The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together. {destroying: Heb. swallowing up}

And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as {a man} wipeth a dish, wiping {it}, and turning {it} upside down. {wiping...: Heb. he wipeth and turneth it upon the face thereof}

And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; {their} voice shall sing in the windows; desolation {shall be} in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work. {cormorant: or, pelican} {upper...: or, knops, or, chapiters} {for...: or, when he hath uncovered}

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And {so} the Moabites became David's servants, {and} brought gifts.

And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.

And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast {it} into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.

Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as {a man} wipeth a dish, wiping {it}, and turning {it} upside down. {wiping...: Heb. he wipeth and turneth it upon the face thereof}

The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together. {destroying: Heb. swallowing up}

And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; {their} voice shall sing in the windows; desolation {shall be} in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work. {cormorant: or, pelican} {upper...: or, knops, or, chapiters} {for...: or, when he hath uncovered}

I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; {forts...: or, clifts and watchtowers}

But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. {wild...: Heb. Ziim} {doleful...: Heb. Ochim} {owls: or, ostriches: Heb. daughters of the owl}

The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.

And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,

Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell {there}, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.

Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.

Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall {made} by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.