<p class="poetry">Babylonia had been a gold cup in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s hand.p> <p class="poetry">She had made the whole world drunk.p> <p class="poetry">The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">So they have all gone mad.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">You must be truthful, honest and uprightp> <p class="poetry">when you take an oath saying, &#8216;As surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives!&#8217;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">If you do,<n id="2" /> the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you arep> <p class="poetry">and will make him the object of their boasting.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">But Babylonia will be put to great shame.p> <p class="poetry">The land where you were born<n id="1" /> will be disgraced.p> <p class="poetry">Indeed,<n id="2" /> Babylonia will become the least important of all nations.p> <p class="poetry">It will become a dry and barren desert.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Babylon,<n id="1" /> you are my war club,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">my weapon for battle.p> <p class="poetry">I used you to smash nations.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I used you to destroy kingdoms.p>

<p class="poetry">Like a lion that has come up from its lair<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He is coming out to lay your land waste.p> <p class="poetry">Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> is the only true God.p> <p class="poetry">He is the living God and the everlasting King.p> <p class="poetry">When he shows his anger the earth shakes.p> <p class="poetry">None of the nations can stand up to his fury.p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, &#8220;Why has the <sc>Lordsc> done such a thing to this great city?&#8221;

For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation<n id="1" /> too. I will repay them for all they have done!&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Hear what the <sc>Lordsc> has to say, O nations.p> <p class="poetry">Proclaim it in the faraway lands along the sea.p> <p class="poetry">Say, &#8220;The one who scattered Israel will regather them.p> <p class="poetry">He will watch over his people like a shepherd watches over his flock.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">The nations will hear of your devastating defeat.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">your cries of distress will echo throughout the earth.p> <p class="poetry">In the panic of their flight one soldier will trip over anotherp> <p class="poetry">and both of them will fall down defeated.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Prepare the nations to do battle against her.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Prepare the kings of the Medes.p> <p class="poetry">Prepare their governors and all their leaders.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Prepare all the countries they rule to do battle against her.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will punish the god Bel in Babylon.p> <p class="poetry">I will make him spit out what he has swallowed.p> <p class="poetry">The nations will not come streaming to him any longer.p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, the walls of Babylon will fall.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I thought to myself,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">What a joy it would be for me to give<n id="3" /> you a pleasant land,p> <p class="poetry">the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!&#8217;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">I thought you would call me, &#8216;Father&#8217;<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">and would never cease being loyal to me.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Then I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;<sc>Lordsc>, you give me strength and protect me.p> <p class="poetry">You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Nations from all over the earthp> <p class="poetry">will come to you and say,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Our ancestors had nothing but false gods &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">worthless idols that could not help them at all.<n id="3" />p>

All nations must serve him and his son and grandson<n id="1" /> until the time comes for his own nation to fall.<n id="2" /> Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon.<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylonp> <p class="poetry">a host of mighty nations<n id="1" /> from the land of the north.p> <p class="poetry">They will set up their battle lines against her.p> <p class="poetry">They will come from the north and capture her.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">who does not return from the battle empty-handed.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Raise up battle flags throughout the lands.p> <p class="poetry">Sound the trumpets calling the nations to do battle.p> <p class="poetry">Prepare the nations to do battle against Babylonia.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Call for these kingdoms to attack her:p> <p class="poetry">Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Appoint a commander to lead the attack.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Send horses<n id="4" /> against her like a swarm of locusts.<n id="5" />p>