you will take up this taunt(A) against the king of Babylon:(B)

How the oppressor(C) has come to an end!
    How his fury[a] has ended!

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 14:4 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.

26 I will make your oppressors(A) eat(B) their own flesh;
    they will be drunk on their own blood,(C) as with wine.
Then all mankind will know(D)
    that I, the Lord, am your Savior,(E)
    your Redeemer,(F) the Mighty One of Jacob.(G)

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20 “Rejoice over her, you heavens!(A)
    Rejoice, you people of God!
    Rejoice, apostles and prophets!
For God has judged her
    with the judgment she imposed on you.”(B)

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16 and cry out:

“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city,(A)
    dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet,
    and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!(B)

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for her sins are piled up to heaven,(A)
    and God has remembered(B) her crimes.
Give back to her as she has given;
    pay her back(C) double(D) for what she has done.
    Pour her a double portion from her own cup.(E)
Give her as much torment and grief
    as the glory and luxury she gave herself.(F)
In her heart she boasts,
    ‘I sit enthroned as queen.
I am not a widow;[a]
    I will never mourn.’(G)
Therefore in one day(H) her plagues will overtake her:
    death, mourning and famine.
She will be consumed by fire,(I)
    for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 18:7 See Isaiah 47:7,8.

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people,(A) the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.

When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.

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Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:

“You are just in these judgments,(A) O Holy One,(B)
    you who are and who were;(C)
for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets,(D)
    and you have given them blood to drink(E) as they deserve.”

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15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship(A) the image to be killed.(B) 16 It also forced all people, great and small,(C) rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads,(D) 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark,(E) which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.(F)

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17 The violence(A) you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    and your destruction of animals will terrify you.(B)
For you have shed human blood;(C)
    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

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“Will not all of them taunt(A) him with ridicule and scorn, saying,

“‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
    and makes himself wealthy by extortion!(B)
    How long must this go on?’
Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
    Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
    Then you will become their prey.(C)
Because you have plundered many nations,
    the peoples who are left will plunder you.(D)
For you have shed human blood;(E)
    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.(F)

“Woe to him who builds(G) his house by unjust gain,(H)
    setting his nest(I) on high
    to escape the clutches of ruin!
10 You have plotted the ruin(J) of many peoples,
    shaming(K) your own house and forfeiting your life.
11 The stones(L) of the wall will cry out,
    and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.

12 “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed(M)
    and establishes a town by injustice!

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Habakkuk’s Complaint

How long,(A) Lord, must I call for help,
    but you do not listen?(B)
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
    but you do not save?(C)
Why do you make me look at injustice?
    Why do you tolerate(D) wrongdoing?(E)
Destruction and violence(F) are before me;
    there is strife,(G) and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law(H) is paralyzed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice(I) is perverted.(J)

The Lord’s Answer

“Look at the nations and watch—
    and be utterly amazed.(K)
For I am going to do something in your days
    that you would not believe,
    even if you were told.(L)
I am raising up the Babylonians,[a](M)
    that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth(N)
    to seize dwellings not their own.(O)
They are a feared and dreaded people;(P)
    they are a law to themselves
    and promote their own honor.
Their horses are swifter(Q) than leopards,
    fiercer than wolves(R) at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
    their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
    they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes[b] advance like a desert wind
    and gather prisoners(S) like sand.
10 They mock kings
    and scoff at rulers.(T)
They laugh at all fortified cities;
    by building earthen ramps(U) they capture them.

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Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 1:6 Or Chaldeans
  2. Habakkuk 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

19 “Then I wanted to know the meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. 20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns(A) on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully.(B) 21 As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them,(C) 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.(D)

23 “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.(E) 24 The ten horns(F) are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. 25 He will speak against the Most High(G) and oppress his holy people(H) and try to change the set times(I) and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time.[a](J)

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 7:25 Or for a year, two years and half a year

38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all.(A) You are that head of gold.

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15 You will be a reproach(A) and a taunt, a warning(B) and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke.(C) I the Lord have spoken.(D)

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[a]How the gold has lost its luster,
    the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
    at every street corner.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 4:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

34 “Nebuchadnezzar(A) king of Babylon has devoured(B) us,(C)
    he has thrown us into confusion,
    he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
    and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
    and then has spewed(D) us out.
35 May the violence(E) done to our flesh[a] be on Babylon,”
    say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
    says Jerusalem.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:35 Or done to us and to our children

20 “You are my war club,(A)
    my weapon for battle—
with you I shatter(B) nations,(C)
    with you I destroy kingdoms,
21 with you I shatter horse and rider,(D)
    with you I shatter chariot(E) and driver,
22 with you I shatter man and woman,
    with you I shatter old man and youth,
    with you I shatter young man and young woman,(F)
23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
    with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
    with you I shatter governors and officials.(G)

24 “Before your eyes I will repay(H) Babylon(I) and all who live in Babylonia[a] for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:24 Or Chaldea; also in verse 35

22 The noise(A) of battle is in the land,
    the noise of great destruction!
23 How broken and shattered
    is the hammer(B) of the whole earth!(C)
How desolate(D) is Babylon
    among the nations!

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Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my servant(A) Nebuchadnezzar(B) king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him.(C) All nations will serve(D) him and his son and his grandson until the time(E) for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate(F) him.

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I will summon(A) all the peoples of the north(B) and my servant(C) Nebuchadnezzar(D) king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy[a](E) them and make them an object of horror and scorn,(F) and an everlasting ruin.(G) 10 I will banish from them the sounds(H) of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom,(I) the sound of millstones(J) and the light of the lamp.(K) 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland,(L) and these nations will serve(M) the king of Babylon seventy years.(N)

12 “But when the seventy years(O) are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon(P) and his nation, the land of the Babylonians,[b] for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate(Q) forever. 13 I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written(R) in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14 They themselves will be enslaved(S) by many nations(T) and great kings; I will repay(U) them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 25:9 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  2. Jeremiah 25:12 Or Chaldeans

I will make them abhorrent(A) and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword,(B) a curse[a](C) and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish(D) them.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 24:9 That is, their names will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that they are cursed.

23 I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,(A)
    who said to you,
    ‘Fall prostrate(B) that we may walk(C) on you.’
And you made your back like the ground,
    like a street to be walked on.”(D)

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“Sit in silence,(A) go into darkness,(B)
    queen city of the Babylonians;(C)
no more will you be called
    queen(D) of kingdoms.(E)

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I will go before you(A)
    and will level(B) the mountains[a];
I will break down gates(C) of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.(D)
I will give you hidden treasures,(E)
    riches stored in secret places,(F)
so that you may know(G) that I am the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who summons you by name.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 45:2 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.

17 the man who made the world a wilderness,(A)
    who overthrew(B) its cities
    and would not let his captives go home?”(C)

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