1The word that the Lord spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
2Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard;
3For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her,
4In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord,
5They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying,
6My people hath been lost sheep:
7All that found them have devoured them:
8Remove out of the midst of Babylon,
9For lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon
10And Chaldea shall be a spoil:
11Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced,
12Your mother shall be sore confounded;
13Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited,
14Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about:
15Shout against her round about:
16Cut off the sower from Babylon,
17Israel is a scattered sheep;
18Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel;
19And I will bring Israel again to his habitation,
20In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord,
21Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it,
22A sound of battle is in the land,
23How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken!
24I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,
25The Lord hath opened his armoury,
26Come against her from the utmost border,
27Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter:
28The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon,
29Call together the archers against Babylon:
30Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets,
31Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud,
32And the most proud shall stumble and fall,
33Thus saith the Lord of hosts;
34Their redeemer is strong;
35A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord,
36A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote:
37A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots,
38A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up:
39Therefore the wild beasts of the desert
40As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
41Behold, a people shall come from the north,
42They shall hold the bow and the lance:
43The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them,
44Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan
45Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord,
46At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved,