Añadir traducción en paralelo Imprimir Opciones de la página

A Message about Babylon

13 Isaiah son of Amoz received this message concerning the destruction of Babylon:

Read full chapter

Prediction of Babylon’s Fall

47 “Come down, virgin daughter of Babylon, and sit in the dust.
    For your days of sitting on a throne have ended.
O daughter of Babylonia,[a] never again will you be
    the lovely princess, tender and delicate.
Take heavy millstones and grind flour.
    Remove your veil, and strip off your robe.
    Expose yourself to public view.[b]
You will be naked and burdened with shame.
    I will take vengeance against you without pity.”

Our Redeemer, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    is the Holy One of Israel.

“O beautiful Babylon, sit now in darkness and silence.
    Never again will you be known as the queen of kingdoms.
For I was angry with my chosen people
    and punished them by letting them fall into your hands.
But you, Babylon, showed them no mercy.
    You oppressed even the elderly.
You said, ‘I will reign forever as queen of the world!’
    You did not reflect on your actions
    or think about their consequences.

“Listen to this, you pleasure-loving kingdom,
    living at ease and feeling secure.
You say, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.
    I will never be a widow or lose my children.’
Well, both these things will come upon you in a moment:
    widowhood and the loss of your children.
Yes, these calamities will come upon you,
    despite all your witchcraft and magic.

10 “You felt secure in your wickedness.
    ‘No one sees me,’ you said.
But your ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ have led you astray,
    and you said, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.’
11 So disaster will overtake you,
    and you won’t be able to charm it away.
Calamity will fall upon you,
    and you won’t be able to buy your way out.
A catastrophe will strike you suddenly,
    one for which you are not prepared.

12 “Now use your magical charms!
    Use the spells you have worked at all these years!
Maybe they will do you some good.
    Maybe they can make someone afraid of you.
13 All the advice you receive has made you tired.
    Where are all your astrologers,
those stargazers who make predictions each month?
    Let them stand up and save you from what the future holds.
14 But they are like straw burning in a fire;
    they cannot save themselves from the flame.
You will get no help from them at all;
    their hearth is no place to sit for warmth.
15 And all your friends,
    those with whom you’ve done business since childhood,
will go their own ways,
    turning a deaf ear to your cries.

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 47:1 Or Chaldea; also in 47:5.
  2. 47:2 Hebrew Bare your legs; pass through the rivers.

A Message about Babylon

50 The Lord gave Jeremiah the prophet this message concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians.[a] This is what the Lord says:

“Tell the whole world,
    and keep nothing back.
Raise a signal flag
    to tell everyone that Babylon will fall!
Her images and idols[b] will be shattered.
    Her gods Bel and Marduk will be utterly disgraced.
For a nation will attack her from the north
    and bring such destruction that no one will live there again.
Everything will be gone;
    both people and animals will flee.

Hope for Israel and Judah

“In those coming days,”
    says the Lord,
“the people of Israel will return home
    together with the people of Judah.
They will come weeping
    and seeking the Lord their God.
They will ask the way to Jerusalem[c]
    and will start back home again.
They will bind themselves to the Lord
    with an eternal covenant that will never be forgotten.

“My people have been lost sheep.
    Their shepherds have led them astray
    and turned them loose in the mountains.
They have lost their way
    and can’t remember how to get back to the sheepfold.
All who found them devoured them.
    Their enemies said,
‘We did nothing wrong in attacking them,
    for they sinned against the Lord,
their true place of rest,
    and the hope of their ancestors.’

“But now, flee from Babylon!
    Leave the land of the Babylonians.
Like male goats at the head of the flock,
    lead my people home again.
For I am raising up an army
    of great nations from the north.
They will join forces to attack Babylon,
    and she will be captured.
The enemies’ arrows will go straight to the mark;
    they will not miss!
10 Babylonia[d] will be looted
    until the attackers are glutted with loot.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!

Babylon’s Sure Fall

11 “You rejoice and are glad,
    you who plundered my chosen people.
You frisk about like a calf in a meadow
    and neigh like a stallion.
12 But your homeland[e] will be overwhelmed
    with shame and disgrace.
You will become the least of nations—
    a wilderness, a dry and desolate land.
13 Because of the Lord’s anger,
    Babylon will become a deserted wasteland.
All who pass by will be horrified
    and will gasp at the destruction they see there.

14 “Yes, prepare to attack Babylon,
    all you surrounding nations.
Let your archers shoot at her; spare no arrows.
    For she has sinned against the Lord.
15 Shout war cries against her from every side.
    Look! She surrenders!
    Her walls have fallen.
It is the Lord’s vengeance,
    so take vengeance on her.
    Do to her as she has done to others!
16 Take from Babylon all those who plant crops;
    send all the harvesters away.
Because of the sword of the enemy,
    everyone will run away and rush back to their own lands.

Hope for God’s People

17 “The Israelites are like sheep
    that have been scattered by lions.
First the king of Assyria ate them up.
    Then King Nebuchadnezzar[f] of Babylon cracked their bones.”
18 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    the God of Israel, says:
“Now I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,
    just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will bring Israel home again to its own land,
    to feed in the fields of Carmel and Bashan,
and to be satisfied once more
    in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days,” says the Lord,
    “no sin will be found in Israel or in Judah,
    for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.

The Lord’s Judgment on Babylon

21 “Go up, my warriors, against the land of Merathaim
    and against the people of Pekod.
Pursue, kill, and completely destroy[g] them,
    as I have commanded you,” says the Lord.
22 “Let the battle cry be heard in the land,
    a shout of great destruction.
23 Babylon, the mightiest hammer in all the earth,
    lies broken and shattered.
    Babylon is desolate among the nations!
24 Listen, Babylon, for I have set a trap for you.
    You are caught, for you have fought against the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his armory
    and brought out weapons to vent his fury.
The terror that falls upon the Babylonians
    will be the work of the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
26 Yes, come against her from distant lands.
    Break open her granaries.
Crush her walls and houses into heaps of rubble.
    Destroy her completely, and leave nothing!
27 Destroy even her young bulls—
    it will be terrible for them, too!
Slaughter them all!
    For Babylon’s day of reckoning has come.
28 Listen to the people who have escaped from Babylon,
    as they tell in Jerusalem
how the Lord our God has taken vengeance
    against those who destroyed his Temple.

29 “Send out a call for archers to come to Babylon.
    Surround the city so none can escape.
Do to her as she has done to others,
    for she has defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
30 Her young men will fall in the streets and die.
    Her soldiers will all be killed,”
    says the Lord.

31 “See, I am your enemy, you arrogant people,”
    says the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“Your day of reckoning has arrived—
    the day when I will punish you.
32 O land of arrogance, you will stumble and fall,
    and no one will raise you up.
For I will light a fire in the cities of Babylon
    that will burn up everything around them.”

33 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“The people of Israel and Judah have been wronged.
    Their captors hold them and refuse to let them go.
34 But the one who redeems them is strong.
    His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
He will defend them
    and give them rest again in Israel.
But for the people of Babylon
    there will be no rest!

35 “The sword of destruction will strike the Babylonians,”
    says the Lord.
“It will strike the people of Babylon—
    her officials and wise men, too.
36 The sword will strike her wise counselors,
    and they will become fools.
The sword will strike her mightiest warriors,
    and panic will seize them.
37 The sword will strike her horses and chariots
    and her allies from other lands,
    and they will all become like women.
The sword will strike her treasures,
    and they all will be plundered.
38 A drought[h] will strike her water supply,
    causing it to dry up.
And why? Because the whole land is filled with idols,
    and the people are madly in love with them.

39 “Soon Babylon will be inhabited by desert animals and hyenas.
    It will be a home for owls.
Never again will people live there;
    it will lie desolate forever.
40 I will destroy it as I[i] destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
    and their neighboring towns,” says the Lord.
“No one will live there;
    no one will inhabit it.

41 “Look! A great army is coming from the north.
    A great nation and many kings
    are rising against you from far-off lands.
42 They are armed with bows and spears.
    They are cruel and show no mercy.
As they ride forward on horses,
    they sound like a roaring sea.
They are coming in battle formation,
    planning to destroy you, Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard reports about the enemy,
    and he is weak with fright.
Pangs of anguish have gripped him,
    like those of a woman in labor.

44 “I will come like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan,
    leaping on the sheep in the pasture.
I will chase Babylon from its land,
    and I will appoint the leader of my choice.
For who is like me, and who can challenge me?
    What ruler can oppose my will?”

45 Listen to the Lord’s plans against Babylon
    and the land of the Babylonians.
Even the little children will be dragged off like sheep,
    and their homes will be destroyed.
46 The earth will shake with the shout, “Babylon has been taken!”
    and its cry of despair will be heard around the world.

51 This is what the Lord says:
“I will stir up a destroyer against Babylon
    and the people of Babylonia.[j]
Foreigners will come and winnow her,
    blowing her away as chaff.
They will come from every side
    to rise against her in her day of trouble.
Don’t let the archers put on their armor
    or draw their bows.
Don’t spare even her best soldiers!
    Let her army be completely destroyed.[k]
They will fall dead in the land of the Babylonians,[l]
    slashed to death in her streets.
For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    has not abandoned Israel and Judah.
He is still their God,
    even though their land was filled with sin
    against the Holy One of Israel.”

Flee from Babylon! Save yourselves!
    Don’t get trapped in her punishment!
It is the Lord’s time for vengeance;
    he will repay her in full.
Babylon has been a gold cup in the Lord’s hands,
    a cup that made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank Babylon’s wine,
    and it drove them all mad.
But suddenly Babylon, too, has fallen.
    Weep for her.
Give her medicine.
    Perhaps she can yet be healed.
We would have helped her if we could,
    but nothing can save her now.
Let her go; abandon her.
    Return now to your own land.
For her punishment reaches to the heavens;
    it is so great it cannot be measured.
10 The Lord has vindicated us.
    Come, let us announce in Jerusalem[m]
    everything the Lord our God has done.

11 Sharpen the arrows!
    Lift up the shields![n]
For the Lord has inspired the kings of the Medes
    to march against Babylon and destroy her.
This is his vengeance against those
    who desecrated his Temple.
12 Raise the battle flag against Babylon!
    Reinforce the guard and station the watchmen.
Prepare an ambush,
    for the Lord will fulfill all his plans against Babylon.
13 You are a city by a great river,
    a great center of commerce,
but your end has come.
    The thread of your life is cut.
14 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has taken this vow
    and has sworn to it by his own name:
“Your cities will be filled with enemies,
    like fields swarming with locusts,
    and they will shout in triumph over you.”

A Hymn of Praise to the Lord

15 The Lord made the earth by his power,
    and he preserves it by his wisdom.
With his own understanding
    he stretched out the heavens.
16 When he speaks in the thunder,
    the heavens roar with rain.
He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.
    He sends the lightning with the rain
    and releases the wind from his storehouses.

17 The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge!
    The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make,
for their carefully shaped works are a fraud.
    These idols have no breath or power.
18 Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies!
    On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.
19 But the God of Israel[o] is no idol!
    He is the Creator of everything that exists,
including his people, his own special possession.
    The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name!

Babylon’s Great Punishment

20 “You[p] are my battle-ax and sword,”
    says the Lord.
“With you I will shatter nations
    and destroy many kingdoms.
21 With you I will shatter armies—
    destroying the horse and rider,
    the chariot and charioteer.
22 With you I will shatter men and women,
    old people and children,
    young men and young women.
23 With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks,
    farmers and oxen,
    captains and officers.

24 “I will repay Babylon
    and the people of Babylonia[q]
for all the wrong they have done
    to my people in Jerusalem,” says the Lord.

25 “Look, O mighty mountain, destroyer of the earth!
    I am your enemy,” says the Lord.
“I will raise my fist against you,
    to knock you down from the heights.
When I am finished,
    you will be nothing but a heap of burnt rubble.
26 You will be desolate forever.
    Even your stones will never again be used for building.
You will be completely wiped out,”
    says the Lord.

27 Raise a signal flag to the nations.
    Sound the battle cry!
Mobilize them all against Babylon.
    Prepare them to fight against her!
Bring out the armies of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
    Appoint a commander,
    and bring a multitude of horses like swarming locusts!
28 Bring against her the armies of the nations—
    led by the kings of the Medes
    and all their captains and officers.

29 The earth trembles and writhes in pain,
    for everything the Lord has planned against Babylon stands unchanged.
Babylon will be left desolate without a single inhabitant.
30     Her mightiest warriors no longer fight.
They stay in their barracks, their courage gone.
    They have become like women.
The invaders have burned the houses
    and broken down the city gates.
31 The news is passed from one runner to the next
    as the messengers hurry to tell the king
    that his city has been captured.
32 All the escape routes are blocked.
    The marshes have been set aflame,
    and the army is in a panic.

33 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    the God of Israel, says:
“Babylon is like wheat on a threshing floor,
    about to be trampled.
In just a little while
    her harvest will begin.”

34 “King Nebuchadnezzar[r] of Babylon has eaten and crushed us
    and drained us of strength.
He has swallowed us like a great monster
    and filled his belly with our riches.
    He has thrown us out of our own country.
35 Make Babylon suffer as she made us suffer,”
    say the people of Zion.
“Make the people of Babylonia pay for spilling our blood,”
    says Jerusalem.

The Lord’s Vengeance on Babylon

36 This is what the Lord says to Jerusalem:

“I will be your lawyer to plead your case,
    and I will avenge you.
I will dry up her river,
    as well as her springs,
37 and Babylon will become a heap of ruins,
    haunted by jackals.
She will be an object of horror and contempt,
    a place where no one lives.
38 Her people will roar together like strong lions.
    They will growl like lion cubs.
39 And while they lie inflamed with all their wine,
    I will prepare a different kind of feast for them.
I will make them drink until they fall asleep,
    and they will never wake up again,”
    says the Lord.
40 “I will bring them down
    like lambs to the slaughter,
    like rams and goats to be sacrificed.

41 “How Babylon[s] is fallen—
    great Babylon, praised throughout the earth!
Now she has become an object of horror
    among the nations.
42 The sea has risen over Babylon;
    she is covered by its crashing waves.
43 Her cities now lie in ruins;
    she is a dry wasteland
    where no one lives or even passes by.
44 And I will punish Bel, the god of Babylon,
    and make him vomit up all he has eaten.
The nations will no longer come and worship him.
    The wall of Babylon has fallen!

A Message for the Exiles

45 “Come out, my people, flee from Babylon.
    Save yourselves! Run from the Lord’s fierce anger.
46 But do not panic; don’t be afraid
    when you hear the first rumor of approaching forces.
    For rumors will keep coming year by year.
Violence will erupt in the land
    as the leaders fight against each other.
47 For the time is surely coming
    when I will punish this great city and all her idols.
Her whole land will be disgraced,
    and her dead will lie in the streets.
48 Then the heavens and earth will rejoice,
    for out of the north will come destroying armies
    against Babylon,” says the Lord.
49 “Just as Babylon killed the people of Israel
    and others throughout the world,
    so must her people be killed.
50 Get out, all you who have escaped the sword!
    Do not stand and watch—flee while you can!
Remember the Lord, though you are in a far-off land,
    and think about your home in Jerusalem.”

51 “We are ashamed,” the people say.
    “We are insulted and disgraced
because the Lord’s Temple
    has been defiled by foreigners.”

52 “Yes,” says the Lord, “but the time is coming
    when I will destroy Babylon’s idols.
The groans of her wounded people
    will be heard throughout the land.
53 Though Babylon reaches as high as the heavens
    and makes her fortifications incredibly strong,
I will still send enemies to plunder her.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!

Babylon’s Complete Destruction

54 “Listen! Hear the cry of Babylon,
    the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.
55 For the Lord is destroying Babylon.
    He will silence her loud voice.
Waves of enemies pound against her;
    the noise of battle rings through the city.
56 Destroying armies come against Babylon.
    Her mighty men are captured,
    and their weapons break in their hands.
For the Lord is a God who gives just punishment;
    he always repays in full.
57 I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
    along with her captains, officers, and warriors.
They will fall asleep
    and never wake up again!”
says the King, whose name is
    the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

58 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground,
    and her massive gates will be burned.
The builders from many lands have worked in vain,
    for their work will be destroyed by fire!”

Jeremiah’s Message Sent to Babylon

59 The prophet Jeremiah gave this message to Seraiah son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah, a staff officer, when Seraiah went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah. This was during the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign.[t] 60 Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the terrible disasters that would soon come upon Babylon—all the words written here. 61 He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, read aloud everything on this scroll. 62 Then say, ‘Lord, you have said that you will destroy Babylon so that neither people nor animals will remain here. She will lie empty and abandoned forever.’ 63 When you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone and throw it into the Euphrates River. 64 Then say, ‘In this same way Babylon and her people will sink, never again to rise, because of the disasters I will bring upon her.’”

This is the end of Jeremiah’s messages.

Notas al pie

  1. 50:1 Or Chaldeans; also in 50:8, 25, 35, 45.
  2. 50:2 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.
  3. 50:5 Hebrew Zion; also in 50:28.
  4. 50:10 Or Chaldea.
  5. 50:12 Hebrew your mother.
  6. 50:17 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.
  7. 50:21 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
  8. 50:38 Or sword; the Hebrew words for drought and sword are very similar.
  9. 50:40 Hebrew as God.
  10. 51:1 Hebrew of Leb-kamai, a code name for Babylonia.
  11. 51:3 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
  12. 51:4 Or Chaldeans; also in 51:54.
  13. 51:10 Hebrew Zion; also in 51:24.
  14. 51:11 Greek version reads Fill up the quivers.
  15. 51:19 Hebrew the Portion of Jacob. See note on 5:20.
  16. 51:20 Possibly Cyrus, whom God used to conquer Babylon. Compare Isa 44:28; 45:1.
  17. 51:24 Or Chaldea; also in 51:35.
  18. 51:34 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.
  19. 51:41 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon.
  20. 51:59 The fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign was 593 B.c.

These are the visions that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. He saw these visions during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.[a]

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 1:1 These kings reigned from 792 to 686 B.c.

The Great Prostitute

17 One of the seven angels who had poured out the seven bowls came over and spoke to me. “Come with me,” he said, “and I will show you the judgment that is going to come on the great prostitute, who rules over many waters. The kings of the world have committed adultery with her, and the people who belong to this world have been made drunk by the wine of her immorality.”

So the angel took me in the Spirit[a] into the wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, and blasphemies against God were written all over it. The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls. In her hand she held a gold goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality. A mysterious name was written on her forehead: “Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.” I could see that she was drunk—drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus. I stared at her in complete amazement.

“Why are you so amazed?” the angel asked. “I will tell you the mystery of this woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns on which she sits. The beast you saw was once alive but isn’t now. And yet he will soon come up out of the bottomless pit[b] and go to eternal destruction. And the people who belong to this world, whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made, will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died.

“This calls for a mind with understanding: The seven heads of the beast represent the seven hills where the woman rules. They also represent seven kings. 10 Five kings have already fallen, the sixth now reigns, and the seventh is yet to come, but his reign will be brief.

11 “The scarlet beast that was, but is no longer, is the eighth king. He is like the other seven, and he, too, is headed for destruction. 12 The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet risen to power. They will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast. 13 They will all agree to give him their power and authority. 14 Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.”

15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters where the prostitute is ruling represent masses of people of every nation and language. 16 The scarlet beast and his ten horns all hate the prostitute. They will strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her remains with fire. 17 For God has put a plan into their minds, a plan that will carry out his purposes. They will agree to give their authority to the scarlet beast, and so the words of God will be fulfilled. 18 And this woman you saw in your vision represents the great city that rules over the kings of the world.”

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 17:3 Or in spirit.
  2. 17:8 Or the abyss, or the underworld.

28 Parsin[a] means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 5:28 Aramaic Peres, the singular of Parsin.

and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.

Read full chapter

12 “Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins,” says the Lord. “I will make the country of the Babylonians[a] a wasteland forever. 13 I will bring upon them all the terrors I have promised in this book—all the penalties announced by Jeremiah against the nations. 14 Many nations and great kings will enslave the Babylonians, just as they enslaved my people. I will punish them in proportion to the suffering they cause my people.”

The Cup of the Lord’s Anger

15 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it. 16 When they drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against them.”

17 So I took the cup of anger from the Lord and made all the nations drink from it—every nation to which the Lord sent me. 18 I went to Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah, and their kings and officials drank from the cup. From that day until this, they have been a desolate ruin, an object of horror, contempt, and cursing. 19 I gave the cup to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials, and all his people, 20 along with all the foreigners living in that land. I also gave it to all the kings of the land of Uz and the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod. 21 Then I gave the cup to the nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon, 22 and the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings of the regions across the sea. 23 I gave it to Dedan, Tema, and Buz, and to the people who live in distant places.[b] 24 I gave it to the kings of Arabia, the kings of the nomadic tribes of the desert, 25 and to the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media. 26 And I gave it to the kings of the northern countries, far and near, one after the other—all the kingdoms of the world. And finally, the king of Babylon[c] himself drank from the cup of the Lord’s anger.

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 25:12 Or Chaldeans.
  2. 25:23 Or who clip the corners of their hair.
  3. 25:26 Hebrew of Sheshach, a code name for Babylon.

A Message about Babylon

21 This message came to me concerning Babylon—the desert by the sea[a]:

Disaster is roaring down on you from the desert,
    like a whirlwind sweeping in from the Negev.
I see a terrifying vision:
    I see the betrayer betraying,
    the destroyer destroying.
Go ahead, you Elamites and Medes,
    attack and lay siege.
I will make an end
    to all the groaning Babylon caused.
My stomach aches and burns with pain.
    Sharp pangs of anguish are upon me,
    like those of a woman in labor.
I grow faint when I hear what God is planning;
    I am too afraid to look.
My mind reels and my heart races.
    I longed for evening to come,
    but now I am terrified of the dark.

Look! They are preparing a great feast.
    They are spreading rugs for people to sit on.
    Everyone is eating and drinking.
But quick! Grab your shields and prepare for battle.
    You are being attacked!

Meanwhile, the Lord said to me,
“Put a watchman on the city wall.
    Let him shout out what he sees.
He should look for chariots
    drawn by pairs of horses,
and for riders on donkeys and camels.
    Let the watchman be fully alert.”

Then the watchman[b] called out,
“Day after day I have stood on the watchtower, my lord.
    Night after night I have remained at my post.
Now at last—look!
Here comes a man in a chariot
    with a pair of horses!”
Then the watchman said,
    “Babylon is fallen, fallen!
All the idols of Babylon
    lie broken on the ground!”
10 O my people, threshed and winnowed,
    I have told you everything the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said,
    everything the God of Israel has told me.

A Message about Edom

11 This message came to me concerning Edom[c]:

Someone from Edom[d] keeps calling to me,
“Watchman, how much longer until morning?
    When will the night be over?”

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 21:1 Hebrew concerning the desert by the sea.
  2. 21:8 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac version; Masoretic Text reads a lion.
  3. 21:11a Hebrew Dumah, which means “silence” or “stillness.” It is a wordplay on the word Edom.
  4. 21:11b Hebrew Seir, another name for Edom.

A Message about Moab

15 This message came to me concerning Moab:

In one night the town of Ar will be leveled,
    and the city of Kir will be destroyed.

Read full chapter

A Message about Philistia

28 This message came to me the year King Ahaz died:[a]

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 14:28 King Ahaz died in 715 B.c.

you will taunt the king of Babylon. You will say,

“The mighty man has been destroyed.
    Yes, your insolence[a] is ended.
For the Lord has crushed your wicked power
    and broken your evil rule.
You struck the people with endless blows of rage
    and held the nations in your angry grip
    with unrelenting tyranny.
But finally the earth is at rest and quiet.
    Now it can sing again!
Even the trees of the forest—
    the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon—
    sing out this joyous song:
‘Since you have been cut down,
    no one will come now to cut us down!’

“In the place of the dead[b] there is excitement
    over your arrival.
The spirits of world leaders and mighty kings long dead
    stand up to see you.
10 With one voice they all cry out,
    ‘Now you are as weak as we are!
11 Your might and power were buried with you.[c]
    The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased.
Now maggots are your sheet,
    and worms your blanket.’

12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
    O shining star, son of the morning!
You have been thrown down to the earth,
    you who destroyed the nations of the world.
13 For you said to yourself,
    ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.
I will preside on the mountain of the gods
    far away in the north.[d]
14 I will climb to the highest heavens
    and be like the Most High.’
15 Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead,
    down to its lowest depths.
16 Everyone there will stare at you and ask,
‘Can this be the one who shook the earth
    and made the kingdoms of the world tremble?
17 Is this the one who destroyed the world
    and made it into a wasteland?
Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities
    and had no mercy on his prisoners?’

18 “The kings of the nations lie in stately glory,
    each in his own tomb,
19 but you will be thrown out of your grave
    like a worthless branch.
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
    you will be dumped into a mass grave
    with those killed in battle.
You will descend to the pit.
20     You will not be given a proper burial,
for you have destroyed your nation
    and slaughtered your people.
The descendants of such an evil person
    will never again receive honor.
21 Kill this man’s children!
    Let them die because of their father’s sins!
They must not rise and conquer the earth,
    filling the world with their cities.”

22 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
    “I, myself, have risen against Babylon!
I will destroy its children and its children’s children,”
    says the Lord.
23 “I will make Babylon a desolate place of owls,
    filled with swamps and marshes.
I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction.
    I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 14:4 As in Dead Sea Scrolls; the meaning of the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
  2. 14:9 Hebrew Sheol; also in 14:15.
  3. 14:11 Hebrew were brought down to Sheol.
  4. 14:13 Or on the heights of Zaphon.

19 Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms,
    the flower of Chaldean pride,
will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah
    when God destroyed them.

Read full chapter

This is the message[a] that the Lord gave to Israel through the prophet Malachi.[b]

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 1:1a Hebrew An Oracle: The message.
  2. 1:1b Malachi means “my messenger.”

Judgment against Israel’s Enemies

This is the message[a] from the Lord against the land of Aram[b] and the city of Damascus, for the eyes of humanity, including all the tribes of Israel, are on the Lord.

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 9:1a Hebrew An Oracle: The message.
  2. 9:1b Hebrew land of Hadrach.

This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision.

Read full chapter

This message concerning Nineveh came as a vision to Nahum, who lived in Elkosh.

Read full chapter

10 Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: These actions contain a message for King Zedekiah in Jerusalem[a] and for all the people of Israel.’

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 12:10 Hebrew the prince in Jerusalem; similarly in 12:12.

False Prophecies and False Prophets

33 “Suppose one of the people or one of the prophets or priests asks you, ‘What prophecy has the Lord burdened you with now?’ You must reply, ‘You are the burden![a] The Lord says he will abandon you!’

34 “If any prophet, priest, or anyone else says, ‘I have a prophecy from the Lord,’ I will punish that person along with his entire family. 35 You should keep asking each other, ‘What is the Lord’s answer?’ or ‘What is the Lord saying?’ 36 But stop using this phrase, ‘prophecy from the Lord.’ For people are using it to give authority to their own ideas, turning upside down the words of our God, the living God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

37 “This is what you should say to the prophets: ‘What is the Lord’s answer?’ or ‘What is the Lord saying?’ 38 But suppose they respond, ‘This is a prophecy from the Lord!’ Then you should say, ‘This is what the Lord says: Because you have used this phrase, “prophecy from the Lord,” even though I warned you not to use it,

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 23:33 As in Greek version and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew reads What burden?

44 “But now, listen to me, Jacob my servant,
    Israel my chosen one.
The Lord who made you and helps you says:
Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant,
    O dear Israel,[a] my chosen one.

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 44:2 Hebrew Jeshurun, a term of endearment for Israel.

The Lord’s Promise of Victory

14 This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

“For your sakes I will send an army against Babylon,
    forcing the Babylonians[a] to flee in those ships they are so proud of.

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 43:14 Or Chaldeans.

25 But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies also says: “The time will come when I will pull out the nail that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

A Message about Tyre

23 This message came to me concerning Tyre:

Wail, you trading ships of Tarshish,
    for the harbor and houses of Tyre are gone!
The rumors you heard in Cyprus[a]
    are all true.

Notas al pie

  1. 23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also in 23:12.

A Message about Jerusalem

22 This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision[a]:

What is happening?
    Why is everyone running to the rooftops?

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. 22:1 Hebrew concerning the Valley of Vision.

A Message about Arabia

13 This message came to me concerning Arabia:

O caravans from Dedan,
    hide in the deserts of Arabia.

Read full chapter

A Message about Egypt

19 This message came to me concerning Egypt:

Look! The Lord is advancing against Egypt,
    riding on a swift cloud.
The idols of Egypt tremble.
    The hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.

Read full chapter

Recomendaciones de BibleGateway

NLT THRIVE Devotional Bible for Women--soft leather-look, rose metallic
NLT THRIVE Devotional Bible for Women--soft leather-look, rose metallic
Al por menor: $49.99
Nuestra oferta: $39.99
Ahorre: $10.00 (20%)
NLT Outreach Bible
NLT Outreach Bible
Al por menor: $4.99
Nuestra oferta: $2.99
Ahorre: $2.00 (40%)
4.5 of 5.0 stars
NLT Daily Reader's Bible, softcover
NLT Daily Reader's Bible, softcover
Al por menor: $19.99
Nuestra oferta: $4.99
Ahorre: $15.00 (75%)
4.0 of 5.0 stars