²⁵ “But I have stirred up a leader who will approach from the north.
    From the east he will call on my name.
I will give him victory over kings and princes.
    He will trample them as a potter treads on clay.

² “Who has stirred up this king from the east,
    rightly calling him to God’s service?
Who gives this man victory over many nations
    and permits him to trample their kings underfoot?
With his sword, he reduces armies to dust.
    With his bow, he scatters them like chaff before the wind.

⁴³ I ground them as fine as the dust of the earth;
    I trampled them^[a] in the gutter like dirt.

⁵ They will be like mighty warriors in battle,
    trampling their enemies in the mud under their feet.
Since the Lord is with them as they fight,
    they will overthrow even the enemy’s horsemen.

¹⁰ Then my enemies will see that the Lord is on my side.
    They will be ashamed that they taunted me, saying,
“So where is the Lord—
    that God of yours?”
With my own eyes I will see their downfall;
    they will be trampled like mud in the streets.

²⁸ When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,’
    he will certainly do as I say.
He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’;
    he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.’”

“I will go before you, Cyrus,
    and level the mountains.^[a]
I will smash down gates of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.
³ And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness—
    secret riches.
I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord,
    the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.

⁴ “And why have I called you for this work?
    Why did I call you by name when you did not know me?
It is for the sake of Jacob my servant,
    Israel my chosen one.
⁵ I am the Lord;
    there is no other God.
I have equipped you for battle,
    though you don’t even know me,
⁶ so all the world from east to west
    will know there is no other God.
I am the Lord, and there is no other.

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.

³ 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.