Foreigners living there said, 'We tried to help Babylonia, but it was too late. Let's leave now and go back home. God has punished Babylonia with all his might and has destroyed it completely.' "

People of Israel, run away from there! Run for your life from my fierce anger.

The LORD says to his people in Babylonia: "You have escaped death! Now go! Don't wait! Though you are far from home, think about me, your LORD, and remember Jerusalem.

"People of Israel, run away from Babylonia! Leave the country! Be the first to leave!

(Refugees escape from Babylonia and come to Jerusalem, and they tell how the LORD our God took revenge for what the Babylonians had done to his Temple.)

Go out from Babylon, go free! Shout the news gladly; make it known everywhere: "The LORD has saved his servant Israel!"

The LORD said to his people, "I scattered you in all directions. But now, you exiles, escape from Babylonia and return to Jerusalem.

(SEE 2:6)

Then I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out, my people! Come out from her! You must not take part in her sins; you must not share in her punishment!

At dawn the angels tried to make Lot hurry. "Quick!" they said. "Take your wife and your two daughters and get out, so that you will not lose your lives when the city is destroyed."

Then one of the angels said, "Run for your lives! Don't look back and don't stop in the valley. Run to the hills, so that you won't be killed."

He said to the people, "Get away from the tents of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them. Otherwise, you will be wiped out with them for all their sins."

Keep company with the wise and you will become wise. If you make friends with stupid people, you will be ruined.

Be in no hurry to lay hands on people to dedicate them to the Lord's service. Take no part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.

The LORD has stirred up the kings of Media, because he intends to destroy Babylonia. That is how he will take revenge for the destruction of his Temple. The attacking officers command, "Sharpen your arrows! Get your shields ready!

All nations will serve him, and they will serve his son and his grandson until the time comes for his own nation to fall. Then his nation will serve powerful nations and great kings.

This is the day of the Sovereign LORD Almighty: today he will take revenge; today he will punish his enemies. His sword will eat them until it is full, and drink their blood until it is satisfied. Today the Almighty sacrifices his victims in the north, by the Euphrates.

"People of Israel, run away from Babylonia! Leave the country! Be the first to leave!

Raise the war cry all around the city! Now Babylon has surrendered. Its walls have been broken through and torn down. I am taking my revenge on the Babylonians. So take your revenge on them, and treat them as they have treated others.

(Refugees escape from Babylonia and come to Jerusalem, and they tell how the LORD our God took revenge for what the Babylonians had done to his Temple.)

"Babylonia, you are filled with pride, so I, the Sovereign LORD Almighty, am against you! The time has come for me to punish you.

War will bring death in the streets; terrors will strike in the homes. Young men and young women will die; neither babies nor old people will be spared.

that I will sharpen my flashing sword and see that justice is done. I will take revenge on my enemies and punish those who hate me.

"Nations, you must praise the LORD's people--- he punishes all who kill them. He takes revenge on his enemies and forgives the sins of his people."

The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of all countries were destroyed. God remembered great Babylon and made her drink the wine from his cup---the wine of his furious anger.

For her sins are piled up as high as heaven, and God remembers her wicked ways.

Treat her exactly as she has treated you; pay her back double for all she has done. Fill her cup with a drink twice as strong as the drink she prepared for you.

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

When they drink from it, they will stagger and go out of their minds because of the war I am sending against them."