Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with {your} helmets; furbish the spears, {and} put on the brigandines.

Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make {their} habitation desolate with them.

Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle {and} bend the bow. {the Ethiopians: Heb. Cush} {the Libyans: Heb. Put}

For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows {shall be} as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. {expert...: or, destroyer}

The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this {is} the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. {ambushes: Heb. liers in wait}

I {am} the LORD, and {there is} none else, {there is} no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; {even} all {that} the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, {and} anoint the shield.

Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken {it}, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed {it}, I will also do it. {that...: Heb. of my counsel}

And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.

And God stirred him up {another} adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:

The violence done to me and to my flesh {be} upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. {The violence...: Heb. My violence} {flesh: or, remainder} {inhabitant: Heb. inhabitress}

Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and {as for} gold, they shall not delight in it.

I have raised up {one} from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as {upon} morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.

And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he {was} of the king's seed in Edom.

And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.

Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.

And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and {as} his rod {was} upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, {which} made them afraid, because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD {spoken} by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and {put it} also in writing, saying,

Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; {have...: or, strengthened}

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah {and} against Jerusalem. {trembling: or, slumber, or, poison} {when...: or, and also against Judah shall he be which shall be in siege against Jerusalem}

The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.

A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease. {grievous: Heb. hard}

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and {put it} also in writing, saying, {made...: Heb. caused a voice to pass}

They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and {as for} gold, they shall not delight in it.

Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; {have...: or, strengthened}

He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make {thy} loins strong, fortify {thy} power mightily. {He...: or, The disperser, or, hammer}

Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, {and} anoint the shield.

Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.

Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. {ambushes: Heb. liers in wait}

For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.

And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.

In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, {being} before him:

And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,

Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.

Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it {is} the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.

The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this {is} the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this {is} the time of the LORD'S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.

In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.

Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: {pleasant: Heb. desirable}

Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?

Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.

Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet {thee as} a man.

A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease. {grievous: Heb. hard}

Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, {yet} from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, {even} the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had {two} horns: and the {two} horns {were} high; but one {was} higher than the other, and the higher came up last. {the other: Heb. the second}

I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, {saying}, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.

For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows {shall be} as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. {expert...: or, destroyer}

Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.

And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast {it} into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. {into: or, upon}