¹⁷ who made the world like a desert
    and overthrew its cities,
    who would not let his prisoners go home?”^(A)

¹³ I have aroused Cyrus^[a] in righteousness,
    and I will make all his paths straight;
he shall build my city
    and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,
    says the Lord of hosts.^(A)

¹⁰ Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
    Zion has become a wilderness,
    Jerusalem a desolation.^(A)

¹⁹ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
    the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah
    when God overthrew them.^(A)
20 It will never be inhabited
    or lived in for all generations;
Arabs will not pitch their tents there;
    shepherds will not make their flocks lie down there.^(B)
21 But wild animals will lie down there,
    and its houses will be full of howling creatures;
there ostriches will live,
    and there goat-demons will dance.^(C)
22 Hyenas will cry in its towers
    and jackals in the pleasant palaces;
its time is close at hand;
    and its days will not be prolonged.^(D)