For thus says Jehovah, When according to My Word seventy years have been fulfilled at Babylon, I will visit you and carry out My good Word to you, to bring you back to this place.

In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the Word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: Jehovah the God of Heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.

in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood the number of the years by the books, from the Word of Jehovah to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

For many nations and great kings shall lay service upon them also. And I will repay them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.

The Word that Jehovah spoke against Babylon, against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.

For out of the north a nation comes up against her, which shall make her land a waste, and no one shall dwell in it. They shall flee, they shall depart, both man and beast.

They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces headed there, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten.

All who have found them have devoured them. And their enemies said, We have done no wrong, because they have sinned against Jehovah, the habitation of righteousness, even Jehovah, the hope of their fathers.

For, lo, I am stirring up and bringing up against Babylon a company of great nations from a northern land. And they shall array themselves against her. She shall be captured there. Their arrows shall be as those of a skillful, mighty man; none shall return in vain.

Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O destroyers of My inheritance; because you are fat like a heifer in lush grass, and bellow like bulls;

Because of the wrath of Jehovah it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly a waste. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified and hiss at all her plagues.

Shout against her all around. She has given her hand; her foundations have fallen, her walls have been thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Jehovah. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, do unto her.

Israel is like scattered sheep, driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has crushed his bones.

And I will bring Israel back to his home, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.

Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Waste and exterminate after them, says Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded you.

How the hammer of the whole earth is chopped off and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!

Jehovah has opened His armory, and has brought forth the weapons of His indignation. For this is the work of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment.

Summon the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the bow, camp against it all around; let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her. For she has been proud against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel.

Behold, I am against you, O proud ones, says the Lord Jehovah of Hosts; for your day has come, the time that I will judge you.

Thus says Jehovah of Hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together. And all who captured them have held them fast; they have refused to let them go.

A sword is upon the Chaldeans, says Jehovah, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her rulers, and upon her wise men.

A sword is upon their horses and their chariots, and upon all the mixed people in her midst; and they shall become as women. A sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed.

Therefore the beasts of the desert shall dwell there with the howling beasts. And the young owls shall dwell in it. And it shall not again be inhabited forever; it shall not be lived in from generation to generation.

Behold, a people shall come from the north, even a great nation; and many kings shall be aroused from the ends of the earth.

The king of Babylon has heard the report of them, and his hands became feeble. Anguish has taken hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in labor.

Therefore hear the counsel of Jehovah that He has taken against Babylon; and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely the least of the flock shall drag them; surely He shall make their dwelling desolate to them.

Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time; for the day of their calamity is near, and the things prepared have made haste upon them.

He will say, Where are their gods, the rock in which they sought refuge?

See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver out of My hand.

if I whet My glittering sword, and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, and repay those who hate Me.

The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw:

I have commanded My consecrated ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger, those who rejoice in My majesty.

They come from a distant land, from the ends of the heavens; Jehovah and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land.

Therefore all hands shall be faint, and every man's heart shall melt;

Behold, the day of Jehovah comes, cruel and with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land waste; and He shall destroy its sinners out of it.

And I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. And I will put an end to the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the tyrants.

Thus I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall move out of its place, in the wrath of Jehovah of Hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger.

The burden against the wilderness of the sea: As tempests in the south pass through, so it comes from the wilderness, from a dreadful land.

Therefore my loins are filled with pain; pangs have taken hold on me like the pangs of a woman in labor. I am bent over from hearing it; I am dismayed from seeing it.

Prepare the table, keep watch in the watchtower, eat, drink. Arise, you rulers, and anoint the shield.

And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen, a chariot of an ass, and a chariot of a camel. And he paid attention and listened with great diligence.

And behold, here comes a chariot with a man, and a pair of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon has fallen, has fallen! And all the graven images of her gods He has smashed to the ground.

The burden against Dumah: He calls to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?

The burden against Arabia: You shall lodge in the forest of Arabia, O traveling companies of Dedanites.

For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the vehemence of war.

and the rest of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished; for Jehovah the God of Israel, has spoken.

Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle; the things you carried have become a load, a burden to the weary.

Listen to me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who were carried by Me from the belly, who were sustained from the womb;

To whom will you compare Me, and make Me equal; and compare Me, that we may be alike?

They carry it on the shoulder, they carry it and set it in its place, and it stands; it shall not move from its place. Yes, one shall cry unto it, yet it cannot answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

Remember the former things from a long time ago; for I am the Mighty God, and there is no other; I am God, and no one else is like Me,

calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes my counsel from a distant land. Indeed, I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have formed it; I will also do it.

I bring near My righteousness. It shall not be far off, and My salvation shall not delay. And I will place salvation in Zion, My glory for Israel.

Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his nobles. And he drank wine before the thousand.

Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God in Jerusalem. And the king, his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.

At that moment fingers of a man's hand came out and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace across from the lampstand. And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

The king cried aloud to bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the fortunetellers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever can read this writing and explain its interpretation shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold around his neck. And he shall rule third in the kingdom.

Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed, and his nobles were perplexed.

There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom were found in him, like the wisdom of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, your father the king, appointed him master of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans and fortunetellers;

Then Daniel was thrust in before the king. And the king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel who is of the sons of the captives of Judah, whom my father the king brought out of Judah?

And now, the wise men and the conjurers have been thrust in before me, so that they might read this writing and make the interpretation known to me. But they were not able to declare the interpretation of the thing.

Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation.

And for the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. He killed whom he desired, and whom he desired he kept alive. And whom he would, he set up; and whom he desired, he put down.

And he was driven from the sons of men. And his heart was made like the animals, and his home was with the wild asses. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the heavens, until he knew that the Most High God is Ruler in the kingdom of men, and that He appoints over it whomever He desires.

But you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of Heaven. And they have brought the vessels of His house before you. And you, and your nobles, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver, and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see, nor hear, and do not know. And you have not glorified the God in whose hand your life, breath, and all your ways is.

And this is the writing that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

TEKEL: You are weighed in the balances and found deficient.

Then Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a necklace of gold around his neck. And they made a proclamation concerning him, that he should rule third in the kingdom.

And Darius the Mede took the kingdom, being about sixty two years old.

I will stand my watch and set myself on the tower, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I shall reply when I am corrected.

For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it speaks forth to the end, and it does not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, because it will come and take place; it will not tarry.

And also, wine indeed betrays a proud man, and he dwells not at home, who widens his soul like Sheol. And he is like death, and is not satisfied, but gathers all the nations to himself, and collects all the peoples to himself.

Shall not those who bite you rise up suddenly, and those who vex you be aroused, and you become a booty to them?

Woe to him who robs unjust gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be delivered from the hand of evil.

For the stone shall cry out from the wall, and the beam shall answer it from the timbers.

Behold, is it not of Jehovah of Hosts that the people labor only to feed the fire, and nations weary themselves only for vanity.

Woe to him who causes his friend to drink, joining with your bottle, and also making him drunk, so as to look upon his nakedness.

For the violence of Lebanon shall cover you, and the devastation of beasts shall terrify them because of the blood of men and the violence of the land, the city, and all those that dwell in it.

Woe to him who says to the wood, Awake! To a mute stone, Rise up, it shall teach. Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, but there is no breath at all in it.

After these things I saw another angel coming down from Heaven, having great power, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.

For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual perversities, the kings of the earth have prostituted themselves with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the power of her luxury.

For her sins have reached to Heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

By however much she has glorified herself and lived luxuriously, by the same amount give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.

The kings of the earth who prostituted themselves and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning,

And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore:

and cinnamon and incense, ointment and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, beasts and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.

The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance because of the terror of her torment, weeping and wailing,

For in one hour such great riches is come to nothing. Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance

And they threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.

Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall by no means be found anymore.

And the light of a lamp shall not ever shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not ever be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were led astray.

Therefore thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, against the shepherds who feed My people, You have scattered My flock, and have driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings, says Jehovah.

For out of the north a nation comes up against her, which shall make her land a waste, and no one shall dwell in it. They shall flee, they shall depart, both man and beast.

Because of the wrath of Jehovah it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly a waste. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified and hiss at all her plagues.

How the hammer of the whole earth is chopped off and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!

Therefore the beasts of the desert shall dwell there with the howling beasts. And the young owls shall dwell in it. And it shall not again be inhabited forever; it shall not be lived in from generation to generation.

As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, says Jehovah, so no man shall remain there, nor shall any son of man live in it.

Therefore hear the counsel of Jehovah that He has taken against Babylon; and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely the least of the flock shall drag them; surely He shall make their dwelling desolate to them.

Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, says Jehovah, who destroys all the earth. And I will stretch out My hand upon you and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.

And they shall not take a stone from you for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be a waste forever, says Jehovah.

then you shall say, O Jehovah, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that no one shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be a waste forever.

And you shall say, In this way shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise, from the evil that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the majestic beauty of Chaldea, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog, and marshes of muddy water; and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says Jehovah of Hosts.

For the waters of Nimrim are desolate; for the grass has dried up and the new grass fails; there is nothing green.

In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and fought against Ashdod and took it;

And Jehovah said, Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years, as a sign and wonder to Egypt and Ethiopia;

And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their confidence, and of Egypt their glory.

Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground. There is no throne for you, O daughter of the Chaldeans. For you shall no more be called tender and delicate.

I will make you desolate forever, and your cities shall not again be inhabited; and you shall know that I am Jehovah.