JPS_ASV_Byz(i)
22 Hark! battle is in the land, and great destruction.
23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware; thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.
25 The LORD hath opened His armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of His indignation; for it is a work that the Lord GOD of hosts hath to do in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from every quarter, open her granaries, cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left.
27 Slay all her bullocks, let them go down to the slaughter; woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
28 Hark! they flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of His temple.
29 Call together the archers against Babylon, all them that bend the bow; encamp against her round about, let none thereof escape; recompense her according to her work, according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been arrogant against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore shall her young men fall in her broad places, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, saith the LORD.
31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most arrogant, saith the Lord GOD of hosts; for thy day is come, the time that I will punish thee.
32 And the most arrogant shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all that are round about him.
33 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all that took them captives hold them fast; they refuse to let them go.
34 Their Redeemer is strong, the LORD of hosts is His name; He will thoroughly plead their cause, that He may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
36 A sword is upon the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her, and they shall become as women; a sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed.
38 A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad upon things of horror.
39 Therefore the wild-cats with the jackals shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein; and it shall be no more inhabited for ever, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
41 Behold, a people cometh from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be roused from the uttermost parts of the earth.
42 They lay hold on bow and spear, they are cruel, and have no compassion; their voice is like the roaring sea, and they ride upon horses; set in array, as a man for war, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon hath heard the fame of them, and his hands wax feeble; anguish hath taken hold of him, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will suddenly make them run away from it, and whoso is chosen, him will I appoint over it; for who is like Me? and who will appoint Me a time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before Me?
45 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that He hath taken against Babylon, and His purposes, that He hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: surely the least of the flock shall drag them away, surely their habitation shall be appalled at them.
46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth quaketh, and the cry is heard among the nations.