9. "The nations say, 'We would have healed Babylon. But it can't be healed. So let's leave it. Let's each go to our own land. Babylon 's sins reach all the way to the skies. They rise up as high as the clouds.'
10. "The people of Judah say, 'The Lord has made things right for us again. So come. Let's tell in Zion what the Lord our God has done.'
11. "I have stirred up you kings of the Medes. So sharpen your arrows! Get your shields! I plan to destroy Babylon. I will pay the Babylonians back. They have destroyed my temple.
12. Lift up a banner! Attack Babylon's walls! Put more guards on duty! Station more of them to watch over you! Hide and wait to attack them! I will do what I have planned. I will do what I have decided to do against the people of Babylon.