Daily Bread

“Daughter Babylon^(A) is like a threshing floor^(B)
    at the time it is trampled;
    the time to harvest^(C) her will soon come.^(D)”

³⁴ “Nebuchadnezzar^(E) king of Babylon has devoured^(F) us,^(G)
    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^(H) us out.
³⁵ May the violence^(I) done to our flesh^[a] be on Babylon,”
    say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
    says Jerusalem.^(J)

“See, I will defend your cause^(K)
    and avenge^(L) you;
I will dry up^(M) her sea
    and make her springs dry.
³⁷ Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
    a haunt^(N) of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,^(O)
    a place where no one lives.^(P)
38 Her people all roar like young lions,^(Q)
    they growl like lion cubs.
³⁹ But while they are aroused,
    I will set out a feast for them
    and make them drunk,^(R)
so that they shout with laughter—
    then sleep forever^(S) and not awake,”
declares the Lord.^(T)
40 “I will bring them down
    like lambs to the slaughter,
    like rams and goats.^(U)

⁴¹ “How Sheshak^[b](V) will be captured,^(W)
    the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate^(X) Babylon will be
    among the nations!
⁴² The sea will rise over Babylon;
    its roaring waves^(Y) will cover her.
⁴³ Her towns will be desolate,
    a dry and desert^(Z) land,
a land where no one lives,
    through which no one travels.^(AA)
44 I will punish Bel^(AB) in Babylon
    and make him spew out^(AC) what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
    And the wall^(AD) of Babylon will fall.

⁴⁵ “Come out^(AE) of her, my people!
    Run^(AF) for your lives!
    Run from the fierce anger^(AG) of the Lord.
⁴⁶ Do not lose heart^(AH) or be afraid^(AI)
    when rumors^(AJ) 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^(AK) of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced^(AL)
    and her slain will all lie fallen within her.^(AM)
48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
    will shout^(AN) for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north^(AO)
    destroyers^(AP) 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.^(AQ)
50 You who have escaped the sword,
    leave^(AR) and do not linger!
Remember^(AS) the Lord in a distant land,^(AT)
    and call to mind Jerusalem.”

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

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

⁵⁴ “The sound of a cry^(BA) comes from Babylon,
    the sound of great destruction^(BB)
    from the land of the Babylonians.^[c]
55 The Lord will destroy Babylon;
    he will silence^(BC) her noisy din.
Waves^(BD) of enemies will rage like great waters;
    the roar of their voices will resound.
⁵⁶ A destroyer^(BE) will come against Babylon;
    her warriors will be captured,
    and their bows will be broken.^(BF)
For the Lord is a God of retribution;
    he will repay^(BG) in full.
⁵⁷ I will make her officials^(BH) and wise^(BI) men drunk,^(BJ)
    her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep^(BK) forever and not awake,”
    declares the King,^(BL) whose name is the Lord Almighty.

“Babylon’s thick wall^(BM) will be leveled
    and her high gates^(BN) set on fire;
the peoples^(BO) exhaust^(BP) themselves for nothing,
    the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”^(BQ)