Daily Bread

“See, I will stir^(A) up the spirit of a destroyer
    against Babylon^(B) and the people of Leb Kamai.^[a]
2 I will send foreigners^(C) to Babylon
    to winnow^(D) her and to devastate her land;
they will oppose her on every side
    in the day^(E) of her disaster.
³ Let not the archer string his bow,^(F)
    nor let him put on his armor.^(G)
Do not spare her young men;
    completely destroy^[b] her army.
⁴ They will fall^(H) down slain in Babylon,^[c]
    fatally wounded in her streets.^(I)
5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken^(J)
    by their God, the Lord Almighty,
though their land^[d] is full of guilt^(K)
    before the Holy One of Israel.

⁶ “Flee^(L) from Babylon!
    Run for your lives!
    Do not be destroyed because of her sins.^(M)
It is time^(N) for the Lord’s vengeance;^(O)
    he will repay^(P) her what she deserves.
⁷ Babylon was a gold cup^(Q) in the Lord’s hand;
    she made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
    therefore they have now gone mad.
⁸ Babylon will suddenly fall^(R) and be broken.
    Wail over her!
Get balm^(S) for her pain;
    perhaps she can be healed.

⁹ “‘We would have healed Babylon,
    but she cannot be healed;
let us leave^(T) her and each go to our own land,
    for her judgment^(U) reaches to the skies,
    it rises as high as the heavens.’

¹⁰ “‘The Lord has vindicated^(V) us;
    come, let us tell in Zion
    what the Lord our God has done.’^(W)

¹¹ “Sharpen the arrows,^(X)
    take up the shields!^(Y)
The Lord has stirred up the kings^(Z) of the Medes,^(AA)
    because his purpose^(AB) is to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will take vengeance,^(AC)
    vengeance for his temple.^(AD)
12 Lift up a banner^(AE) against the walls of Babylon!
    Reinforce the guard,
station the watchmen,^(AF)
    prepare an ambush!^(AG)
The Lord will carry out his purpose,^(AH)
    his decree against the people of Babylon.
¹³ You who live by many waters^(AI)
    and are rich in treasures,^(AJ)
your end has come,
    the time for you to be destroyed.^(AK)
14 The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself:^(AL)
    I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts,^(AM)
    and they will shout^(AN) in triumph over you.

¹⁵ “He made the earth by his power;
    he founded the world by his wisdom^(AO)
    and stretched^(AP) out the heavens by his understanding.^(AQ)
16 When he thunders,^(AR) the waters in the heavens roar;
    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain^(AS)
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.^(AT)

¹⁷ “Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
    every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;^(AU)
    they have no breath in them.
¹⁸ They are worthless,^(AV) the objects of mockery;
    when their judgment comes, they will perish.
¹⁹ He who is the Portion^(AW) of Jacob is not like these,
    for he is the Maker of all things,
including the people of his inheritance^(AX)—
    the Lord Almighty is his name.

²⁰ “You are my war club,^(AY)
    my weapon for battle—
with you I shatter^(AZ) nations,^(BA)
    with you I destroy kingdoms,
²¹ with you I shatter horse and rider,^(BB)
    with you I shatter chariot^(BC) and driver,
²² with you I shatter man and woman,
    with you I shatter old man and youth,
    with you I shatter young man and young woman,^(BD)
23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
    with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
    with you I shatter governors and officials.^(BE)

²⁵ “I am against^(BH) you, you destroying mountain,
    you who destroy the whole earth,”^(BI)
declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand^(BJ) against you,
    roll you off the cliffs,
    and make you a burned-out mountain.^(BK)
26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
    nor any stone for a foundation,
    for you will be desolate^(BL) forever,”
declares the Lord.

²⁷ “Lift up a banner^(BM) in the land!
    Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
    summon against her these kingdoms:^(BN)
    Ararat,^(BO) Minni and Ashkenaz.^(BP)
Appoint a commander against her;
    send up horses like a swarm of locusts.^(BQ)
28 Prepare the nations for battle against her—
    the kings of the Medes,^(BR)
their governors and all their officials,
    and all the countries they rule.^(BS)
29 The land trembles^(BT) and writhes,
    for the Lord’s purposes^(BU) against Babylon stand—
to lay waste^(BV) the land of Babylon
    so that no one will live there.^(BW)
30 Babylon’s warriors^(BX) have stopped fighting;
    they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
    they have become weaklings.^(BY)
Her dwellings are set on fire;^(BZ)
    the bars^(CA) of her gates are broken.
³¹ One courier^(CB) follows another
    and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
    that his entire city is captured,^(CC)
32 the river crossings seized,
    the marshes set on fire,^(CD)
    and the soldiers terrified.^(CE)”

“Daughter Babylon^(CF) is like a threshing floor^(CG)
    at the time it is trampled;
    the time to harvest^(CH) her will soon come.^(CI)”

³⁴ “Nebuchadnezzar^(CJ) king of Babylon has devoured^(CK) us,^(CL)
    he has thrown us into confusion,
    he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
    and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
    and then has spewed^(CM) us out.
³⁵ May the violence^(CN) done to our flesh^[f] be on Babylon,”
    say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
    says Jerusalem.^(CO)

“See, I will defend your cause^(CP)
    and avenge^(CQ) you;
I will dry up^(CR) her sea
    and make her springs dry.
³⁷ Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
    a haunt^(CS) of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,^(CT)
    a place where no one lives.^(CU)
38 Her people all roar like young lions,^(CV)
    they growl like lion cubs.
³⁹ But while they are aroused,
    I will set out a feast for them
    and make them drunk,^(CW)
so that they shout with laughter—
    then sleep forever^(CX) and not awake,”
declares the Lord.^(CY)
40 “I will bring them down
    like lambs to the slaughter,
    like rams and goats.^(CZ)

⁴¹ “How Sheshak^[g](DA) will be captured,^(DB)
    the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate^(DC) Babylon will be
    among the nations!
⁴² The sea will rise over Babylon;
    its roaring waves^(DD) will cover her.
⁴³ Her towns will be desolate,
    a dry and desert^(DE) land,
a land where no one lives,
    through which no one travels.^(DF)
44 I will punish Bel^(DG) in Babylon
    and make him spew out^(DH) what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
    And the wall^(DI) of Babylon will fall.

⁴⁵ “Come out^(DJ) of her, my people!
    Run^(DK) for your lives!
    Run from the fierce anger^(DL) of the Lord.
⁴⁶ Do not lose heart^(DM) or be afraid^(DN)
    when rumors^(DO) are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
    rumors of violence in the land
    and of ruler against ruler.
⁴⁷ For the time will surely come
    when I will punish the idols^(DP) of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced^(DQ)
    and her slain will all lie fallen within her.^(DR)
48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
    will shout^(DS) for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north^(DT)
    destroyers^(DU) will attack her,”
declares the Lord.

⁴⁹ “Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain,
    just as the slain in all the earth
    have fallen because of Babylon.^(DV)
50 You who have escaped the sword,
    leave^(DW) and do not linger!
Remember^(DX) the Lord in a distant land,^(DY)
    and call to mind Jerusalem.”

⁵¹ “We are disgraced,^(DZ)
    for we have been insulted
    and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
    the holy places of the Lord’s house.”^(EA)

⁵² “But days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will punish her idols,^(EB)
and throughout her land
    the wounded will groan.^(EC)
53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens^(ED)
    and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
    I will send destroyers^(EE) against her,”
declares the Lord.

⁵⁴ “The sound of a cry^(EF) comes from Babylon,
    the sound of great destruction^(EG)
    from the land of the Babylonians.^[h]
55 The Lord will destroy Babylon;
    he will silence^(EH) her noisy din.
Waves^(EI) of enemies will rage like great waters;
    the roar of their voices will resound.
⁵⁶ A destroyer^(EJ) will come against Babylon;
    her warriors will be captured,
    and their bows will be broken.^(EK)
For the Lord is a God of retribution;
    he will repay^(EL) in full.
⁵⁷ I will make her officials^(EM) and wise^(EN) men drunk,^(EO)
    her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep^(EP) forever and not awake,”
    declares the King,^(EQ) whose name is the Lord Almighty.

“Babylon’s thick wall^(ER) will be leveled
    and her high gates^(ES) set on fire;
the peoples^(ET) exhaust^(EU) themselves for nothing,
    the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”^(EV)