Jeremiah 50:6-16

English Standard Version

⁶^(A)“My people have been lost sheep. ^(B)Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. ⁷All who found them have devoured them, ^(C)and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for ^(D)they have sinned against the Lord, ^(E)their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, ^(F)the hope of their fathers.’

⁸^(G)“Flee from the midst of Babylon, ^(H)and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. ⁹For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon ^(I)a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. ¹⁰^(J)Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord.

¹¹^(K)“Though you rejoice, though you exult,
    O plunderers of my heritage,
though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture,
    and neigh like stallions,
¹²your mother shall be utterly shamed,
    and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
Behold, she shall be the last of the nations,
    ^(L)a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
¹³^(M)Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited
    but shall be an utter desolation;
^(N)everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled,
    ^(O)and hiss because of all her wounds.
¹⁴^(P)Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around,
    ^(Q)all you who bend the bow;
shoot at her, spare no arrows,
    ^(R)for she has sinned against the Lord.
¹⁵^(S)Raise a shout against her all around;
    she has surrendered;
her bulwarks have fallen;
    ^(T)her walls are thrown down.
For ^(U)this is the vengeance of the Lord:
    take vengeance on her;
    ^(V)do to her as she has done.
¹⁶Cut off from Babylon the sower,
    and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest;
^(W)because of the sword of the oppressor,
    ^(X)every one shall turn to his own people,
    and every one shall flee to his own land.