Jeremiah 51:54-59

54‘Listen to the noise that comes from Babylon! People are crying in pain. Listen to the noise of the enemy army as it destroys Babylonia.

55The Lord is preparing to destroy Babylon. No noise will come from there any more. The enemy soldiers will attack like great waves of water. There will be a loud noise of battle.

56An army is coming to destroy Babylon. They will take hold of its brave soldiers. They will break their weapons. The Lord is a God who punishes people as they deserve. He always pays them back for their sins.

57I will make Babylon's officers and its wise men drunk, as well as its rulers, its leaders and its soldiers. They will sleep for ever and they will never wake up again.’ That is what the King says. His name is the Lord Almighty.

58The Lord Almighty says this: ‘The enemy will completely knock down the strong walls of Babylon. They will burn its high gates with fire. The nations work very hard, but their work is useless. They make themselves tired, but fire destroys all their work.’

59This is the command that the prophet Jeremiah gave to the king's officer Seraiah. Seraiah was the son of Neriah and the grandson of Mahseiah. He took the message when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah. That happened in the fourth year that Zedekiah had ruled Judah as king.