15 Anyone who is captured will be cut down—run through with a sword.
16 Their little children will be dashed to death before their eyes.Their homes will be sacked, and their wives will be raped.
17 “Look, I will stir up the Medes against Babylon.They cannot be tempted by silveror bribed with gold.
18 The attacking armies will shoot down the young men with arrows.They will have no mercy on helpless babiesand will show no compassion for children.”
19 Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms,the flower of Chaldean pride,will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrahwhen God destroyed them.
20 Babylon will never be inhabited again.It will remain empty for generation after generation.Nomads will refuse to camp there,and shepherds will not bed down their sheep.
21 Desert animals will move into the ruined city,and the houses will be haunted by howling creatures.Owls will live among the ruins,and wild goats will go there to dance.