, for the plans of Yahweh against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon as a horror, _⌊without_⌋* inhabitant. ³⁰ The warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight, they remain in the strongholds, their power has dried up, they have become as women. Her dwelling places are set on fire, her bars are broken. ³¹ one runner runs to meet another runner, and one messenger to meet another messenger, to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been captured, _⌊from end to end_⌋.* ³² And the fords have been seized, and the reed marshes have been burned with fire, and _⌊the soldiers_⌋* are horrified. ³³ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,
"The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trodden down, _⌊just a little while_⌋* and the time of the harvest will come for her." ³⁴ Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me and sucked me dry; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like the sea monster; he has filled his belly with my delicacies; he has rinsed me. ³⁵ "May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon," the inhabitants* of Zion will say; and "My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea," Jerusalem will say. ³⁶ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh,
"Look, I am going to contend your case, and I will avenge your vengeance, and I will cause her sea to dry up, and I will cause her fountain to dry up. ³⁷ And Babylon will become as a heap of stones, a lair of jackals, an object of horror, and an object of hissing, _⌊without_⌋* inhabitants. ³⁸ They will roar together like the young lions, they will growl like the cubs of lions. ³⁹ At their becoming hot I will set their banquets, and I will make them drunk, so that they will fall into a swoon, and they will sleep _⌊an everlasting sleep_⌋,* and they will not wake up," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁴⁰ "I will bring them down like young rams to slaughter, like rams and goats. ⁴¹ How Sheshach is captured, and the glory of all the earth is seized! How Babylon has become as an object of horror among the nations! ⁴² The sea has risen over Babylon, she has been covered by the roar of its waves. ⁴³ Her cities have become as an object of horror, a dry land and a wilderness,* a land in which no person lives, nor does a son of humankind pass through it. ⁴⁴ And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will wrench out from his mouth _⌊what he has swallowed_⌋.* And the nations will not stream towards him any longer _⌊what's worse_⌋,* the wall of Babylon has fallen. ⁴⁵ Come out from her midst, my people, and save each one his life from _⌊the burning anger of_⌋* Yahweh. ⁴⁶ Now _⌊so that you are not fainthearted_⌋,* and you are afraid at the rumors* that are heard in the land— and in the year the rumor comes, and in the year after it the rumor, and violence is in the land, with ruler against ruler—

³¹ And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect together from the four winds, from one end of heaven* to the other end of it.

²³ Indeed, the disaster from God was a dread for me, and _⌊I was powerless_⌋* because of his majesty.

¹² For there is a day for Yahweh of hosts against all of the proud and the lofty and against all that is lifted up and humble,*

⁹ Look! The day of Yahweh is coming, cruel and wrath and the burning of anger, to make the earth a desolation, and he will destroy its sinners from it.

³¹ Wail, gate! Cry, city! Melt,* Philistia, all of you! For smoke is coming from the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.

¹ The oracle of Tyre:
Wail, ships of Tarshish, for _⌊the house is destroyed so that no one can enter_⌋;* it is announced to them from the land of Cyprus.

⁸ For _⌊Yahweh has a day of vengeance_⌋,* a year of retribution for the strife of Zion.

⁵ And now what do I have here?"_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "for my people is taken without cause. Its rulers howl," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh—"and my name is reviled continually, all day.

¹⁴ Look! My servants shall shout _⌊for joy_⌋,* but* you, you shall cry out _⌊for pain_⌋* and howl _⌊for sadness_⌋.*

³⁴ Wail, you shepherds, and cry out. And roll about in mourning in the dust, O leaders* of the flock. For your days of slaughter and your dispersions have arrived, and you will fall like a vessel of desire.

³ "Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated. Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, put on sackcloth. Lament and run back and forth among the walls. For Milcom will go into exile, his priests and his officials together.

⁸ Suddenly Babylon has fallen and she is shattered. Wail over her! Take balm for her wounds, perhaps she may be healed.

¹² Cry and wail, son of man,* for it is against my people; it is against all of the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword with my people; therefore _⌊strike your thigh_⌋.*

² "Son of man,* prophesy, and you must say, 'thus says the Lord Yahweh:
"Wail, alas! For the day! ³ For a day is near; indeed, a day is near for Yahweh. A day of cloud, a time of the nations it will be.

⁵ Wake up, drunkards, and weep! Wail, all drinkers of wine, over the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.

¹¹ Be ashamed, farmers; Wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and over the barley, because the harvest of the field is ruined.

¹³ Gird yourselves and lament, O priests! Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because offering and libation are withheld from the house of your God.

¹⁵ Ah! For the day! For the day of Yahweh is near. It will come like destruction from Shaddai.*

¹¹ And Yahweh _⌊utters_⌋* his voice before his army, because his encampment is very large; strong is the one who carries out his decree, for great is the day of Yahweh and exceedingly fearful. Who can endure it?

³¹ The sun will be changed to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh.

¹⁸ Alas, those who desire the day of Yahweh, why is this for you the day of Yahweh? It will be darkness and not light!

⁷ Be silent before the Lord Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh draws near, for Yahweh has provided a sacrifice and has consecrated his guests.

¹⁴ The great day of Yahweh draws near; it is near and coming very swiftly. The sound of the day of Yahweh is bitterness; there, a warrior cries out!

² Before the birth of the decree, the day flies away like chaff; before the fierce anger of Yahweh overtakes you; before the day of the anger of Yahweh overtakes you. ³ Seek Yahweh, all you afflicted of the land who have fulfilled his law; seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be concealed on the day of the anger of Yahweh.

⁵ Look! I am going to send to you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh!

² for you yourselves well know that the day of the Lord is coming in the same way as a thief in the night. ³ Whenever they say "Peace and security," then sudden destruction will overtake them like the birth pains of _⌊a pregnant woman_⌋*, and they will not possibly escape.

¹ Come now, you rich people, weep and cry aloud over the miseries that are coming upon you!

¹⁰ standing _⌊far off_⌋* because of the fear of her torment, saying,
"Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon the powerful city, because in one hour your judgment has come!"

¹⁵ Then the chiefs of Edom were horrified; great distress seized the leaders of Moab; all of the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.

³ And what will you do at the day of punishment, and at calamity? It comes from afar! To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth, ⁴ _⌊save that they bow down under the prisoners and fall under the slain_⌋?* In all of this his anger has not turned away, and still his hand is stretched out.

²⁷ And their inhabitants are _⌊weak_⌋;* they are dismayed, and they are ashamed; they have become like plants* of the field, and like greens of grass, like grass on* the roofs and a cultivated field _⌊before_⌋* the standing grain.

²⁰ Your children have fainted; they lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in* a snare, those who are full of the wrath of Yahweh, the rebuke of your God.

⁴³ The king of Babylon heard their report and his hands grew slack. Anxiety has seized him, fear and pain like the woman who gives birth.

¹⁷ All of the hands will hang limp, and all of _⌊the knees will be wet with urine_⌋.*

⁷ _⌊And then_⌋* when they say to you, 'On account of what are you groaning?' then you must say, 'On account of the report, for it is coming, and every heart will be weak and all hands will hang limp and every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will go like water.' Look! It is coming, and it will happen!" _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

⁶ His indignation—who can stand before it? Who can endure _⌊his fierce anger_⌋?* His wrath is poured out like fire; rocks are shattered before* him.

¹⁰ Emptiness and plundering and devastation! Their hearts faint and their knees tremble,* _⌊All their loins shake_⌋* and all their faces _⌊turn_⌋* pale.

⁵ _⌊They themselves saw_⌋* it, so they were astonished. They were terrified; they ran off. ⁶ Trembling seized them there— pain as of a woman in labor.

³ Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman giving birth. I am _⌊too bent to hear_⌋,* I am _⌊too dismayed to see_⌋.* ⁴ My _⌊mind_⌋* staggers; fear terrifies me; the twilight _⌊I desired_⌋* _⌊brought_⌋* me fear.

¹⁷ Like a pregnant woman on the point of giving birth, she writhes; she cries in her labor pains.
So we were because of your presence, Yahweh.

³¹ For I heard a voice like an ill woman, anxiety like a woman who bears her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion. She is gasping for breath, she is spreading out her hands: "Woe is me, for I am becoming tired* before killers."

⁶ Ask please and see whether a male can bear a child. Why do I see every strong man with his hands on his loins like a woman giving birth? And why are all their faces changed to paleness?

⁵ _⌊Immediately_⌋* _⌊human fingers_⌋* appeared and they wrote _⌊opposite_⌋* the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king, and the king was watching* the palm of the hand that was writing. ⁶ Then his face changed and his thoughts terrified him, and _⌊his hip joints gave way_⌋* and _⌊his knees knocked together_⌋.*

⁶ _⌊From before them_⌋* nations writhe, all faces _⌊turn pale_⌋.*

²¹ A woman, when she gives birth, experiences pain because her hour has come. But when her* child is born, she no longer remembers the affliction, on account of the joy that a human being has been born into the world.

³ Whenever they say "Peace and security," then sudden destruction will overtake them like the birth pains of _⌊a pregnant woman_⌋*, and they will not possibly escape.

³⁵ Let sinners perish completely from the earth, and the wicked _⌊not remain alive_⌋.* Bless Yahweh, O my soul. Praise Yah.*

²² And those who are wicked will be cut off from the land, and those who are treacherous will be uprooted from it.

⁶ Wail, for the day of Yahweh is near; it will come like destruction from Shaddai!*

¹⁵ Everyone who is found will be pierced through, and everyone who is carried away will fall by the sword. ¹⁶ And their children will be dashed into pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be raped.* ¹⁷ Look! I am stirring the Medes up against them, who do not value silver and do not delight in gold. ¹⁸ And their bows will shatter young men. And they will not show mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not look compassionately on children.

²² Thus says Yahweh: "Look, a people is coming from the land of the north, a great nation is woken up from the farthest part of the earth. ²³ The bow and the short sword they grasp are cruel, and they show no mercy. Their sound roars like the sea, and on horses they ride, drawn up like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Zion."

⁴⁰ As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "no one will live there, and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in her. ⁴¹ Look, a people is about to come from the north, and a great nation and many kings are woken up from the remotest part of the earth. ⁴² They keep hold of bow and short sword. They are cruel and they have no mercy. Their sound is like the sea, it roars, and upon horses they ride. Drawn up for battle as a man for the battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon.

³⁵ "May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon," the inhabitants* of Zion will say; and "My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea," Jerusalem will say. ³⁶ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh,
"Look, I am going to contend your case, and I will avenge your vengeance, and I will cause her sea to dry up, and I will cause her fountain to dry up. ³⁷ And Babylon will become as a heap of stones, a lair of jackals, an object of horror, and an object of hissing, _⌊without_⌋* inhabitants. ³⁸ They will roar together like the young lions, they will growl like the cubs of lions. ³⁹ At their becoming hot I will set their banquets, and I will make them drunk, so that they will fall into a swoon, and they will sleep _⌊an everlasting sleep_⌋,* and they will not wake up," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁴⁰ "I will bring them down like young rams to slaughter, like rams and goats. ⁴¹ How Sheshach is captured, and the glory of all the earth is seized! How Babylon has become as an object of horror among the nations! ⁴² The sea has risen over Babylon, she has been covered by the roar of its waves. ⁴³ Her cities have become as an object of horror, a dry land and a wilderness,* a land in which no person lives, nor does a son of humankind pass through it. ⁴⁴ And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will wrench out from his mouth _⌊what he has swallowed_⌋.* And the nations will not stream towards him any longer _⌊what's worse_⌋,* the wall of Babylon has fallen. ⁴⁵ Come out from her midst, my people, and save each one his life from _⌊the burning anger of_⌋* Yahweh. ⁴⁶ Now _⌊so that you are not fainthearted_⌋,* and you are afraid at the rumors* that are heard in the land— and in the year the rumor comes, and in the year after it the rumor, and violence is in the land, with ruler against ruler— ⁴⁷ _⌊therefore_⌋* look, days are coming, and I will punish the images of Babylon, and all her land will be put to shame, and all her slain ones will fall in the midst of her. ⁴⁸ Then the heaven and the earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for from the north the destroyers will come to it," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁴⁹ Babylon must fall not only because of the slain ones of Israel, but also because of Babylon the slain ones of all the earth have fallen. ⁵⁰ Survivors of the sword, go! You must not linger! Remember Yahweh from far away, and let Jerusalem come to your _⌊mind_⌋.* ⁵¹ We are ashamed, for we have heard taunts,* disgrace covers our faces, for strangers have come to the holy places of the house of Yahweh. ⁵² "_⌊Therefore_⌋* look, days are coming," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and I will punish her images, and the fatally wounded will sigh through all her land. ⁵³ Though Babylon goes up to the heavens, and though she fortifies the high place of her strength, from me destroyers will come to her," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁵⁴ The sound of a cry for help from Babylon, and a great collapse from the land of the Chaldeans. ⁵⁵ For Yahweh is devastating Babylon, and he obliterates her loud noise* from her. Their waves roar like mighty waters, the roar of their voices* resounds. ⁵⁶ For a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, and her warriors are captured. Their bows are broken; for Yahweh is a God of recompense, certainly he will repay. ⁵⁷ "And I will make drunk her officials, and her wise men, her governors, and her officials, and her warriors, and they will sleep _⌊an everlasting sleep_⌋,* and they will not wake up," _⌊declares_⌋* the King, Yahweh of hosts is his name. ⁵⁸ Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"The broad walls of Babylon will be utterly demolished, and her high gates will burn with fire, and the peoples will labor _⌊for nothing_⌋,* and the nations _⌊for fire_⌋,* and they will grow weary."

² Yahweh is a jealous God and avenging; Yahweh is avenging and _⌊full of wrath_⌋.* Yahweh takes vengeance against his enemies; he rages against his adversaries.

¹ * "For look! The day is about to come, burning like an oven, and all the arrogant and every _⌊evildoer_⌋* will be stubble. The coming day will consume* them," says Yahweh of hosts. "It will not leave behind for them root or branch.

¹⁶ And the ten horns that you saw and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For God put into their hearts to carry out his purpose and to make _⌊a unanimous decision_⌋* and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.

³⁰ And he will roar over him on that day like the roaring of the sea, and if one looks to the land, look! Darkness! Distress! And the light grows dark with its* clouds.

²¹ And this shall happen on that day:
Yahweh will punish the host of heaven in heaven, and the kings of the earth on the earth.

²³ And the full moon will be ashamed and the sun will be ashamed, for Yahweh of hosts will rule on _⌊Mount Zion_⌋* and in Jerusalem, and before his elders in glory.

⁷ And I will cover you at* extinguishing your heavens, and I will make dark their stars, and I will cover the sun with the cloud, and the moon will not give its light. ⁸ All* sources of light in the heavens, I will make them dark over you, and I will put* darkness on your land,'"
_⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁰ _⌊Before them_⌋* the earth quakes; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars _⌊have withheld_⌋* their splendor

¹⁵ The sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars _⌊have withheld_⌋* their splendor.

⁹ And then in that day," _⌊declares_⌋* my Lord Yahweh, "I* will make the sun go down at noon and I will darken the land on a day of light. ¹⁰ And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all of your songs into lament, and I will put sackcloth on all loins and baldness on every head. And I will make it like the mourning for an only child, and its end like a bitter day.

¹⁵ That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of disaster and ruination, a day of darkness and deep gloom, a day of clouds* and thick clouds,* ¹⁶ a day of trumpet and trumpet blast against the fortified cities and against the high corner towers.

²⁹ "And immediately after the tribulation of those days,
'the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.'*

²⁴ "But in those days, after that tribulation,
'the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light,

²⁵ "And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity from the noise of the sea and its surging,

¹² And I watched when he opened the sixth seal, and a great earthquake took place, and the sun became black like sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood, ¹³ and the stars of heaven* fell to the earth like a fig tree throws down its unripe figs when* shaken by a great wind. ¹⁴ And the sky was split apart like a scroll that is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved from their place.

¹² And the fourth angel blew the trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened, and the day did not shine with respect to a third of it, and the night likewise.

¹¹ The _⌊haughty eyes_⌋* of humanity will* be brought low, and the pride of everyone will be humbled, and Yahweh alone will be exalted on that day.

¹⁷ And the haughtiness of the people shall be humbled, and the pride of everyone shall be brought low, and Yahweh alone will be exalted on that day.

¹¹ Woe to the wicked!* It is bad! For what is done by his hands will be done to him.

¹⁵ And humankind is bowed down, and man is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are humiliated.

⁴ But he shall judge the poor with righteousness, and he shall decide for the needy of the earth with rectitude. And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and he shall kill the wicked person with the breath of his lips.

¹² How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of dawn! You are cut down to the ground, conqueror of nations! ¹³ And you yourself said in your heart,
'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise up my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mountain of assembly on the summit of Zaphon;* ¹⁴ I will ascend to the high places of the clouds,* I will make myself like the Most High.' ¹⁵ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit. ¹⁶ Those who see you will stare at you, they will look closely at you: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who caused kingdoms to shake,

²¹ Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons because of the sin of their ancestors.* Let them not rise and take possession of the earth or fill up the face of the world with cities."

⁴ The earth dries up, it withers; the world languishes, it withers. The elevated of the people of the earth languish, ⁵ and the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes;* they have broken the everlasting covenant. ⁶ Therefore a curse devours the earth, and the inhabitants in it suffer for their guilt. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burn, and _⌊few men are left_⌋.*

²¹ For look! Yahweh is about to come out from his place to punish the iniquity of the inhabitants* of the earth against him, and the earth will disclose her blood and will no longer cover her slain.

²⁹ Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp all around her, there must not be for her an escape. Take revenge on her according to her deeds. According to all that she has done, so do to her. For against Yahweh she has behaved insolently, against the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰ _⌊Therefore_⌋* her young men will fall in her public squares, and all _⌊her soldiers_⌋* will perish on that day," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ³¹ "Look, I am against you, O arrogant one," _⌊declares_⌋* Lord Yahweh of hosts, "for your day has come, the time when I will punish you. ³² And the arrogant one will stumble and fall, and there is no one who raises him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour everything around him."

³⁴ Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me and sucked me dry; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like the sea monster; he has filled his belly with my delicacies; he has rinsed me. ³⁵ "May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon," the inhabitants* of Zion will say; and "My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea," Jerusalem will say. ³⁶ _⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh,
"Look, I am going to contend your case, and I will avenge your vengeance, and I will cause her sea to dry up, and I will cause her fountain to dry up. ³⁷ And Babylon will become as a heap of stones, a lair of jackals, an object of horror, and an object of hissing, _⌊without_⌋* inhabitants. ³⁸ They will roar together like the young lions, they will growl like the cubs of lions.

²² "But you his _⌊successor_⌋,* Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart _⌊even though_⌋* you knew all this. ²³ And now you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of his temple you have brought in before you, and you and your lords,* your wives and your concubines, have been drinking wine from* them, and you have praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone* that do not see and do not hear and do not know, but the God _⌊who holds your life in his hand_⌋* and all of your ways _⌊come from him_⌋,* you have not honored.

⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,
"Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

² And he cried out with a powerful voice, saying,
"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and it has become a dwelling place of demons and a haunt of every unclean spirit and a haunt of every unclean bird and a haunt of every unclean and detested animal. ³ For all the nations have drunk* from the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich from the power of her sensuality."

¹⁶ It cannot be bought for the gold of Ophir, for precious onyx or* sapphire.

⁹ Happy shall be he who seizes and smashes your children against the rock.

¹ And seven women shall grasp at one man on that day, saying, "We will eat our own bread, and we will wear our own clothing; only _⌊let us be called by your name_⌋!* Take away our disgrace!"

⁶ Therefore a curse devours the earth, and the inhabitants in it suffer for their guilt. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burn, and _⌊few men are left_⌋.*

⁵ O Lord, at your right hand he will shatter kings in the day of his anger. ⁶ He will judge among the nations; he will fill them with corpses. He will shatter the _⌊rulers_⌋* of many countries.

⁴ and all the host of heaven shall rot. And the skies shall roll up like a scroll, and all their host shall wither like the withering of a leaf from a vine, or* like the withering from a fig tree.

⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look to the earth beneath, for the heavens will be torn to pieces like smoke, and the earth will be worn out like a garment, and those who inhabit her will die like gnats. But* my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be broken to pieces.

²³ I looked at the earth, and behold, it was wasteland and emptiness, and to the heavens, and they were without their light. ²⁴ I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all of the hills were jolted to and fro.

¹² Is it nothing to you, _⌊all who pass by_⌋?* Look and see if there is sorrow like my sorrow,* which was dealt to me, which Yahweh inflicted on the _⌊day of his wrath_⌋.*

¹⁶ And Yahweh roars from Zion; from Jerusalem he utters his voice, and the heavens and the earth shake. But Yahweh is a refuge for his people, and a protection for the children of Israel.

⁴ He rebukes the sea and he dries up the rivers; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither;* the blossom of Lebanon languishes. ⁵ Mountains quake before him; the hills shake apart.* The earth heaves before him— the world and all her inhabitants. ⁶ His indignation—who can stand before it? Who can endure _⌊his fierce anger_⌋?* His wrath is poured out like fire; rocks are shattered before* him.

⁶ For thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and dry land. ⁷ I will shake all the nations so that the treasure of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house* with glory,' says Yahweh of hosts.

²¹ "Say to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah: I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, ²² and I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the military strength of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, every one by the sword of another!

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

²⁶ whose voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, saying,
"Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven."* ²⁷ Now the phrase "yet once more" indicates the removal of what is shaken, namely, things that have been created, in order that the things that are not shaken may remain.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will disappear with a rushing noise, and the celestial bodies will be destroyed by* being burned up, and the earth and the deeds done on it will be disclosed.

¹¹ And I saw a great white throne and the one who was seated on it, _⌊from whose presence_⌋* earth and heaven fled, and a place was not found for them.

¹⁷ So he said, "I saw all of Israel scattering to the mountains, like the sheep without a shepherd. Yahweh also said, 'There are no masters for these, let them return in peace, each to his house.'"

³⁶ Then the shout passed through the camp about sunset, saying, "Each man to his city and each to his land!"

¹³ The nations roar like the roar of many waters, but he will rebuke him, and he will flee far away. And they are chased like chaff of the mountains before the wind and like tumbleweed before the storm.

¹⁵ So are to you those with whom you have labored, your traders from your youth. They wander, each to his side; there is no one who can save you.

¹⁶ Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who uses the sickle in the time of harvest. _⌊Because of_⌋* the sword of the oppressor each one will turn to their people, and each one will flee to their land.

⁹ We tried to heal Babylon, and she was not healed. Forsake her and let us go each one to his country, for her judgment has reached to the heavens, and it has been lifted up to the skies.

⁹ And the kings of the earth will weep and mourn over her, those who committed sexual immorality and lived sensually with her, when they see the smoke of her burning, ¹⁰ standing _⌊far off_⌋* because of the fear of her torment, saying,
"Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon the powerful city, because in one hour your judgment has come!"

¹⁹ But as for you, you are thrown away from your grave, like an abhorrent shoot, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, those who go down to the stones of the pit, like a corpse that is trodden down. ²⁰ You will not be united with them in burial because you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people.
The descendants* of evildoers will not be mentioned for eternity! ²¹ Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons because of the sin of their ancestors.* Let them not rise and take possession of the earth or fill up the face of the world with cities." ²² "And I will rise up against them,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts,
"and I will cut off name and a remnant from Babylon, and offspring and posterity,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

⁹ And these two shall come to you in a moment, in one day: the loss of children and widowhood shall come on you _⌊completely_⌋,* in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the power of your great enchantments. ¹⁰ And you felt secure in your wickedness; you said, "_⌊No one_⌋* sees* me." Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, "I am, and besides me there is no one." ¹¹ And evil shall come upon you, you will not know; it will be on the lookout for her. And disaster shall fall upon you; you will not be able to _⌊avert_⌋* it. And ruin shall come on you suddenly; you do not know. ¹² Stand, now, in your enchantments, and in your many sorceries with which you have labored from your youth. Perhaps you may be able to benefit; perhaps you may _⌊scare away_⌋.* ¹³ You struggle with your many consultations;* let them stand, now, and save you— those who see the stars, divide the _⌊celestial sphere_⌋,* who inform by new moons— from those things that are coming upon you. ¹⁴ Look! They are like stubble; the fire burns them completely. They cannot deliver _⌊themselves_⌋* from the _⌊power_⌋* of the flame; there is no coal _⌊for warming oneself_⌋,* no fire before which to sit.

²⁵ Yahweh has opened his armory, and he has brought out the weapons of his wrath, for it is a word for my Lord Yahweh of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

²⁷ Massacre all her bulls, let them go down to the slaughtering. Woe to them, for their day has come, the time of their punishment.

³⁵ A sword against the Chaldeans," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her officials, and against her wise men. ³⁶ A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become foolish. A sword against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror. ³⁷ A sword against his horses, and against his chariots,* and against all the foreign troops who are in the midst of her, so that they may become as women. A sword against her treasures, so that they may be plundered. ³⁸ A drought will come against her waters, and they will dry up, for it is a land of images, and because of the frightful objects, they act like madmen. ³⁹ _⌊Therefore_⌋* desert creatures will live there* with jackals, and daughters of ostriches* will inhabit her. And she will not be inhabited again _⌊forever_⌋,* and she will not be dwelt in _⌊for all generations_⌋.*

³ Let not him who bends the bow shoot his bow, and let him not rise high in his body armor. And you must not spare her young men; destroy her whole army. ⁴ And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and pierced through in her streets.

⁸ O daughter of Babylon, about to be devastated, happy shall be he who pays back to you _⌊what you paid out to us_⌋.* ⁹ Happy shall be he who seizes and smashes your children against the rock.

¹⁸ And their bows will shatter young men. And they will not show mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not look compassionately on children.

¹¹ They raped women in Zion, young women* in the cities of Judah.

¹⁴ The tumult of war will rise up against your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel; on the day of war mothers were dashed to pieces with their children.*

¹⁰ Yet she went into captivity as an exile; her children were dashed to pieces at the head of the streets; they cast lots for all of her nobles; all of her dignitaries were bound with chains.

² I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, and they will loot the houses, and the women will be raped; half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be cut off from the city.

³⁴ For jealousy is the fury of a husband, and he will not show restraint on the day of revenge. ³⁵ He will not accept _⌊any compensation_⌋,* and he will not be willing, though the bribe is large.

³ I myself I have commanded my consecrated ones, I have also summoned my mighty warriors concerning my anger, the _⌊ones who exalt over_⌋* my majesty. ⁴ A sound, a noise is on the mountains, the likeness of many people! A sound of the roar of the kingdoms, of nations gathering! Yahweh of hosts is mustering an army for battle. ⁵ They are coming from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, Yahweh and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy _⌊the whole earth_⌋.*

² A hard revelation is told to me;
the treacherous deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; lay siege, Media!
I put an end to all of her sighing.

²⁵ I stirred up one from the north, and he has come from the rising of the sun.
He shall call on my name,
and he shall come on officials as on mortar, and as the _⌊potter_⌋* treads clay.

²⁸ " 'Peres'—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.'" ²⁹ Then Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel with purple and placed a necklace of gold around his neck, and they made a proclamation concerning him that he would be the third ruler in authority in the kingdom. ³⁰ _⌊That same night_⌋* Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed. ³¹ * And Darius the Mede received the kingdom _⌊when he was about sixty-two years old_⌋.*

¹² Then Hazael asked, "Why is my lord crying?" He said, "Because I know what evil you will do to the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* You will _⌊set their fortifications on fire_⌋,* and you will kill their young men with the sword. Their little ones you will dash to pieces, and their pregnant women you will rip open!"

¹⁷ Therefore he brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, and he killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He showed no mercy on a young man, a virgin, the elderly, or decrepit. He delivered all into his hand.

¹⁶ And their children will be dashed into pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be raped.*

⁵ And to the others he said in my hearing, "Go through the city behind him and kill! Your eyes shall not take pity, and you shall not have compassion. ⁶ You must kill _⌊totally_⌋* old man, young man and young woman, and little children and women, but _⌊concerning_⌋* every man _⌊with the mark on him_⌋* you must not approach; and from my sanctuary you must begin." And they began with the old men who _⌊were before_⌋* the house.*

¹⁰ And I, my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion; their way I will bring on their head."

¹⁶ * Samaria will be guilty, because she has rebelled against her God; they will fall by the sword, their children will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.

¹ _⌊One who shatters_⌋* has come up against you! Guard the fortification! Watch the road!* Gird your loins! _⌊Muster_⌋* all your strength!

²⁴ Yahweh rained down from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh.

²³ 'All its land is brimstone and salt left by fire, _⌊none of its land will be sown_⌋,* and it will not make plants sprout out and it will not grow any vegetation; it is as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adman and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overturned in his anger and in his wrath.'

⁴ that you will take this taunt against the king of Babylon, and you will say: "How the oppressor has ceased! his insolence* has ceased. ⁵ Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, ⁶ that struck the peoples in wrath, a blow without ceasing, that ruled the nations in anger _⌊with unrestrained persecution_⌋.*

¹² How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of dawn! You are cut down to the ground, conqueror of nations! ¹³ And you yourself said in your heart,
'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise up my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mountain of assembly on the summit of Zaphon;* ¹⁴ I will ascend to the high places of the clouds,* I will make myself like the Most High.' ¹⁵ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit.

¹⁸ As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors," says Yahweh, "_⌊no one_⌋* will live there, and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in it.

⁴⁰ As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "no one will live there, and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in her.

⁴¹ How Sheshach is captured, and the glory of all the earth is seized! How Babylon has become as an object of horror among the nations!

³⁷ You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power and the might and the glory, ³⁸ and also _⌊human beings wherever they dwell_⌋,* the animals of the field and the birds* of heaven*—he has given into your hand and made you ruler over all of them—you are the head of gold.

³⁰ And the king answered and said, "Is this not the great Babylon which I have built as a royal palace by the strength of my own power, and for the glory of my own majesty?"

¹¹ "I overthrew some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a stick snatched from the fire, and yet you did not return to me," is the declaration of Yahweh.

⁹ "Therefore, as I live"—a declaration of Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel— "Moab shall be as Sodom, and the _⌊Ammonites_⌋* like Gomorrah, a place of weeds and salt pits and a desolation forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the remainder of my nation shall possess them."

¹¹ And some of the Philistines brought a gift and silver to Jehoshaphat as tribute. The Arabians also brought him seven thousand seven hundred sheep and seven thousand seven hundred goats.

²³ "And I will make her a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts.

¹⁰ Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall be in ruins; forever and ever there will be no one who passes through her. ¹¹ But* the large bird and the hedgehog shall take possession of it, and the owl and the raven shall live in it. And he shall stretch the measuring line of confusion out over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. ¹² Its nobles—but no kingdom is there—shall call, and all its princes shall be nothing. ¹³ And thorns shall go up her citadel fortress, weeds* and thistle plants* in her fortresses; and it shall be the settlement of jackals, green grass for the daughters of an ostrich. ¹⁴ And desert creatures shall meet with hyenas, and a goat-demon shall call to his neighbor; surely there Lilith* shall repose, and she shall find a resting place for herself. ¹⁵ There the owl shall nest and lay and hatch and care for her chicks in her shadow; surely there the birds of prey shall be gathered, each one with her mate.

¹³ Because of the anger of Yahweh she will not be inhabited, but she will be a wasteland, all of her. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled and will hiss because of all her wounds.

²¹ To the land of Merathaim, go up against her, and against the inhabitants of Pekod, massacre and destroy them," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "and do according to all that I have commanded you.

³⁹ _⌊Therefore_⌋* desert creatures will live there* with jackals, and daughters of ostriches* will inhabit her. And she will not be inhabited again _⌊forever_⌋,* and she will not be dwelt in _⌊for all generations_⌋.*

⁴⁵ _⌊Therefore_⌋* hear the plan of Yahweh that he has planned against Babylon, and his plans that he has planned against the land of the Chaldeans. _⌊Surely_⌋* they will drag them away, the little ones of the flock. _⌊Surely_⌋* he will cause their grazing place to be desolate over them.

²⁹ And the land quakes and writhes, for the plans of Yahweh against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon as a horror, _⌊without_⌋* inhabitant.

³⁷ And Babylon will become as a heap of stones, a lair of jackals, an object of horror, and an object of hissing, _⌊without_⌋* inhabitants.

⁴³ Her cities have become as an object of horror, a dry land and a wilderness,* a land in which no person lives, nor does a son of humankind pass through it.

²¹ And one powerful angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
"In this way Babylon the great city will be thrown down with violence, and will never be found again! ²² And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will never be heard in you again! And every craftsman of every trade will never be found in you again! And the sound of a mill will never be heard in you again! ²³ And the light of a lamp will never shine in you again! And the sound of a bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again! For your merchants were the most important people of the earth, because with your sorcery they deceived all the nations.

² And he cried out with a powerful voice, saying,
"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and it has become a dwelling place of demons and a haunt of every unclean spirit and a haunt of every unclean bird and a haunt of every unclean and detested animal.

³⁵ _⌊Vengeance belongs to me_⌋* and also recompense, _⌊for at the time their foot slips_⌋,* because the day of their disaster is near, _⌊and fate comes quickly for them_⌋.'*

² For you have _⌊made_⌋* the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin, the palace of foreigners _⌊is no longer_⌋* a city; it will _⌊never_⌋* be rebuilt.

¹³ And thorns shall go up her citadel fortress, weeds* and thistle plants* in her fortresses; and it shall be the settlement of jackals, green grass for the daughters of an ostrich.

⁷ And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. Her resting place is in a settlement of jackals; the grass shall become like reeds* and rushes.*

³³ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,
"The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trodden down, _⌊just a little while_⌋* and the time of the harvest will come for her."

⁷ Doom is coming against you, the dweller* of the land; the time comes, the day is near, panic and not joy is on the mountains. ⁸ _⌊Soon_⌋* I will pour out my rage on you, and I will fully vent my anger on you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all of your detestable things. ⁹ And my eye will not take pity, and I will not show compassion. According to your ways I will _⌊deal with you_⌋,* and your detestable things will be in the midst of you, and you will know that I am Yahweh who strikes.* ¹⁰ Look! The day is coming; doom goes out, the staff blossoms, pride sprouts.

³ For there is yet a vision for the appointed time; it will give witness to the end, and it will not lie. If it tarries, wait for it, for it will surely come and not delay.

³ And in greediness they will exploit you with false words, whose condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

⁹ The Lord is not delaying the promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he* does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will disappear with a rushing noise, and the celestial bodies will be destroyed by* being burned up, and the earth and the deeds done on it will be disclosed.