29 “Summon archers against Babylon,

all those who draw the bow.y

Encamp all around her;

let no one escape.z

Repaya her for her deeds;b

do to her as she has done.

For she has defiedc the Lord,

the Holy Oned of Israel.

30 Therefore, her young mene will fall in the streets;

all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,”

declares the Lord.

31 “See, I am againstf you, you arrogant one,”

declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty,

“for your dayg has come,

the time for you to be punished.

32 The arroganth one will stumble and falli

and no one will help her up;j

I will kindle a firek in her towns

that will consume all who are around her.”

33 This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“The people of Israel are oppressed,l

and the people of Judah as well.

All their captors hold them fast,

refusing to let them go.m

34 Yet their Redeemern is strong;

the Lord Almightyo is his name.

He will vigorously defend their causep

so that he may bring restq to their land,

but unrest to those who live in Babylon.

35 “A swordr against the Babylonians!”s

declares the Lord—

“against those who live in Babylon

and against her officials and wiset men!

36 A sword against her false prophets!

They will become fools.

A sword against her warriors!u

They will be filled with terror.v

37 A sword against her horses and chariotsw

and all the foreigners in her ranks!

They will become weaklings.x

A sword against her treasures!y

They will be plundered.

38 A drought ond her waters!z

They will drya up.

For it is a land of idols,b

idols that will go mad with terror.

39 “So desert creaturesc and hyenas will live there,

and there the owl will dwell.

It will never again be inhabited

or lived in from generation to generation.d

40 As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrahe

along with their neighboring towns,”

declares the Lord,

“so no one will live there;

no people will dwell in it.f

41 “Look! An army is coming from the north;g

a great nation and many kings

are being stirredh up from the ends of the earth.i

42 They are armed with bowsj and spears;

they are cruelk and without mercy.l

They sound like the roaring seam

as they ride on their horses;

they come like men in battle formation

to attack you, Daughter Babylon.n

43 The king of Babylon has heard reports about them,

and his hands hang limp.o

Anguish has gripped him,

pain like that of a woman in labor.p

44 Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thicketsq

to a rich pastureland,

I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant.

Who is the chosenr one I will appoint for this?

Who is like me and who can challenge me?s

And what shepherd can stand against me?”

45 Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Babylon,

what he has purposedt against the land of the Babylonians:u

The young of the flock will be dragged away;

their pasture will be appalled at their fate.

46 At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble;v

its cryw will resound among the nations.