So come against it from far away. Open up its storerooms. Stack everything up like piles of grain. Completely destroy that country. Do not leave anyone alive there.
I will send them against the ungodly nation of Judah. I will order them to fight against my own people. My people make me angry. I will order Assyria to take their goods and carry them away. I will order Assyria to walk on my people as if they were walking on mud.
“I will turn it into a place where nothing but owls can live. I will turn it into a swamp. I will sweep through it like a broom and destroy everything,” announces the Lord who rules over all.
The Lord’s power will keep Mount Zion safe. But the people of Moab will be crushed in their land. They will be crushed just as straw is crushed in animal waste.
I will give you treasures that are hidden away. I will give you riches that are stored up in secret places. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I am the God of Israel. I am sending for you by name.
He lifts up a banner to gather the nations that are far away. He whistles for them to come from the farthest places on earth. Here they come. They are moving very quickly.
Because I am angry with it, no one will live there. It will be completely deserted. All those who pass by Babylon will be shocked. They will make fun of it because of all its wounds.
Shout against them on every side! They are giving up. The towers of the city are falling. Its walls are being pulled down. The Lord is paying back its people. So pay them back yourselves. Do to them what they have done to others.
I will punish the god named Bel in Babylon. I will make Bel spit out what he has swallowed. The nations will not come and worship him anymore. And Babylon’s walls will fall down.
Then say, ‘In the same way, Babylon will sink down. It will never rise again. That is because I will bring such horrible trouble on it. And its people will fall along with it.’ ” The words of Jeremiah end here.
Our enemies will see it too. And they will be put to shame. After all, they said to us, ‘Where is the Lord your God?’ But we will see them destroyed. Soon they will be stomped on like mud in the streets.”
Look at the birds of the air. They don’t plant or gather crops. They don’t put away crops in storerooms. But your Father who is in heaven feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are?
Coming out of the rider’s mouth is a sharp sword. He will strike down the nations with the sword. Scripture says, “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” (Psalm 2:9) He stomps on the grapes of God’s winepress. The winepress stands for the terrible anger of the God who rules over all.