of Jacob is not like these; for he is the
former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: the
Lord of hosts is his name.

"'Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: and with thee will I
break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
and with thee will I break {339} in pieces the horse and his rider;
and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and him that rideth
therein; and with thee will I break in pieces man and woman; and with
thee will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with thee
will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; and with thee will
I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I
break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee
will I break in pieces governors and deputies. And I will render unto
Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they
have done in Zion in your sight,' saith the Lord.

"'Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain,' saith the Lord,
'which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon
thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt
mountain. And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a
stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever,' saith the
Lord.

"'Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the
nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her
the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against
her; cause the horses to come up as the rough cankerworm. Prepare
against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, the governors
thereof, and all the deputies thereof, and all the land of his
dominion. And the land trembleth and is in pain: for the purposes of
the Lord against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a
desolation, {340} without inhabitant. The mighty men of Babylon have
forborne to fight, they remain in their strong holds; their might hath
failed; they are become as women: her dwelling places are set on fire;
her bars are broken. One post shall run to meet another, and one
messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city
is taken on every quarter: and the passages are surprised, and the
reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.

"For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'The daughter of
Babylon is like a threshing-floor at the time when it is trodden; yet
a li