26
No rock will be taken from you to be used as the most important stone for a building. No stones will be taken from you to be used for a foundation. Your land will be empty forever," announces the Lord.
27
"Nations, lift up a banner in the land of Babylonia! Blow a trumpet among yourselves! Prepare yourselves for battle against Babylonia. Send the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz against it. Appoint a commander against it. Send many horses against it. Let them be as many as a huge number of locusts.
28
Prepare yourselves for battle against Babylonia. Prepare the kings of the Medes. Prepare their governors and all of their officials. Prepare all of the countries they rule over.
29
The Babylonians tremble and shake with fear. My plans against them stand firm. I plan to destroy their land completely. Then no one will live there.
30
Babylon's soldiers have stopped fighting. They remain in their forts. Their strength is all gone. They have become like weak women. Their buildings are set on fire. The heavy metal bars on their gates are broken.
31
One messenger after another comes to the king of Babylonia. All of them announce that his entire city is captured.
32
The places where people go across the Euphrates River have been captured. The swamps have been set on fire. And the soldiers are terrified."
33
The LORD who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, "The city of Babylon is like a threshing floor when cattle are walking on it. The time to destroy it will soon come."
34
The people of Jerusalem say, "Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, has destroyed us. He has thrown us into a panic. He has emptied us out like a jar. Like a snake he has swallowed us up. He has filled his stomach with our rich food. Then he has spit us out of his mouth."
35
The people continue, "May the people of Babylon pay for the harmful things they have done to us. May those who live in Babylonia pay for spilling the blood of our people." That's what the people who live in Zion say.
36
So the LORD says, "I will stand up for you. I will pay the Babylonians back for what they did to you. I will dry up their water supply. I will make their springs run dry.