20. In those days and in that time,” says the Lord,“The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none;And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found;For I will pardon those whom I preserve.
21. “Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it,And against the inhabitants of Pekod.Waste and utterly destroy them,” says the Lord,“And do according to all that I have commanded you.
22. A sound of battle is in the land,And of great destruction.
23. How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken!How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
24. I have laid a snare for you;You have indeed been trapped, O Babylon,And you were not aware;You have been found and also caught,Because you have contended against the Lord.
25. The Lord has opened His armory,And has brought out the weapons of His indignation;For this is the work of the Lord God of hostsIn the land of the Chaldeans.
26. Come against her from the farthest border;Open her storehouses;Cast her up as heaps of ruins,And destroy her utterly;Let nothing of her be left.
27. Slay all her bulls,Let them go down to the slaughter.Woe to them!For their day has come, the time of their punishment.