Jeremiah 50:1-19

1The Lord gave this message to the prophet Jeremiah about Babylon city and the people of Babylonia:

2‘Tell this news to the nations! Wave a flag to make sure that people listen! Do not try to hide anything. Say this: “Enemies will take Babylon. Bel will become ashamed. Yes, Marduk will be afraid. All Babylon's disgusting idols will be ashamed.”

3A nation from the north will attack Babylon. They will destroy the whole land. People and animals will all run away, so that nobody lives there.’

4The Lord says, ‘When that happens, the people of Israel and Judah will return to their land. They will weep because of their sins. They will want to worship the Lord their God.

5They will ask people to show them the way to Zion. They will travel in that direction. They will promise to serve the Lord. They will make a covenant with him that will continue for ever. Nobody will ever forget that covenant.

6My people have been like sheep that are lost. Their leaders should have taken care of them like shepherds. Instead, they have let my people become lost, like sheep that have gone into the mountains. They go from one hill to another hill, and they have forgotten where their home is.

7Anyone who found them killed them. Their enemies said, “We are not guilty for their death. They deserved to die because they turned against the Lord. He is their true home where they are safe. But they turned against the Lord, the God that their ancestors trusted.” ’

8‘People of Judah, escape quickly from Babylon! Leave the land of Babylonia! Be the first people to leave. Lead the other people away, like a male goat that leads the other goats.

9I will call a group of strong nations from the north. They will join together to fight against Babylon. They will get ready to attack. They will come from the north and they will take power over Babylon. Their arrows will be like brave soldiers. They will kill everyone that they want to kill.

10The people of Babylonia will lose all their things. Enemy soldiers will take everything that they want for themselves.’ That is what the Lord says.

11‘You people of Babylon are very happy, because you have robbed my people. You dance like young cows that have fresh grass to eat. You make a happy noise, like a strong male horse.

12Babylon is like your mother who gave you life, but she will become ashamed. Yes, she will become the least important of all nations. The country will be dry and empty, like a desert.

13Nobody will live in Babylon, because I, the Lord, am very angry with it. It will be only a heap of stones. Everyone who goes that way will see that it is a disgusting place. They will insult Babylon, because of the terrible troubles that have happened to it.’

14‘Get ready to fight, all you soldiers who have bows and arrows. Stand in your places around Babylon. Shoot your arrows into the city! Shoot all of them! Punish Babylon, because its people have turned against the Lord.

15Shout as you attack the city from all sides. Its people are ready to stop fighting. Its strong towers will fall down. You will knock down its walls. The Lord is punishing Babylon, so punish the people for their sins! Do the same thing to them that they have done to other people.

16Remove from Babylon all the farmers who plant crops. Remove all the people who cut the crops at harvest time. The foreigners must return to their own homes. They must run away to escape from the enemy army.’

17‘Israel's enemies have chased them away to many different places. They are like sheep that hungry lions have chased away. The first to catch them was the king of Assyria. Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed them, like a lion that broke their bones.’

18So the Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this: ‘I will punish the king of Babylon and his country, as I punished the king of Assyria.

19But I will bring Israel's people back to their own land. They will grow their crops on Carmel and in Bashan. They will have plenty of food to eat on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.