Then I said, ¹  “Lord, you give me strength and protect me. You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble. ²  Nations from all over the earth will come to you and say, ‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods – worthless idols that could not help them at all. ³ 

All nations must serve him and his son and grandson ¹  until the time comes for his own nation to fall. ²  Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon. ³ 

For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon a host of mighty nations ¹  from the land of the north. They will set up their battle lines against her. They will come from the north and capture her. ²  Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier ³  who does not return from the battle empty-handed. ⁴ 

“Raise up battle flags throughout the lands. Sound the trumpets calling the nations to do battle. Prepare the nations to do battle against Babylonia. ¹  Call for these kingdoms to attack her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. ²  Appoint a commander to lead the attack. ³  Send horses ⁴  against her like a swarm of locusts. ⁵ 

He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the house ¹  of Israel, to rebellious nations ²  who have rebelled against me; both they and their fathers have revolted ³  against me to this very day.

Foreigners from the most terrifying nations have cut it down and left it to lie there on the mountains. In all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs lie broken in the ravines of the land. All the peoples of the land ¹  have departed ²  from its shade and left it.

I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when I threw it down to Sheol, along with those who descend to the pit. ¹  Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, all that were well-watered, were comforted in the earth below.

“Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him: “‘You were like a lion ¹  among the nations, but you are a monster in the seas; you thrash about in your streams, stir up the water with your feet, and muddy your ²  streams.

“Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I have spoken in my zeal and in my anger, because you have endured the insults of the nations.

I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms. ¹ 

Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. ¹  Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord, on your people; please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked, to become a proverb ²  among the nations. Why should it be said ³  among the peoples, “Where is their God?”

Many nations will come, saying, “Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the temple ¹  of Jacob’s God, so he can teach us his commands ²  and we can live by his laws.” ³  For Zion will be the source of instruction; the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. ⁴ 

Therefore you must wait patiently ¹  for me,” says the Lord, “for the day when I attack and take plunder. ²  I have decided ³  to gather nations together and assemble kingdoms, so I can pour out my fury on them – all my raging anger. For ⁴  the whole earth will be consumed by my fiery anger.

“Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on the day of salvation, ¹  and they will also be my ²  people. Indeed, I will settle in the midst of you all.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you.