Hear, O Babylon, what shall become of you! Hear, O sons of Jacob, of your troubles to come! Hear, O daughters of the Chaldeans, what will be your end!
You know the sins of your people; how you have eaten the flesh of the womb and cursed the righteous as fools. Your rituals in high places, the sacrifices you have offered, the burning of herbs for safety, your offerings – they are a foul stench to His nostrils. You are drunk at noon, you dance at midday, but your men are not men and your daughters are not chaste. Wives mince with their feet and the lust of men is toward them.
You have defiled the land, the animals, and the inheritance God Most High gave you. You have been cruel to the heavens, transgressed His Holy Law, and accused others of your iniquities.
He hates your holy days. You defile His Sabbaths, New Moons, and Festivals, yet call to Him in your distress and plead for His blessings. You feast on the swine and on the mouse, you revel in freedom, but it shall be no more. You bow down to the tree, and you worship the sun, the moon, and the stars – things that cannot speak nor comprehend .
Your worthless shepherds have taught His sheep that the Most High is filled with hatred that they might make themselves kings through fear. They teach the flocks of the Lord of Hosts that His Royal Law is as chasing after wind and a burden. They show no mercy to the widow, nor to the fatherless – they feast upon the sacrifices of the poor.
Hypocrites and worthless shepherds!
Your trees have been toppled and your eggs have become rotten. You have left your first love, the wife of your youth, therefore, you shall be mocked by fools and believe the lies of those who call themselves your fathers – for they are, though they are not.
Hear Him, O Babylon! Hear the rebuke of the Lord of Hosts, O daughters of the Great Harlot!
How many times must He call to you? How many times will you test Him in the fire? He sent His messengers to you, He sent His prophets to you, He sent His beloved to you, but you did not repent nor turn from your wickedness. He asked you to repent and turn to Him, but you did not.
He knew you, O Belshazzar, before He formed you in the womb. He called you and your people to become His own. Though you heard Him, though you saw Him, you did not hear, you did not see!
Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of Heaven. You brought before you the vessels of his temple — you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods that cannot see or hear or comprehend. But you have not glorified the God who has in His control your very breath and all your ways!
Therefore the palm of a hand was sent from Him, and this writing was inscribed:
MENE MENE TEQEL PHARSIN
This is the interpretation of the words:
As for mene: God has numbered your kingdom’s days and brought it to an end.
As for teqel: you are weighed on the balances and found to be lacking.
As for peres – your kingdom is divided and given over to strange gods your forefathers knew not.
You shall not prevail over the Persians, nor shall Medes be given into your hand. But you shall serve another whom you will call strangers and visitors in your land, and you shall serve them and care for them and call them your fathers, though they are not.
Behold, O Babylon! Candles shall soar and men shall gain knowledge, but wisdom shall become a stranger to you. On the day of your celebration, though not to the Most High, the lamps of the seas shall shine forth and, in one season, they shall overtake you and you shall watch them with in wonder and in awe.
And they shall take you into slavery though you will call it freedom. They shall lead you into evil, though you will call it good. Woe unto those who call evil good and good evil – woe unto those who put good for evil and evil for good.
To those who seek knowledge without wisdom, to those who seek understanding without love, you shall not be filled though you will believe you have attended a feast; you shall be led into poverty but you will believe you are rich. You will trust in your silver and your gold, and you will believe you are rich though you cover yourself with filthy rags.
To those who seek justice without mercy, to those who seek lies they call truth, to those who believe their souls are saved, behold, your old wine has turned sour and your young flowers have turned to briar.
But he who calls to the Most High in righteousness and in truth, he who pleads for mercy, he who calls upon the Name of the Most High, he shall be heard and no other. And the Most High shall defend him and deliver him until the days of your bondage are complete, for he has kept the commandments of God and the testimony of the Christ. Therefore the Lord of Hosts knows him and loves him for he knows and loves the Lord.
But you, O Babylon, were it not for His chosen, you would be utterly destroyed – though for the sake of His chosen, a remnant shall be spared.
Green shall subdue blue and red shall struggle against green, and you shall be told to look south though the Most High, He has told you to look north.
When you see candles in the heavens and lamps from the seas. behold, the gods of Egypt come to you suddenly as in the days of old – their chains will come upon you at a time you do not expect. When the star of a king rises and shines upon the abominations, then your gods shall return to you. And you will worship them and the Lord of Hosts will vomit you out of His mouth with fire and with water.
Truly, He has told us beforehand.