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)”