45
"Come out of Babylon, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the Lord's great anger.
46
Don't lose courage; rumors will spread through the land, but don't be afraid. One rumor comes this year, and another comes the next year. There will be rumors of terrible fighting in the country, of rulers fighting against rulers.
47
The time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon, and the whole land will be disgraced. There will be many dead people lying all around.
48
Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy about Babylon. They will shout because the army comes from the north to destroy Babylon," says the Lord.
49
"Babylon must fall, because she killed people from Israel. She killed people from everywhere on earth.
50
You who have escaped being killed with swords, leave Babylon! Don't wait! and think about Jerusalem."
51
"We people of Judah are disgraced, because we have been insulted. We have been shamed, because strangers have gone into the holy places of the Lord's Temple!"
52
So the Lord says, "The time is coming soon when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Wounded people will cry with pain all over that land.
53
Even if Babylon grows until she touches the sky, and even if she makes her highest cities strong, I will send people to destroy her," says the Lord.
54
"Sounds of people crying are heard in Babylon. Sounds of people destroying things are heard in the land of the Babylonians.
55
The Lord is destroying Babylon and making the loud sounds of the city become silent. Enemies come roaring in like ocean waves. The roar of their voices is heard all around.