Give the signal to attack Babylon's walls. Strengthen the guard! Post the sentries! Place troops in ambush!" The LORD has done what he said he would do to the people of Babylonia.

People of Benjamin, run for safety! Escape from Jerusalem! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa and build a signal fire in Beth Haccherem. Disaster and destruction are about to come from the north.

"Tell the news to the nations! Proclaim it! Give the signal and announce the news! Do not keep it a secret! Babylon has fallen! Her god Marduk has been shattered! Babylon's idols are put to shame; her disgusting images are crushed!

"People are coming from a country in the north, a mighty nation far away; many kings are preparing for war.

On the top of a barren hill raise the battle flag! Shout to the soldiers and raise your arm as the signal for them to attack the gates of the proud city.

Listen to the noise on the mountains---the sound of a great crowd of people, the sound of nations and kingdoms gathering. The LORD of Armies is preparing his troops for battle.

Listen, everyone who lives on earth! Look for a signal flag to be raised on the mountaintops! Listen for the blowing of the bugle!

Does the war trumpet sound in a city without making the people afraid? Does disaster strike a city unless the LORD sends it?

The LORD will bring all the nations together to make war on Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half of the people will go into exile, but the rest of them will not be taken away from the city.

I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done, and many nations and great kings will make slaves of them.' "

On the seventeenth day of the seventh month the boat came to rest on a mountain in the Ararat range.

The descendants of Gomer were the people of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

The descendants of Gomer were the people of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

The LORD Almighty has sworn by his own life that he will bring many men to attack Babylonia like a swarm of locusts, and they will shout with victory.

and destroying a thick forest. Their soldiers are too many to count; they outnumber the locusts.

"People are coming from a country in the north, a mighty nation far away; many kings are preparing for war.

They have taken their bows and swords; they are cruel and merciless. They sound like the roaring sea, as they ride their horses. They are ready for battle against Babylonia.

They would come with their livestock and tents, as thick as locusts. They and their camels were too many to count. They came and devastated the land,

It will be a dark and gloomy day, a black and cloudy day. The great army of locusts advances like darkness spreading over the mountains. There has never been anything like it, and there never will be again.

Like fire they eat up the plants. In front of them the land is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them it is a barren desert. Nothing escapes them.

No matter what you do, you will still be burned to death or killed in battle. You will be wiped out like crops eaten up by locusts. You multiplied like locusts!

Your officials are like a swarm of locusts that stay in the walls on a cold day. But when the sun comes out, they fly away, and no one knows where they have gone!

The locusts looked like horses ready for battle; on their heads they had what seemed to be crowns of gold, and their faces were like human faces.

Their chests were covered with what looked like iron breastplates, and the sound made by their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle.

They have a king ruling over them, who is the angel in charge of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon; in Greek the name is Apollyon (meaning "The Destroyer").