17 “Israel is a scattered flock,hunted down by lions.The king of Assyria started the carnage.The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar,Has completed the job,gnawing the bones clean.”
18-20 And now this is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies,the God of Israel, has to say:“Just watch! I’m bringing doom on the king of Babylon and his land,the same doom I brought on the king of Assyria.But Israel I’ll bring home to good pastures.He’ll graze on the hills of Carmel and Bashan,On the slopes of Ephraim and Gilead.He will eat to his heart’s content.In those days and at that time”—God’s Decree—“they’ll look high and low for a sign of Israel’s guilt—nothing;Search nook and cranny for a trace of Judah’s sin—nothing.These people that I’ve saved will start out with a clean slate.
21 “Attack Merathaim, land of rebels!Go after Pekod, country of doom!Hunt them down. Make a clean sweep.” God’s Decree.“These are my orders. Do what I tell you.
22-24 “The thunderclap of battleshakes the foundations!The Hammer has been hammered,smashed and splintered,Babylon pummeledbeyond recognition.I set out a trap and you were caught in it.O Babylon, you never knew what hit you,Caught and held in the steel grip of that trap!That’s what you get for taking on God.
25-28 “I, God, opened my arsenal.I brought out my weapons of wrath.The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,has a job to do in Babylon.Come at her from all sides!Break into her granaries!Shovel her into piles and burn her up.Leave nothing! Leave no one!Kill all her young turks.Send them to their doom!Doom to them! Yes, Doomsday!The clock has finally run out on them.And here’s a surprise:Runaways and escapees from BabylonShow up in Zion reporting the news of God’s vengeance,taking vengeance for my own Temple.
29-30 “Call in the troops against Babylon,anyone who can shoot straight!Tighten the noose!Leave no loopholes!Give her back as good as she gave,a dose of her own medicine!Her brazen insolence is an outrageagainst God, The Holy of Israel.And now she pays: her young strewn dead in the streets,her soldiers dead, silent forever.” God’s Decree.
31-32 “Do you get it, Mister Pride? I’m your enemy!”Decree of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.“Time’s run out on you:That’s right: It’s Doomsday.Mister Pride will fall flat on his face.No one will offer him a hand.I’ll set his towns on fire.The fire will spread wild through the country.”