44
I will punish Bel, the god of Babylonia, and make him give up his stolen goods; the nations will not worship him any more. "Babylon's walls have fallen.
45
People of Israel, run away from there! Run for your life from my fierce anger.
46
Do not lose courage or be afraid because of the rumors you hear. Every year a different rumor spreads - rumors of violence in the land and of one king fighting another.
47
And so the time is coming when I will deal with Babylonia's idols. The whole country will be put to shame, and all its people will be killed.
48
Everything on earth and in the sky will shout for joy when Babylonia falls to the people who come from the north to destroy it.
1
49
Babylonia caused the death of people all over the world, and now Babylonia will fall because it caused the death of so many Israelites. I, the Lord, have spoken."
2
50
The Lord says to his people in Babylonia: "You have escaped death! Now go! Don't wait! Though you are far from home, think about me, your Lord, and remember Jerusalem.
51
You say, "We've been disgraced and made ashamed; we feel completely helpless because foreigners have taken over the holy places in the Temple.'
52
So then, I say that the time is coming when I will deal with Babylon's idols, and the wounded will groan throughout the country.
53
Even if Babylon could climb to the sky and build a strong fortress there, I would still send people to destroy it. I, the Lord, have spoken."
54
The Lord says, "Listen to the sound of crying in Babylon, of mourning for the destruction in the land.