Study Desk

"Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to an enduring pasture; for in an instant I will make them run away from it, and whoever is chosen I will appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand before Me?"

I will send strangers to Babylon that they may winnow herAnd may empty her land to destruction;For on every side they will be against herIn the day of her calamity.

For neither Israel nor Judah has been widowedBy his God, by Yahweh of hosts,Although their land is full of guiltBefore the Holy One of Israel.

Flee from the midst of Babylon,And each of you escape with his life!Do not be silenced in her iniquity,For this is Yahweh's time of vengeance;He is going to render recompense to her.

Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;Wail over her!Take balm for her pain;Perhaps she may be healed.

We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed;Forsake her and let us each go to his own country,For her judgment has touched heavenAnd lifts up to the very skies.

Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!Yahweh has aroused the spirit of the kings of the MedesBecause His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it;For it is the vengeance of Yahweh, vengeance for His temple.

Lift up a standard against the walls of Babylon;Make strong the watch;Raise up watchmen;Establish men in ambush!For Yahweh has both purposed and performedWhat He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

When He gives forth His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth;He makes lightning for the rainAnd brings forth the wind from His storehouses.

All mankind is senseless, devoid of knowledge;Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image,For his molten images are a lie,And there is no breath in them.

The portion of Jacob is not like these;For the Maker of all is He,And of the tribe of His inheritance;Yahweh of hosts is His name.

"But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes," declares Yahweh.

They will not take from you even a stone for a cornerNor a stone for foundations,But you will be a perpetual desolation," declares Yahweh.

So the land quakes and writhes,For the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon stand,To make the land of BabylonA desolation without inhabitants.

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel:"The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floorAt the time it is stamped firm;Yet in a little while the time of harvest will come for her."

Therefore thus says Yahweh,"Behold, I am going to plead your caseAnd exact full vengeance for you;And I will dry up her seaAnd make her fountain dry.

Now lest your heart grow faint,And you fear the report that will be heard in the land—For the report will come one year,And after that another report in another year,And violence will be in the landWith ruler against ruler—

Then heaven and earth and all that is in themWill shout for joy over Babylon,For the destroyers will come to her from the north,"Declares Yahweh.

Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel,As also for Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen.

We are ashamed because we have heard reproach;Dishonor has covered our faces,For strangers have enteredThe holy places of the house of Yahweh.