¶ Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will¹ raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst² of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind³;

And will send unto Babylon fanners⁴, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day⁵ of trouble they shall be against her round about.

Against him that bendeth let the⁶ archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine⁷: and spare⁸ ye not her young men; destroy⁹ ye utterly all her host.

Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust¹⁰ through in her streets.

For Israel¹¹ hath not been forsaken, nor¹² Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though¹³ their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

Flee¹⁴ out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not¹⁵ cut off in her iniquity; for this¹⁶ is the time of the LORD'S vengeance; he will render¹⁷ unto her a recompence.

Babylon hath been a golden¹⁸ cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations¹⁹ have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad²⁰.

Babylon is suddenly²¹ fallen and destroyed: howl²² for her; take balm²³ for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake²⁴ her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment²⁵ reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

¶ The LORD hath brought²⁶ forth our righteousness: come, and let us²⁷ declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.

Make²⁸ bright²⁹ the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit³⁰ of the kings of the Medes: for his device³¹ is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance³² of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.

Set up the standard³³ upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes³⁴: for the LORD hath both³⁵ devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.

O thou that dwellest³⁶ upon many waters, abundant³⁷ in treasures, thine³⁸ end is come, and the³⁹ measure of thy covetousness.

The LORD of hosts hath sworn⁴⁰ by himself⁴¹, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up⁴² a shout against thee.

He hath made⁴³ the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom⁴⁴, and hath⁴⁵ stretched out the heaven by his understanding.

When he uttereth⁴⁶ his voice, there is⁴⁷ a multitude⁴⁸ of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth⁴⁹ forth the wind out of his treasures.

Every⁵⁰ man is brutish by his knowledge⁵¹; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

They are vanity⁵², the work of errors: in the⁵³ time of their visitation they shall perish.

The portion⁵⁴ of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former⁵⁵ of all things: and Israel is the rod⁵⁶ of his inheritance: the LORD⁵⁷ of hosts is his name.

¶ Thou art⁵⁸ my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee⁵⁹ will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;

⁶⁰And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;

⁶¹With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;

I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.

⁶²And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.

Behold, I am⁶³ against thee, O destroying⁶⁴ mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest⁶⁵ all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will⁶⁶ make thee a burnt mountain.

And they shall not⁶⁷ take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever⁶⁸, saith the LORD.

Set ye up⁶⁹ a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare⁷⁰ the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat⁷¹, Minni, and Ashchenaz⁷²; appoint a captain against her; cause⁷⁴ the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.

Prepare against her the nations with the kings⁷⁵ of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.

And the land⁷⁷ shall tremble and sorrow: for every⁷⁸ purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.

¶ The mighty⁷⁹ men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars⁸⁰ are broken.

One post⁸¹ shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew⁸² the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,

And that the passages⁸³ are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men⁸⁴ of war are affrighted.

For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like⁸⁵ a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her:⁸⁶ yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.

Nebuchadrezzar the king⁸⁷ of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made⁸⁸ me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed⁸⁹ me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.

The violence⁹⁰ done to me and to my flesh⁹¹ be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.

Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead⁹² thy cause, and take⁹³ vengeance for thee; and I will⁹⁴ dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.

And Babylon shall become⁹⁵ heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing⁹⁶, without an inhabitant.

They shall roar⁹⁷ together like lions: they shall yell⁹⁸ as lions' whelps.

In their heat⁹⁹ I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep¹⁰⁰ a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.

¶¹⁰¹I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.

How is Sheshach¹⁰² taken! and how is the praise¹⁰³ of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment¹⁰⁴ among the nations!

¹⁰⁵The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.

Her cities¹⁰⁶ are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land¹⁰⁷ wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.

And I will punish¹⁰⁸ Bel in Babylon, and I will bring¹⁰⁹ forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations¹¹⁰ shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall¹¹¹ of Babylon shall fall.

My people, go¹¹² ye out of the midst of her, and deliver¹¹³ ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.

And lest¹¹⁴ your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall¹¹⁵ both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against¹¹⁶ ruler.

Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will¹¹⁷ do judgment upon¹¹⁸ the graven images of Babylon: and her whole¹¹⁹ land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

Then the heaven¹²⁰ and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers¹²¹ shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.

As Babylon¹²² hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

¶ Ye that have escaped¹²³ the sword, go away, stand not still: remember¹²⁴ the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem¹²⁵ come into your mind.

We are confounded¹²⁶, because we have heard reproach: shame¹²⁷ hath covered our faces: for strangers¹²⁸ are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD'S house.

Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I¹²⁹ will do judgment upon her graven images¹³⁰: and through all her land the wounded¹³¹ shall groan.

Though Babylon should mount¹³² up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from¹³³ me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

¹³⁴A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:

Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed¹³⁵ out of her the great voice; when her waves¹³⁶ do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:

Because the spoiler¹³⁷ is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty¹³⁸ men are taken, every¹³⁹ one of their bows is broken: for the LORD¹⁴⁰ God of recompences shall surely requite.

And I will¹⁴¹ make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a¹⁴² perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King¹⁴³, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon¹⁴⁴ shall be utterly broken¹⁴⁵, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people¹⁴⁶ shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.

¶ The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah¹⁴⁷, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with¹⁴⁸ Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.

¶¹⁴⁹So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.

And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see¹⁵⁰, and shalt read¹⁵¹ all these words;

Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut¹⁵² it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.

And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind¹⁵⁴ a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:

And thou shalt say, Thus shall¹⁵⁵ Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall¹⁵⁶ be weary. Thus far¹⁵⁷ are the words of Jeremiah.