14
The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself: I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.
15
“He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
16
When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17
“Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them.
18
They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.
19
He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the people of his inheritance— the LORD Almighty is his name.
20
“You are my war club, my weapon for battle— with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms,
21
with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver,
22
with you I shatter man and woman, with you I shatter old man and youth, with you I shatter young man and young woman,
23
with you I shatter shepherd and flock, with you I shatter farmer and oxen, with you I shatter governors and officials.
24
“Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the LORD.
25
“I am against you, you destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth,” declares the LORD. “I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain.
26
No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone, nor any stone for a foundation, for you will be desolate forever,” declares the LORD.
27
“Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts.
28
Prepare the nations for battle against her— the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the countries they rule.
29
The land trembles and writhes, for the LORD’s purposes against Babylon stand— to lay waste the land of Babylon so that no one will live there.
30
Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting; they remain in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become weaklings. Her dwellings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken.
31
One courier follows another and messenger follows messenger to announce to the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured,
32
the river crossings seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers terrified.”
33
This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; the time to harvest her will soon come.”
34
“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us, he has thrown us into confusion, he has made us an empty jar. Like a serpent he has swallowed us and filled his stomach with our delicacies, and then has spewed us out.