I have raised up one from the north; and he shall come from the rising of the sun; he will call on My name. And he shall come upon rulers as on mortar, and as a potter tramples clay.
calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My counsel from a far off land. Yes, I have spoken; yea, I will bring it; I have formed; yea, I will do it.
But evil shall come on you; you shall not know its origin. And mischief shall fall on you; you shall not be able to cover it. And ruin shall come on you suddenly, you shall not know.
Polish the arrows, fill the shields; Jehovah has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon, to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of His temple.
And I will make her rulers drunk, also her wise ones, her governors, and her prefects, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a never-ending sleep, and not awaken, a statement of the King whose name is Jehovah of Hosts.
For when they say, Peace and safety! Then sudden destruction comes upon them, like the birth-pain to the one having babe in womb, and they shall not escape, not one.