Jeremiah 50:21–29

THE INVASION OF BABYLON

²¹Attack the land of Merathaim,

and those living in Pekod.

Put them to the sword;

completely destroy them—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

do everything I have commanded you.^m

²²The sound of war is in the landⁿ —

a crushing blow!

²³How the hammer of the whole earth

is cut down and smashed!

What a horror Babylon has become

among the nations!^o

²⁴Babylon, I laid a trap for you, and you were caught,^p

but you did not even know it.

You were found and captured

because you pitted yourself against the Lord.

²⁵The Lord opened his armory

and brought out his weapons of wrath,^q

because it is a task of the Lord God of Armies

in the land of the Chaldeans.

²⁶Come against her from the most distant places.^A

Open her granaries;

pile her up like mounds of grain

and completely destroy her.

Leave her no survivors.

²⁷Put all her young bulls to the sword;

let them go down to the slaughter.

Woe to them because their day has come,

the time of their punishment.^r

THE HUMILIATION OF BABYLON

²⁸There is a voice of fugitives and refugees

from the land of Babylon.

The voice announces in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God,

the vengeance for his temple.^s

²⁹Summon the archers to Babylon,

all who string the bow;

camp all around her; let none escape.

Repay her according to her deeds;^t

just as she has done, do the same to her,

for she has acted arrogantly against the Lord,

against the Holy One of Israel.^u