See, the name of the Lord comes from far away, his anger burning and his burden heavy; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
Assemble, all of you, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? The one the Lord loves shall perform his purpose against Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bodies shall flourish like the grass, and it shall be known that the power of the Lord is with his servants, and his indignation is against his enemies.
For out of the north a nation has come up against her; it shall make her land a desolation, and no one shall live in it; both humans and animals shall flee away.
For I am going to stir up and bring against Babylon a company of great nations from the land of the north, and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like the arrows of a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed.
Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes because his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, for that is the vengeance of the Lord, vengeance for his temple.
Listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from far and wide in the land: “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her?” (“Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their foreign idols?”)
Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; I have returned their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord God.