November 4th.

After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.

"Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, `You are not my people,' they will be called `sons of the living God.' The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.

"Say of your brothers, `My people,' and of your sisters, `My loved one.'

It's super hard for the sons, because they are essentially self-protecting animals (especially when they recoil up into their self-protective mode), to comprehend how important the brotherhood of sons is to the Father. Here God tells Hosea that even though Israel and Judah are one big disappointment after another, nevertheless there would be an Israel of God, the perfection of what couldn't ever be perfect because of the contamination of the self-propelled wild animal nature, which makes its host able to be as the Father requires His own sons to be.

I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.

There is a reason that the Son is so adamant about the brothers not treating each other like animals treat each other. Once they go into the animal mode, everything filters through that very biased wall of self-defense, and it's pretty much impossible to see anything except that which aids their own cause as the threatened animal it perceives itself to be all of a sudden. Mercy triumphs over judgment in our dealings with one another, but it's extremely hard to be merciful when we're in the animal mode of perceiving that our survival is being threatened by our brother and we need to protect ourselves in any way we can think to discredit them so we feel we are right, and we are driven to drive that point home to them, to make it as clear to them as it is to us. But that is always a losing proposition, as misguided as is our rationale in skewing everything in our minds so that it fits into our mode of survival of being the one who's right. The one who is threatening us must, in our minds, be identified as the one who is wrong to find that agreement in ourselves that we seek.

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

One thing we know is that we aren't immune to the posturing of each one thinking its own self is so good, therefore our very own plight of surviving is always the most authoritative one. When conflict arise, these animal walls of defense go up and each one sits behind their own defense wall. The goodness of the animal self is the basis for the wall that exists with each one. It's all very base animalistic behavior, and it happens quickly and automatically because we are not strong, not able to comprehend how drastically important the Israel of God is to the Father, and why He demands a self-abandoning love from His own sons, rather than the defensive posturing of the animal who feels threatened.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

It's easy to be and act like an animal. The superstructure of that nature is always there waiting for us to embrace it. It is easy to put up the wall of defense and live behind it, feeling all smug and self-satisfied with our own precious life, as though in and of itself (apart from its ability to enhance the purpose of the Father to have a family of sons who look out for each other instead of biting and devouring each other) was worth anything. It's super duper hard to choose the right, to go in and face the fear of not having that wall to hide behind, to act like a son of God instead of a common wild animal which needs to protect itself.

I will not again make the feet of the Israelites leave the land I assigned to your forefathers, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them concerning all the laws, decrees and ordinances given through Moses.

Moses had to lead all these newly-freed slaves who weren't used to and didn't bargain for the type of transformation into which God baptized them when He lead them through the water. There were so many of them, and they were just fragile human animals who were only used to what they had before. They were complaining and arguing about their hardship even though they were free to become a free people, and their whining, crying and blaming Moses for their suffering made him almost go out of his mind, which seems understandable. This is a picture of how hard it is to become an authentic son of God. It is such an honored position and requires such a strict abstinence from that which corrupts—the very tempting practice of reacting to a particular situation by engaging in the animal mode of being driven by instinct to follow after the cravings, lusts and defensive reactions; building up our walls of defense—that the process of unlearning the old way and learning the new is painfully heart wrenching.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you--a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant--then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

"The most important commandment is this: `Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

God is straightforward in the conditions of the covenants between Himself and His people. His conditions are perfect, because they are based on His expectations for those who would be His true Israel. That is a very high position, so conforming to those demands in order to become sons of God is a worthwhile endeavor, even if we don't quite understand what that conformation is exactly all about.

You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.

He can know what is good or evil for us, far beyond our ability to know it, which is why it wasn't for the humans to have a knowledge of good and evil. Why should they have that, since they were just children? Because they shouldn't have to know what God knows, nor be engaged in even wanting to, it was enough that they just trusted what He was commanding, that it was definitely for their own good not to know. Therefore it only did them harm in desiring and attempting to know—to follow the allure and trust the animal, who held out this possibility of knowing like God knows, more than their Father who knew they didn't need to know, that it was beyond their scope to know what children have no business worrying about knowing. He desired that they just be happy and satisfied that He knew and they didn't have to.

The command He gave them was according to that knowledge, what was best for their well-being because he knew and they were ignorantly, blissfully God's own children. The problem for themselves is that they didn't want to be that—they wanted to be like Him. He told the first humans not to eat form the one tree, and promised them that if they did they would die.

"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

But they wanted to know why, they wanted to be able to control what was happening. They chose the wrong and rejected the right. They failed their very first test, so they were given over to what they wanted and a little bit (a lot) more. Now they would be forced to be able to perceive good from evil in their new-found dilemma of having to survive by their own hand (since that's what they wanted), so knowing good from evil wasn't just a luxury but a necessity. The reason for that was because they were intricately bound up with the animal they did trust, the thing they conspired with who offered them what they selfishly demanded for themselves, against what God wanted for them.

Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, "You must not eat of it," Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

Because they wanted to be like gods who knew good from evil, He made them the gods of the animal world, and bound them to them via the nature of fear and hiding that they pulled onto themselves by their own selfish lust for power beyond that which they were given by the God who wanted them to be like innocent children. Because they wanted not to be subjected to God, but instead be like gods, He gave them over to that identity and would have to take care of themselves instead of being taken care of by the God who wanted to take care of them.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.

Humans are imperfect, wishy-washy, and will always gravitate towards what is best for them because of the curse they pulled down onto themselves. They like to think of God as naively indifferent toward the humans in general, and mercifully embracing toward themselves because they think they're so inherently good. They only like the just part of God when it is against those who are not like themselves, those who don't give them an agreement or rightness about what they've decided to embrace. Everything in their world is relative to what they have decided to embrace, so no matter who or what they are, they are *always* the good ones (it doesn't matter who they are, the humans always consider themselves good, which is part of the complicated wild animal curse that's on them—a necessary thing to possess in order to survive).

The sons of God are required to break away from the lies of the humans and understand that He requires something from them. First of all, to break away from them because they are cursed with the wild animal nature where everything becomes relative to how it can enhance their dilemma of having to survive (because they are inherently so good, that's all that matters—their own survival). Then there is the requirement to understand that the family they are being called to isn't anything at all like the human existence they lived before, where everything was relative to what they needed to get for themselves, where everything was judged on whether it enhanced their mode of survival (acceptable) or not (rejectable).

The humans conceive of their gods like they are—mushy humans who lets his own flesh and blood slide while they of course hold others to a different standard; just because they share a different perception caused by strange DNA. The nature that rules the humans loves to be soft on its host, because it is always looking after its self, and it adapts itself to each of the hosts that it inhabits. They're always wanting to modify their gods' nature, forgetting and omitting the parts that don't sound good and attributing to it all the things that make their nature feel good. At the same time they're reluctant to extend mercy to other humans, because that's the way the animal nature works—easy on the self, critical of the foreigner.

That animal mode is the only one available to those who cannot know because the will of the Father hasn't been revealed to them, but it is not okay for the sons, precisely because that mode of being is what they're being called away from. It is the reason that the life of the Father was revealed in them, so that they can learn to come away from that which continues to define them as mere animals.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' lend to `sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Being merciful is the opposite of what the animal would choose to do. That's why God requires it for His sons and how they treat each other, because it's against the animal drive and when we do it, we knock its power down a little bit; we loosen its grip on our neck.

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

However, it does not triumph over the judgment of God toward humans, because mercy comes as a result of judgment to the one who is found worthy to be given mercy, as one who was merciful to others and did the will of God. It's not just some relative thing that is based on what any human thought up. God's justice trumps His mercy, because mercy without justice would be exceedingly unfair to those who did suffer in order to do His will, who chose the harder way because they knew it was the way to God, even though they saw so many people choosing the easy way and saying it was the way to God.

The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.

The sons of God will all be judged by the measuring rod of the firstborn Son, who gave up his own life for the family of God. He didn't take up the defensive posturing of the animal, even though it was available to him as the Son of David the warrior who killed God's enemies without mercy. Without the justice of God, the work and significance of the Son who *did* lay down his life would be worthless, and the honor that is due him would just be lip service, some concept in God's mind which has no actual ramifications or meaning. The justice of God guarantees that the Lord is honored for doing His will instead of what he may have considered his right to do—which is the main message for the sons. If there was only mercy, then everyone would be sons, which is the lie of the christians.

The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

The reason God loves mercy over judgment is because it's the opposite of the way of the humans, and so it's the way He wants His sons to be toward each other. If the firstborn Son laid down his own life as the example for the others, then the sons have no excuse if they are unwilling to. There is no privilege that excuses the sons who are unwilling to submit to the conformation to another way than that of the animal nature, which is easier to grab hold of than going the way we don't want to go. That is the message of Judas the one who was unwilling to conform to the Father's commandment that the sons love and take care of each other. While the other 11 frightened men painfully suffered through trying to remain faithful, he just blew them off and did his own will. He said, "Screw this community of brothers, I'm doing what I think is right." There is pretty much nothing worse to the Father than the sons abandoning each other. Their lot in life is to suffer through the pain and fear and stick together, even though there is so much pain and fear. That is the whole point of what the Father wants from His own sons—to see them act extraordinarily unlike the animal they might want to be, and choose the right which is the much harder thing.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

God is merciful to those who love His justice, who turn from their nature and deny it and turn toward Him instead. That is hard and it involves much suffering, because it is such an integral part of us—it is us—that it literally means dying to the thing that makes us alive, the thing that brings us joy on the most fundamental levels. The animal part of us will always gravitate to God's mercy and love for us so that it can survive a little longer, because that's what it does. The son has to learn to love the suffering of the losing of the animal, and it's not just a concept: "Oh won't it be great when we are all clean and full of love!" But that's just a pipe dream for the christians, because they don't what keeps them tied to the copy of love, the inferior thing, and away from true love, according to God.

A while ago I caught a rat in the trap, but it was small so the bar came down around its stomach. It was clearly still alive, barely able to breathe, and it lifted up its head to look at me when I opened the door of the attic. It was a difficult moment, because it was helpless and unable to move and I got a little emotional and didn't know what to do. The only thing I could do was to go get a shovel and bring it down on its neck for several minutes until I was certain it was dead. We cannot live together in the same space, and it's either them (the rats) or me in the space I've been given to live. It's much the same with God and the animal (rat, serpent) nature—the two cannot dwell in the same temple.

That's the opposite of what we want to do with the animal nature—we think it's our friend instead of our enemy. First of all, it is impossible to see it for what it is, then we can a little bit. Then we can start to see and understand it a little, but it's difficult to comprehend that it is our enemy (it is our enemy because it is God's enemy, its purpose being to keep the rats away from God). It is so entrenched in us and such a part of us that we cannot see it apart from us, then we can a little, but we can't see it as something that hampers us in our number one quest—to know our Father and receive His love—although it is just that.

We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.

When the true God comes there isn't peace but hardship, because being brought to a knowledge of who we are at our core, the enemy of God, although virtually impossible to see, is only the beginning. That understanding in itself takes years; because of the complexities of the human nature to hide behind that very thing (being inherently good, therefore not needing to be transformed), its tendency is to avoid anything unpleasant to us, and out of convenience forgetting what we've seen and heard. That understanding has to be followed by a separation from it, which is even harder because it's denying what we truly love in our heart (our inherently good selves that need not be transformed—because we want to avoid anything unpleasant), as the teacher reveals it to us, when we're able to hear and accept it. It's not just what we give lip service to loving, then giving up for the sake of whatever god the liars have convinced us would be happy about that paltry and pathetic sacrifice, giving up what we didn't even love in the first place to a god that doesn't exist. Then we all sit around and sing songs to it, pretending to be separated from the enemy, when all along we are the enemy of God and we couldn't know it.

We have all kinds of emotional misgivings about love and family, based on our human experience, and we try to equate those with the love that comes from God. Human love and God's love are in fact not one bit the same, which is a big message of the Lord. Although it is an inferior copy, nevertheless human love is subjective and biased, based on temporary, animal things like fleeting emotions. It's okay for humans, in fact it's the copy of the better thing—God's love for His true sons—so it's good for them. But the sons of God cannot be led astray from what it actually is (the inferior copy) by what it appears to be (the real thing). It can never be ultimately genuine because it's only a copy of the real thing, and based on things that don't last, and those things are based on imperfect, evil conditions, even as everything that is part of this dying creation is evil because it's temporary, so in effect dead. We "love" other humans as long as certain conditions are met which we set—if the person gratifies our animal nature for instance, if they love us back, or if they came out of our body. Even the notion of blood is lost if conditions are consistently unmet, which belies our imperfection and reinforces the copy theory. We are not perfectly just as God is, and our conditions are always biased and imperfect.

The will that God chooses for a son, and the will of that man (dictated by his animal nature) will always be the opposite. Just like Jesus, within himself, would have naturally chosen to satisfy the animal nature in him that wanted to get for itself—indeed it was trying hard to do that in him—all men choose the same way, as per the dictates of the nature inside them, what leads and guides them.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Here is a formula that Paul knew. He knew that he had to offer the animal in him up to be killed, as the only sacrifice that God accepts. The sacrifices in the OT pointed to this, again only inferior copies of the genuine sacrifice, which is the entire animal, the entirety of the best of us. Not the one which is sickly or spotted and not much good to us anyway, which is what man always wants to offer God; but the first choice, the whole part of us. Everything about us, our entire life and body, our rights, dreams, aspirations, prejudices, honor, respect, and everything else we may think is worthwhile to be gained in this life e.g., standing up in front of a bunch of adoring sheep, being worshipped for our acumen, vitality and public speaking skills—accepting the praise from humans that only the good Teacher deserves.

The serpent is exceedingly subtle and crafty in the way it keeps the human animals in that prison, because the Father wanted it to be that way, so that the humans wouldn't see and hear, then turn and be healed. He only wants His true sons to be capable of what He wants them to see and hear, which is the voice of the good Teacher inside them showing and telling them what is real and true about God versus everything else which before they were convinced was the truth. The flip-floppy irony is that even though the natural seems to be the reality which can be counted on, in fact it's just an illusion, and the proof of that is the reality that everything in it is temporary, and exists based on so many appointed cycles of merely existing only to die. The reason that the natural creation is evil is because it's only allowed to sustain by the assurance of the death of the particular creatures that exist in it, even for the short time they do exist.

Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith.

Remaining true to the faith meant betraying what was naturally in them, what continually wanted to pull them away from being faithful to the new truth that lived in them. If we don't die to the animal, we won't know God's will, because that animal will still be alive, and it has its own will which will always compete with God's way—that's its primary and enduring purpose, which works for God (He created it). As long as we allow it to survive, we will be deceived by it if we are also trying to get to God. It's not a problem for those who aren't called to follow the Lord, those who love to listen to the lies of men, who are afraid to listen to what is true, however un human it may seem. The son has to know its true nature as deceiver and adversary, and not just know it but deny its power over him in order to be ruled by his Father instead of it. That is the only way to begin to become pleasing to God, to follow Jesus, to be as Paul was. It is the way to begin to be sanctified, set apart from the evil (the human way) to to the good (God's way), and they don't mix.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The relationship of a son of God to his Father is revolutionary and radical according to human standards, also troublesome and difficult. The son will have to go against what is acceptable and right, externally and internally, to the point that the world will be against him. Whatever the world holds as good and valuable is the opposite of the way of God because the world and its way is God's enemy. Humans are soft and deceived, and love the world because of their nature, which loves the world and its way because they are an integral part of the dying creation so there's no other option but to love it. The results of this relationship will bring no admiration and honor from the world, but only from God, and the two are mutually exclusive. The sons' way with regard to the world is based on the model of the first son, who wasn't accepted by the world, but rejected, scorned, ridiculed and hated—so much so that all they could do was get rid of him as fast as they could, thinking they were doing away with him. It is a way that God uses to weed those out who are not true to Him, those who only want to follow Him if it doesn't cost too much.

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:  "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."

The horror of facing the thought of going against and betraying the most loved things to the humans, and becoming a total scalawag in their estimation, is easier to postulate about than actually being. The sons don't have to go out and try to make trouble like that—it will come from above as part of the separation process. The overriding theory that the Teacher wants the sons to know is that this natural creation—therefore their temporary existence in the world—means nothing at all compared to remaining faithful to the word inside them, which will go against the humans and what they love. That's a kind of logical rationality about the way that the spirit teaches—it goes against what the humans love, run after, and aspire to, because the two are enemies.

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

Jesus applied that weeding out process in John 6 when he was speaking hard things about what it took to follow him. It's easy for us to read and say that it wasn't that hard to hear him say what he said about what is required of the one who wanted to follow him. But to the Jew of his time it was the most awful thing to think of—drinking his blood and eating his body. The real proof of the impact of what Jesus said was in the results—that many of those who wanted to follow him abandoned him. What he said was too difficult for them to accept, and he knew it, but he didn't modify what God told him because of some emotional response, some human notion of mercy and pity toward them. Nor did he modify it because he didn't want to be abandoned by those who weren't true, but gave him lip service and surrounded him, which would have been satisfying to the animal need for ego gratification. When he told the truth, he was left with the spindly, unimpressive little group of men who believed him, which was all the Father had given him at that time.

Just earlier he had taken pity on them and fed them, because he was truly concerned for them, and this act showed it. However, the "merciful" act of making it easier for the people to hear and so continue to follow him, even when it meant not receiving the good gifts that only God could give, was just not given by Jesus. He in fact told them that being fed with natural food was not the good gift, but only a temporary thing. Then he proceeded to tell them the hard thing, which if accepted would lead to life in a different way than they even knew. But it wouldn't be an easy thing for them to accept, which he knew.

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

That was in his earthly existence, when he was being tested by God, when he was being taught to be obedient through the things that he suffered in order to learn to choose the right way and reject the wrong way. It won't always be the way for Jesus, because he did choose the right, and he rejected the wrong, and even during the short period following his going to the Father, the earth was filled with a celebration, the pouring out of the spirit into men's hearts, on account of the faithfulness of the Son of God toward the Father, and turning away from the serpent which wanted to rule him, so as to be pure and clean enough to kill it.

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"

Our corrupt human emotions, derived from the animal, hold on to the lies about how Jesus was kind and merciful to everyone, and treated them all so sweetly. But in fact he drove them away with the truth, which directly conflicted with their emotional identity as animals, as what they could accept. What Jesus said was totally unreasonable to those who heard it, which is why they couldn't follow him.

This is not a bleak message, because what it points to is a love that a true son of God has and feels for his true Father, despite everything that it cost in the natural, which is what Jesus had. Because he chose to not be led by the animal nature (temptation account), he could continue to choose what was right, according to God not man, and this is mutually exclusive—it has to be in order for sanctification to take place. Otherwise the truth of God would be the impotent, lukewarm truth of man which always tries to marry the two. That is the truth of all the religious groups who claim to follow the Christ, but don't know who he is because that knowledge was taken out of the world when it was made a desolation, a haunt of jackals.

Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives.

Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion cubs.

But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout with laughter—then sleep forever and not awake," declares the LORD.

I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats.

How Sheshach will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized!
What a horror Babylon will be among the nations!

The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her.

Her towns will be desolate, a dry and desert land,
a land where no one lives, through which no man travels.

I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him spew out what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him. And the wall of Babylon will fall.

Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the LORD.

Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land
and of ruler against ruler.

For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her.

"Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north destroyers will attack her," declares the LORD.

Babylon must fall because of Israel's slain, just as the slain in all the earth
have fallen because of Babylon.

You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger!
Remember the LORD in a distant land, and think on Jerusalem.

We are disgraced, for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD's house.

"But days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish her idols,
and throughout her land the wounded will groan."

"Even if Babylon reaches the sky and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
I will send destroyers against her," declares the LORD.

The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction
from the land of the Babylonians.

The LORD will destroy Babylon; he will silence her noisy din.
Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound.

A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured,
and their bows will be broken. For the LORD is a God of retribution;
he will repay in full.