“Make mention of it to the nations, saying, ‘Behold!’ Make it heard over Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers come from a far country, And give forth their voices against the cities of Judah.
Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.”
For, behold, I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” declares Yahweh; “and they will come, and each one of them will put his throne at the opening of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls round about and against all the cities of Judah.
Both great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried; they will not be lamented, nor will anyone gash himself or shave his head for them.
“The young lions have roared at him; They have given forth their voice. And they have made his land a desolation; His cities have been turned into ruin, without inhabitant.
¶Hear the word of Yahweh, O nations, And declare in the coastlands far away, And say, “He who dispersed Israel will gather him And keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”
Now when Jerusalem was captured in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his military force came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it;
“Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh. “It is an enduring nation; It is an ancient nation, A nation whose tongue you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.
Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down; A wolf of the deserts will devastate them; A leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces Because their transgressions are many; Their acts of faithlessness are mighty.
“Declare and make it heard among the nations. Make it heard and lift up a standard. Do not conceal it but say, ‘Babylon has been captured; Bel has been put to shame; Marduk has been shattered; Her images have been put to shame; her idols have been shattered.’
“Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil on this people, The fruit of their plans, Because they have not given heed to My words, And as for My law, they have rejected it also.
“They take hold of bow and spear; They are cruel and have no compassion; Their voice roars like the sea, And they ride on horses, Arranged as a man for the battle Against you, O daughter of Zion!”
Behold, the sound! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: “Is Yahweh not in Zion? Is her King not within her?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images, with foreign idols?”
Into his right hand came the divination, ‘Jerusalem,’ to set battering rams, to open the mouth for killing, to lift up the voice with a shout of war, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build a siege wall.