51:8 But suddenly Babylonia will fall and be destroyed.
Cry out in mourning over it!
Get medicine for her wounds!
Perhaps she can be healed!
51:31 One runner after another will come to the king of Babylon.
One messenger after another will come bringing news.
They will bring news to the king of Babylon
that his whole city has been captured.
51:32 They will report that the fords have been captured,
the reed marshes have been burned,
the soldiers are terrified.
51:33 For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says,
‘Fair Babylon
which has been trampled flat for harvest.
The time for her to be cut down and harvested
will come very soon.’
51:34 “King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
devoured me and drove my people out.
Like a monster from the deep he swallowed me.
He filled his belly with my riches.
He made me an empty dish.
He completely cleaned me out.”
51:35 The person who lives in Zion says,
“May Babylon pay for the violence done to me and to my relatives.”
Jerusalem says,
“May those living in Babylonia pay for the bloodshed of my people.”
51:36 Therefore the Lord says,
“I will stand up for your cause.
I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done to you.
I will dry up their sea.
I will make their springs run dry.
51:37 Babylon will become a heap of ruins.
Jackals will make their home there.
It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn,
a place where no one lives.
51:38 The Babylonians are all like lions roaring for prey.
They are like lion cubs growling for something to eat.
51:39 When their appetites are all stirred up,
I will set out a banquet for them.
I will make them drunk
so that they will pass out,
they will fall asleep forever,
they will never wake up,”
says the Lord.
51:57 “I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
along with her governors, leaders,
They will fall asleep forever and never wake up,”
says the King whose name is the Lord who rules over all.
21:3 For this reason my stomach churns;
cramps overwhelm me
like the contractions of a woman in labor.
I am disturbed
horrified by what I see.
21:4 My heart palpitates,
I shake in fear;
the twilight I desired
has brought me terror.
21:5 Arrange the table,
lay out
eat and drink!
Get up, you officers,
smear oil on the shields!