¹⁰ It will never go out – day or night.
Its smoke will go up for ever.^(A)
It will be desolate, from generation to generation;
no one will pass through it for ever and ever.^(B)
11 Eagle owls^[a] and herons^[b] will possess it,
and long-eared owls and ravens will dwell there.^(C)
The Lord will stretch out a measuring line
and a plumb line^(D) over her
for her destruction and chaos.^(E)
12 No nobles will be left to proclaim a king,
and all her princes will come to nothing.
¹³ Her palaces will be overgrown with thorns;
her fortified cities, with thistles and briars.^(F)
She will become a dwelling for jackals,
an abode^[c] for ostriches.^(G)
14 The desert creatures will meet hyenas,
and one wild goat will call to another.
Indeed, the night birds will stay there
and will find a resting place.
¹⁵ Sand partridges^[d] will make their nests there;
they will lay and hatch their eggs
and will gather their broods under their shadows.
Indeed, the birds of prey will gather there,
each with its mate.^(H)

³⁷ Babylon will become a heap of rubble,
a jackals’ den,
a desolation and an object of scorn,^(A)
without inhabitant.^(B)
38 They will roar together like young lions;
they will growl like lion cubs.
³⁹ While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast,
and I will make them drunk so that they celebrate.^[a](C)
Then they will fall asleep for ever
and never wake up.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
⁴⁰ I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams together with male goats.^(D)