Ye heathen men, hear the word of the Lord, and tell ye in isles that be [a] far, and say, He that scattered Israel, shall gather it, and shall keep it, as a shepherd keepeth his flock.
Tell ye among heathen men, and make ye heard; raise ye [up] a sign; preach ye, and do not ye hold still; say ye, Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed, Merodach is overcome; the graven images thereof be shamed, the idols of them be overcome.
Sharpen ye arrows, fill ye arrow cases; the Lord hath raised the spirit of the kings of Medes, and his mind is against Babylon, that he lose it, for it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple. The king of Medes is raised of the Lord against Babylon.
Raise ye a sign in the land, sound ye with a clarion in hills; hallow ye folks on it, tell ye to the kings of Ararat, of Minni, and of Ashchenaz against it; number ye Tifsar, that is, the leader of the host, against it, and bring ye an horse, as a bruchus having a prick.
Hallow ye battle on it. Rise ye together, and ascend we [or go we up] in midday. Woe to us, for the day hath bowed down, for shadows be made longer in the eventide.
The Lord God saith these things, Therefore thou art he of whom I spake in eld [or old] days, in the hand of my servants, prophets of Israel, that prophesied in the days of those times, that I should bring thee on them.
The Lord saith these things on the prophets that deceive my people, that bite with their teeth, and preach peace; and if any man giveth not in the mouth of them anything, they hallow battle on him.
And I shall gather all folks to Jerusalem, into battle; and the city shall be taken, and houses shall be destroyed, and women shall be defouled. And the half part of the city shall go out into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be taken away from the city.