The LORD says about Babylon: "The city that the whole world praised has been captured! What a horrifying sight Babylon has become to the nations!

"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!

Suddenly, here they come! Riders on horseback, two by two. The sentry gives the news, "Babylon has fallen! All the idols they worshiped lie shattered on the ground."

But in a moment, in a single day, both of these things will happen. In spite of all the magic you use, you will lose your husband and children.

A second angel followed the first one, saying, "She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! She made all peoples drink her wine---the strong wine of her immoral lust!"

He cried out in a loud voice: "She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! She is now haunted by demons and unclean spirits; all kinds of filthy and hateful birds live in her.

Because of this, in one day she will be struck with plagues--- disease, grief, and famine. And she will be burned with fire, because the Lord God, who judges her, is mighty."

'Moab has fallen,' they will answer, 'weep for it; it is disgraced. Announce along the Arnon River that Moab is destroyed!'

And so I will weep for everyone in Moab and for the people of Kir Heres.

Howl in pain! The day of the LORD is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction.

Everyone's hands will hang limp, and everyone's courage will fail.

They all mourn bitterly for you, Throwing dust on their heads and rolling in ashes.

They chant a funeral song for you: 'Who can be compared to Tyre, To Tyre now silent in the sea?

"Mortal man," he said, "prophesy and announce what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying. You are to shout these words: A day of terror is coming!

That is why God has sent the hand to write these words.

and Darius the Mede, who was then sixty-two years old, seized the royal power.

The kings of the earth who took part in her immorality and lust will cry and weep over the city when they see the smoke from the flames that consume her.

The merchants of the earth also cry and mourn for her, because no one buys their goods any longer;

And in one hour she has lost all this wealth!" All the ships' captains and passengers, the sailors and all others who earn their living on the sea, stood a long way off,

They threw dust on their heads, they cried and mourned, saying, "How terrible! How awful for the great city! She is the city where all who have ships sailing the seas became rich on her wealth! And in one hour she has lost everything!"

Is there no medicine in Gilead? Are there no doctors there? Why, then, have my people not been healed?

The LORD says to his people, "Your wounds are incurable, your injuries cannot be healed.

All your lovers have forgotten you; they no longer care about you. I have attacked you like an enemy; your punishment has been harsh because your sins are many and your wickedness is great.

People of Egypt, go to Gilead and look for medicine! All your medicine has proved useless; nothing can heal you.

There is no remedy for your injuries, and your wounds cannot be healed. All those who hear the news of your destruction clap their hands for joy. Did anyone escape your endless cruelty?