Jeremiah 50:8-20

8“Wander away from the midst of Babylon

And go out from the land of the Chaldeans;

Be like male goats at the head of the flock.

9“For behold, I am going to rouse and bring up against Babylon

A contingent of great nations from the land of the north,

And they will draw up their battle lines against her;

From there she will be taken captive.

Their arrows will be like an expert warrior

Who does not return empty-handed.

10“Chaldea will become plunder;

All who plunder her will have enough,” declares the Lord.

11“Because you are glad, because you are jubilant,

You who pillage My heritage,

Because you skip about like a threshing heifer

And neigh like stallions,

12Your mother will be greatly ashamed,

She who gave you birth will be humiliated.

Behold, she will be the least of the nations,

A wilderness, a dry land and a desert.

13“Because of the wrath of the Lord she will not be inhabited,

But she will be completely desolate;

Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified

And will hiss because of all her wounds.

14“Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side,

All of you who bend the bow;

Shoot at her, do not spare your arrows,

For she has sinned against the Lord.

15“Raise your battle cry against her on every side!

She has given herself up, her towers have fallen,

Her walls have been torn down.

For this is the vengeance of the Lord:

Take vengeance on her;

As she has done to others, so do to her.

16“Eliminate the sower from Babylon

And the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest;

From the sword of the oppressor

Each of them will turn back to his own people

And each of them will flee to his own land.

¹⁷“Israel is a scattered flock, the lions have driven them away. The first one who devoured him was the king of Assyria, and this last one who has gnawed his bones is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. ¹⁸Therefore this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria. ¹⁹And I will bring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead. ²⁰In those days and at that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘search will be made for the wrongdoing of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will forgive those whom I leave as a remnant.’