46
Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful
1at the report heard in the land,
2when a report comes in one year and afterward a report in another year, and violence is in the land,
3and ruler is against ruler.
47
"Therefore, behold, the days are coming when
4I will punish the images of Babylon;
5her whole land shall be put to shame, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48
6Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, shall sing for joy over Babylon,
7for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north, declares the LORD.
49
Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel,
8just as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.
50
9"You who have escaped from the sword, go, do not stand still! Remember the LORD from far away, and let Jerusalem come into your mind:
51
10'We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach;
11dishonor has covered our face,
12for foreigners have come into the holy places of the LORD's house.'
52
"Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when
13I will execute judgment upon her images,
14and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53
Though Babylon should
15mount up to heaven, and though she should
16fortify her strong height, yet destroyers would come from me against her, declares the LORD.
54
17"A voice! A cry from Babylon! The noise of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55
For the LORD is laying Babylon waste and stilling her mighty voice.
18Their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is raised,
56
for a destroyer has come upon her, upon Babylon; her warriors are taken; their bows are broken in pieces,
19for the LORD is a God of recompense; he will surely repay.