Jeremiah 50:11-20

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.

20At that time, I will forgive the sins of my people. I have let a few people of Israel and Judah remain. And they will no longer be guilty of any sins.’ That is what the Lord says.