33 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: rThe people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; sthey refuse to let them go. 34 tTheir Redeemer is strong; uthe Lord of hosts is his name. vHe will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

35  “A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord,

and against the inhabitants of Babylon,

and against wher officials and her xwise men!

36  A sword against the diviners,

that they may become fools!

A sword against her ywarriors,

that they may be destroyed!

37  A sword against her horses and against her chariots,

and against all zthe foreign troops in her midst,

that athey may become women!

bA sword against all her treasures,

that they may be plundered!

38  cA drought against her waters,

that they may be dried up!

dFor it is a land of images,

and they are mad over idols.

39 e“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon,4 and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations. 40 fAs when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the Lord, gso no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.