55 I am destroying Babylonand putting it to silence.The armies rush in like roaring wavesand attack with noisy shouts.
56 They have come to destroy Babylon;its soldiers are captured,and their bows are broken.I am a God who punishes evil,and I will treat Babylon as it deserves.
57 I will make its rulers drunk—men of wisdom, leaders, and soldiers.They will go to sleep and never wake up.I, the king, have spoken;I am the Lord Almighty.
58 The walls of mighty Babylon will be thrown to the ground,and its towering gates burned down.The work of the nations is all for nothing;their efforts go up in flames.I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken.”
59 King Zedekiah's personal attendant was Seraiah, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. In the fourth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, Seraiah was going to Babylonia with him, and I gave him some instructions.
60 I wrote in a book an account of all the destruction that would come on Babylonia, as well as all these other things about Babylonia.
61 I told Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, be sure to read aloud to the people everything that is written here.