Jeremiah 50:1-10

YAHWEH spoke to me this prophecy against mighty Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans: “Tell the nations the news; proclaim it everywhere. Publicize it far and wide; make no secret of it, and declare: ‘Babylon has fallen! Her god Marduk is greatly humiliated, and his power is broken. Her idols are disgraced; her filthy images are shattered.’ For a nation is attacking Babylon from the north that will reduce her nation to a desert. People and animals will flee, and no one will inhabit it.” YAHWEH says: “When that day comes the people of Israel and the people of Judah will go out together with tears streaming down their cheeks to seek YAHWEH their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward her, saying to one another, ‘Come, let us bind our hearts to YAHWEH in an eternal covenant, which we will never break.’ “My people are like lost sheep; their shepherds led them astray. They are lost, wandering about in the mountains. They went from mountain to hill, forgetting their resting place. Whoever came across them took advantage of them. Their enemies said, ‘We are not to blame, for they have sinned against YAHWEH, the True Home of Justice, against YAHWEH, the Living Hope of their ancestors.’ “My people, flee Babylon and run from the land of the Chaldeans. Be the first ones to leave! For listen, I am stirring up trouble out of the north against Babylon, and raising up a coalition of mighty nations to attack her. They will take up battle positions against her and conquer her. Their arrows are like a skilled soldier who kills and never returns empty-handed. I, YAHWEH, declare that Chaldea will be plundered, and all who plunder her will be satisfied.”