Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. ¹ 

No one will live there again; no one will ever reside there again. ¹  No bedouin ²  will camp ³  there, no shepherds will rest their flocks ⁴  there.

O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor, ¹  what I have heard from the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel, I have reported to you.

Bel ¹  kneels down, Nebo ²  bends low. Their images weigh down animals and beasts. ³  Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals. ⁴ 

Leave! Leave! Get out of there! Don’t touch anything unclean! Get out of it! Stay pure, you who carry the Lord’s holy items! ¹ 

From ¹  Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues – the judges, the rulers, the officials, the secretaries, the Erechites, the Babylonians, the people of Susa (that is, ²  the Elamites),

I have received a distressing message: ¹  “The deceiver deceives, the destroyer destroys. Attack, you Elamites! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all the groaning!” ² 

I was angry at my people; I defiled my special possession and handed them over to you. You showed them no mercy; ¹  you even placed a very heavy burden on old people. ² 

Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the Lord for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.’

The Lord says, ¹  “Attack ²  the land of Merathaim and the people who live in Pekod! ³  Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them! ⁴  Do just as I have commanded you! ⁵ 

For the music director; written by the Korahites, a psalm. O Lord, you showed favor to your land; you restored the well-being of Jacob. ² 

Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; ¹  they are not concerned about silver, nor are they interested in gold. ² 

My heart palpitates, ¹  I shake in fear; ²  the twilight I desired has brought me terror.

You should have reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth who is pretending to be a prophet among you! ¹ 

For the Lord says, “Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings a nation will swoop down on Moab. ¹ 

“A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it. So too I will chase the Babylonians off of their land. Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose. For there is no one like me. There is no one who can call me to account. There is no ruler that can stand up against me.

Let them fall ¹  slain in the land of Babylonia, ²  mortally wounded in the streets of her cities. ³ 

Here is the official record of the number of people ¹  Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: In the seventh year, ²  3,023 Jews;

He plucked off its topmost shoot; he brought it to a land of merchants and planted it in a city of traders.

so it would be a lowly kingdom which could not rise on its own but must keep its treaty with him in order to stand.