For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon An assembly of great nations from the north country, And they shall array themselves against her; From there she shall be captured. Their arrows [shall be] like [those] of an expert warrior; None shall return in vain.

And I will send winnowers to Babylon, Who shall winnow her and empty her land. For in the day of doom They shall be against her all around.

Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The LORD has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan [is] against Babylon to destroy it, Because it [is] the vengeance of the LORD, The vengeance for His temple.

Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon; Make the guard strong, Set up the watchmen, Prepare the ambushes. For the LORD has both devised and done What He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.

Set up a banner in the land, Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, Call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her; Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts.

So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took [the things] and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle.

When Joab saw that the battle line was against him before and behind, he chose some of Israel's best and put [them] in battle array against the Syrians.

The noise of a multitude in the mountains, Like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts musters The army for battle.

" Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, Who will not regard silver; And [as for] gold, they will not delight in it.

Also [their] bows will dash the young men to pieces, And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; Their eye will not spare children.

" Call together the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around; Let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work; According to all she has done, do to her; For she has been proud against the LORD, Against the Holy One of Israel.

They shall hold the bow and the lance; They [are] cruel and shall not show mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea; They shall ride on horses, Set in array, like a man for the battle, Against you, O daughter of Babylon.

Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots! And let the mighty men come forth: The Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield, And the Lydians who handle [and] bend the bow.

"Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, The foremost of their might.

Whose arrows [are] sharp, And all their bows bent; Their horses' hooves will seem like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind.

All who found them have devoured them; And their adversaries said, 'We have not offended, Because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, The LORD, the hope of their fathers.'

" Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, You destroyers of My heritage, Because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, And you bellow like bulls,

" Call together the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around; Let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work; According to all she has done, do to her; For she has been proud against the LORD, Against the Holy One of Israel.

Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done [this] evil in Your sight -- That You may be found just when You speak, [And] blameless when You judge.

Because you have plundered many nations, All the remnant of the people shall plunder you, Because of men's blood And the violence of the land [and] the city, And of all who dwell in it.

For the violence [done to] Lebanon will cover you, And the plunder of beasts [which] made them afraid, Because of men's blood And the violence of the land [and] the city, And of all who dwell in it.

And on her forehead a name [was] written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.